Moving to Jacksonville vs Orlando vs gainsville (Gainesville, Ocala: rentals, low crime)

[Skeens84]

Well I have spent the last two months reading every post I could to gain as much knowledge before I posted. I guess I should say opinions with some facts rather than knowledge. We are looking at these three areas and there surrounding areas for relocation from the north. We just spent four months in Charleston SC and are wanting to do a couple short two or three month trips to Florida before we move permanently. We have tried North Carolina, South Carolina, and now want to try Florida . Florida was out first choice but it was cheaper and easier to start further north and work out way down. Early 30s , two daughters 3yr and 1yr. I work from home in the medical field and my wife is a registered nurse. We do not like full blown city life, but enjoy relaxed , laid back towns with good food and shopping within reason. Girls are young but love the outdoors. Our priorities are low crime, great schools, large lot sizes or land options, minimal HOAs, and we want to be as safe from hurricanes as we can. We have been though two hurricanes and we would really love to buy or build a strong IcF or traditional concrete home, well away from flood zones, and install a generator, safe room, and backup water supply. I know this is likely overkill for some areas but we have been through evacuations and in my opinion, it’s awful. Our home budget is $550k or less. We stayed in Jacksonville and the panhandle and visited Ocala. We love Jacksonville , St Augustine , and really loved Ocala and wish to visit and stay in than jaskonville area for a couple months and the Orlando area for a couple months . We want to explore, see, and really get a feel if Florida is for sure where we want to be forever. I have two asks, which areas are low key and have our priority matches, for low crime , great schools, and are less hurricane prone. And where is a good place to find short term rentals for maybe two months at a time? We plan to probably hit Jacksonville it st Augustine at the beginning of the year and then go down towards Orlando. We thought we could see gainsville, middleburg, and Ocala during our trip and then see areas like Windermere, Dr Phillips, winter springs, winter haven, maybe minneola, or even some of the more rural areas outside of Orlando. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. I found those folks in the other states to be so helpful in helping make our trips to other states much more successful. Jobs and commutes are not concerns as I am the primary worker but when my wife returns to work, she can pretty much work at any healthcare facility in the area. I should also state that we know that it’s hot, there are bugs, gators, there’s tornados, crime everywhere, diversity everywhere, it’s humid, and the areas i have disclosed are very different in nature but that’s why I’m posting. We have been through a summer in the south and we don’t mind the heat, we love the beach but as long as we can get to a non crowded beach in an hour or so, we are good, we don’t have to live there. Thank you

[Spock2017]

Based on your title ,,I’d lean towards Jacksonville. Most likely the northern area of St Johns County. Gainesville is mostly a college town, and Orlando is a crime ridden dump that is way over crowded and has too many tourists,

I was just in Orlando this past weekend. Every time i go there i wonder how people live there. Great place to visit, wouldnt live there for free

[Apreik]

St. Johns County is very cool right now. Tons of neighborhoods popping up, each with their own feel and attraction. Top school district in Florida 10 years running.

[Skeens84]

Originally Posted by Spock2017

Based on your title ,,I’d lean towards Jacksonville. Most likely the northern area of St Johns County. Gainesville is mostly a college town, and Orlando is a crime ridden dump that is way over crowded and has too many tourists,

I was just in Orlando this past weekend. Every time i go there i wonder how people live there. Great place to visit, wouldnt live there for free

SO would this be Nocatee area? We drove through there during our last trip and it felt much like MT Pleasant SC felt, houses pretty much on top of either other, looked like quite a bit of new construction going up in an already booming area. My only fear is that it would be a little busy and crowded . I may be wrong, that’s the feel I got. We do love this area and can see why it’s so popular. I’m trying to get a feel for what hurricane / tornado / flooding risks are. I know hurricane scores are really low but we dealt with Charleston and it’s large number of rivers and waterways. A hurricane like Florence or Harvey coming to Jacksonville or st Augustine that packs a little wind but the rain in the rivers in combination with storm surge make me nervous that close to the ocean but being on the other side of the waterway. Do areas like nocatee have elevation enough to avoid catostrophic flooding in an event like this? Building a home like some of these “green builders “ do out of concrete and steel with shutters etc and backup generator and water supply, we would like to avoid evacuations but if you are in a flood zone, no of that matters, you still have to leave. This is the only reason we were looking at central Florida .

[Gromicide]

Nocatee is a large community in the northern part of St Johns County. Basically sandwiched between Jacksonville and St Augustine. It is 10 min or less from the ocean. Your observations are accurate in that lots of people like it, houses are generally limited to 60-70 ft lots, 95% are wood frame not block. It is a little busy but depends on what you're used to. It's not busy like popular areas closer to big cities. This area (north florida) has not had a direct hit by a strong hurricane in over 40 years. We have been brushed by a couple but this area is pretty well protected. Nocatee infrastructure has proven to be well designed to handle the ton of rain we get during the summer and the few brushes with tropical storms etc...Days of heavy rain and very little standing water that I can recall.

Anyway

[Skeens84]

Originally Posted by Gromicide

Nocatee is a large community in the northern part of St Johns County. Basically sandwiched between Jacksonville and St Augustine. It is 10 min or less from the ocean. Your observations are accurate in that lots of people like it, houses are generally limited to 60-70 ft lots, 95% are wood frame not block. It is a little busy but depends on what you're used to. It's not busy like popular areas closer to big cities. This area (north florida) has not had a direct hit by a strong hurricane in over 40 years. We have been brushed by a couple but this area is pretty well protected. Nocatee infrastructure has proven to be well designed to handle the ton of rain we get during the summer and the few brushes with tropical storms etc...Days of heavy rain and very little standing water that I can recall.

Anyway

Are you aware of any other northern St. John’s areas where it may be less crowded with lots that are more sizeable or even lots to build on that still I’ve good school access ?

[Gromicide]

Originally Posted by Skeens84

Are you aware of any other northern St. John’s areas where it may be less crowded with lots that are more sizeable or even lots to build on that still I’ve good school access ?

I'm sure there is. By sizeable do you mean half acre or more? I would suggest using redfin where you can specify your search to include type of land, draw a search area using your mouse, search by zip etc...

When i was house hunting the last two years I constantly searched listings by zip codes: 32081 (mostly Nocatee), 32259 (Durbin/210/Julington), 32092 (210, Shearwater), 32095 (Palencia etc). All these areas are the focal points of the A rated school craze that makes this area so popular.

While a big part of the housing boom in these areas are from big master planned communities, there is still some rural feel to it which includes existing homes on large lots like horse ranches, estates etc...I drooled over many 3-4 acre ranch style properties with 4000+ sq ft modern homes and river front homes and lots but not my price range.

There are also some rentals which might be a good choice to get familiar with the areas for a year or so and not commit. Plus the housing market might be near peak prices now. I'm no expert though...lol

[squarpeg]

My son lived in Orlando for a few years and I just can't imagine why someone would want to live in central Florida. It doesn't sound like you are required to live anywhere due to a job. So why go there. Ditto Gainsville. It is Florida, if your not on the water, near the water, seeing the water on a regular basis why come? People only move to the swamp for the warm sunny clime and the water. Why would you give up 50% of the best Florida has to offer. Jacksonville I think is the obvious choice, although I personally think the city itself is lame, it does have potential, and you are on the right track to be looking in surrounding areas from St Augustine to Amelia Island. I can't be as specific as others on housing developments but my recommendation is stay on the coast even if you may have to dodge the occasional hurricane.

[Spock2017]

Originally Posted by Skeens84

Are you aware of any other northern St. John’s areas where it may be less crowded with lots that are more sizeable or even lots to build on that still I’ve good school access ?

Nocatee is in our conversation. The one thing i don’t like about it is the traffic, but I guess no matter where you go there will be traffic

If you want areas less crowded you need to go west of I-95, again in northern St. John’s County.

Some communities that might pique your interest that come to the top of my head are Shearwater, Rivertown, and Murabella. A lot less developed then along the I-95 corridor.

[Skeens84]

Originally Posted by Gromicide

I'm sure there is. By sizeable do you mean half acre or more? I would suggest using redfin where you can specify your search to include type of land, draw a search area using your mouse, search by zip etc...

When i was house hunting the last two years I constantly searched listings by zip codes: 32081 (mostly Nocatee), 32259 (Durbin/210/Julington), 32092 (210, Shearwater), 32095 (Palencia etc). All these areas are the focal points of the A rated school craze that makes this area so popular.

While a big part of the housing boom in these areas are from big master planned communities, there is still some rural feel to it which includes existing homes on large lots like horse ranches, estates etc...I drooled over many 3-4 acre ranch style properties with 4000+ sq ft modern homes and river front homes and lots but not my price range.

There are also some rentals which might be a good choice to get familiar with the areas for a year or so and not commit. Plus the housing market might be near peak prices now. I'm no expert though...lol

Thank you this is great advice. I wish I could find a short term rental for maybe two months or three at the most . Just to be sure we like it . We kind of want to find a furnished short term rental so we can basically bring ourselves and not bring the whole load down and not like it. If we like it then we will arrange a moving company and find either long term lease and then go house hunting or wait to see what the market does. I’ve looked in ads and CL and some of the rental apps but haven’t found any short term rentals in the area.