Need to rent in Artsy JAX community (Jacksonville, St. Augustine: gated, apartments)

[NKD]

Hello jacksonvillians,

My fiance, our 6 pound chihuahua and I are moving to Jacksonville in August. We are looking to rent at first and would ideally like to rent a house, but would be flexible towards renting apartments or condos. The reason we would prefer a house is because we want a yard for the doggie to play in and we are tired of the cramped quarters in our Detroit apartment.

We both want an urban artsy type of neighborhood so we can walk around and people watch and sit at cafes. The posts here seem to reflect that Riverside, Avondale and San Marco are our best bets. During my rentals search these areas seem to have the LEAST amount of places available online. We dont want a gated community or a beach community. Our realtor was steering us towards Springfield, which another poster on this forum compared to Harlem in the 90's. That scares me! I found a cute house in a place called Northshore, but am not sure how safe this is or how 'artsy' it is.

We will both be working at UF Shands hospital and we have no kids so we dont care about the schools and would ideally like to live close to the hospital. Money is not a huge issue.

So the questions: Any leads on rentals in those types of communities? Is Springfield really that bad? Is a house in those communities out of the question and should we just look for apartments? Is Northshore urban enough? Is it safe?

Thanks
NKD

[riveree]

You can find a nice house to rent in the areas you mentioned: Riverside, San Marco...maybe Avondale too (Avondale proper has a lot of big expensive homes...but maybe some bungalows for rent too).

Most of the homes for rent will be by individual landlords/homeowners, so the local paper might be your best bet to find these (Times Union). There must be some listings online though...? Also, have you placed any calls to realtors to see if they can help locate one?

These homes can be pricey to rent...how much were you planning to spend?

Even homes in Lakewood - south of San Marco, walkable, but not considered "artsy" - go for $1000 or so and they are usually tiny (people pay for the location).

I'm not familiar with Northshore...is it near Lakeshore?

Whether to rent or buy in Springfield is a very personal decision. I love that Springfield is revitalizing and I love that people are committed to the neighborhood. I was atttracted to it when I first arrived in Jacksonville. My husband who has been here way, way longer than me said "no way, we are not living there"......and that's still what he says when I bring it up from time to time ! Though after my last visit there to look around, I think I'm over it....and really, I never wake up on a Saturday morning and say "Let's go to Springfield!" because there's just not much of a draw...maybe in the future there will be?

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by NKD

Hello jacksonvillians,

My fiance, our 6 pound chihuahua and I are moving to Jacksonville in August. We are looking to rent at first and would ideally like to rent a house, but would be flexible towards renting apartments or condos. The reason we would prefer a house is because we want a yard for the doggie to play in and we are tired of the cramped quarters in our Detroit apartment.

We both want an urban artsy type of neighborhood so we can walk around and people watch and sit at cafes. The posts here seem to reflect that Riverside, Avondale and San Marco are our best bets. During my rentals search these areas seem to have the LEAST amount of places available online. We dont want a gated community or a beach community. Our realtor was steering us towards Springfield, which another poster on this forum compared to Harlem in the 90's. That scares me! I found a cute house in a place called Northshore, but am not sure how safe this is or how 'artsy' it is.

We will both be working at UF Shands hospital and we have no kids so we dont care about the schools and would ideally like to live close to the hospital. Money is not a huge issue.

So the questions: Any leads on rentals in those types of communities? Is Springfield really that bad? Is a house in those communities out of the question and should we just look for apartments? Is Northshore urban enough? Is it safe?

Thanks
NKD

Friend, if your concerned about being close to work, which from your post appears to be Shands, then Springfield would put you closer to work. As the great lady before me posted, it isn't for everyone but it is on the come up b/c of the revitalization. It's starting to get that hipster/young/artistic set. They have a place over there that does spoken word and other places as well. But b/c the redevelopment is still taken place, there are still some spotty parts and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that. Riverside/Avondale is the home of "artistic" people for J'ville. It's a great area but the rentals can run you about 1000 as Riveree stated. You'll have to actually come down to find a rental in that area b/c you won't find it by looking on the net. You're going to see a mix of bungalows, duplexes and small home for rent in that area. You'll also see some very small apartments for rent. Look east of FCCJ (Florida Community College Jacksonville) Kent campus and around there as well as there are a couple of places.

[NKD]

Thanks for the reply!

The northshore address is this:

150 W 67th St
Jacksonville, FL 32208

on google maps it is right on the water, if you go stright up 95, go east on highway 111, between northshore park and rolliston park. Dont know where lakehsore is.

Well, right now we pay 1,700 in Detroit for a one bedroom apt that is 'nice' with clubhouse, gated, vaulted ceilings, on a combined salary of est. 100K. Our salary will be elevating to combined 500K, and so, I think we feel okay renting a house for what we pay for our apt here. The cap would probably be 2,000. The intent is to move there, rent, find a house to buy during that time.

The realtor we are working with from the hospital is a very nice person and a great resource. I think she was expecting us to buy though, and the homes she showed us (Ponte Vedra, others I cant remember) in Jan were too much commitment for a couple buying a first home and taking their first big jobs. So, although I tried to pinpoint her on Riverside and Avondale, she responded with listings like: South jacksonville, near Atlantic Blvd, another off Southside Blvd 115, another in Pineland Gardens to name a few. They are nice homes, but i guess the bottom line is i don't want a house in the suburbs yet, even a rental!!

part of this problem may be my inexperience with knowing if the street locations she sends are in the areas I want. I google map them, and I have been on rentclicks, rent.com, realtor.com to try to find rental homes and end up staring at beach condos after the first two or three listings!!!

So we are visiting there in end of May and I think i will just need to get a local paper before then. i have actually been searching for a local website that could do the same, but unable to find any like that, except i stumbled across this page.

Thanks again
nkd

[TriMT7]

Hello NKD, I'm not FROM Jacksonville, but I always enjoy a housing challenge! First place to look, of course, is always Craigslist for some good "off the radar" deals! Check out some of these finds:

Riverside:

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/318685632.html

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/317079947.html

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/310631930.html


Avondale:

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/310378371.html

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/297441408.html


San Marco:

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/318026780.html

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/317328896.html

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/apa/317526809.html

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by NKD

Thanks for the reply!

The northshore address is this:

150 W 67th St
Jacksonville, FL 32208

on google maps it is right on the water, if you go stright up 95, go east on highway 111, between northshore park and rolliston park. Dont know where lakehsore is.

Well, right now we pay 1,700 in Detroit for a one bedroom apt that is 'nice' with clubhouse, gated, vaulted ceilings, on a combined salary of est. 100K. Our salary will be elevating to combined 500K, and so, I think we feel okay renting a house for what we pay for our apt here. The cap would probably be 2,000. The intent is to move there, rent, find a house to buy during that time.

The realtor we are working with from the hospital is a very nice person and a great resource. I think she was expecting us to buy though, and the homes she showed us (Ponte Vedra, others I cant remember) in Jan were too much commitment for a couple buying a first home and taking their first big jobs. So, although I tried to pinpoint her on Riverside and Avondale, she responded with listings like: South jacksonville, near Atlantic Blvd, another off Southside Blvd 115, another in Pineland Gardens to name a few. They are nice homes, but i guess the bottom line is i don't want a house in the suburbs yet, even a rental!!

part of this problem may be my inexperience with knowing if the street locations she sends are in the areas I want. I google map them, and I have been on rentclicks, rent.com, realtor.com to try to find rental homes and end up staring at beach condos after the first two or three listings!!!

So we are visiting there in end of May and I think i will just need to get a local paper before then. i have actually been searching for a local website that could do the same, but unable to find any like that, except i stumbled across this page.

Thanks again
nkd

Have you been to jacksonville dot com. That is the local paper website. Bro, I a relative or two near and around 67th St and after looking at Google maps I'm very familar with that area b/c my aunt lives west of there in around Lake Forest. Let me just say that it's not for everyone and there are some very rough spots. Think about a mix of 8 mile in the D and some middle class areas.

[NKD]

The Craigslist posts are EXACTLY the kind of thing I am looking for! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Also thanks for the info regarding Northshore. 8 Mile in the D captures it perfectly for me.

Thanks
nkd

[riveree]

Since you don't want a house in the suburbs yet, stick to your original plan: San Marco, Riverside or Avondale. You can afford those areas and they're our "least suburban" areas outside of downtown.

I moved to the First Coast straight from NYC (Manhattan) and first landed in St. Augustine for a few years, later moving to Jax. If I had to do it all over again I'd move straight to San Marco in Jacksonville. The one adjustment I've never quite made to Jax is getting used to is how vastly suburban it is.

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by riveree

Since you don't want a house in the suburbs yet, stick to your original plan: San Marco, Riverside or Avondale. You can afford those areas and they're our "least suburban" areas outside of downtown.

I moved to the First Coast straight from NYC (Manhattan) and first landed in St. Augustine for a few years, later moving to Jax. If I had to do it all over again I'd move straight to San Marco in Jacksonville. The one adjustment I've never quite made to Jax is getting used to is how vastly suburban it is.

I lived in Jax for 27 of my 30 years. The last two years I have lived in the Phoenix metro area. If you think Jax is vastly suburban, just come to Phoenix. Surburban tract houses as far as the eye can. A beautiful area though. Raleigh-Durham is the same way and sadly, I'm stuck here in Raleigh-Durham b/c of the job.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by he's so hott

I lived in Jax for 27 of my 30 years. The last two years I have lived in the Phoenix metro area. If you think Jax is vastly suburban, just come to Phoenix. Surburban tract houses as far as the eye can. A beautiful area though. Raleigh-Durham is the same way and sadly, I'm stuck here in Raleigh-Durham b/c of the job.

I have a good friend who lived in Phoenix and hated it. He's moved on to Vegas, and likes it a bit better, but I think he'd move again if he could (job-thing too). He's getting married soon and I told him he should honeymoon in Florida...maybe I can keep them here!

So, he'ssohott,

If you were to move back to Jax - where would you move to and why?