Yulee/Fernandina Beach (Orlando, St. Augustine, Hampton: fit in, for sale, insurance)

[misstee71]

Hi,
I'm considering moving to Yulee or Fernandina Beach and, although I've read many posts on the area, I'm still a bit confused and would love accurate info if anyone has it.

Mainly, I find the lower crime/laid back small town feel very appealing, as well as being attracted to the new-age (for lack of better term) type lifestyle options available there--belly dancing, yoga, organic market, alternative medicine, I've even seen a couple of psychic shops there; my experience is that usually more open minded/accepting/liberal types are involved in these kinds of activities, yet I'm repeatedly seeing posts stating that the area is very conservative, closed minded, and down-right negative and unwelcoming.

I know visiting (which I do on a regular basis--and, even though I'm just a consumer when I go there, everyone's seemed very pleasant thus far) can be very different from living in a community, and I don't want to purchase property there if it's going to be impossible to make like-minded friends, so if anyone can provide objective info on the 'vibe' there, it would be greatly appreciated.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Misstee
Did you happen to read any of my posts? You might want to take a look at the thread in the Florida forum about north Florida being southern.

I meet all kinds of people in my job (daycare teacher).
I think this area has a mix of conservative, libertarian, and progressive folks.
I do think the times are changing. You do know that Obama won Florida?

We had a city election last week. The current mayor, who was trying to get on the city commission, did not make it.
Susan Steger, a Democrat, won the mayoral straw vote by a fairly high margin.
Tim Poynter, a city commission candidate who openly seeks to get beyond the good ole boy network and find newer, more progressive ways of running the city, came out ahead in city commissioner votes. The final election is May 12.
My neighborhood has been quite welcoming, and several neighbors are active in local volunteer work, politics, and other community activities.
We have met people with open-minded values and lifestyles similar to ours--and many of them are natives.

Have a look at the local paper: Fernandina Beach Newsleader

[misstee71]

Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate

Misstee
Did you happen to read any of my posts? You might want to take a look at the thread in the Florida forum about north Florida being southern.

I meet all kinds of people in my job (daycare teacher).
I think this area has a mix of conservative, libertarian, and progressive folks.
I do think the times are changing. You do know that Obama won Florida?

We had a city election last week. The current mayor, who was trying to get on the city commission, did not make it.
Susan Steger, a Democrat, won the mayoral straw vote by a fairly high margin.
Tim Poynter, a city commission candidate who openly seeks to get beyond the good ole boy network and find newer, more progressive ways of running the city, came out ahead in city commissioner votes. The final election is May 12.
My neighborhood has been quite welcoming, and several neighbors are active in local volunteer work, politics, and other community activities.
We have met people with open-minded values and lifestyles similar to ours--and many of them are natives.

Have a look at the local paper: Fernandina Beach Newsleader

Hi BlueWillowPlate,

Thanks for the response. I noticed the southernness of the area, too, when I moved here, not like the Florida I remembered (lived in Orlando many, many years ago). I'm not saying that's intrinsically a bad thing, just different than what I expected.

I recognize your name so I know I've read some of your posts, but after a while everything just kind of melds together in the mind, so I went back and reread some of them and appreciate your outlook and approach to many of the issues discussed, especially those pertaining to the Fernandina/Amelia area specifically. I like what you said in the post about local culture and the Abe Lincoln quote you provided (I think that was you!) about being as happy as you want to be; I really believe that's true for the most part and, given that I work at home, have dreamed of living near the ocean most of my life, like the security and quietness of a small town (had my share of the big city life when I was younger) and the fact that the area does have some activities I'm interested in, I think I just have to go with my gut and give it a chance.

I think my approach has been a bit too fatalistic in trying to make the 'right choice' given I will be making a big commitment buying a home for the first time, but in truth every town has it's problems and it's problem people. I think it comes down to weighing out the pros and cons and, aside from a few lingering concerns having read about the corruption of the local police department, I am thinking I am going to like it there, at least for the most part.

While I have you here, I was wondering if you could elaborate on what you meant in another post when you said A1A is a scary drive--long story, but I have an aversion to merging/hwy driving, so I was thinking A1A/ferry was going to be my ticket to Southside when the need for major shopping arises; is A1A a pretty dangerous road, and, do you have any experience taking the ferry?

Also, in other posts you had mentioned the neighborhoods of Amelia Park and Oyster Bay Harbour for people looking to buy in the area; although I like many aspects of the planned community, it's been a longtime dream to buy a fixer-upper with some land and make it my own (preferably without someone else dictating to me what I can and can't do to my own property), and I noticed a few for sale with a Fernandina address but on the map very close to Nassauville--do you know anything about this area of town? Obviously I'm not going to buy somewhere w/o researching and checking the place out first, but if you know anything (or maybe better neighborhoods for this type of property?) a head's up would be most appreciated.

Thanks again for the information, you've helped a lot.

[BlueWillowPlate]

hey Mistee
Like you, I get white-knuckled on the highway.
A1A is not that bad. I drive it regularly. But there has been a lot of development on it, and they need to sort out the traffic, the left turns, etc.
People go 60 mph and then suddenly are faced with either a red light or someone trying to turn--it can be dangerous.
Now is the time to buy a house!
You might find a fixer upper in Oyster Bay, there are new homes there, but it is not a new community.
However, you might be more interested in living in town?
It's true that places off the island have a Fernandina address, and I don't understand this at all.
Nassauville is not fancy, but that might appeal to you more than the more homogenous Amelia Park or Oyster Bay.
I'm not sure what your style is.
Also, do you know that we have two paper mills here, and sometimes, you can smell them? They are unsightly, too, but I guess I figure they help keep this place unpretentious. I would hate for it to become another Aspen or Hilton Head.

[misstee71]

Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate

hey Mistee
Like you, I get white-knuckled on the highway.
A1A is not that bad. I drive it regularly. But there has been a lot of development on it, and they need to sort out the traffic, the left turns, etc.
People go 60 mph and then suddenly are faced with either a red light or someone trying to turn--it can be dangerous.
Now is the time to buy a house!
You might find a fixer upper in Oyster Bay, there are new homes there, but it is not a new community.
However, you might be more interested in living in town?
It's true that places off the island have a Fernandina address, and I don't understand this at all.
Nassauville is not fancy, but that might appeal to you more than the more homogenous Amelia Park or Oyster Bay.
I'm not sure what your style is.
Also, do you know that we have two paper mills here, and sometimes, you can smell them? They are unsightly, too, but I guess I figure they help keep this place unpretentious. I would hate for it to become another Aspen or Hilton Head.

Hi BlueWillowPlate,

Thanks for responding.

I've read (on this forum) about the paper mills but don't remember smelling anything the times I've been there, and if I've driven past them I didn't notice (now that I'm aware of course I'll see/smell them the next time I'm in town!).

I'll have to look into Oyster Bay, thanks for the tip. I'm not absolutely opposed to living in town but for insurance/storm/flooding/pricing purposes I thought it best to be a bit inland, even Yulee. I have at least until year's end before I'm actually ready, so I'm still weighing options and visiting somewhat regularly to better familiarize myself w/the different neighborhoods. As far as the Nassauville area not being fancy, I don't mind that other than maybe property value issues I'd have to consider (don't want to put a lot of $$ into my home over time for it to be worthless in the end). Being a female by myself my main concern is saftety--I know from experience that even the smallest towns have those few neighborhoods that one wouldn't want to live in due to drugs etc., so that's kind of what I was alluding to with the question.

As far as A1A goes, I've driven it in the Yulee/Fernandina area, but have not yet ventured further south or tried the ferry. For some reason even that makes me a little nervous; I guess it's just because I've not done it, I can't imagine it being that big of a deal (I know I sound like a basket case but driving is just not my thing--if I could afford it, you could bet that I would have a personal driver ). I have noticed the traffic/speed when I've driven A1A there, but compared to 9A et al. still the lesser evil in my opinion; like you said, I'll just have to be careful.

Once again I'd like to thank you for the info both in your responses to me and other posts you've written; although everything is subjective to a degree, I appreciate the apparent honesty and diplomacy in your comments.

[GeorgeJ.]

Misstee71, other than the few newer areas of Yulee, it really isn't much like Fernandina/Amelia. Other than the 4 or so new developments by the intersection that fronts the Home Depot/Target center (A1A and Amelia Concourse/Chester Rd.) the rest of Yulee is pretty much rural. Down Amelia Concourse, you'll find North Hampton, Amelia National, Amelia Walk, Flora Parke (entrance used to be over on A1A about halfway between Walmart & Amelia Concourse, but they're now building off Amelia Concourse & the new entrance for the models is there) and one more (Lofton Creek?) that is the lowest priced.

Both North Hampton & Amelia National have golf courses.

North Hampton is pretty safe to live in. It is all built out except for the very rear which still has a number of lots for sale. No problem walking throughout it day or night.

One section (Long Beach Drive) has the smallest houses (1500-1800 sq ft or so). They originally sold in the $200,000's but are probably down into the $100,000's now. A 2200 sq ft house on the golf course sold for $179,000 late last year (but it said it was an as-is sale so may have needed a good amount of $$ in addition to fix it up). Great deals to be had now.

[misstee71]

George-thanks so much for the wealth of information. As far as Yulee is concerned, the area you mentioned closer to Target is actually where I had been looking; also, Fernandina addresses (if I remember correctly) but a little before the bridge. I will definitely be looking into some of the communities you mentioned that I've not yet checked out, and maybe now's a good time to revisit those others I'd originally ruled out due to cost. I agree there are some great deals out there now; I just hope there are a few left (or at least one!) when I'm ready to buy closer to year's end.

[trobesmom]

misstee71, there are pockets of more liberal and progressive thinking but the area is still HUGELY conservative. I am a native here and cannot remember the last time a Democrat county commissioner was elected. In fact, there was one that ran a couple of years ago, and despite being extremely active in helping to preserve the character of the island (and being very competent otherwise) he was soundly defeated (the same goes to a recent qualified Democrat challenger to the county sheriff).

If you look at the local, state, and national results, they have gone pretty much 75-80% Republican for A LONG time. This place is also very religiously conservative, and a lot of smoke was raised by the fundamentalists lately when a 'gay-straight' alliance was attempted by students at the Yulee High School. This was an attempt to address bullying of gays (a big problem here) via education, but the bible thumpers went nuts. Fortunately, a higher judge allowed this group and deemed the attempt to ban by the school board unconstitutional.

And then we have quality of life issues which have been handled in a DEPLORABLE manner in the county for as long as I can remember. We are one of the few remaining places in the state that has no tree or conservation laws (outside of the city limits). Folks and developers can pretty much denude the land and no one in authority gives a flip (I was on a local peer group to seek conservation and tree protection and finally gave up after many years of frustration). Attempts to control development on AIA via buffers and density were soundly defeated as their only mantra here is "personal property rights." Oh, and of course they are talking about removing the few recycling centers which had been available!

And then also, we have the county trying to over develop Crane Island (in bed with AIP). Their lawyer's attempts to twist the long held ruling of Crane Island from a low density conservation designation was deemed unlawful by a local judge - however, they are appealing this decision via the developers money (talk about conflict of interest!).

It is truly a good ole boy network in the county and the connections with developers are as deep as any rabbit hole! Local folks insist on continuing to elect the same group of good ole boys over and over. I could tell you lots more, but will end it there for now, but conservative folks (and developers) will love it here, but more progressive and/or liberal folks will have to work harder to connect with one another.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by trobesmom

more progressive and/or liberal folks will have to work harder to connect with one another.

I think it's happening.
We will be out of town for the May 12 election, but I am going to see if we can vote absentee. Regardless, the recent straw vote certainly looked positive to me.
The times they are a 'changin.'

[misstee71]

Trobesmom-I'm impressed, you seem very well-informed and I appreciate your point of view. I've never been that involved in politics but in reading about these different issues I can see that maybe now is the time to start. Perhaps that's why I feel so drawn to the area, maybe the 'progressive and/or liberal folks' need a few more on their team (I love your positivity, BlueWillowPlate, Let us know if you were able to participate). Especially when I read about things as deplorable as gay bashing--as a Christian myself I find it so disappointing that such a large group of people are being turned off to the beauty of the religion because so many others twist scripture (and/or take man's often mistranslated word for it rather than making the effort to find out what was really said in the original languages) to serve their own self-righteous agendas.

On the other hand, at this point in my life I'm really seeking a laidback, peaceful existence. I fought my battles when I was younger, and, although I will always stand up for what I believe is fair and right, I don't know that I want to cause a lot of trouble for myself, either; at 36 I joke all the time that I came down to Florida looking for a good retirement community to settle into.

Anyway, you certainly gave me more to think about and I appreciate that; I'll have to really consider what I want for myself at this point in my life. Just out of curiosity, would you say that St. Augustine would be less of a stretch for someone like me to at least somewhat fit in than Amelia Island apparently will be? Wherever I end up I'm not looking to become popular per se--I'd just like the opportunity to make a few good friends and avoid getting my house or car vandalized (or worse) because people disagree with my outlook on life.