upscale residential and retail areas around the beaches??? (Jacksonville, Atlantic Beach: fit in, condos)

[jmm25275]

Hello,
My husband and I are relocating from Raleigh, NC to Jacksonville in August. We would like to buy a house near the beach (no more than 2-5 miles to the beach) and close to shopping and nice restaurants. Which of the beaches areas would you recommend? Atlantic, Neptune, Jax Beach or Ponte Vedra??? Thanks!!!

[Jax]

Ponte Vedra is very upscale. Pretty pricey, but nice.

[FLPL75]

Ponte Vedra

[jsimms3]

Ponte Vedra, definitely upscale, definitely expensive.

Atlantic Beach, also equally pricey near the ocean, different feel to it, also has nice restaurants and shops.

Neptune Beach, the next up and comer, between Atlantic and Jax Beaches

Jax Beach, becoming more pricey as the days go by, if you want a condo, this beach offers the most selection for condos, but they are expensive.

All beaches offer restaurants and nightlife of various sorts, they are dense, highly desirable places to live, and draw many visitors during the summer months. The beaches in general are going to be at least fairly upscale, and definitely pricey because of the demand. I recommend visiting first each one because they are all VERY different and have different vibes and housing stocks.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Do any of these communities have Old Florida-style architecture?
What about traditional neighborhood design?
Jmm, sorry for the hijack, it's just that my question kind of fit in with yours.

[jmm25275]

Thanks for all your replies. We are visiting the area in April to see the area again and how close they are to downtown and major areas.
When you say each beach has a different feel to it, what do you mean? Can you describe them? Thanks!

[jmm25275]

Forgot to mention that we are not interested in a condo, we are looking for a single family home close to the beach.

[FLPL75]

jmm
actually which side of A1A you are on can mean the difference of thousands of dollars

anywhere east of the intercostal is no more than 1 mile from the ocean.
there are 3 roads that come form the beach
Atlantic blvd
Beach blvd
JTB blvd rt 202
JTB is the major highway from the beach if you are on there before 7am its about 20 25 mins downtown.

Atlantic is the furthest north this road has lights
beach well they are doing lots of construction so slow going.

hmmm how to describe the different feels.
ok lets say in ranking
my first choice
ponte vedra call me a snob but when I lived there, there was that something about saying I live in Ponte Vedra

neptune , lots of established homes
atlantic , same as above
Jax beach allot of this depends on which side of A1A(or 3rd street as it is called there) you are on.
there use to be a few areas that were run down but now it seems that people are buying the small houses tearing them down and building new.

if schools are an issue Ponte Vedra, it is in St. Johns county. the schools are better.
as jsimms said you need to come down and see.
its not that far of a distance form one to another you can go from the egde of PV to neptune in 15 mins. lol if you dont notice the signs you won't even know you have changed beaches
anywhere in Jax east of 95 and you are at the most 12 miles form the beach.
there are also quite a few upscale subdivisions on the southside
Queens Harbor, Jax golf and country club, glenn kernan homes ranging from $500k up
if you want to pm me with what you are looking to spend I can suggest more specific areas
karla

[cindyj]

I agree that if you are looking for upscale, then Ponte Vedra area would likely be your cup of tea. If you need a good realtor in the area that specilizes in the beaches area, just pm me and I will give you her name and contact info. I left Jax for the foothills of NC. I spent many, many, many (don't want to give away my age) years there and did love it. It was getting just too busy for me. However, you are relocating from Raleigh so it will not be a big culture shock. Wearing casual year round is great.