Need ACCCURATE advice re: crime in SE Jacksonville (Orlando, Tallahassee: 2010, high crime)

[Floridaherbgirl]

I am a Mom of a son who has been accepted to UNF. He won't have a car and has never lived in a bad area of town. I am very impressed with the campus and thought taking the city bus from outside the dorm to the two miles down the road to the Towne Center area or even biking would be fine. We have toured around the area and have been told to: be careful when you go downtown and don't ever go to the NW area of town, stay to the SE. That a rectangle area South of the City and East of the river is fine. But.....then I have a friend in state law enforcement that says he would never live anywhere in Jax because of the violent crime these days there and would prefer his children not go to school there.

We are very impressed with UNF and the Towne Center area, and have thought of moving to Ponte Vedra so our youngest as well as myself could attend school there.

What are the real life facts from people living in the area now?

Would it be better to find another college town (Pensacola, Gainesville or Tallahassee) that is safer to live in to attend school or if cautious is the SE area safe overall?

Thanks for your advice!

[Joe 4520832257]

In my opinion, the advice you have been given is mostly bad.

Although Jacksonville has an extremely high murder rate, the depressing majority of that is isolated to young black men on the Northside. It's heavily drug related, and strongly tied to that one community.

You might notice some people complaining that there's "no safe area" in Jacksonville, but a huge part of that perception is due to ignorance of geography. Despite being the largest city in land area in the continental US (840 sq miles) Jax only has a handful of general "neighborhoods" to which people refer. For example, people complain that "the westside" has crime. Well, the westside probably has more land area than the entire cities of Gainesville and Pensacola put together!! If you end up sending your son to one of those smaller cities, he will almost certainly be closer to a high crime area than if he lives in the Southside of Jax.

The UNF/Town Center area of the Southside is perfectly safe. It's so safe and cookie cutter it's downright boring.

In fact, the lack of a car will have a much more negative impact on your son than any crime. A person would probably be miserable and isolated in Jax's southside without a car. Biking is NOT fine. The probability of being killed or injured by a reckless motorist on one of Jax's mega-roads is so much more likely than ever being a victim of crime. Seriously, my heart is aching that you obviously care so much about the safety of your child, yet you mentioned that he plans to bike around the Southside. Jax's suburban roads are NOT cyclist friendly.

Also, downtown is a very safe neighborhood. There is very little crime. Again, if anything, downtown's problem is that it's a little empty and boring. There's not a safety issue.

[projectmaximus]

I agree with Joe's opinion. I never felt unsafe growing up in Jax, and although violent crime is high, it's rarely random or unprovoked (and generally, so i've heard, drug-related). That said, feeling safe is a very personal and relative thing, so if you're really protective and your son is sheltered, maybe he will feel uncomfortable in a good number of places. One of the city's best high schools is located right in the middle of the ghetto and I never felt unsafe at school. And I'm hardly the bravest soul out there...I wouldn't ever go back to the area late at night unless there was a large function on campus though.

I also think Joe's right on when he says riding a bike around town is the greater danger. As sad as it is, many of the drivers in this city are rather hostile to cyclists. I'd say the bus or some campus shuttle (do they have those?) would be the safer bet.

[Karla with a K]

I have to echo the above 2 posters
Sadly the NW area of Jax is where there are a lot of problems, but there would be absolutely no reason for your son to be in this part of town

We live about 3 miles from the Towne Center and have never had an issue
One of the main roads in UNF leads right to the Towne Center So I would think he wouldn't have a problem riding over during non-rush hours I think there are even bike lanes.
Also once he has made friends with some of the other students that have cars there is a really good chance they will all go places together and he won't be bound only by his bike.

Ponte Vedra is about 13 miles south of UNF right down JTB I lived there for 3 years and again this is another safe area.

[Floridaherbgirl]

Thanks for your reply and all your info. It kills me that our son won't have a car either but this year has been a very bad year and that is just the way it is right now. What I meant about 'biking' is to go the store at the Towne Center area if he didn't want to take the bus the five minutes down the road. There are three bus stops on campus and one will be outside his dorm. There is a small store on campus and he will be equipped with everything he needs but if he needed to I thought he could bike the very short distance (maybe a mile) to the store if he didn't want to get on the bus. There is so much to do on campus I thought it wouldn't hurt him to hang out much of the time there. He has a very good head on his shoulders but I was concerned that if and when he got asked to go somewhere with another student he wouldn't have the control of the destination and could wind up in a bad area of town even he has heard pretty much what we have, to stay out of the North and the Northwest side of town. Believe me when he can get a car he'll have one but it doesn't look like it'll happen before he starts school. I wouldn't want him riding his bike along all the busy roads around Jax, you are right that would be crazy.

[Floridaherbgirl]

Thanks a bunch! Your all's comments are pretty much what I had felt about being there myself. We aren't overprotective of him, and we have lived all over the country even though I am a Fl native. The fact that I felt so comfortable in the Jax area, UNF south to St. Augustine and over to the beaches and Ponte Vedra made me stop and get more info because of the dangers a good friend had experienced there. Our son hasn't been so sheltered that he wouldn't know how to get in and out of a bad situation but some of the violent crime reports about the North side, I don't know many of us would know how to handle if we were stuck in the middle of it so I sure didn't want to ignore warnings if they were something I was missing.

I hate it that he won't have a car but with this past year that is just how it is turning out. I agreed with Kara pretty much that once he made friends he could do more stuff as long as he felt they would agree to drop him off if they were going in a direction he didn't feel comfortable. Of course he has gone through this for the past few years so he knows how to handle that. The only difference is he has been using my car which he won't have on campus.

Thanks again!

[GloryB]

I lived in Jacksonville for over a decade, just moved to Orlando a few months ago, and while Jacksonville does have a high murder rate... it seems to be in isolated areas as defined by the above posts. I never felt unsafe in Jacksonville and lived in an area on the beaches where I didn't even panic if I remembered leaving my car or house unlocked. In a big city everyone always needs to use common sense and caution.....but if I had a middle of the night car break down....I would prefer it to happen in Jacksonville as opposed to Orlando.

My kids were teens and used the bus regularly with their friends to get any place they wanted to go. I know they have cut out some of the routes and there are time restrictions, but once your son makes friends....bus problems will quickly be eliminated. If there are any finances available, he may want to get a car eventually just because Jacksonville is so sprawled out.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by Floridaherbgirl

Thanks for your reply and all your info. It kills me that our son won't have a car either but this year has been a very bad year and that is just the way it is right now. What I meant about 'biking' is to go the store at the Towne Center area if he didn't want to take the bus the five minutes down the road. There are three bus stops on campus and one will be outside his dorm. There is a small store on campus and he will be equipped with everything he needs but if he needed to I thought he could bike the very short distance (maybe a mile) to the store if he didn't want to get on the bus. There is so much to do on campus I thought it wouldn't hurt him to hang out much of the time there. He has a very good head on his shoulders but I was concerned that if and when he got asked to go somewhere with another student he wouldn't have the control of the destination and could wind up in a bad area of town even he has heard pretty much what we have, to stay out of the North and the Northwest side of town. Believe me when he can get a car he'll have one but it doesn't look like it'll happen before he starts school. I wouldn't want him riding his bike along all the busy roads around Jax, you are right that would be crazy.

I've lived in that area and you do see students walking and riding their bikes to the stores, BUT it is dangerous to do so. Beach and St. John's Bluff (which leads straight into the St. Johns Town Center) are very high speed busy roads. He needs to be super-careful - no headphones on while he's riding, etc. There's also the heat to consider. Right now, it's not a problem, but during peak summer, the heat is oppressive and there is no shade on those roads - it is full blazing sun. Hopefully he can get a part-time job and get himself a used car. The stores are not as close as they may appear - not when you're walking or biking.

As for safety, it is a pretty safe area, but again a busy area so he will come in contact with all sorts of people. As long as he has normal street-sense, he'll be fine, even on foot.

Plenty of the college kids head to the clubs in Downtown and in Springfield, so I would not worry about that too much. As long as they all stick together, they should have no problems.

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by Floridaherbgirl

I am a Mom of a son who has been accepted to UNF. He won't have a car and has never lived in a bad area of town. I am very impressed with the campus and thought taking the city bus from outside the dorm to the two miles down the road to the Towne Center area or even biking would be fine. We have toured around the area and have been told to: be careful when you go downtown and don't ever go to the NW area of town, stay to the SE. That a rectangle area South of the City and East of the river is fine. But.....then I have a friend in state law enforcement that says he would never live anywhere in Jax because of the violent crime these days there and would prefer his children not go to school there.

We are very impressed with UNF and the Towne Center area, and have thought of moving to Ponte Vedra so our youngest as well as myself could attend school there.

What are the real life facts from people living in the area now?

Would it be better to find another college town (Pensacola, Gainesville or Tallahassee) that is safer to live in to attend school or if cautious is the SE area safe overall?

Thanks for your advice!

Have him take a concealed weapons course and tuck a little .380 semi auto under his shirt. It'll cost less than a car and give him lots of confidence. I'm a firm believer that all law abiding tax paying citizens should not only be allowed to carry a firearm, they should be issued one!

[Floridaherbgirl]

Now those are the kind of comments that are freaking me out! Remember this is my 17 y/o son! I am not going to have him carry a gun and besides I do believe it might be against UNF policy! But thanks for the input.