Best Jacksonville/St. Augustine Community for Educated Single Parent & Children (Tampa: hairstylist, condo)

[sunshinebound95]

Originally Posted by Giants6

St. Johns and St. Augustine are both in St. Johns County and the schools in each city follow the same curriculum, as districts in Florida are county based. For someone who has lived in the area for 6 months to make these judgments with no evidence to back up either statement in shortsighted.

I am going off of the world news rankings for high schools. I am sure people are happy at other schools as well, but northern st johns ( outside of paxton / stanton prep) kick but in ratings every year. I am thinking this is what OP was referring too.

[HomeTies n SweetTea]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

I would look into the Atlantic Beach or possibly Vilano Beach areas. This all depends on your budget, of course, but what you're looking for really doesn't exist in our area unless you're a baller and able to afford a $750,000+ custom house in Ponte Vedra Beach. For schools you'll probably want to stay in St Johns County so maybe Vilano (or Southern PVB) is a better bet.

What is a baller?

[sanfranmom]

Thank you. I'll check those out. We moved to Florida from San Francisco, so cookie cutter gated communities aren't our style.

[sanfranmom]

Thank you! Could you give me the specific address of the area you are talking about? Perhaps the post office so I know where to go? I am not that familiar in terms of areas at all.

I would love to check this area out!

[sanfranmom]

That's exactly what I was referring to. Stanton and Paxton were ranked as two of the best in the state....

[sanfranmom]

Originally Posted by BobJax

We have lived in Jacksonville for 25 years. The best "home town" feel is in the area north of the Post Office (located on Wonderwood). Go up Fort Caroline until you see the Catholic Church on the left.
The Harbour is on the left; the Valley is on the right.
Reason this area is the best:
1. Fully built out. You will not have traffic intensify as new communities pop up. So the area is peaceful now and it will remain so. The Harbour has large family custom homes and no doubt one of the real estate best values in Florida. Problem is the houses sell immediately when they go on the market.
2. Great private school with low tuition within walking distance.
3. Very convenient to EVERYTHING.
Restaurants, entertainment, park, STORES!, schools. Downtown - very easy to get to.
4. Beach is 11 minutes away. Mayport very close. Very good local college and 2 universities very close. Airport 20 minutes away. Super location, yet this area has a quiet hometown feel.

5. Interesting, wonderful microclimate caused by location near river and ocean.
6. No CDD fees. A big money saver.
7. No property tax increases when new schools are built in newer areas further South.
We are always checking out communities, maybe to move. You know the "greener pasture" thing.

But these new communities are SO, SO far from everything. The new homes get really expensive fast. It is like they sell you the shell and everything else is extra. I saw a "Parade of Homes" brochure. The house was $325,000. As shown, it was $450,000. And it wasn't THAT great.
One agent said, "The price of the home is X, however you will end up paying 20% more because of add-ons, like lot premiums, etc." Oh, you want wood floors? That's $25, 000 extra. Plus they give you 24 hours to make all design choices. I comparison shopped and found that extras were usually double the normal price. Stick to an existing home and upgrade as you wish.
Plus I keep seeing literally no backyards in these new subdivisions.

We always come home thinking how lucky we are.

See how far you have to drive to get to the places you want near you. We went to a new area by the World Golf Village. Seriously we would have to drive forever to get to a play, Home Depot, Walmart, doctors offices. Sure, they say commercial will come. One fast growing area (not saying names) has said that for years now. That area added stores painfully slow. At that pace the place will not be considered "close" to the things you want in maybe 30 years, seriously.

I know three people (one relative) who sells/builds new homes. All bought in established older subdivisions. Why? Most say "Location, location, location". They all wanted to be closer in. One person bought an older home a couple of miles from the subdivision this person was selling new homes in.

I have seen three families leave this area and MOVE BACK, because they miss it so much. There are 4 families I know where one parent grew up (as a child) in the neighborhood and returned to buy their house here.

Please understand that a new home is wonderful for many, many people. Established neighbors are better for others. It's your preference.

Peaceful, affordable. Huge park within walking distance. The kids around here seem to be such a good group.

Low traffic compared to other areas.

I could go on and on.
Good Luck!

Could you give me an address of where to find this specific area?
Thanks!

[kokonutty]

Originally Posted by sanfranmom

Could you give me an address of where to find this specific area?
Thanks!

The church appears to be at 11665 Ft Caroline Rd Jacksonville 32225.

Having said that and after Googling through the area, I'm not sure it's what you're looking for. The closest thing to what you're looking for may be found in Fernandina Beach, it hits a number of your bullet points - starting with quaint...

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...72_rect/14_zm/

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by sunshinebound95

I agree nocatee is very cookie cutter. ( I always hum the weeds theme song to myself ) I just can't think of where she would find this type of community. I don't think PVB is going to be a good fit for a single mom with kids. Everyone I meet is married and SAHM for the most part. I recomended GLV because I know of atleast 4 widows in the plan here. Vilano is lovely but I wouldn't live there with kids as it's remote and I am pretty certain st augestine schools.

How is neptune beach? It certainly has the cute beach town vibe, as well as lots of tourist. I am not sure of schools, how many kids live there, or affordability.

And also to whomever said they would not live in st augestine proper I agree. It's a cute cute town and we go often, but crime can also be an issue as well as so many tourist. If you get out towards WGV and palencia they are nice but also cookie cutter and isolated.

I had a single mom living in my neighborhood. There was also a single dad living nearby up in north PVB. Not everyone in PVB is a SAHM. That is just a stereotype that the people in Nocatee like to spread amongst themselves, for whatever reason. Because there are a lot of condos in PVB, you are more likely to find single parents there than you would be in Nocatee because the price point is lower for the condos than it is for the single family homes. There are also lots of smaller, older homes as well. Just because you happen to have anecdotal evidence that everyone in PVB is a SAHM doesn't mean that everyone is a SAHM. I lived in north PVB and the bus stop was packed with kids.

[sanfranmom]

Originally Posted by kokonutty

The church appears to be at 11665 Ft Caroline Rd Jacksonville 32225.

Having said that and after Googling through the area, I'm not sure it's what you're looking for. The closest thing to what you're looking for may be found in Fernandina Beach, it hits a number of your bullet points - starting with quaint...

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...72_rect/14_zm/

Thanks so much! That is adorable!

[kevinas]

If you don't care for Tampa and "cookie cutter" suburbs I don't think you will like NE FL. There is a huge difference between visiting St. Augustine and living here, IMO. I say that as someone who grew up in Northern California and travels around Florida a lot on business. Also, not to delve too much into politics but you might want to have a peak at the last election results before you home shop. Many areas around here (like Fernandina) went 60%-70% for Trump. Those folks obviously will be your neighbors. Anyway, good luck with your search.