Potential Move from Washington DC area (Arlington, VA) (Jacksonville: for sale, new home)

[upton06]

My husband and I are considering a move to Jacksonville. My husband is being transfered and I will be looking for work. We are in our early 30s and do not have any kids yet.

1- Where to Live
We are looking to spend ~$400-600K on a house. My husband will be working on the Southside (off JTB and I-95). Areas we are considering include: San Marco, Queens Harbor, and Deerwood. Any other suggestions? We like the beach, would Ponte Vedra be a viable option?

2- Jobs for the wife
I currently work for a defense contractor in the engineering field and have my master's in engineering. Are there any large engineering companies in Jacksonville (not construction)?

We are really torn as to if we should move or not. We are originally from the Southeast, so this move is attractive to us. We are tired of the traffic and cost of living expense in DC, but we are concerned about the wife finding work. We also think Jacksonville, may be a good place to raise a family.

Any help is much appreciated, thanks!

[cyrece]

With that price range, you can get alot for your money. Deerwood and Queens Harbour are nice. I hear alot of complaints about QH's traffic as far as trying to get in and out in the mornings. You could also try Jax CC and the area off of JTB. There are alot of new construction homes in that area too. I'm not sure about engineering companies just yet, but can look into it. Some great sites are monster.com, careerbuilder.com and american job bank.

Jax is a great place to live! It can be a bit challenging to find a career quickly though.

Good luck!

[kort677]

Originally Posted by upton06

My husband and I are considering a move to Jacksonville. My husband is being transfered and I will be looking for work. We are in our early 30s and do not have any kids yet.

1- Where to Live
We are looking to spend ~$400-600K on a house. My husband will be working on the Southside (off JTB and I-95). Areas we are considering include: San Marco, Queens Harbor, and Deerwood. Any other suggestions? We like the beach, would Ponte Vedra be a viable option?

queens harbor is nice but a bit of a hike, PVB is nice but a drive too, I don't like deerwood but that would be the closest and san marco is an older part of town that isn't too close.

You don't say whay field your wife is in so it's hard to predict her finding a decent job, and in my opinion JAX wins hands down over the DC area, but JAX isn't as cosmopolitan as it is up there, as long as you're willing to slow down a bit, JAX is a good choice

[riveree]

Originally Posted by upton06

1- Where to Live
We are looking to spend ~$400-600K on a house. My husband will be working on the Southside (off JTB and I-95). Areas we are considering include: San Marco, Queens Harbor, and Deerwood. Any other suggestions? We like the beach, would Ponte Vedra be a viable option?

San Marco would actually be very close, it's an easy commute. From San Marco, you'd just hop on Phillips Highway/US1 and go south to JTB @ I95......even in heavy traffic it's about 20 mins.

Deerwood would be close too, traffic is a little heavier from this side, but it's still a good commute.

Queens Harbour (yeah they spell it that way ) would be the next one out...the commute is getting longer now.

The furthest out would be Ponte Vedra. People commute from here everyday, there are worse commutes for sure.

All nice areas, San Marco would top my list of the four.

[KerryB]

Yeah, you guys sound a lot like me & my wife. We live in DC as well (right inside the district) & are moving to Jax next month. Like you, we could have stayed, but decided it just wasnt worth it. We're in our VERY late 20s & dont have kids yet either.

We like DC a lot, but the cost is just too much. Its too hard to build life here. I mean DC is nice, but its not THAT nice, at least for the price. The cost of living is almost on point to San Francisco, NYC, Boston, etc. And lets face it, DC is not quite up to that level.

Anyways, I think you guys will really enjoy Jax. Sounds like its got a lot going for it.

[stevep]

We moved down from Northern Va in 2001. You'll definitely get an incredible amount more for your money down here..... plus there is no comparison when it comes to traffic. There are several excellent subdivisions down here..... it really depends on if you want to be closer to the beach, downtown, the river or the intracoastal and if you're looking for a newer home (less than 5 yrs) or an older home (10 - 20 yrs) and if a gated subdivision is important. When we moved down here, we were looking for a new home that was within 4-5 miles to the beach but also convenient to the main roads - so we picked Pablo Bay. There are probably 30 homes for sale in your price range (square footage of 2400 - 3300 sq ft) - the subdivision was started in 2002. Queens Harbour is gated and has a golf course. The prices start around $500k and you can probably get a 2300-2700 square foot home, but they're probably around 7-12 yrs old. I really haven't been to Deerwood or San Marco that much, so I can't comment on them. The best thing to do would be to come down here for atleast a couple of days and drive around the different areas.

[upton06]

Thanks for everyone's input! We really appreciate it. It is helpful for us!

[mastaputa]

Can I come too? I live in Arlington as well and can't wait to get out. I'm 24 and I don't think I'll be able to afford a house around here for 10 years. Maybe Jacksonville it is??? And sorry, I know I didn't add any value to this post haha, but sometimes I need to vent about the price of housing in the DC area. And the traffic!

[smash731]

masta,

I'm originally from Elkridge/Columbia, MD and to my friends (I'm 23), Arlington is the holy grail of being young, having a good job, and being able to have tons of fun. I'm surprised to hear that one of you doesn't like it! I'm moving to Jax in August and I'm starting to get terrified at the prospect of not going home to Balt/DC metro region...but maybe I did make the right choice!