Relocating to Jacksonville? (apartment, to rent, townhouse)

[neesy]

I'm givng serious consideration to relocating to Jacksonville from NC. I miss city living and want to be closer to the coast. I'm not very familiar with that area. I am planning to make several trips down there before I make a final decision.

I would like advice on favorable, yet affordable areas. I'm a single parent with three kids (6,9, 13). I am particularly concered about good schools. I like the family atmosphere of my current location. However, I lived in the DC area for 17 years, I miss having access to public transportation and the overall city atmosphere. I like having access to shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

I'm gathering from some of the posts I've read, that I may need to stay clear of the northside.

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by neesy

I'm givng serious consideration to relocating to Jacksonville from NC. I miss city living and want to be closer to the coast. I'm not very familiar with that area. I am planning to make several trips down there before I make a final decision.

I would like advice on favorable, yet affordable areas. I'm a single parent with three kids (6,9, 13). I am particularly concered about good schools. I like the family atmosphere of my current location. However, I lived in the DC area for 17 years, I miss having access to public transportation and the overall city atmosphere. I like having access to shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

I'm gathering from some of the posts I've read, that I may need to stay clear of the northside.

Like many other urban places, good schools are not easily found, some JAX's lower grade schools are ok but unless your kid gets into one of the 2 top notch magnet high schools the rest of them are pretty dismal, better schools can be found in areas close to but outside of JAX.
as for public transport, forget it, you'll find nothing like DC's system here, you'll probably need a car for shopping and going out.
as for affordability, you should be able to find a reasonably priced place in many parts of town, JAX is very sprawled out so planning where you live is hard without knowing where you'll be working and what type of location you want.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by neesy

I'm givng serious consideration to relocating to Jacksonville from NC. I miss city living and want to be closer to the coast. I'm not very familiar with that area. I am planning to make several trips down there before I make a final decision.

I would like advice on favorable, yet affordable areas. I'm a single parent with three kids (6,9, 13). I am particularly concered about good schools. I like the family atmosphere of my current location. However, I lived in the DC area for 17 years, I miss having access to public transportation and the overall city atmosphere. I like having access to shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

I'm gathering from some of the posts I've read, that I may need to stay clear of the northside.

The Northside has been predominantly rural and though it has some new development, it is not the hub of shopping, restaurants and entertainment you're looking for, so for that reason alone you might want to look elsewhere.

I highlighted in your posts some areas you might want to elaborate on....

How urban do you want to live? We have some nice urban-suburban areas along the river, but once you go beyond that it's suburban and more suburban.

What do you consider "affordable"? What is the top of your budget and what kind of house are you expecting to get for that? This info will rule areas in or out pretty easily.

Access to shopping/restaurants/entertainment to some degree is available in most areas. Meaning, we've all got Targets and Walmarts and Home Depots and chain restaurants in or very close to our neighborhoods - this is nothing special - it's fairly standard. So simple "access to shopping" is a given, but if you're looking for something more than that, you'll need to tell us so we can be sure we're speaking the same language and we understand what you mean by "access to shopping" (I've gotten myself into trouble on this one before !). How close do you want to be and to what exactly?

Public transportation, as stated above, should not be relied on if you can help it, it's not very good here. Schools can be good, but that's not the case all over the city and at the high school level it gets tricky, so you'll need to weigh that as well.

[neesy]

How urban do you want to live? I like the suburban atmosphere. I prefer a relatively quiet area with a city feel to it. I want to be able to hop in my car and get to a mall, stores or restaurants within 5 minutes. Maybe 10 at the most to get to a mall. I don't want to be awakened by sirens and people screaming at all hours. What do you consider "affordable"? I'm going to rent when I first move there. I need to get a feel for the area and make sure I have made a sound decision before I committ to buying. The most I want to spend is $1300/mth on a 3/4 bedroom house. I've got to have a garage. I have a motorcycle and have to make sure I'm in an area where I'm not going to be worried all day about someone seeing my bike and trying to break in for it. Yeah, that can happen anywhere. But you know some neighborhoods are higher risk than others. As for public transport, I realize very few cities will have mass transit along the lines of DC. I'm working on transferring with my current company. I won't be sure what location I will be working in until I get closer to moving time. I drive 60 miles a day to/from work where I am now. With gas prices as they are, I'm hoping for other alternatives when I relocate. I usually drive when I go shopping, movies, etc. I'm more concerned with having that option for work. I guess my question there is what areas allow access to public transportation.

Can you pretty much get to the beach within 20-30 minutes from the Jacksonville Metro area? I realize high schools anywhere are pretty questionable for the simple fact that you are dealing with teens. What high schools should I avoid when looking at housing in different areas? My daughter is a good kid. I talk to her and give her guidance to help her make the right decisions. But when they are out of sight...who knows. I want her to be in a school where education is important and where the administration does everything possible to maintain a safe environment that is condusive to learning.

[riveree]

At first, when you said "suburban with a city feel but quiet", the San Jose area and the Goodby's Creek area came to mind (close enough to the city, but still unquestionably suburban).

But then you mentioned your high schooler, and that makes me think you might want to add Mandarin since the high school is very good. Mandarin is even a little more suburban, but it's also an easy hop to the Avenues Mall, our second nicest mall.

In the San Jose area, I think your high school would be Wolfson, which is probably okay (I'm not sure what the current rating is ), but Mandarin High is better.

There are other nice areas of Jax that would fit many of your requirements, but the further away you get from the river and Downtown, the quicker that "city feel" disappears and it just becomes "suburbia"...fine for some, but it sounds like you're looking for something a little different.

I totally agree about keeping your motorcycle in a garage - everyone I know who has one keeps theirs in a garage - I don't know anyone who does otherwise.

Public Transport.....again, the further away from the river and downtown you get, the worse the public transportation gets. Here's a link to our public transportation, explore their site and you'll get a picture of what areas might work for you regarding public transportation:

Jacksonville Transportation Authority - Transportation Services (broken link)

The beach....from the river to the ocean is roughly 25-30 minutes, so as long as you're located somewhere between the two, you'll be inside your desired beach commute. If you decide to be west of the river, just get as close to the river as you can if beach proximity is important.

[HIF]

Since you like the suburban atmosphere, the 32223 zip in Mandarin would be a good place to consider. Just over 12 miles to the city center and the bus runs up San Jose. The schools are all A-rated. You could find a house, townhouse or apartment with a garage in that price-range, yet it is a relatively safe area. Kids ride bikes out in the neighborhoods, you could get anything you need within a mile or less and the Avenues Mall and a theater are all a short drive, maybe not ten, but 15 easily during non-rush hour.

The traffic on San Jose can be a bear, but no more than Southside Blvd., Blanding, I-95 or some other areas. When you live here, you figure out the routes to take during the peak hours.

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by riveree

but it's also an easy hop to the Avenues Mall, our second nicest mall.

if that is second which is the nicest mall?
SJTC in my opinion is a just another shopping center, albeit with more upscale shops, malls are usually indoor things

[riveree]

Originally Posted by apvbguy

if that is second which is the nicest mall?
SJTC in my opinion is a just another shopping center, albeit with more upscale shops, malls are usually indoor things

The developers call them "open air malls" and as I understand, the enclosed mall is out of vogue with the developers, so they're not really building those any more. The new competition to existing malls is the open air mall.

So yes, I meant SJTC (Saint Johns Town Center for the OP) to be our current nicest mall.

[CityCare]

I agree that Mandarin area is great, especially north part because there is a heavy traffic further south. Mandarin High school has very nice program called AICE but students should meet certain criteria to be admitted to the program.