St. John's or Tampa area? (Jacksonville, Orlando: transplants, 2015, home builder)

[JayG2385]

Originally Posted by thelma123

We have visited the Tampa area (mainly the Wesley Chapel, Land O Lakes area) and will be visiting St. John's this summer to check it out. Which one in your opinion is better for families? Hubby will be working remote so commute won't matter much, we have a $375 budget for house with pool, and are looking for family friendly area with good middle/high schools. Which area is better and why? I would love to hear your opinions. Thank you!

Hi! I’m looking into moving this summer to St. John’s area, wanted to know what your experience has been like this far, where did you end up settling?. It’s a big move, I have 3 kids 7,8,14 and want to make sure I’m doing the right thing for them!

[Ivan Putski]

Originally Posted by JayG2385

Hi! I’m looking into moving this summer to St. John’s area, wanted to know what your experience has been like this far, where did you end up settling?. It’s a big move, I have 3 kids 7,8,14 and want to make sure I’m doing the right thing for them!

We live in PVB (going on 8 years) and absolutely love it. I have an 8 year old and his school (Ocean Palms Elem) has been great. Ponte Vedra High School for instance is ranked 396 nationally out of 24,000+ high schools in the country.

Look up schools in your current area and compare it to schools in St. Johns. You'll be surprised:

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...gh-school-5590

[socalbee]

PV is OK, but way too crowded for us, the traffic is almost as bad as south Florida. We prefer further south, and the beaches are better and more accessible.

[DovieHarding]

good for you

[Ivan Putski]

Originally Posted by socalbee

PV is OK, but way too crowded for us, the traffic is almost as bad as south Florida. We prefer further south, and the beaches are better and more accessible.

How long did you live in PV to make that assessment? Just curious.

[socalbee]

Originally Posted by Ivan Putski

How long did you live in PV to make that assessment? Just curious.

We live near enough to know and drove though PV every day for a few years. We considered moving there recently too as we are looking to downsize. (Del Webb at Nocatee) We visited at all times of the day when doing our due diligence. Drove back and forth to the nearest beach many times too. The ritual was drive to DW Nocatee, then to the beach and then the main shopping areas. Compared to other areas like coastal St. Augustine, Palencia etc.

We originally looked in Marsh Landing, Sawgrass, Palm Valley, La Palmas, Marsh Dunes to name a few. We have nothing against PVB. We like to live walking/cycling distance from the beach. PVB was a big contender when we moved here in 2005. But the traffic, and beaches were our main issues. We decided on further south, it works better for us.

BTW when I said further south, I meant South Coastal St. Johns County. Going South at Palencia traffic gets a little better. Not having to work and commute into Jax every day, being able to live anywhere one likes helps with one's decision on location.

[DovieHarding]

good for you

[Leaving4Ca]

Saint Johns County is extremely crowded and becoming more congested with each passing day. The schools have a high rating... but there will be some trailers in use next year at one of the brand new schools because capacity is already at the breaking point. I can't remember which one, you would have to do a little research on your own to determine that.

And with congestion and more people... come the usual problems that you have everywhere. Don't forget about that. We are not loving life in St. Johns as much as we did 3 years ago because it takes almost twice as long to drive places now because of the construction and large volume of cars. The roads are not keeping up with the increase in traffic. Lots of townhomes and condos going in too - in addition to the single family homes. Any spare commercial lot is getting a storage facility built on it...

If we could do it over again, I would move to South Florida. Probably Wellington area - yes already crowded and built out, but then you KNOW what you are getting. St. Johns is a messy hodge podge, extremely poor planning with no thought to quality of daily life - only money for the county.

[socalbee]

Originally Posted by Leaving4Ca

Saint Johns County is extremely crowded and becoming more congested with each passing day. The schools have a high rating... but there will be some trailers in use next year at one of the brand new schools because capacity is already at the breaking point. I can't remember which one, you would have to do a little research on your own to determine that.

And with congestion and more people... come the usual problems that you have everywhere. Don't forget about that. We are not loving life in St. Johns as much as we did 3 years ago because it takes almost twice as long to drive places now because of the construction and large volume of cars. The roads are not keeping up with the increase in traffic. Lots of townhomes and condos going in too - in addition to the single family homes. Any spare commercial lot is getting a storage facility built on it...

If we could do it over again, I would move to South Florida. Probably Wellington area - yes already crowded and built out, but then you KNOW what you are getting. St. Johns is a messy hodge podge, extremely poor planning with no thought to quality of daily life - only money for the county.

I agree with your points, but for North St. Johns, not necessarily the south. I would draw the line at Palencia, all the way across to the river. Yes, we have traffic, but nowhere near what south Florida has to deal with, we have looked all over and cannot find anywhere near the coast better than what we have here.

I also agree that 3 years ago it was better, but honestly, especially with the addition of Costco at WGV, it is easy to get everything once needs or wants without getting into Nocatee or PVB level traffic congestion. We rarely go further north than Costco in WGV anymore, it is like Tampa, Sarasota or Naples from a Traffic perspective, just without the devastation of their hurricanes.

Hopefully in our lifetime it will remain as is. There are no more large swaths of land where we are to build mega communities, ours has 600 homes, is gated and has an optional membership private golf course on site, we are NOT members, but do get to enjoy the manicured grounds on a daily basis, all within walking / Biking distance from the beach. It honestly does not really get much better than that, at least not for us.

[sunlover23]

The school district cannot and will not sustain their #1 rating much longer. As with other areas of the country, we are experiencing devastating teacher shortages. As a freshman, my student’s science teacher was the assistant principal for 2+ months as they could not fill the position. This year alone she’s had 2 teachers quit, not even mid year and with no notice, and regularly sits in the media center because there is no warm body (sub) to babysit the class. Those are my personal experiences, there are a slew of many more concerning stories I read about daily from other parents.

I have posted before these so called ratings are inflated and and misleading. Students are allowed to retake exams until the desired grade is achieved and are made to retest with anything lower than an 85. All to keep up appearances.
Have lived here for 30+ years. You think 3 years ago was better, you should have seen it in the 80’s and 90’s. Traffic is terrible due to poor planning.

Homeowners are suing builders left and right for defects because the houses have gone up so quickly to keep up with demand. There’s a whole other thread on home builders to check out.

Do you due diligence and visit to decide for yourself.