Why doesn't JAX have... (Jacksonville, Conway: appointed, neighborhoods, high school)
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So, I just moved here a month ago and am still adjusting. I think overall I like it here -- we are in Ponte Vedra and friends have described it as an undiscovered gem because the beach is so beautiful, the weather is fantastic and there is hardly any traffic.
That being said, being in a smaller city has its trade-offs and I constantly wonder things like (not trying to slam this city, which I think I do like, but just wondering):
1. Why don't we have a Zagats guide for JAX? Is it just too small of a city? How do I know which restaurants are good, child-friendly, offer take-out, etc?
2. Outside of this board, where on earth do I go for recommendations about things? It seems like no one here posts reviews on Citysearch (and whoever is in charge there isn't paying much attention to JAX) and no one seems to make use of Kudzu.com to post business reviews. I miss gocitykids.com, too, because once again Jacksonville seems like it's not on the radar for these publishers
3. More public parks and playgrounds -- oh, how I miss seeing the same moms at my neighborhood playground each day -- it's fine that all of these gated neighborhoods have playgrounds, but the one in my development is small and crappy. If I sneak into someone else's neighborhood playground (where the sign says it's for residents only) there never seem to be any kids playing there...the one public place I know to go to (Sunshine Park) is a half hour away, leaving me longing for a good grassy area close by with some awsome playground equipment where everyone can play together and run around
4. A good children's museum -- after living in Atlanta and enjoying a fantastic new, huge musem that could handle traveling exhibits like Sesame Street or Alice in Wonderland, I was a bit bummed over the Hands On Children's Museum, which seemed more like a dusty play place that could have been cleaner. Are there no big companies around here to help sponsor these things?
But ok, to end on a positive note, we really enjoyed the zoo here...St. Johns Town Center is great...and the people seem really friendly
So, I just moved here a month ago and am still adjusting. I think overall I like it here -- we are in Ponte Vedra and friends have described it as an undiscovered gem because the beach is so beautiful, the weather is fantastic and there is hardly any traffic.
That being said, being in a smaller city has its trade-offs and I constantly wonder things like (not trying to slam this city, which I think I do like, but just wondering):
1. Why don't we have a Zagats guide for JAX? Is it just too small of a city? How do I know which restaurants are good, child-friendly, offer take-out, etc? Unfortunately, there are posts out there that ask this same thing. Jax hasn't grasped some of these "city" concepts yet...and some were disappointed in that, while others are happy Jax hasn't gotten to that point. Also, it's so spread out, that Zagat's would have to publish volumes for here. There woud be grids. Also, the great "Zagat" type restaurants are in pockets here...beach, San Marco, Avondale, etc. Everywhere else are chain restaurants, and you don't need Zagat's for that. Word of mouth is the best you'll get here.
2. Outside of this board, where on earth do I go for recommendations about things? It seems like no one here posts reviews on Citysearch (and whoever is in charge there isn't paying much attention to JAX) and no one seems to make use of Kudzu.com to post business reviews. I miss gocitykids.com, too, because once again Jacksonville seems like it's not on the radar for these publishers Can't help you there either. Again, that has been mentioned in other posts. Jacksonville, St Aug is spread out...and thus, there isn't the "community" feel of that stuff. Check the newspaper, or any neighborhood publication you might receive...we get a Mandarin newspaper which lists things in our area. The local news here sometimes gives updates on things going on. Again...word of mouth
3. More public parks and playgrounds -- oh, how I miss seeing the same moms at my neighborhood playground each day -- it's fine that all of these gated neighborhoods have playgrounds, but the one in my development is small and crappy. If I sneak into someone else's neighborhood playground (where the sign says it's for residents only) there never seem to be any kids playing there...the one public place I know to go to (Sunshine Park) is a half hour away, leaving me longing for a good grassy area close by with some awsome playground equipment where everyone can play together and run around Unfortunately, I'm not that familar with PVB. I know that Avondale and San Marco have amazing public playgrounds and parks. You actually might like those areas better if you wanted to move again. They have the urban appeal, and the neighborhood appeal rolled into one. We have some great parks, playgrounds, ballfields and public tennis here in Mandarin too.
4. A good children's museum -- after living in Atlanta and enjoying a fantastic new, huge musem that could handle traveling exhibits like Sesame Street or Alice in Wonderland, I was a bit bummed over the Hands On Children's Museum, which seemed more like a dusty play place that could have been cleaner. Are there no big companies around here to help sponsor these things? There are those things here, but you'll have to hike it to downtown and other areas. That is the only negative .....Jax is big...very sprawled out, and things are not super convenient to everyone. You can't have a nice relaxing afternoon trip to all these types of things...it will take a lot of the day up. Jacksonville has an identity crisis in some areas. While they would like to grow, and become a large cultural mecca...most of the people, politicians etc. don't agree on all that stuff. People like the old school ways, and fight the growth, and then the growth fights the old school. That is why nothing gets accomplished.
But ok, to end on a positive note, we really enjoyed the zoo here...St. Johns Town Center is great...and the people seem really friendly
To shed some personal lights on #1:
Zagats is not what it used to mean anymore. The scores seems inflated when you consider very high percentage of the restaurants are rated excellent. They cut out a lot of the bad restaurants. What's the point of reading great reviews on every restaurant listed? Also, do people know that the restaurants needs to PAY for that fancy Zagats plaque? Yup, the higher the rating they got, the more expensive the plaque, so the ethical practice is in question. And in reality, there are quite a lot of fancy nationwide chain restaurants that are on the survey. But probably not THAT many high end local restaurants for them to write a book on. Can't turn a profit on 5 pages worth of survey.
Check out Folios Weekly that's free, it lists a lot of restaurants in there by location. For FREE!
Jacksonville is in general, family friendly, so most restaurants are child friendly as well (but is the child friendly to the restaurant?). If you're headed to some super fancy place, I would just call ahead and ask them.
(Disney World's Victoria&Albert's restaurant does not allow children!)
citysearch have some reviews, but generally I just google the restaurant name and see what comes up.
#3 There's one family park somewhere in downtown by the news station. Forgot the name but I just personally wouldn't go there for nothing. Get a backyard play set? There's Adventure Landing, JAX's only small scale water park.
So, I just moved here a month ago and am still adjusting. I think overall I like it here -- we are in Ponte Vedra and friends have described it as an undiscovered gem because the beach is so beautiful, the weather is fantastic and there is hardly any traffic.
That being said, being in a smaller city has its trade-offs and I constantly wonder things like (not trying to slam this city, which I think I do like, but just wondering):
1. Why don't we have a Zagats guide for JAX? Is it just too small of a city? How do I know which restaurants are good, child-friendly, offer take-out, etc?
2. Outside of this board, where on earth do I go for recommendations about things? It seems like no one here posts reviews on Citysearch (and whoever is in charge there isn't paying much attention to JAX) and no one seems to make use of Kudzu.com to post business reviews. I miss gocitykids.com, too, because once again Jacksonville seems like it's not on the radar for these publishers
3. More public parks and playgrounds -- oh, how I miss seeing the same moms at my neighborhood playground each day -- it's fine that all of these gated neighborhoods have playgrounds, but the one in my development is small and crappy. If I sneak into someone else's neighborhood playground (where the sign says it's for residents only) there never seem to be any kids playing there...the one public place I know to go to (Sunshine Park) is a half hour away, leaving me longing for a good grassy area close by with some awsome playground equipment where everyone can play together and run around
4. A good children's museum -- after living in Atlanta and enjoying a fantastic new, huge musem that could handle traveling exhibits like Sesame Street or Alice in Wonderland, I was a bit bummed over the Hands On Children's Museum, which seemed more like a dusty play place that could have been cleaner. Are there no big companies around here to help sponsor these things?
But ok, to end on a positive note, we really enjoyed the zoo here...St. Johns Town Center is great...and the people seem really friendly
Jax is somewhat twilight zone-ish....takes about a month to realize it. I have been here 4 months now and I still hear the twilight zone music fairly frequently.
Yeah, I miss Zagat. It was helpful to find nice restaurants in NJ and NYC. But, I have made many posts on this forum for ethnic food. Do searches for Brazilian, Dominican, Peruvian, etc. If I ever get the free time, I would like to create an ethnic food review for Jacksonville......if I ever do, I will "publish" it here on the Forum.
And if there are restauants you want to try just make a post and you can usually get some good responses on here.
You can also check out a couple of local magazines - Jacksonville, and Water's Edge. Jacksonville has a yearly issue where all kinds of stuff is rated by the readership. It's a pretty decent guide. They also have a restaurant guide issue and list the top 25 restaurants.
So, I just moved here a month ago and am still adjusting. I think overall I like it here -- we are in Ponte Vedra and friends have described it as an undiscovered gem because the beach is so beautiful, the weather is fantastic and there is hardly any traffic.
That being said, being in a smaller city has its trade-offs and I constantly wonder things like (not trying to slam this city, which I think I do like, but just wondering):
1. Why don't we have a Zagats guide for JAX? Is it just too small of a city? How do I know which restaurants are good, child-friendly, offer take-out, etc?
2. Outside of this board, where on earth do I go for recommendations about things? It seems like no one here posts reviews on Citysearch (and whoever is in charge there isn't paying much attention to JAX) and no one seems to make use of Kudzu.com to post business reviews. I miss gocitykids.com, too, because once again Jacksonville seems like it's not on the radar for these publishers
3. More public parks and playgrounds -- oh, how I miss seeing the same moms at my neighborhood playground each day -- it's fine that all of these gated neighborhoods have playgrounds, but the one in my development is small and crappy. If I sneak into someone else's neighborhood playground (where the sign says it's for residents only) there never seem to be any kids playing there...the one public place I know to go to (Sunshine Park) is a half hour away, leaving me longing for a good grassy area close by with some awsome playground equipment where everyone can play together and run around
4. A good children's museum -- after living in Atlanta and enjoying a fantastic new, huge musem that could handle traveling exhibits like Sesame Street or Alice in Wonderland, I was a bit bummed over the Hands On Children's Museum, which seemed more like a dusty play place that could have been cleaner. Are there no big companies around here to help sponsor these things?
But ok, to end on a positive note, we really enjoyed the zoo here...St. Johns Town Center is great...and the people seem really friendly
to tag on,
1. folio and to a point the times union lists all the restaurants worth going to by locale,
2. I know this is no help but the best way to get recommendations is to make friends,
3. it is hard to offer suggestions for parks, I guess you are trying to meet other mom's, try and see if the library or Y in PVB has groups where you can meet mom's and kids, when the weather gets nicer micklers's draws a crowd or you could join one of the beach clubs
4. MOSH is your best bet
Jax is a bit of an odd town but the people are usually both friendly and helpful, give it time and you'll adjust, also PVB is a tough place for young kids, especially (if I assume correctly) if they aren't school aged, once your kids get to school it should improve both their and your social contacts.
My kids are high school age and do not go to school here but they managed to make some friends here, it isn't easy not being in the local school but it's not impossible either
Another publication I've found useful is a book by Jenny Conway and Paige Howell, Family Fun On Florida's First Coast. Table of contents for the 350-page spiral-bound book lists (I'm shortening the descriptions) Arts, Parks, Museums, Attractions, Beaches, Kids' Meal Deals, Calendar of Events, Day Trips, Online Family Resources.
Zagats is not what it used to mean anymore. The scores seems inflated when you consider very hight percentage of the restaurants are rated excellent.
Yeah, I agree. Zagats has never been my guide for finding excellent restaurants. They don't cater so much to the consumer as they do to the restaurant subscriber.
I'm going to post my answers inside of your quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovintoJax
1. Why don't we have a Zagats guide for JAX? Is it just too small of a city? How do I know which restaurants are good, child-friendly, offer take-out, etc?
I think it's also because Jax is a casual city with mostly casual restaurants. We don't have too many 4 or 5 star restaurants, so I don't know that we could support a Zagats. Maybe if Zagats wants to cover a broader spectrum of restaurant types it would work for a city like Jax.
2. Outside of this board, where on earth do I go for recommendations about things? It seems like no one here posts reviews on Citysearch (and whoever is in charge there isn't paying much attention to JAX) and no one seems to make use of Kudzu.com to post business reviews. I miss gocitykids.com, too, because once again Jacksonville seems like it's not on the radar for these publishers
I'd suggest starting to post on those forums yourself! It only takes a few people to start posting and the next thing you know it's up and running at full speed. That's what happened here - going back 6 or more months, this forum did not have this level of activity, but once it gets rolling, it takes on a life of its' own
3. More public parks and playgrounds -- oh, how I miss seeing the same moms at my neighborhood playground each day -- it's fine that all of these gated neighborhoods have playgrounds, but the one in my development is small and crappy. If I sneak into someone else's neighborhood playground (where the sign says it's for residents only) there never seem to be any kids playing there...the one public place I know to go to (Sunshine Park) is a half hour away, leaving me longing for a good grassy area close by with some awsome playground equipment where everyone can play together and run around
This I don't know...I'm not that familiar with St. John's County parks.
Here's a link to the Downtown park mentioned above though - Kids Kampus:
4. A good children's museum -- after living in Atlanta and enjoying a fantastic new, huge musem that could handle traveling exhibits like Sesame Street or Alice in Wonderland, I was a bit bummed over the Hands On Children's Museum, which seemed more like a dusty play place that could have been cleaner. Are there no big companies around here to help sponsor these things?
4. A good children's museum -- after living in Atlanta and enjoying a fantastic new, huge musem that could handle traveling exhibits like Sesame Street or Alice in Wonderland, I was a bit bummed over the Hands On Children's Museum, which seemed more like a dusty play place that could have been cleaner. Are there no big companies around here to help sponsor these things?
I would think you are talking about the MOSH? I have never seen that place dusty...Plus the Planetarium is really nice. You can get there from the San Marco Station. If you see a lot of dust you should complain, so they can get that taken care of.
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