[cmcray1]

Hello all you nice people. I live in Colorado, Western Slope. Grand Junction is a city, including suburbs of about 70k people. We live in one of the nicer parts of town, and my kids have never been in a fight, seen a knife or a gun pulled, or truly ever felt like they were in danger. I seldom worry about my kids safety (except for pedophiles who live in EVERY neighborhood--but that is aanother conversation).
My kids have never been exposed to rough schools, gangs (except maybe MTV shows) fighting or real poverty. (I have, I grew up on the road and lived in North Las vegas in the 70's, and on Navajo Reservations where life was bleak and I got my as$ kicked regularly for being white--come to think of it that happened in NLV too.) My kids are safe here. They are tough in many ways, but they are NOT street tough--nor would I like them to be. But we want to move to FLA, and I keep reading about the drugs, crime, and poor race relations (GJ is 75% anglo, 20% LAtino, and a few African Americans, Asians, etc. We all get along pretty well (If you dont count the bubbas and the wannabe-gangsters but they are few).
SO what is the deal in FLA? Obviously in Miami or Jacksonville's poor neighborhoods, my kids would be toast, and they would be relatively comfortable in any rich, gated, non diverse community. But I want them to learn about diversity, and I cannot afford McMansionland anyway. Our house here is worth 200k, and is a poor house in a great neighborhood. We are willing to move to a condo, in fact we would like to downshift, so it would be great. We would like to get something for 100-150 that is safe and not radically diverse nor all anglo.
We are considering Titusville area because I would commute to Orlando, and the town looks like mayberry. We are plenty open to living in a big city or near a big city (I am a Psychotherapist and will find work in the city much more easily) but want to be within a few miles of the beach.
Dont get me wrong, we have crime here, and it is not utopia--we have a terrible meth problem, but it basicly doesnt affect us. We are reasonably safe as we watch the latest drug bust on the news, but since none of you live here, and I dont live there--I don't know how to compare it. Can you help, please......Thanks a bunch. BTW- i pulled the city-data, but this is about feel not demographics, right?
My sons are 12 and 17. My wife and I make about 60 per year which is somewhat above average here. From what I understand we would make around 40k together in much of FLA witht the prevailing wage scale.

[compelled to reply]

Titusville might work well on your budget, but there is not a lot of diversity there. In fact, it might even be a little tense...

As far as the east coast goes, avoid St. Lucie County and Miami-Dade County, be selective in the other urban districts (Duval, Palm Beach, Broward) if you want decent schools and you will mostly be fine.

However, commuting to Orlando with todays gas prices?!?!?!?! I don't think so! Try looking into the Seminole County area. You should be able to find a 2 bedroom condo in your price range and truthfully there isn't a bad school there as far as safety. The one that everyone complains about, Seminole High, isn't even all that bad just a little rough around the edges. It's also a bit more diverse than Titusville or Brevard County. Seminole County is a nice envrionment for families and a much better commute into Orlando.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by cmcray1

SO what is the deal in FLA? Obviously in Miami or Jacksonville's poor neighborhoods, my kids would be toast, and they would be relatively comfortable in any rich, gated, non diverse community. But I want them to learn about diversity, and I cannot afford McMansionland anyway. Our house here is worth 200k, and is a poor house in a great neighborhood. We are willing to move to a condo, in fact we would like to downshift, so it would be great. We would like to get something for 100-150 that is safe and not radically diverse nor all anglo.
We are considering Titusville area because I would commute to Orlando, and the town looks like mayberry. We are plenty open to living in a big city or near a big city (I am a Psychotherapist and will find work in the city much more easily) but want to be within a few miles of the beach.
Dont get me wrong, we have crime here, and it is not utopia--we have a terrible meth problem, but it basicly doesnt affect us. We are reasonably safe as we watch the latest drug bust on the news, but since none of you live here, and I dont live there--I don't know how to compare it.

I didn't vote on your poll because I'm not quite sure what I'd be voting for...Florida in general, or Miami or Jacksonville??

I can at least give you some insight into Jacksonville. The environment you children live in now would easily be duplicated in Jacksonville. Jacksonville is suburban and family-friendly, that is what the majority of the city is like.

I don't know that your kids would be "toast" in our poorer neighborhoods, but I would not recommend for you to move to those neighborhoods anyway, there would be little point. Jacksonville's economically depressed areas are depressed for a reason. They're inconveniently located to most of the business districts (jobs), the infrastructure is poorly designed (lousy roads), and there is little to nothing there - shopping, entertainment, etc. are all quite a distance away.

So, you would not even be looking for a house in one of those neighborhoods....not to fear .

Jacksonville does not have a meth problem, nor do we have a gang problem. We do have some "wannabe" teens who tag with gang symbols, and I don't doubt there might be some sort of gang activity now and then that passes through (we're a large city), but no "gang problem".

$150k though, will not buy you anything even closely resembling a McMansion in Jacksonville. $150k gets you entry into a decent neighborhood, but limits you to just the few decent neighborhoods where $150k buys anything at all anymore (and it's likely to be a fixer-upper). $200k is a much better price point and $250k can get you into just about any part of town you'd want to live (still a modest home at $250k, but a nice enough home).

I'm not sure if your post was suggesting Jacksonville as a choice, or if Titusville is all you're considering right now, but I didn't want you, or anyone reading, to get an impression that Jacksonville is a "rough" city and that you should be concerned about raising your kids there..it's not like that at all .

[cmcray1]

Hey, ya'all. thanks for the reply.

COMPELLED TO REPLY__I dont mind a commute-i have a honda. IS it that much closer from seminole county? It is more important to be close to the ocean than to avoid a commute. After all, we are moving inorder to be by the ocean. --What does rough around the edges mean? Thanks for the reply.

RIVEREE__Any place on the coast is under consideration except the panhandle. I guess Denver is about the same size as Jacksonville and there are many very very rough neighborhoods.

So 150k wont even buy a decent 2br condo in a decent part of town? bummage. We want to try hard not to overextend. I see that you are a Jville modrator, How is the culture scene there? (Theatre, art, music, festivals, etc?

How are the suburbs of Jville? Do a lot of people commute? is it cheaper or more expensive? Thanks for the info, bro.

[FLBoy123]

Ok well to be right of the bat to Say of course no Miami or Jacksonville is just rating from what you read. I felt the same thing cause I am moving to Miami in a few months. I lived in Fort Lauderdale for years and my friends live in Miami. People overate the Miami bad this and that They make it out to sound like a war zone. But I have spent many of times there and love it which is why I am moving there ( Kendall ) . There is bad stuff anywhere and it is a big city but hey. NO I would not bring a kid to the city to raise but I love it cause im never having kids. But I am just adding don't be scared to visit Miami Beach!! Beautiful!!!! But on your budget yeah stay north of FL. South FL is pricey. Best of Luck!

[riveree]

Originally Posted by cmcray1

RIVEREE__Any place on the coast is under consideration except the panhandle. I guess Denver is about the same size as Jacksonville and there are many very very rough neighborhoods.

So 150k wont even buy a decent 2br condo in a decent part of town? bummage. We want to try hard not to overextend. I see that you are a Jville modrator, How is the culture scene there? (Theatre, art, music, festivals, etc?

How are the suburbs of Jville? Do a lot of people commute? is it cheaper or more expensive? Thanks for the info, bro.

You can buy something for $150k in Jax, but I was saying the choices at $150k are more limited. So, yes, you should be able to find a decent condo for $150k or a very small fixer-upper single family home, but at $150k, you may not have as big of a selection to look at...they're out there, it will just take a bit more searching.

Jacksonville IS the suburbs . Jax is a little unusual in that the entire county of Duval is the city of Jacksonville - it's an 840 square mile city. There is a downtown core, and then as the city spreads out from there it gets more and more suburban. Outside the city of Jacksonville/Duval county, the surrounding counties are basically pure suburbia and they are considered bedroom communities of Jacksonville since most everyone commutes into Jax for work (can make for a long commute ).

So, to get suburban living, you don't even have to leave Jacksonville proper...just wanted to be clear on that since sometimes people view Jacksonville as something you live outside of, when it's not really that way.

Prices between the counties has really evened out, one is not cheaper than the other anymore. The commute can be dreadful if you live too far from your job though, so that's good to keep in mind.

The cultural scene is pretty good, considering the size of the city. There are festivals and events all the time, no shortage of that. Each year we have a few different music festivals (jazz, alternative, folk), a film festival, art festivals, an irish festival (really good one), scottish highland games, etc. There's no shortage of things to do.

If you decide to give the city a closer look, check out the jacksonville subforum, we have a lot of threads you can read through to give you a feel for the city .

[House4Sale]

Sounds close to heaven where you live now. That were me, I'd stay put.

[cmcray1]

So, any mor replies to this thread?