Moving to Jacksonville- Pros & Cons- Please share with me (Tampa: sales, crime)

[CONTACTROXY]

My fiance and I are both moving to FL. I am 29 and he is 33 years old. I have
mortgage and banking experience and he is in the pharmaceutical sale field.
We are looking for a nice area to move that is close to shopping malls and dinners and 20-25 from the water at the most. We would like to buy a boat eventually and start a family soon.

I will like to know about

Employment opportunities, Life style, how safe is the area? If you are from the area any feedback would help. Pros and Cons of moving to Jacksonville. THANKS !

[Joe 4520832257]

Pros: Low cost of living compared to the rest of Florida. Great weather. Beaches, river, and great outdoor activities in general. Strong local economy with good growth rates. Great weather.

Cons: Relatively low paying jobs (thus the low cost of living). SPRAWL - Jax is one of the most spread out suburban cities in the country, so you have to drive everywhere. Generally awful public schools, with some notable exceptions. The metro population is still around 1 million people, so the shopping and dining opportunities reflect that, so there aren't all the same stores you'd find in a larger city.

Crime: people love to complain about it, but the reality is that crime is very segregated along racial and socio-economic lines. If you live in a good neighborhood, the only crime you'll experience is on the evening news.

Without more info I couldn't give any neighborhood suggestions. To be within 20-25 minutes of the beach, you'd need to be East of the river. Almost anywhere is within 20-25 minutes of the river.

[CONTACTROXY]

Thanks for the info

[projectmaximus]

what he said.

Jax is predominantly suburban...perhaps more so than any other city of its size. You'll find malls and restaurants all over, although if you are particularly picky you might end up having to drive a long way for specific shops/dining options. This city is very spread out, but the environment is terrific for raising a family, so long as your kids are in the right schools.

Plenty of water everywhere for your boat...many creeks, rivers, intracoastal, and ocean.

I'm sure you'd be happy somewhere in the area as long as you find work first!

[Dappleganger]

Do not move to FL unless you both already have local jobs. The people who have lived here a long time already have a hard enough time finding employment which pays a decent salary. Things are getting worse, not better around here.

[jsimms3]

Projectmaximus, when did you move? How are you liking Chicago and where in Chicago did you move to?

[projectmaximus]

Originally Posted by jsimms3

Projectmaximus, when did you move? How are you liking Chicago and where in Chicago did you move to?

I'm a grad student at Northwestern, came here almost two years ago. I actually live in Evanston, which is more or less still a part of Chicago, being the first suburb on the Northshore.

I think Chicago is great. It's nowhere near as bustling as Manhattan, but there's always plenty going on in the city and all sorts of cultural opportunities. Of course, the winter sucks and almost makes it not worth being here.

[cricketfan]

We all complain about Jacksonville SPRAWL, including myself. And we have good reasons to complain, you have to drive long distances. But I wonder if city crime would not be more pervasive were it not for the fact that Jacksonville is so spread out. So in that sense I see the sprawl as both a pro and a con. Every city has a good side of the tracks and a bad side of the tracks. Jacksonville is so spread out that you can choose to live far away from the north side and the west side and feel relatively safe.

[The Sandman]

Originally Posted by Dappleganger

Do not move to FL unless you both already have local jobs. The people who have lived here a long time already have a hard enough time finding employment which pays a decent salary. Things are getting worse, not better around here.

I agree with Dappleganger. My girlfriend worked in pharm sales and she said that it's ridiculous how J'ville has no jobs available but Tampa, Orlando, etc do.

[fsu813]

cricket,

I live in the Historic Springfield area, just North of Downtown with my wife (newlyweds) and we feel completely safe. The areas North & West of us aren't very good, hence we don't go there, but the historic district itself is generally just fine. We've lived here just over a year and they only issue that we've had is a stolen planter (of all things) off our backporch, about 6 months ago.