Moving to JAX...advice on neighborhoods? (Jacksonville, Plantation: 2010, rental, homes)

[snomint3]

Hi! This is such an active and informative forum, I love it!

My family and I are moving to Jacksonville in December and would love some advice on where to live. We have 3 small children and are initially looking to rent in the southside or beaches area. We've had several rental listings sent to us but it's so hard to ~really~ know what the neighborhoods and distances are like in spread out Jax! There are a few neighborhoods/developements in particular we are looking at. If anyone knows anything about them we would love any advice!

The neighborhoods are: Tide's Edge (PVB), Selva Tierra (Atlantic Beach), Julington Creek/The Meadows

My basic questions about them would be:
what kind of neighborhood is it (family, retirement/etc), how far it is from shopping/restaurants, what is the traffic in that area like/commute to Baymeadows&95 (it's ok if it's long!), are there good preshools/elementary schools in the area

Any other suggestions are welcomed too! Our basic criteria would be that we would like to live in a family oriented area with good schools & short commutes to basic shopping and things to do. We do have 3 little children so a more quiet/safe neighborhood away main roads would be best.

We are really looking forward to our move to Jacksonville, we lived in Jax for 6 months a few years ago when my husband was training for work & we loved it!

Thanks in advance for any advice or helpful hints you can give me!!

Christen R.

[riveree]

I think you've chosen some nice options. Ponte Vedra is overall nice and Julington Creek is a nice family area as well. I don't know Selva Tierra specifically but I know the Selva Marina area and it's a great area. If I was to move out to the beach, the Selva Marina area would be on my short list for sure .

As for shopping and restaurants and such, you'd have some at each location, but the options at the beach are a little more interesting (less chains, more independents).

[snomint3]

Thanks Riveree!

Since we are renting at first I'm less stressed about finding the ~perfect~ neighborhood, but it would be great to start out somewhere nice! The property in PVB looks like it's pretty far north (just south of 202), so I'm thinking it might still be pretty close to Jax shopping. I know it's lame, but when I say shopping I mean places like Target & grocery stores...I can't live w/out Target!

[lokahi]

All 3 of those areas are nice.

Atlantic Beach: you'll have a really great little seaside beach town feel, which I love. plus, the schools are good, depending on how old your kids are, the elementary schools are great. You'll have to take Atlantic Blvd. over to 9A which can be a pain with all the lights, but it's not too bad. AB has a great Kmart (like Riveree, I love my Kmarts and Targets!)

PVB: This is considered St. John's county proper, and not "Jacksonville". The elementary schools in PVB are also very good, and there is a nice library as well. There is less of the little seaside beach town feel that you have in AB, but you're closer to JTB which is the one of the main roads in Jax. Plus, you're close to Target, etc.

Julington Creek: Not too familiar with this area, but have friends who live there. Their main complaint is that all of their friends live in Jax, and they're pretty far away. Plus, it's a drive and it's hard to go and visit them! All the things I've heard about the schools, etc. in Julington Creek have been good, it's just the distance. Plus, I believe you're in Clay County and not Duval over there..could be wrong, tho.

Good luck!

[jrmutley]

Originally Posted by lokahi

Julington Creek: Not too familiar with this area, but have friends who live there. Their main complaint is that all of their friends live in Jax, and they're pretty far away. Plus, it's a drive and it's hard to go and visit them! All the things I've heard about the schools, etc. in Julington Creek have been good, it's just the distance. Plus, I believe you're in Clay County and not Duval over there..could be wrong, tho.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong. But, Julington Creek is in St. John's...not Duval or Clay.

[olhazeleyes]

Julington Creek is in Saint John's county. I lived there for 6 years. We didn't have school age children at the time but wanted the good schools for resale purposes. We may be moving back in the next year or 2 (we are in MD now). My first choice will be Ponte Vedra!

[snomint3]

Thanks again everyone for your input!

My number one thing right now I would say is location & preferrably schools in St.Johns county. There are just SO many options! (That's a good thing)

What about Fruit Cove? Or Eagle Landing? Both of those have come up on other threads. Also regardless of ones I've mentioned, what would your opinion be of the best place to be with a young family?

[jrmutley]

I've extolled the virtues of Oakleaf Plantation a few times in this forum. Eagle Landing is kinda/sorta Oakleaf. But, it is a self contained part of Oakleaf (i.e. us "regular" Oakleaf types don't have access to their amenities). There are also some very nice sub-divisions within Oakleaf too.

Pros:
1) Clay County Schools
2) Brand new elementary schools (one last year, one this year, one next year)
3) Brand new High School currently under construction...to open 2010.
4) New shopping/dining at Oakleaf Town Center (there's your Target!) more opening every month
5) Very family friendly (parks, soccer fields, community events)

Cons:
1) Blanding Blvd.
2) Argyle Forest Blvd. (while vastly improved, I feel compelled to add this before soemone else does. Search the board for my other comments on this traffic area).
3) 40 minutes or so from the beach
4) Longer drive time to other Jax attractions than some of the other areas you mentioned

I'm sure there is more of both; but, I'm supposed to be working!

[riveree]

Originally Posted by snomint3

Thanks Riveree!

Since we are renting at first I'm less stressed about finding the ~perfect~ neighborhood, but it would be great to start out somewhere nice! The property in PVB looks like it's pretty far north (just south of 202), so I'm thinking it might still be pretty close to Jax shopping. I know it's lame, but when I say shopping I mean places like Target & grocery stores...I can't live w/out Target!

Right, PVB is close enough to Jax to take advantage of the shopping there. Atlantic Beach is equally as good or better a location for being close to shopping. Julington Creek is in St. John's county and people generally drive north into Duval county to the Mandarin area for shopping....so it's not too bad. Fruit Cove is also in St. John's county but you're getting pretty far away from shopping now.

With the serious slowing of the economy, I think you'll have to keep in mind that what you see is what you get. Lots of development projects are on hold or cancelled. So developer promises of shopping centers, etc., may never come to fruition. If nearby shopping is important to you - and with the cost of gas and our time being valuable, why wouldn't it be? - take a good look at what is and isn't around before committing to a location.

[snomint3]

I totally agree with you Riveree. I am spoiled now living in a country setting while still having access to any shopping within 5 minutes. With my kids being so young (all under age 5!) with school & activities I really do NOT want to spend my whole life driving around!

We have a pretty flexible budget to rent, I would say $1900/2000 max. We've found some great homes but not being too familiar with the area it's hard to know what to be serious about checking out. My husband & I did live in Jax for 4 months about 6 years ago while he was training for work & we loved it, but those were our pre-kid days & we weren't exactly "checking out" the area! Hubby should be heading down there (we are in PA) at the beginning of November so with our research & everyone's advice I'm hoping to have things narrowed down for him to really look.

Thanks again for your responses!