One more Relocation (Jacksonville, Miramar, St. Augustine: apartment, rentals, lofts)

[abdiaz85]

So I will be moving to Jacksonville after graduation in May for a job. I have never been to Jacksonville. My question is where should I look for houseing??

I am from NYC area and I really like the urban environment. I would like to live somewhere wiht a lot to do and lots of other young professionals... I am assuming that would be downtown area, I found a place called jax lofts and another called the carling. Does anyone know anything about this area? is this where you would suggest? Where else should i look?

Also I don't think I want to live far from the city but if it is more fun out by the beach, where exactly would you suggest?

Thanks for all the help,

anthony

[Magnolia Bloom]

Of course, the beach would be 180 degrees from urban living. It's a whole different world.

You should check out this blog. http://www.urbanjacksonville.info/

I finally met the guy whose blog it is- Joey Marchy. People like him are doing lots to make this a great place to live. Why not give him a call?

Lots of change going on downtown and I'd be downtown in a minute if I was in your situation. You'll have culture shock enough moving from NYC to Jax. But if you want to really take in the beaches lifestyle, go there.

You can always rent of a year and move.

What a great situation to be in- the choice of great or great!

[riveree]

I second everything hereinfl said.

I moved to the First Coast from NYC myself. I lived in St. Augustine for the first few years and really enjoyed the beach life, later I moved to Jax.

If you're coming from Manhattan, you'll really appreciate the available rentals here - lots to choose from and much more elbow room! And blue skies every day!

The beaches and downtown are both excellent choices. Two questions:

1) If you chose to live downtown, are you planning on having a car? Downtown is going through a revitalization (yay!), but it's still early, so even finding a grocery store is not as easy as just walking out your front lobby.

2) If you chose the beaches, where will your job be located? If your job is at the beach, excellent, if it's in town somewhere, your commute might be a drag.

[abdiaz85]

I think im going to go with downtown... I will be working out of the winn dixie corporate office... which just about 5 miles away from where I'm looking at. I am looking at Jax lofts on church street. Anyone familiar with the area? What other apartment or townhomes would you suggest? I was also looking at the villas at St. Johns..... a little pricey though. Also it looks like Jax lofts would be closer to the "downtown activities" or am I wrong? Oh and also I will have a car so its no prob driving... however is there any kind of subway/bus that will take me from around downtown to the winn dixie HQ?

[jsimms3]

WOw you have many more options than those and from a few years ago, check these two sites out, anyone from these sites (several live downtown) can help you out in a flash!:
http://www.metjax.com/forums/ (broken link)
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/

there are so many conversion and condos going up downtown, and there actually is a winn dixie that is getting a facelift and a new little grocery opening soon along with other shops and restaurants in the old library. (not for another year or so

[abdiaz85]

What about the "southside"? where is that and is that a better place to live than downtown?

[riveree]

"Southside" is a very large area comprised of many different neighborhoods in Jax. A very, very large area.

Where the borders of Southside begin and end can be debatable, and it actually does change a bit. An example is the area east of the St. John's Town Center (the big new shopping/living center). This area is growing fast and used to be lumped in as part of the "Southside", but is now being recognized as it's own seperate part of town called "Intracoastal West".

Looking at a map, Southside will be south of downtown and will be both south and east of the Saint Johns River (because the river flows north and then makes a right hand turn to head out to the ocean).

In general, the Southside is considered to be mostly suburban and mostly safe. A big bulk of the jobs tend to be located here as well.

Your question "Is it a better place to live than downtown?", maybe. I can see some advantages. You had said that if you lived downtown you'd have a car so there would be no problem if you had to drive out of downtown for groceries and such, so if that is really just a minor inconvenience for you, then downtown might be right for you.

When I worked downtown, I lived in an older neighborhood along the river just south of downtown and it took me 12 minutes to drive to work. These neighborhoods would be considered "Southside", but they generally tend to be called by their individual neighborhood names: San Marco, Miramar, Lakewood, San Jose, etc.

[sugarbeet]

I, too, used to live in NYC and now live in Jax. Church St. lofts, The Carling are great places to live, but you will be surprised by how little is within walking distance. They are making strides to bring more downtown, but it's not there yet.

You might consider the Five Points area in Riverside. It's the closest thing to urban I've seen in Jax and everything you need is within walking distance.

[abdiaz85]

So you suggest Riverside/5 Points over Downtown.... I was looking at 1661 Riverside, but also a townhouse on 319 E. Church St... which I am assuming is considered downtown. However, I am kind of confused now. I heard downtown was the best bet for an urban type environment with lots going on... but is it really riverside?

[riveree]

abdiaz85,

I think what's being said is that downtown is great - a wonderful choice with lots of cool, new urban living sites - but it is still so early in the revitalization game that there actually might be more going on in some of the surrounding neighborhoods than in downtown itself right now.

Forget public transportation in Jax - there is little of it and it is not very efficient. In NYC, I never even owned a car, here in Jax, I have to use one every day.

So if you live downtown, you might be driving out of downtown for well, most of your day-to-day supplies...do you want to do that? It may be no big deal for you, it's just something to consider.

Riverside and Five Points were mentioned because they are so close to downtown (easy commute) and they have nightlife, shopping, etc. Riverside is very close - it would be like living in Brooklyn and working on Wall Street...maybe even closer.

You had mentioned Southside, so I had listed some neighborhoods on that side of the river that would have nightlife and still be physically very close to where you'll be working: San Marco, etc.

1661 Riverside looks great, by the way - I haven't seen the interior, but the exterior is done very well and it's in the center of it all.