For those enjoying life in Jacksonville, please respond... (Miami, Keystone: high crime, homes)

[Coffeecake]

Loved, loved, loved living in Ponte Vedra for 5 years. Regretted moving. I had felt like I was on vacation every day while living there. St. John's County schools are all "A" rated. Love the St. John's Town Center area too. Really growing into a nice community. Note: Someone mentioned Bishop Kenny, that's a private catholic high school. One of the few in the area.

[esther]

I haved lived in Jax the majority of my life (24 yrs old ), and i never questioned living there till recently. i haved travel around Fl a bit but never found anywhere more appealing OTHER THAN THE FL KEYS. Now i live in Baltimore, MD, it is ok but you get so used to the picture perfect skies and the ocean being so close. everything in FL seems to glow, when its not raining.

[GOODTOGO]

My brother and his family reside in "Julington Park" for the past 3 years and LOVE IT!! They reside in a very family/young neighborhood and from my visits there most people speak on language "English". The town of Avondale has great sidewalk shopping, very unique, unlike the mega indoor malls...I would recommend living there however, like the majority of Florida they are building like hot-cakes.....keep us posted if you decide to make it permanent..

[Norman]

Phew! Thank you to all of you who said something Positive about Jacksonville! I was getting verrry discouraged.

[jmc]

Thanks everyone for your positive comments about JAX! We'll be moving there around Christmas/January, so I can't thank you enough for spreading some positivity on this forum in regard to my future home.

[Karla with a K]

you all will love it here
I am sad because it appears our move to Atlanta will be sooner than later so it looks like as you new folks arrive I shall be heading out.
I will be glad to help out with any information I can before we go
Karla

[Floridian]

You'll love it here. We moved here 7 years ago coming from the North(Toronto). Since then, everything have changed for the better. Real estate, developments.. You'll like the weather here esp. on winter, we have days enjoying our fire place. Been living in South (Mandarin), works in downtown - takes me only 15 min drive. St. johns town center is 10 min away, avenues mall & cinemas are 7 min. away.

[Karla with a K]

you have to love the St Johns towne center
Rena's pizza and Mini's cafe are 2 places we eat at all the time
karla

[koz]

I have been in Jax for about 2 years now, and it's a pretty nice place to live. I have only lived on the Southside, but my husband is from Mandarin. Southside, Mandarin, the St. Augustine area, and recently Bartram and parts of the Northside are all great places to live and raise a family in. The weather is nice (a little too humid for my taste though) and the winters are pretty mild. The people are friendly, and the housing is affordable for the most part. If you like outdoor activities, there are lots of places to fish, camp, go boating etc.

[jaxnolefan]

What I love about Jax...Nice weather with a break from the heat in the winter, easy access to other areas of the Southeast, Relatively low cost of living esp when compared to other cities with alot of room for growth, but most of all Jacksonville is a large city however has been able to maintain that small town feel. This is especially true of the small areas of the city. All of the sections of town have everything you need and therefore it elimiates having to drive all over the place. For example, I'm going to be moving to the Space Coast. Everytime you leave the house, you have to drive to go somewhere > 30 mins. I'm spoiled. Everything I need is close by. But most of all the people...we have alot of people from all over and alot of natives. We are friendly people who will help our neighbors in need. We have awesome restruants and again compared with other places, we have a lower crime rate. We have talked in this forum about the crim but this is due mainly to the fact that we have been spoiled for a long time. Growing Pains...We have traffic problems but nothing like other places. We are lucky...we complain about spending 30 mins in traffic. I know alot of people drive 45-60 mins to get to work. oh...did I mention the beach, St Augustine, Savannah, Amilia Island? And...FOOTBALL!! Noles ( go Noles), Gators, and Jags?? What's not to love about Jax?