Visiting soon- couple of questions (Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach: house prices, neighborhoods, school district)

[janeypants]

It’s looking pretty firm that we’re headed to Jax for hubby’s job. We’re planning a visit in the upcoming weeks and I was hoping for some help planning the trip.

1. I want to check out local neighborhoods to get a feel for them. Husband will be mostly working near UNF with occasional days up near the airport. The school system is a huge priority- I have a son with Aspergers who is mainstreamed but I want to feel confident in the teachers and support staff. St. Johns area (looking at Julington Creek and 210 areas) is a draw but is this too far for the commute? Husband leaves for work at 6 or 6:30 am, and then comes home between 4 & 5, if that makes a difference. Other areas I want to check out include the Beaches, ICW, Oceanway and Southside. Any input? Top notch elementary and middle schools are huge.

2. I will have a 5 year old and 2 year old with me. We plan to do some days at the beach playing in the sand, visiting city parks, etc. Any other things that they might love? The zoo? Any cool restaurants that kids enjoy in particular?

3.Anything else I should do? Check out? I’m sure it will be a whirlwind of a week but I’m terribly excited to get there!

Thank you all!

[mawipafl]

I can't comment about schools, but I can say that I think the commute from Julington or 210 areas could be 30+/- minutes to the UNF area, and to the airport anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. It all depends on route and associated traffic (I-295 and the Buckman Bridge or I-95 through downtown or 9A). Perhaps there's someone here on C-D who does the commute between the places you're inquiring about?

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by janeypants

It’s looking pretty firm that we’re headed to Jax for hubby’s job. We’re planning a visit in the upcoming weeks and I was hoping for some help planning the trip.

1. I want to check out local neighborhoods to get a feel for them. Husband will be mostly working near UNF with occasional days up near the airport. The school system is a huge priority- I have a son with Aspergers who is mainstreamed but I want to feel confident in the teachers and support staff. St. Johns area (looking at Julington Creek and 210 areas) is a draw but is this too far for the commute? Husband leaves for work at 6 or 6:30 am, and then comes home between 4 & 5, if that makes a difference. Other areas I want to check out include the Beaches, ICW, Oceanway and Southside. Any input? Top notch elementary and middle schools are huge.

2. I will have a 5 year old and 2 year old with me. We plan to do some days at the beach playing in the sand, visiting city parks, etc. Any other things that they might love? The zoo? Any cool restaurants that kids enjoy in particular?

3.Anything else I should do? Check out? I’m sure it will be a whirlwind of a week but I’m terribly excited to get there!

Thank you all!

no comments about the schools other than duval schools are a crapshoot, some are ok some are sketchy. as for place to live, there are some really nice places real close to UNF off of kernan or hodges, airport is about 30 minutes away from this area and the beaches are a hop skip and a jump away

[5FLgirls]

Janeypants - Yo should probably stay in St. Johns County or else check out the schools in Duval according to each specific school itself. We bought our house according to the zoning which can get complicated in parts of Jax. From a family aspect, you'd probably like 210 and Julington Creek (depending on where you are coming from). There are lots of young families there and it beginning to get "stuff". House prices in that area are affordable too. The drive might be a toll on your husband because of traffic. Traffic in Jax isn't as bad as everyone complains about--it moves but slowly. He's traveling at decent times but his afternoons will be busier than his mornings. I used to be able to get from PVB to UNF in 20 minutes during the height of traffic. 45 minutes to an hour to the airport depending on accidents and traffic flow. My kids loved playing at the zoo. You should definitely check out St. Augustine, walk around and have some lunch. We also enjoyed walking around St. Johns Town Center and there's a ton to eat there too. My kids loved going to Clark's Fish Camp. It's a bit difficult to get to. The food is not outstanding but the atmosphere and feeding the fish were big winners. It was our big treat on Sundays for lunch. Depending on your price range -- Deerwood on the Southside was nice. We almost bought in there. We loved our house in Ponte Vedra Beach.

[riveree]

I responded inside your post...(note: I know nothing of Oceanway - school-wise or otherwise)

Originally Posted by janeypants

It’s looking pretty firm that we’re headed to Jax for hubby’s job. We’re planning a visit in the upcoming weeks and I was hoping for some help planning the trip.

1. I want to check out local neighborhoods to get a feel for them. Husband will be mostly working near UNF with occasional days up near the airport. The school system is a huge priority- I have a son with Aspergers who is mainstreamed but I want to feel confident in the teachers and support staff. St. Johns area (looking at Julington Creek and 210 areas) is a draw but is this too far for the commute? Husband leaves for work at 6 or 6:30 am, and then comes home between 4 & 5, if that makes a difference. Other areas I want to check out include the Beaches, ICW, Oceanway and Southside. Any input? Top notch elementary and middle schools are huge.

I don't think the commute would be too bad from Julington Creek into the UNF area, it would certainly be a significantly longer commute than if you chose to live near UNF, the Beaches or Southside, but it's not an outrageous commute.

Julington Creek is at the "northern" end of a fast growing area, so you'd be at the "front" of a large group of commuters, so if you're concerned about a long commute, don't look further south than Julington Creek.

I don't think you should write off the Duval schools. The areas of Duval that you're looking into have A-rated elementary and middle schools as well as some schools that are part of the Magnet program...in short, there are some good schools in Duval. Now your child's special needs are something else and you'll need to investigate further on that issue no matter which school district you end up in. You might want to talk to these folks and see if they can help you determine which schools might be able to help your child:

Center for Autism and Related Disabilities - Florida's first choice for autism support

Beyond that, you'll find the housing style & price and the "family-friendliness" of the areas you're considering to be pretty equal (I'm not familiar with Oceanway though? )

2. I will have a 5 year old and 2 year old with me. We plan to do some days at the beach playing in the sand, visiting city parks, etc. Any other things that they might love? The zoo? Any cool restaurants that kids enjoy in particular?

The zoo sounds fun:

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens Official Home Page

When you're in the Intracoastal West area, you might want to check out our water park:

Adventure Landing: Jacksonville Beach, FL

If you're moving here, the kids will probably do this with their school class, but it's a museum for kids:

Jacksonville Museum of Science & History :: Welcome to the MOSH Online!

For a restaurant for the kids, I haven't been here myself, but it's right on the ocean and would be a convenient stop when you check out IW and the Beaches:

Joe's Crab Shack - it's on Beach Blvd & the Ocean (right on the dune)

3.Anything else I should do? Check out? I’m sure it will be a whirlwind of a week but I’m terribly excited to get there!

The Saint John's Town Center is fun and easy to walk around in, a day in historic St. Augustine would be great as mentioned.

Thank you all!

[sc2jax]

I don't know where you are coming from - but you are going to love it here. We just moved here a couple of months ago and have been so happy here. I have an almost 2 year old and an almost 6 year old. Schools were our number one priority. My husband works near the airport and there were some areas in the southside that we really liked(which would have made for a shorter commute) but I just couldn't get past the schools. Some of the schools are A rated schools - but looking past that they are HUGE (1200 kids in some cases) and that was just too big for me. (This is just my personal opinion). I researched the schools in St. John's County (I'm an educator) and really really liked some of the schools there. We picked the three schools we liked best and then chose a house in one of those zones. We are in the Julington Creek area (though not in a JC subdivision) and we LOVE it here. It is very family oriented, lots of parks, people out riding bikes, youth sports, etc. My husband does have a bit of a commute (45 plus minutes) everyday, but it is worth it to live somewhere we really like and to feel comfortable with the school situation. Feel free to email me if you want more info on this area - I'll help as much as my 2 months experience here will allow

Good luck with your decision - it can be overwhelming, I know.

[janeypants]

Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

We come from the Boston area so my husband is familiar with long, crowded commutes so we're not terribly concerned there. The majority of the time, we believe he'll be near UNF so St. Johns area won't be such a hike but I'm going to ask him to talk to HR during our visit next week to confirm this.

Before we buy, I'll make sure I really study the school grades and may post more questions here related to that... I'll probably become completely obnoxious before the move is done.

[mawipafl]

Ah the Boston area commute - joyful! <not> T'was North Shore to Charlestown for us, then later to the South Shore. Your husband will find the traffic here very different - it can be thick, but in a different way.

Too many questions are never enough, so never fear becoming obnoxious! :-)