"Northside" (Pecan Park area North) Good??? Bad??? area (Jacksonville: new home, to buy)

[JBDRO813]

I recently relocated to the Jacksonville area and have been exploring my options for purchasing a home, but I am having a hard time deciding where to choose… I currently live around the “Southside” area and I like it, but it is becoming very busy and congested and the majority of the houses in the communities or anywhere are on postage stamp sized lots. I recently began exploring the “Northside” and have discovered some very interesting areas and communities that are growing and growing, and they are offering very nice sized wooded lots for a very reasonable price. I am trying to figure out why everyone says the “Northside” is a bad area, I am mostly taking about from the 9A/295 North of the loop heading toward Nassau county, Pecan Park area, I have discovered it is very country, yet very convenient to just about anywhere in Jacksonville 15-20 minutes. Is this area considered good or bad??? I noticed a lot of new construction, including the new River City Market Place. Any input or direction from any Jacksonville natives would be appreciated.

[stevebxl]

The Northside is an up & coming area of Jacksonville with plenty of new homes (and the new mall) in the area. I lived there myself, but moved south to the CR 210 area because of my commute for my job.

You can get more house for your money in the area too. You know, 15 years ago people couldn't understand why anyone would want to "live in the country" by building a home in the area of Hodges & Atlantic Blvd.

[Karla with a K]

Originally Posted by stevebxl

You can get more house for your money in the area too. You know, 15 years ago people couldn't understand why anyone would want to "live in the country" by building a home in the area of Hodges & Atlantic Blvd.

lol steve you are so right I have to laugh when I think that 8 years ago where we live didnt exist 9A/Baymeadows area. There was nothing past Deerwood on baymeadows.
I actually remember when they were first starting to build Argyle

Karla

[riveree]

Originally Posted by JBDRO813

I recently relocated to the Jacksonville area and have been exploring my options for purchasing a home, but I am having a hard time deciding where to choose… I currently live around the “Southside” area and I like it, but it is becoming very busy and congested and the majority of the houses in the communities or anywhere are on postage stamp sized lots. I recently began exploring the “Northside” and have discovered some very interesting areas and communities that are growing and growing, and they are offering very nice sized wooded lots for a very reasonable price. I am trying to figure out why everyone says the “Northside” is a bad area, I am mostly taking about from the 9A/295 North of the loop heading toward Nassau county, Pecan Park area, I have discovered it is very country, yet very convenient to just about anywhere in Jacksonville 15-20 minutes. Is this area considered good or bad??? I noticed a lot of new construction, including the new River City Market Place. Any input or direction from any Jacksonville natives would be appreciated.

15-20 mins to anywhere in Jax? I live off 9A @ Beach Blvd and it takes me 25 minutes to travel up 9A to the airport (trust me, I'm not driving slow ) and Pecan Park is further north of the airport.

New construction across the country is on smaller sized lots now unless you pay a premium. On the Northside, the homes are a bit cheaper, so you may be able to buy a little bigger lot than you could elsewhere.

If it's a bigger lot you're after, that can be found on the Southside, you just might need to buy a resale home instead of new construction. You can even find acreage (usually 1 acre) well inside the city if you look around.

If the feedback you're getting is that the Northside is bad and obviously the land is valued less, that's wht it's cheaper, these are things to consider.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by stevebxl

The Northside is an up & coming area of Jacksonville with plenty of new homes (and the new mall) in the area. I lived there myself, but moved south to the CR 210 area because of my commute for my job.

You can get more house for your money in the area too. You know, 15 years ago people couldn't understand why anyone would want to "live in the country" by building a home in the area of Hodges & Atlantic Blvd.

That's very true about the Hodges area...it wasn't that long ago that it was all woods!

I think the difference between Hodges & the Northside is location though.

Hodges is sandwiched between the beach and downtown, so it was only a matter of time before it would be built-out and it's desireability is no suprise.

The Northside will probably continue to develop and have its' appeal, it will be interesting to see what happens with it.

[cyrece]

I moved from Hodges to the Northside and I love it! Some people may consider NW Jax to be not so great. But you can get more for your money just by crossing the bridge. I also feel that this area hasn't matured yet like the Southside, ICW, etc has.

[NorthsideJacksonville]

Originally Posted by JBDRO813

I recently relocated to the Jacksonville area and have been exploring my options for purchasing a home, but I am having a hard time deciding where to choose… I currently live around the “Southside” area and I like it, but it is becoming very busy and congested and the majority of the houses in the communities or anywhere are on postage stamp sized lots. I recently began exploring the “Northside” and have discovered some very interesting areas and communities that are growing and growing, and they are offering very nice sized wooded lots for a very reasonable price. I am trying to figure out why everyone says the “Northside” is a bad area, I am mostly taking about from the 9A/295 North of the loop heading toward Nassau county, Pecan Park area, I have discovered it is very country, yet very convenient to just about anywhere in Jacksonville 15-20 minutes. Is this area considered good or bad??? I noticed a lot of new construction, including the new River City Market Place. Any input or direction from any Jacksonville natives would be appreciated.

Northside is a dichotomy of ghetto to filthy rich. A good rule of thumb to remember about North Jacksonville is any street that's numbered or ends in Avenue is most likely a rough area. Pecan Park is a prime Northside spot, VERY close proximity to 95/295 and the airport.

[DuvalGatorGirl]

dunn ave. doesn't seem *that* bad, lol. there are a number of subdivisions being built up by fccj north campus. if you go east on dunn, yeah it does get ghetto, but west of US1 seems pretty country. when i think of northside, i think of the country.. which is not bad at all imo, if i were planning to stay in jax longer i'd get some property up there. now, the southern part of the northside, moncrief rd. and all that... that's bad, heh.

also, i live in the intracoastal area... once i hit 9a (atlantic to 9a), it only takes 15 minutes to get to the dunn ave. exit... and yes this is during morning rush hour haha......

[NorthsideJacksonville]

Originally Posted by helloooo nurse!

dunn ave. doesn't seem *that* bad, lol. there are a number of subdivisions being built up by fccj north campus. if you go east on dunn, yeah it does get ghetto, but west of US1 seems pretty country. when i think of northside, i think of the country.. which is not bad at all imo, if i were planning to stay in jax longer i'd get some property up there. now, the southern part of the northside, moncrief rd. and all that... that's bad, heh.

also, i live in the intracoastal area... once i hit 9a (atlantic to 9a), it only takes 15 minutes to get to the dunn ave. exit... and yes this is during morning rush hour haha......

LOL Dunn Ave. is a perfect example of how Northside ranges from hood to wealthy. You have it pretty accurate as far as Northside is concerned because it has a country feel to it, especially towards the airport.

[PhotoZel]

I actually moved to the Northside off New Berlin 2 yrs ago from Mandarin.

I LOVE IT! The sub is Hickory Hill and the area is very nice. We have a brand new Elementary school right down the road. Neighbors are very nice and everyone around is friendly.

For example...My wife drove my truck for awhile and did not buy any gas(diesel) recently, then I had to go and make a late diaper run.......and ran out of gas at New Berlin and Yellow bluff...here I am on the side of the road, at night......there must have 10 different people stop and ask if I needed any help in the first 20 minutes ( I waiting on the wife to come and pick up the 5 yr old who was with me)(Who by the way, was having a blast telling everyone who stopped her name, and why we were out of fuel, she had listened to my cell call to the wife).

I had rednecks, yuppies, you name it, they all wanted to assist. They did know me from Adams house cat, but were willing to stop and ask.

That is an example of the New Northside, and the people in JAX in general.

Most are good, some (few) are not, people and areas of JAX.