Moving to Jacksonville (St. Augustine, Mayo: apartments, insurance, condos)

[SRLADY]

I’ve read a lot of these postings but none of them seem to fit our situation. We are thinking of moving to Jacksonville. I am a retired widow and my adult daughter, who is legally blind, lives with me.

We used to live in California and unfortunately, we left there right before property went crazy. We do not ever want to see snow again so we need to leave here and California is out of the question now.

I have Medicare insurance plus Blue Cross. My daughter, because of her disability, is on Medicare and Medicaid. I know that the Mayo Clinic there does not accept Medicare assignment. How difficult is it to find doctors that do?

Medicaid patients in California (Medical) are treated like charity cases and it’s extremely difficult to find doctors and dentists that accept them. Is this true in Florida?

Are there very many active senior centers there? What about transportation for seniors and the disabled?

I understand that you need the services of an exterminator on a monthly basis. Is this very expensive? Also, is it difficult to find a lawn service and how expensive is that there?

What happens when there’s a hurricane? Do you evacuate north into Georgia? Does everyone own a generator in case the power goes out?

Here in Minneapolis, we had a major I-35 bridge collapse. It looks to me like you have a lot of bridges in Florida. Are they inspected regularly and is the maintenance work done when necessary?

Sorry to ask so many questions but I would appreciate any information.

[travelingfood]

Answering on just what I know...

Originally Posted by SRLADY

I understand that you need the services of an exterminator on a monthly basis. Is this very expensive?
Not necessary at all unless you're living in some bug infested place. Even that, there are annual services that will do service calls whenever you have pest problem. They're not cheap and 100% necessary, if you must have one, shop around and ask referrals. Condo and apartments sometimes have routine pest control services that's part of your fees though.

Also, is it difficult to find a lawn service and how expensive is that there?
A lot of private companies and next door neighbors here does lawn service.
It's a rich business here because st augustine grass grows FAST during summer times, it requires cutting on weekly basis. Live in a condo if that'll become too much to handle. Avg cost is $25~30 PER cut, they'll come cut every week during growing season (about 9~10 months), and just once/month during winter. Most of them also charge by monthly (with annual contracts) basis too, so $120/month during growing season, and STILL $120 for that 1 cut in winter. Ask the neighbors first for referrals, and even perhaps some of them will come help you cut.

What happens when there’s a hurricane? Do you evacuate north into Georgia? Does everyone own a generator in case the power goes out?
Only if there's a predicted direct hit. If you're living on the east of the intercoastal, you'll have to evacuate whenever the city deems necessary. People go West or North. I believe there are services/shelters for elderly and disabled. JAX hasn't had any direct hurricane hit for quite a looong time now. We do have occasional tornado warning...rarely any touched down. Rains here quite often though and it's humid during summer times.

Here in Minneapolis, we had a major I-35 bridge collapse. It looks to me like you have a lot of bridges in Florida. Are they inspected regularly and is the maintenance work done when necessary?
There's a bridge safety report online. JAX have a lot of bridges, but how often you'll use them just depends on where you live and daily travel needs. It's pretty safe on major bridges.

Sorry to ask so many questions but I would appreciate any information.

check our our local news sites for some daily info.
Jacksonville.com
First Coast News - Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Brunswick - WTLV NBC 12 and WJXX ABC 25 - local news, weather, programming, sports, traffic, health, consumer and television programming information for Jacksonville, southern Georgia and St. Augusti
Jacksonville News, Jacksonville, Florida Breaking News and Weather - WJXT News4Jax

www.coj.net Home Page is the city webpage. Should have more information on senior and disabled services.

[cricketfan]

I will attempt to answer only one of your questions and leave the others to the more informed. You could easily investigate the doctors and hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid here by plugging in a local zip code on the Medicare web site:

medicare.gov

Florida, on a whole, is more receptive to senior citizens and retirees than most other states because for many years it was the first state that came to mind when northerners decided to "come in from the cold".

[travelingfood]

Originally Posted by cricketfan

Florida, on a whole, is more receptive to senior citizens and retirees than most other states because for many years it was the first state that came to mind when northerners decided to "come in from the cold".

So today's 40degree weather must be like summers to them northerners...

[cricketfan]

Originally Posted by travelingfood

So today's 40degree weather must be like summers to them northerners...

More like a heatwave today ...

[agreatlife]

I cannot speak to medical but I'll attempt a few of the others:

You don't need monthly extermination. Believe it or not, even though we live in a "banana republic", the pest control folks do a great job at keeping the critter at bay. Quarterly service is standard and it does the job.

Generators are always a great thing to have, but I'd be willing to bet less than 10% of the homeowners have them. They are expensive and a pain to run, and you have to keep giving 'em gas, not to mention running them frequently when times are good so that you know they'll start when you need them.

Lawn service. Like travelingfood said, they average around 120+ monthly, it all depends on how big your yard is. Condo's are great, because generally lawn service is already provided. Best to ask neighbors for referrals and what they pay.

Services for disabled. Jax is good on this. We have a neighbor who is legally blind, and has regular pickups to get to the airport, or to downtown.

Hurricane evacuation depends on where the hurricane is expected to hit. However, evacuation is a real pain in the you-know-what. Too many people, not enough road space, and despite city planning, becomes impossible. Best advice is to get out of Dodge quickly before the masses, or basically you probably won't get out. Sort of like Nahleans with Katrina. Sorry, but it's true. During Floyd, we had neighbors who tried to evacuate (we decided to stay put and ride it out), only to find they returned home after 4 hours of sitting and goind a total of 4 miles. I will say the city does do disaster preparedness events, and they are always looking for ways to improve.

Bridge structures. I came across a file that showed the dangerous bridges in NEFL based on recent inspections, wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. You might want to google to see what you can find.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decisions.

[SRLADY]

Thanks so much for all the responses. I'm feeling better about this move already.

[travelingfood]

can anyone comment on safeness as far as traffic signal for the blinds? Not sure if the daughter travels alone sometimes.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by travelingfood

can anyone comment on safeness as far as traffic signal for the blinds? Not sure if the daughter travels alone sometimes.

I'd say not good. I don't know if our traffic buttons work, they seem to take a very long time whenever I've seen someone press them, but the way people drive around here, the OP's daughter would have to be very careful.

[SRLADY]

She never goes walking by herself where there's traffic lights so that's not too big a problem.

Cricketfan suggested condos but that's not possible with us since we have 2 small dogs. I have lived in townhouses in the past and that doesn't work out too well with dogs. So I'll just bite the bullet and pay a gardener. Thanks again for all the responses