Best City (Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa: foreclosure, to rent, house)

[rox011]

My husband has the option to transfer with his job to either Jacksonville, Orlando or Ft Myers FL. We were raised in Miami and moved to North Atlanta because we didn't like the enviroment. We love Atlanta but we need to transfer due to work. I've never lived in these cities and was curious if anyone can tell me if Jacksonville would be better.

Thanks

[mawipafl]

Your three Florida choices are all so different from one another. It would be your personal preference to choose which suits you better. It would mean a bit of work and computer time, but I'd recommend looking at all three cities' forums here on C-D to get a flavor of each - read some of the threads and you'll see what feels best for your preference.

[titaniummd]

I lived in a DC suburb where the concentration of businesses was high and it took me about 10 minutes to get to my favorite locations (be it golf, my workplace, restaurants, shopping, etc). I got a little spoiled by it.

I have only traveled to Orlando, and have stayed there for a week at a time. It is obviously not enough to give an opinion. However, here's my 2 cents: There are a lot of nice restaurants and places to visit. I had rented a house for a week for vacation and I enjoyed living there since the density of businesses have everything that I needed.

Jacksonville is a nice area but I consider it as a County with many small towns in it. It has a diverse culture from one area to the next. The difficulty I find is the distance of one particular group of businesses to the next. So, the planning of where I need to shop, eat out or go to the beach has to be planned since they may be anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes away from each other. There are a lot of nice restaurants around but they are not concentrated, as tightly.

[twoeckarts]

Well...my husband and I grew up in Orlando, and moved to Jacksonville a few years ago. Last year his job transferred us down to Naples, wich is literally right next door to Ft Myers. Orlando is nice, however it has gotten extremly congested, and dirty in my opinion. When you drive through downtown there is graffeti all over the road signs...granted this can be anywhere, but is definantly now what it used to be 5+ years ago. I actually went to University of North Florida 10 years ago, and I can tell you Jacksonville has even grown since then. But not in the same way as Orlando. I love Jacksonville! I lvoe having the beaches, the schools in St Johsn county are excellent, more of a small town feel within the communities. From what I can say about Ft. Myers/Naples is it is extremly over rated...you either are extremly wealthy or struggling to survive. During the months of OCt through April/May forget about going anywhere. It is considered the sreason here and it takes forever to go anywhere and anticipate a 1 to 2 hour wait to go out to eat. Just seems like everyone is trying to keep up with everyone down here. Not to mention the Foreclosure own in SWFl is extremly bad. I have family in Miami, and I consider Ft.Myers/Naples to be quite similar, but smaller. However the west coast beaches are gorgeous! I also might add we are moving back to Jacksonville next month, as we miss it, and just love it up there. Good luck with your decision.

[titaniummd]

I really like the Jacksonville Beaches. Parking is never an issue and there are so many beaches that they are not crowded like Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach can get. It is more of a relaxing atmosphere.

The weather here is awesome. I cannot believe I am in shorts in October. You can really golf here, all year. That in itself is worth the price of admission.

[wb3690]

Originally Posted by titaniummd

I really like the Jacksonville Beaches. Parking is never an issue and there are so many beaches that they are not crowded like Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach can get. It is more of a relaxing atmosphere.

The weather here is awesome. I cannot believe I am in shorts in October. You can really golf here, all year. That in itself is worth the price of admission.

I agree with you. Before my husband got his recent orders back to Jax we were looking at Maryland. While I am always up for a new adventure, I wasn't really looking forward to possibly moving to Maryland in the fall! Yikes!!! Since 1996 I've lived in either Hawaii or Florida..........I'm not a cold weather person anymore. I remember it cooling down in the one winter we spent in Jax, but NOTHING like what I grew up with in Michigan or what I could have ended up with in Maryland.......

I'm still excited to be moving back!

[rox011]

Thanks for all the info. I've done some reseach and find alot of people wanting to leave the SW area. It also seems like I've read more positive things about Jacksonville then Ft Myers or Orlando. We're probably going to rent at first. Is the San Marco area nice and safe? Is it safe to walk alone? I've seen mention alot Ortega and Avodale also. any input would be appreciated.

Thanks again

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by rox011

My husband has the option to transfer with his job to either Jacksonville, Orlando or Ft Myers FL. We were raised in Miami and moved to North Atlanta because we didn't like the enviroment. We love Atlanta but we need to transfer due to work. I've never lived in these cities and was curious if anyone can tell me if Jacksonville would be better.

Thanks

Jacksonville is still a city on the rise, Miami is in a steep decline, and Tampa is all but dead. Just my opinions obviously, but I'm familiar with all 3, and I love this city!

[BornInFL]

All 3 cities are different, that's for sure! I would say Jax is the best choice, and these are my reasons. Jax has nicer folks, and more of a southern charm along with the beaches. I like hearing the southern accents up there, as I am a native Floridian. Jax folks are also more established (less coming and going of folks). Jax is also close to other areas, like Savannah, the GA mountains, etc...

I dont know much about FT Myers, but being from N Atl, and enjoying it there, the best choice would be Jax. Orlando would certainly not be anything like N GA, and neither would Ft Myers. These 2 cities seem to attract a different crowd.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by rox011

Thanks for all the info. I've done some reseach and find alot of people wanting to leave the SW area. It also seems like I've read more positive things about Jacksonville then Ft Myers or Orlando. We're probably going to rent at first. Is the San Marco area nice and safe? Is it safe to walk alone? I've seen mention alot Ortega and Avodale also. any input would be appreciated.

Thanks again

San Marco is definitely nice, one of the nicest neighborhoods in the city. And yes, it is safe to walk around alone in. Avondale and Ortega are beautiful neighborhoods as well, they are on the other side of the river from San Marco.

We have tons of threads on these 3 popular neighborhoods. Try doing an advanced search with the neighborhood names and you'll come up with plenty of threads .