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I am trying to decide whether JAX is right for my wife and me. Based on the threads here, I think the answer is a resounding NO.
I grew up in an upper-middle class section of Manhattan (NYC). That means I'm white and well educated. It means I notice all the typos on this forum and it makes me fear for the future of the country. I'm my early 40s - married, no kids. I earned a MBA from a top business school in Washington, DC and now earn a six figure income at a large company in New York. Although born into a Jewish family, I'm an atheist (e.g. "there is no God.").
My wife and I are tired of the cold weather. We're tired of the noise and pollution. We want to live in a single family home in a smaller city, ideally near the ocean. That's why we considered JAX.
Here are my concerns:
1) JAX sounds like it's 40% black ghetto, 40% redneck trailer park; and 20% barely passable. I doubt we will feel welcome. We may not even feel as though we're still in the same country as New York.
2) JAX sounds like its education department is a total failure - and its children are more likely to go to prison than college (a good college, not a Florida college).
3) JAX sounds like the transportation department is a total failure. No subway? No reliable buses? Sounds like a hick town to me.
4) JAX sounds like there is nothing to do there other than walk on the beach (and wonder why the water is brown), drive to the mall in your pickup truck, listen to radio evangelists con people into believing that there a God - and that God wants you to write a check, or get a mullet and a "Born to Lose" tattoo.
5) JAX sounds like it's loaded with unsophisticated southern "folks" who would not welcome a New York atheist with a brain and a bank account.
I am trying to decide whether JAX is right for my wife and me. Based on the threads here, I think the answer is a resounding NO.
I grew up in an upper-middle class section of Manhattan (NYC). That means I'm white and well educated. It means I notice all the typos on this forum and it makes me fear for the future of the country. I'm my early 40s - married, no kids. I earned a MBA from a top business school in Washington, DC and now earn a six figure income at a large company in New York. Although born into a Jewish family, I'm an atheist (e.g. "there is no God.").
My wife and I are tired of the cold weather. We're tired of the noise and pollution. We want to live in a single family home in a smaller city, ideally near the ocean. That's why we considered JAX.
Here are my concerns:
1) JAX sounds like it's 40% black ghetto, 40% redneck trailer park; and 20% barely passable. I doubt we will feel welcome. We may not even feel as though we're still in the same country as New York.
2) JAX sounds like its education department is a total failure - and its children are more likely to go to prison than college (a good college, not a Florida college).
3) JAX sounds like the transportation department is a total failure. No subway? No reliable buses? Sounds like a hick town to me.
4) JAX sounds like there is nothing to do there other than walk on the beach (and wonder why the water is brown), drive to the mall in your pickup truck, listen to radio evangelists con people into believing that there a God - and that God wants you to write a check, or get a mullet and a "Born to Lose" tattoo.
5) JAX sounds like it's loaded with unsophisticated southern "folks" who would not welcome a New York atheist with a brain and a bank account.
Am I mistaken?
Thanks for the laugh! Can you define Troll?
For someone who claims to be highly educated, you are shallow and quite frankly, not worthy of Jacksonville. Take your "New York atheist with a brain and a bank account" to Jupiter or Sanibel or Marco Island. Hopefully a hurricane will send you running back to NYC.
From your post, you may be happier in South Florida, where there are large populations of New York transplants. Specifically, Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami. You probably wouldn't like Jacksonville, so I would suggest one of the those places. Happy hunting and getting out of the snow.
I am trying to decide whether JAX is right for my wife and me. Based on the threads here, I think the answer is a resounding NO.
I grew up in an upper-middle class section of Manhattan (NYC). That means I'm white and well educated. It means I notice all the typos on this forum and it makes me fear for the future of the country. I'm my early 40s - married, no kids. I earned a MBA from a top business school in Washington, DC and now earn a six figure income at a large company in New York. Although born into a Jewish family, I'm an atheist (e.g. "there is no God.").
My wife and I are tired of the cold weather. We're tired of the noise and pollution. We want to live in a single family home in a smaller city, ideally near the ocean. That's why we considered JAX.
Here are my concerns:
1) JAX sounds like it's 40% black ghetto, 40% redneck trailer park; and 20% barely passable. I doubt we will feel welcome. We may not even feel as though we're still in the same country as New York.
2) JAX sounds like its education department is a total failure - and its children are more likely to go to prison than college (a good college, not a Florida college).
3) JAX sounds like the transportation department is a total failure. No subway? No reliable buses? Sounds like a hick town to me.
4) JAX sounds like there is nothing to do there other than walk on the beach (and wonder why the water is brown), drive to the mall in your pickup truck, listen to radio evangelists con people into believing that there a God - and that God wants you to write a check, or get a mullet and a "Born to Lose" tattoo.
5) JAX sounds like it's loaded with unsophisticated southern "folks" who would not welcome a New York atheist with a brain and a bank account.
Am I mistaken?
LOL! Where shall I start?
I like how you pick all these examples to try to get the Jax people all riled up. Can't wait to see the responses..
I used to live in Avondale, so can be somewhat helpful here. While there, I actually owned a home, sent my kids to private school (family tradition), attained a 4-year degree from a private university, was a realtor and a commercial artist, and collected classic cars. Oh, BTW, my mom was from Larchmont, dad from Scarsdale. Do you know where those places are?
Public transportation should not be a concern if you are indeed as successful as you claim. Why ride a bus when you can drive that new Mercedes Benz convertible to the beach?
Ahhhh...Jax, sweet home of Lynyrd Skynyrd (and most good Southern Rock bands), Philip Don Estridge ("Father of the IBM personal computer", in case you didn't know), Wayne Weaver, owner of the Jags, the Jaguars football team, Gary U. S. Bonds, even Sam Rivers, bass player for Limp Bizkit, ...
Rednecks, yes...many country folk take great pride in NASCAR, family values, church, neighbors, the American flag, good home Southern cookin', a good dog and a better rifle. So? This is fine...you might even learn something from them. That's called "open-mindedness".
Do you have a problem with blacks? Be sure to try those "ghetto" neighborhoods for the best BBQ you will find on the face of the planet...
Trailer parks ain't that bad! Whatchyou talkin'? Drive through one and be thankful you have a decent job and can afford better. Some good people can't through no fault of their own, or are in the process of working up to something different.
Your post indicates that you are of the hoity-toity persuasion. I would highly recommend Southern California...nice weather, beautiful views, lots to do, an LA subway nobody ever rides, public transportation filled with undocumented workers, few rednecks, inflated home prices. You'll be right at home with a lot of like-minded people. Better learn Spanish, though...
Last edited by DezertGirl; 01-12-2009 at 11:57 AM..
Reason: ACK! A typo!
Yes, we could buy a swanky 5BR beach house and a couple of Mercedes. But if we're surrounded by people who think NASCAR and Jack in the Box are s the height of culture, then it will be torture (for all of us). You named 5 or 6 "famous" people who live (or lived) in JAX. I can name thousands of famous New Yorkers. Once again, you can't compare the Big Apple to the Big Ghetto.
Yes, we could buy a swanky 5BR beach house and a couple of Mercedes. But if we're surrounded by people who think NASCAR and Jack in the Box are s the height of culture, then it will be torture (for all of us). You named 5 or 6 "famous" people who live (or lived) in JAX. I can name thousands of famous New Yorkers. Once again, you can't compare the Big Apple to the Big Ghetto.
Silly NewYawka! There is no comparison. NASCAR is not culture as defined by your experience (Guggenheim, NY Symphony, Museum of Natural History, Ballet). It's culture as in baseball, hotdogs and apple pie. Even a redneck knows that.
How would you know about Jack In The Box? Icky! Do you actually eat there?
The famous people sample was provided by me to make the point that there is more to Jax than the exagerated, humorous examples you named. Of course there are lots of famous New Yorkers...that city's history is undisputable.
If you want nice weather, I'm telling you...SoCal is your new destination!
For someone who claims to be highly educated, you are shallow and quite frankly, not worthy of Jacksonville. Take your "New York atheist with a brain and a bank account" to Jupiter or Sanibel or Marco Island. Hopefully a hurricane will send you running back to NYC.
As an ex Jupiter-ite (LOL!), yes there is an attitude about wealth in Jupiter. (I should know, I did most of my growing up there, but trapped in the working classes.) But objectively, isn't upper class life the most desirable?
That aside, I also spent 10 years of my childhood up in the N.East. So I know both sides of this.
There's no doubt that NYC represents everything southerners and some Texans patently hate. The bumper sticker "If you love NY, take I-95 North" is occasionally seen around Jupiter, LOL!
Having friends on both side of that issue, I can say this... (Though I can't say about Jax specifically) If you want what I think you want, you need to find a gated community or a community one of the Islands (Jupiter, Sanibel, Hutchison) and live in that cloister, or at worst some of the less ethnic suburbs.
Money will be more accepting of what you purport to want that folks trapped in the working class struggle.
And certainly the "ghetto" areas won't be too accepting, aside from the usual jewish/black shared feelings about slavery in the past. (Let's not mix words, "ghetto" is code for "black" as "safer community" is code for non-black.)
As for being an atheist. Probably not an issue. Floridians as a group aren't as bible thumping as the rest of the south. There's an old southern joke that goes... "Florida is the place where yankees who don't know where north was... went."
And there is some truth to it. When I was attending F.A.U. in Boca Raton, I used to say, "Geez S. Fla. is just the southern district of Manhatten, isn't it?" Lot's of NYC accents in the area.
Anyway, it comes down to finding an enclave that shares your values... that is hopefully not surrounded by areas that don't or are antagonistic. Which I'll be the first to admit, may not be easy.
Do this. Study Jax on City-data... but also study each of the cities around it and the neighboring counties. See, what good is it to live in a gated community surrounded by war zones, right?
I am trying to decide whether JAX is right for my wife and me. Based on the threads here, I think the answer is a resounding NO.
I grew up in an upper-middle class section of Manhattan (NYC). That means I'm white and well educated. It means I notice all the typos on this forum and it makes me fear for the future of the country. I'm my early 40s - married, no kids. I earned a MBA from a top business school in Washington, DC and now earn a six figure income at a large company in New York. Although born into a Jewish family, I'm an atheist (e.g. "there is no God.").
My wife and I are tired of the cold weather. We're tired of the noise and pollution. We want to live in a single family home in a smaller city, ideally near the ocean. That's why we considered JAX.
Here are my concerns:
1) JAX sounds like it's 40% black ghetto, 40% redneck trailer park; and 20% barely passable. I doubt we will feel welcome. We may not even feel as though we're still in the same country as New York.
2) JAX sounds like its education department is a total failure - and its children are more likely to go to prison than college (a good college, not a Florida college).
3) JAX sounds like the transportation department is a total failure. No subway? No reliable buses? Sounds like a hick town to me.
4) JAX sounds like there is nothing to do there other than walk on the beach (and wonder why the water is brown), drive to the mall in your pickup truck, listen to radio evangelists con people into believing that there a God - and that God wants you to write a check, or get a mullet and a "Born to Lose" tattoo.
5) JAX sounds like it's loaded with unsophisticated southern "folks" who would not welcome a New York atheist with a brain and a bank account.
Am I mistaken?
You make us all sound so terrible! St. Johns County may be a better fit for you than actual 'Jacksonville' because of some of the things you are looking for. Ponte Vedra Beach, specifically, may be an area for you to check out. Definitely the higher end of earners in this area, close to the beach and the people would be more cultured to you. That said, some of our older historic areas: Avondale, Riverside and San Marco might be more up your alley. Of course, some of them butt up against our "ghettos" and you may find that appalling. I would say before any hasty decisions, come spend some time here. We do have culture, though it may not be as cultivated as New York City (but NYC is a creature all its own).
As for your previous statements about our city, I take a little offense. We're not all the same and we all live here for different reasons. I'm college educated and working on my MBA. Please don't stereotype all of us.
We're visiting JAX this week. Will check out several neighborhoods before drawing final conclusions. After all, my analysis is based only on what I've been reading on City-Data and Googling about JAX (almost none of which is good, I'm sorry to say). We'll also drive to St. Augustine to see how the "better half" lives. I guess we're mostly worried that we'll just be so different than everyone else that JAX will never feel like home. And by "different," I mean smarter and more sophisticated.
You see? There goes that New York sense of humor again.
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