[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by HarryWhom

I don't understand how politics should fit into a relocation decision. Safety, livability, and schools are primary.

Politics are a HUGE consideration. Conservative areas generally have lower taxes. Not always, but generally.

Look at migration patterns in the USA. People are fleeing California, New York, New Jersey, CT, Illinois, for places like Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, & Florida.

Dems are fleeing the high taxes they voted for, and want to move to Republican areas w/ lower taxes and cost of living. There are exceptions, but as a general rule, politics matters in where you move to.

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by HarryWhom

I don't understand how politics should fit into a relocation decision. Safety, livability, and schools are primary.

Politics shape policies and the rules under which a community operates in a whole bunch of ways. When we lived in Tennessee, there were still counties nearby with a 100% ban on alcohol sales. (We were in a 'damp' beer-only allowed county) And go too far to the right or too far to the left and the curriculum used gets political. I wouldn't want my kids to go to a school where there was huge pressure to participate in 'voluntary lunchtime prayer' and Christian clubs, where evolution was not allowed to be taught in science class and where you had to go through all kinds of hoops to make sure your child was not physically assaulted by a district employee because paddling was still a default method of discipline.

[Johnathon Hills]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Dems are fleeing the high taxes they voted for, and want to move to Republican areas w/ lower taxes and cost of living.

...and continue their horrible voting patterns, thereby ruining things for the natives. One of many reasons Floridians despise many transplants, and rightfully so.

[chaiguy]

Originally Posted by HarryWhom

I don't understand how politics should fit into a relocation decision. Safety, livability, and schools are primary.

Politics matter quite a bit. I don't want to make this post a political post, but I am certain I will be bombarded just by replying to your comment.

- Do I want my children in a school were they criticized the political party I stand for? NO
- Do I want my children to feel completely isolated because the other kids and kid's parents belong to a different party? NO
- Do I want my family living in a town/county were the fiscal/social/public policies are not in line with mine? NO

For example, the state I currently live almost passed a law mandating vaccines in order for anyone, kids & adults to attend schools, whether private or public. Luckily we fought hard for weeks at the state's house and the law didn't not pass, mostly thanks to the Republican Senators.

You may feel different about vaccines, but thats just one example. At the end of the day I have come to understand most issues are rooted in this simple fact: Republicans will fight for you to preserve your constitutional rights and minimal government intervention while Democrats will, with the excuse of Public Health, Public Safety, Environment, Inequality, among others, take away all your freedoms and have control of pretty much everything in your life. NO THANK YOU!

That being said, I have been exploring more and more the entire St John's County & JAX. JAX being a larger city seems more complex. Any residential areas in JAX worth exploring that are closer to the beaches? Anything in particular i should take into consideration while exploring Sawgrass, Nocatee, Ponte Vedra & St Augustine?

I know prices seem a bit higher than what I originally wanted but it could be a compromise if everything else clicks.

Lastly would you say the weather in these area is less humid than further South in Jupiter or West in Naples?
Less humidity would be a plus for my wife

[TB12inTB2020]

I get people wanting to move to places where taxes are less. Beyond that, I could not care less what someone else's politics are. You can be a flaming liberal or a brainwashed born again god fearing freak for all I care. I am looking to buy now and I give ZERO consideration as to what the political leanings are. I care about location for things "I" want to do, no or low HOA fee, the house having the features I want, the proper yard, orientation to the sun angle, the condition of the home, etc. What the politics of the neighbors are is completely and absolutely irrelevant to me. Of course I think the majority of people who are "political" and align themselves with EITHER party are basically insane anyhow, so it really is of no value to me to begin with. I am not moving into a neighborhood to have political discussions.

[beachmouse]

If you've got libertarian tendencies, do note that Florida's combination of high population density and tendency toward natural disasters means that you do get a lot of rules that would make many folks like that uncomfortable. I've done 48-72 hour stretches where the local sheriff's office has ordered people to stay in their houses/not leave their yards because they were trying to let power companies and emergency services assess the situation after a hurricane followed by two weeks of dusk til dawn curfews in order to try to encourage public health and safety during s return to normal phase. (And this is in the most Republican part of the state)

Emergency powers are pretty broad down here because they need to be. There have been years when the state went under a state of emergency in June because of wildfires and then had additional state of emergency run until some time around early October because of hurricanes.

We are also a strict building code state. Part of it is because the private insurance market makes us do that and part of it is that generic-your right to do whatever you want on your property is trumped by your neighbor's right to not have generic-your poorly constructed outbuilding land on their house during a hurricane or tornado.

The application of those kinds of rules is typically done with a light hand under both Republican and Democratic governments (I've been here since the Chiles years) but they are definitely present in the state's toolkit and there will always be more rules here than in a low population density, less environmentally fragile, and less disaster-prone state like Idaho.

[tonyp22]

Good observations, beachmosue.

[HarryWhom]

I lived most of my life in NJ. I lived in a liberal area, Camden County, and a conservative area, Ocean County. In neither area did I have any political nonsense in the schools. Maybe it's different down here. I can't comment on that as my kids were out of school before I moved here. I think a lot of people are overly sensitive due to the present political atmosphere. And for reference, I didn't move here for taxes, purely for weather.

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by Johnathon Hills

...and continue their horrible voting patterns, thereby ruining things for the natives. One of many reasons Floridians despise many transplants, and rightfully so.

Not to worry, Florida will be Democratic before too long....for good.

[LA33301]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

Not to worry, Florida will be Democratic before too long....for good.

Yes, in your dreams! Nice try