Tale of two bases (Jacksonville, Miami: apartment, for rent, pharmacy)

[crisss]

Well, short and sweet, im 54 retired Navy, from San diego looking for a decent place to retire. Its pretty much come down to JAX and Pensacola, to take advantage of the bases and what they might have to offer retired Navy citizens. I'm considering the proximity to VA hospitals, also my spare-time hobby is beach combing with a good metal detector. My rent comfort level is at $500 a month for a studio, i bdrm, or even SRO to start with. For $515 monthly here i get a 300sq ft room with a sink and shared bathroom. Greyhound will be my starting point in either city, so im looking for the easiest and largest selection of vacancies. I don't mind a fleabag place for a little while until i can find something. My question would be, which city would best fit me. Advise from anyone who has lived around either bases would be nice. My next question would be which base would be cheaper to live around/next to.

[ssclulow]

Full service VA hospitals in Florida are located in Gainesville, Lake City,
Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach. The closest to both Jacksonville and Pensacola is the Gainesville VA Hospital and Jacksonville is much closer to that VA hospital at 70 miles vs. 350 miles from Pensacola to Gainesville. Both Jacksonville and Pensacola have VA outpatient clinics. The cost of living in Pensacola is much less than in Jacksonville because it is a much smaller, more remote city. The population of Pensacola is 60,000. The population of the Jacksonville metro area is over 1 million people. I can't say which of the 2 would be the best fit for you. Will you be dependent on public transportation or will you have a car?

[crisss]

Thanks for the reply/game. I am using Greyhound (around $200) and will be using public or walking transport, so it would be prudent to start with the downtown area and work my way up the ladder, that way. Sounds like Jacksonville is best. An hour or two to the VA sounds about right. Hows the vacancy rate around this time of year?

[madcapmagishion]

I don't know of any SRO's in the downtown area sketchy or not, but there are plenty of rooms to rent in the Riverside, Springfield or San Marco areas of town. The best way to find them is go to Craigslist, and use those areas as keywords. There are rooms to rent all over the Jacksonville area, starting at under $100 @ week, that's including power and water. Riverside would be my first choice as its a larger/nicer area (IMO) than Springfield and has better public transportation, plus it is closer to NAS Jax. Whereas Springfield is where the local VA clinic is located. It's about 70 miles to the VA Hospital in gainesville from Jacksonville, and its about 300 miles to the VA from Pensacola. I know next to nothing about Pensacola except that it seemed like a nice place to visit, I was never stationed there as I was not a squid.... Heres a link to rooms for rent in Jax...
http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/roo/

[BabyBoomers2]

I was stationed at 32nd Street/San Diego NS, but also spent time in Long Beach when I was in the Navy back in the Viet Nam era. We live on the Southside of Jax, close to the Avenues Mall in an apartment. I've been to the VA Clinic downtown Jax at Boulvard Street, but my main was is here at Southpointe, which is much closer for me to go. I don't have to go to the one downtown unless it's for something special. There is no pharmacy at Southpointe, but I order my one prescription online and have it mailed to me.
Don't know about downtown, which must be better than down here, but the metro bus service here isn't that great. I have read numerous Threads where people who live here have said "Jax is a car, truck, motorcycle city. It can be fairly hard to get around in Jax using the bus system".
Good Luck and welcome to Jax!

[crisss]

Thanks again for that priceless info. I think its time to take a google earth journey around JAX, because from the sound of it, a ten-speed might not cut it, unless you don't plan to venture too far from the downtown area. Ill also tour Riverside and Springfield at street level. Wish i could do an exploratory visit, but im counting on the NAS, and ease of finding rooms, to bail me out of any trouble. California is in deep kimchee right about now, and its not advisable to relocate here as our new Gov. Jerry Browns' about to put the screws on whats left of our wallets. Have been lucky so far to survive in San diego for 30 years paying an average of $550 monthly mainly for rooms without bathrooms or allowed cooking. I call it the "silent treatment" because of the closeness you live next to other people. Im also counting on Sperlings, which says JAX is something like 37% cheaper cost of living than San diego, and like around 60% cheaper housing. 80 degrees and 75 degree dewpoints, i can handle after spending time in both Guam and Puerto Rico. The best part is that i can hopscotch up to Atlanta, or New Orleans, or Houston, et al, if this doesent work out. Thats the beauty of living down south, even though Ive never been there before.