What are the cons of moving west of the St John's River (Jacksonville: real estate)

[BethMac]

I'm considering moving back to Jacksonville, but always lived by the beach (lived there only a short while). I now will be a stay-at-home mom, so commute isn't much of an issue. I've been noticing the large discrepancy between cost of housing east to west of the river.

I'm wondering what makes east of the river so much more attractive. Is it much hotter west of the river? I know there is more to do, but I figure I can just hop over to the east side for things to do.

Any other problems that I'm missing? I'm particularly looking at Orange Park, but am open to suggestions about any area where you can have a little more land and less housing cost. Thanks in advance for any input!

[Florida2014]

Because Jacksonville is so large and there is so much traffic with limited options to go across the river, the "hop" over the bridges can be a an absolute nightmare at times, which is just one of many reasons why real estate is a bit less expensive on that side of town.

Now there are of course exceptions, but in general the further west you go the higher the crime rate, the lower the socio-economic status of people, the more rural it can be, the schools are not as good, you're further from the beach and I95/I295, fewer job opportunities, etc. etc. I can go on but you get the picture.

Someone will, of course, come on here and claim they live west of the river and it's great, blah blah blah....but as I mentioned there are pockets of good and bad areas on both sides. But in general....IN GENERAL.....the better areas are closer to the beach.

[JacksonvilleNative]

Pretty Much what Florida2014 said.

I have an aversion to Orange Park. Traffic can be absolutly stupid going up Blanding Blvd/StateRoad 21 at any given time of the day with the exception of say before 5:30AM. US 17 on the east side of OP is a little better but not much.

You should be able to find comprable priced homes close to the beach as you would in the west side. Just don't look to close to the ocean. Look just east of the Intracoastal (The Ditch) or west of it. It would be a short drive or bike ride to the ocean.