Moving to Jacksonville- Pros & Cons- Please share with me (Bloomingdale: best city, sale)

[psouth]

As I stated before unless you have a great job lined up before you relocate to Florida then don't waste your time. Warm weather won't pay the bills. Too many warm weather seeking dreamers can't seem to comprehend this for some reason. MN has an excellent job market and an excellent midwestern values quality of life that you will never find in Florida. Some of the nicest people I know are from the midwest and MN in particular. People still give keep their word over a handshake in MN. Most people don't leave their houses up there to go to work for less than $25 per hour as opposed to $8 per hour in Florida. There is big business, factories, progressive corporations, a diversified economy, big city life in Minneapolis, etc. that does not exist in Jacksonville. Being from the Caribbean you may be content with hot weather and what you find here though depending on what kind of work you are willing to do and how much money you will be happy with.

Also being from the Caribbean I would say you would be much happier somewhere in S. Florida. There are many more islanders there and a huge population of Haitians, Bahamians, Dominicans, Cubans, and other immigrants from all over the world. Jacksonville is much less tolerable of different backgrounds. It also gets pretty cold in the winter.

I think there is less misery in the Jacksonville forum because there are many less people in the area than other parts of Florida and they aren't expecting as much out of life. It is a less pretentious and overall simpler area. Many people are content working in call and sales centers. Other parts of Florida have higher expectations and want to make more money, etc. Other parts of Florida are much more upscale and affluent. That's fine. It is what it is. Many people come to Jacksonville for a no frills type of lifestyle. Just not the place for young up and comers looking for money though.

By the way I go to Bourbon Street Station on the Southside, drive on Atlantic or Beach Blvd to get to the beach, go to Cheesecake Factory, Publix, Panera Bread and other places at St. John's Town Center, go to the Jacksonville Landing and San Marco, Friendship Fountain, the Ocean Club at Jax Beach, Tinseltown, Dick's Wings, Jacksonville Ale House, etc. This might tell you something.

[basilwalter]

psouth, your last post makes absolutely no sense. Plus the OP is still moving to Florida.
So, why dont you stop trying so hard and give up!!

[NorthsideJacksonville]

Originally Posted by psouth

As I stated before unless you have a great job lined up before you relocate to Florida then don't waste your time. Warm weather won't pay the bills. Too many warm weather seeking dreamers can't seem to comprehend this for some reason. MN has an excellent job market and an excellent midwestern values quality of life that you will never find in Florida. Some of the nicest people I know are from the midwest and MN in particular. People still give keep their word over a handshake in MN. Most people don't leave their houses up there to go to work for less than $25 per hour as opposed to $8 per hour in Florida. There is big business, factories, progressive corporations, a diversified economy, big city life in Minneapolis, etc. that does not exist in Jacksonville. Being from the Caribbean you may be content with hot weather and what you find here though depending on what kind of work you are willing to do and how much money you will be happy with.

Also being from the Caribbean I would say you would be much happier somewhere in S. Florida. There are many more islanders there and a huge population of Haitians, Bahamians, Dominicans, Cubans, and other immigrants from all over the world. Jacksonville is much less tolerable of different backgrounds. It also gets pretty cold in the winter.

I think there is less misery in the Jacksonville forum because there are many less people in the area than other parts of Florida and they aren't expecting as much out of life. It is a less pretentious and overall simpler area. Many people are content working in call and sales centers. Other parts of Florida have higher expectations and want to make more money, etc. Other parts of Florida are much more upscale and affluent. That's fine. It is what it is. Many people come to Jacksonville for a no frills type of lifestyle. Just not the place for young up and comers looking for money though.

By the way I go to Bourbon Street Station on the Southside, drive on Atlantic or Beach Blvd to get to the beach, go to Cheesecake Factory, Publix, Panera Bread and other places at St. John's Town Center, go to the Jacksonville Landing and San Marco, Friendship Fountain, the Ocean Club at Jax Beach, Tinseltown, Dick's Wings, Jacksonville Ale House, etc. This might tell you something.

Are you a female? Because with your incessant Florida complaining, you resemble a woman on her period So you don't like Jacksonville, big deal. Find another city that suits you and we'll enjoy Jacksonville and what it's going to be like 5, 10 and 15 years from now.

[fsu813]

the part of psouth's rant is the "you won't find those kinda values down here" line....

(ha)

what a joke.

[psouth]

I am just pointing out the obvious to the OP. If they still want to move to Florida based solely on the weather then that is their decision and they will end up being just another sad statistic like the other over 1 million unemployed Floridians. Warm weather dreaming just doesn't pay the bills no matter where you go.

If the OP does their homework properly then I doubt they will come. They would have to find a good paying job which are at a premium here and would still end up taking a huge pay cut from MN. I would rather make $80K up there then $40K (which you cannot even live on) down here anytime. You could always take vacations or retire down here in the future if you want. At least you have options. If you come down and starve you will have no options. By the way, Florida is losing population for the first time in its history. Gee I wonder why??

If you are looking for honesty and good values then Florida would be one of the last places to look. The state is full of transients and dreamers coming and going. It is the third highest state for illegals. It is the bank fraud capital and also the mortgage fraud capital of the U.S. The state of Florida gave mortgage broker licenses to over 4,000 convicted felons. Yes that's four thousand. No other state made this mistake. Florida is one of the prime destinations for criminals and convicted felons from every other state. Let's not even mention the gangs and drug dealers from S. America and elsewhere. I pity the fool who tries to compare morals and values of such a population to that of the bread basket Midwest. The Midwest is legendary for its morals and values and work ethic and honesty. Florida is and always has been known for the opposite. Now I'm not saying everyone in Florida has zero values and that there aren't good people in Florida because there are. There are good and bad people everywhere. But if you take the statistics and the population as a whole it is a different story. Let's say the probability is a million times higher. I don't have my head in the sand like a lot of others down here.

Again Jacksonville is not all bad but it's just not the place for young up and comers. It is better suited for older people looking for a simpler lifestyle. Good luck.

[valsart32002]

Im considering moving to Jacksonville, and I have a two year old son. What are considered the "good areas" of the city?

[Joe 4520832257]

Valsart - you should post a new thread of your own, and also include more details about the kinds of things you are looking for in a city/neighborhood. You'll get more (and better) responses that way.

The short answer is South/East of the River. But that's VERY generalized and doesn't apply to everyone.

[tercel95]

Originally Posted by psouth

Again Jacksonville is not all bad but it's just not the place for young up and comers. It is better suited for older people looking for a simpler lifestyle. Good luck.

I completely disagree with the above statement. I am pretty much what you would call a young up and comer. I just moved here from MD for a number of reasons... While the job market is not great there are still jobs here, specifically for skilled workers...

I am 21 and work for a defense contractor and make what I would consider a very good salary for my age. When I lived in MD I had a tiny 1 bedroom apartment that was $1100/month. I could barely get by... Now I have an apartment that is twice the size of the one I had in MD and costs hundreds less... While the clubbing scene is certainly not the greatest here there is still plenty to do for someone my age. I honestly don't see many downsides to living here...

Oh and I laughed when you said it gets cold here in the winter...

[NorthsideJacksonville]

If you're college-educated, it's very possible to find a good-paying job in Jacksonville; you just gotta have the right connections (as did I). You talking about gangs and drug dealers? Clown, the Midwest is one of the originators of gang culture. You don't hear of any big-time gangs coming down to Florida setting up shop. Yes, nightlife isn't the greatest here but it depends on what night(s) you go.

[psouth]

Originally Posted by NorthsideJacksonville

If you're college-educated, it's very possible to find a good-paying job in Jacksonville; you just gotta have the right connections (as did I). You talking about gangs and drug dealers? Clown, the Midwest is one of the originators of gang culture. You don't hear of any big-time gangs coming down to Florida setting up shop. Yes, nightlife isn't the greatest here but it depends on what night(s) you go.

No there are no gangs in Florida. There are no more drive-by shootings any more either. What a laugh. It shows the close-minded head in the sand mentality in Jacksonville. I guess you haven't been to Jax Beach in a while. I guess all the gangs that are giving sheriff's departments so many problems like the Mexican gangs, Puerto Rican gangs, Jamaican gangs, Haitian gangs, Cuban gangs, and just good ole American gangs have just decided to pack up and leave their Florida turfs. Maybe they are going to Iowa now. Gangs are a huge problem in Florida. They have taken over many parts of Orlando as well as entire towns in S. Florida. Sheriff's departments have had to totally take over some town's police departments because of uncontrolled gang violence and killings.