I love it here! (Jacksonville, Miami: real estate, apartment complexes, insurance)

[SmileDoc]

Back2Fla, I don't understand why everyone says the driving is worse here then other parts of Fl. I spend a lot of time in the rest of that state and can tell you it is no worse, and in my eyes much better... when compared in state. Compared to other parts of the country, yes there are many maniacs out there racing around in a 3000 pound weapon at 90 mph. I guess its a small price to live in paradise...

[backtofla]

smiledoc, it cant be worse than orlando. remember we are
"the angriest city!!!"

[SmileDoc]

I have never heard it called that before. Was it from one of those wonderful worthless "studies" they like to put on the news. Do you know how long are they suppose to be working on I4 around UCF? That is where I always get caught. The drive will be much nicer once the 3 laning gets taken care of up to 95, and some of the other projects are complete. Ahhhh, progress...

[backtofla]

i dunno, i hope i'll be out of orlando before too much longer... realistically, a couple yrs

[smash731]

adventure--yes, I feel very safe here. My neighboorhood is very nice, about 10 blocks north of Beach Blvd...they have rebuilt almost all of the condos, it looks like Boca at night

Riveree--as always, thanks for the suggestions, I'm pumped about checking out San Marco. I've done St. Augustine's before and I love the cute shops.

well, I'm off to a salsa club downtown...this will be an adventure! I spent all of today hunting for treasure at yard sales and had a good time as well. Once again, I encountered the friendliest people ever.

Whoever said driving in Jax isn't worse than other places in florida--yea, you're right, for some reason I expected it to be less than a zoo compared with Orlando and so far I think it's the same. And haha, I will stay away from Blanding Road

Ashley

[Joker4235]

Originally Posted by adventure quester

me and my boyfriend are currently only 17 and we are looking at jax to move from phoenix, az, mainly because arizona gets old and we want a new adventure for when we turn 18. my parents are kindaa disapproving, which makes me freak out a lot about going out on my own, but your message was just so encouraging! i was especially worries about like crime and stuff or if the city was like "a bad neighborhood". do you feel safe living there?

Some parts of town are bad.
Then again, crimes happen on all sides of town. Its more about the neighborhood you pick out.
I've lived on the northside for about 6 or 7 years, i've seen alot, and done alot, I havent had any problems at all, on any side of town.
But I know many people who have been robbed and such.
Its more of a "preventative maintence" type of deal.
Dont leave your car unlocked when u go inside, and all that.

[dvigor]

I swear some of you regular posters on here must work for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Bureau whatever. I've never seen people hype up such a city as this before. C'mon Jacksonville is hardly first rate or world class. Get some decent paying jobs and normal upscale shopping like Macy's and Nordstrom and then maybe we can talk.

I have lived all over the country and I have never lived somewhere so boring and backward in all my life. I live on the Southside in a nice neighborhood and myself and everybody I meet is bored and melancholy. They are afraid to venture out or go downtown because of the highest crime rate in Florida. That says a lot since Florida has sky high crime in many areas. There is just nothing to do here. You can go to a couple of bars and then what? Every place else I have lived already had places like St. Johns TC, various restaurants, bars many many years ago. Heck I even lived in a small town of 20,000 people that had much better shopping. Much nicer malls with Macy's, Bloomindales, Sacks, Nordstrom, etc., etc.

I suspect expectations are very low in Jacksonville and when something new comes in people get very excited even though other places already had these things 20 years ago. I'm not sure where some other people have moved from but from where I've been this town is at least 20 years behind.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by dvigor

I swear some of you regular posters on here must work for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Bureau whatever. I've never seen people hype up such a city as this before. C'mon Jacksonville is hardly first rate or world class. Get some decent paying jobs and normal upscale shopping like Macy's and Nordstrom and then maybe we can talk.

I have lived all over the country and I have never lived somewhere so boring and backward in all my life. I live on the Southside in a nice neighborhood and myself and everybody I meet is bored and melancholy. They are afraid to venture out or go downtown because of the highest crime rate in Florida. That says a lot since Florida has sky high crime in many areas. There is just nothing to do here. You can go to a couple of bars and then what? Every place else I have lived already had places like St. Johns TC, various restaurants, bars many many years ago. Heck I even lived in a small town of 20,000 people that had much better shopping. Much nicer malls with Macy's, Bloomindales, Sacks, Nordstrom, etc., etc.

I suspect expectations are very low in Jacksonville and when something new comes in people get very excited even though other places already had these things 20 years ago. I'm not sure where some other people have moved from but from where I've been this town is at least 20 years behind.

Who here has ever said Jacksonville is a first-tier city????

I moved here from NYC, Upper East Side, I have a good grasp of what a top-tier city is and I've never claimed that Jacksonville can compare and I've never heard anyone else on this board do it either.

Don't move here looking for Bergdorfs or Bendels, don't move here looking for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, don't move here looking for the finest French restaurants.

Move here for a more relaxed pace of life, the Ocean, clean air, bright sunny days, incredible flora and fauna, outdoor activities and Southern culture and history.

I think the problem with expectations is YOURS, DVigor. I've been spending time in NEFL since I was a kid in the 70's. My family has been entrenched here for decades and I've watched the progress of St. Augustine and Jacksonville from the front row. The progress has been s-l-o-w up until very recently when it's really taken off. I like the direction Jacksonville is going, sue me for being happy about it .

Why do you even bother posting? It's one thing to show the positives and negatives of a place, but why bother being all negative when the issue is really yours? Jacksonville is not a good fit for you - too bad you didn't figure that out before you moved here - but that's YOUR issue. You're moving on to Atlanta, right? Maybe that will be a better fit for you, maybe you won't be so bored/boring.....good luck.

[dvigor]

To riveree: I have read a lot of your posts and I must say they are very informative and sometimes amusing but unfortunately very skewed on the ultra conservative side and paint an unrealistic picture. Everything you rave about Jacksonville having can be said about most any community in Florida or elsewhere. Every place has shopping, restaurants, bars, movie theaters, libraries, parks, beaches, etc., etc.

When people consider moving somewhere they need to know about the different and down sides of the area. The upside always takes care of itself. People are not coming to Jacksonville for St. John's Town Center. It is just a shopping center that everyplace else has had for many years. The same goes for McDonalds, Taco Bell, yada...yada...yada.

People need to know that the murder and crime rate are the highest by far in Florida. One of the newer areas, the Southside, has out-of-control burglaries, home invasions, and muggings. Two people were killed in a very good area last week alone. There is a controversy because the police don't seem to take much of an interest in curbing the crime. Jacksonville Beach is also riddled with crime. Comparing the beaches here to beaches in Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Tampa, Miami, Sarasota, etc. is also ridiculous. No comparison. Jax loses big time. The employment picture in Jacksonville is bleak at best. Big buildings full of entry level customer service, sales, retail, generally low paying desk jobs. I know lots of people at Blue Cross, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, and others. One of the lowest average salaries in the country. As for shopping in Jacksonville, it is mediocre at best. Nothing upscale or better stores normal to other areas. I don't think there is even a Whole Foods Market anywhere. As I said before even Ocala and Gainesville offers much more. Small Town America even has better stores. Jacksonville is certainly not considered a progressive or educated town either. Will never be Seattle. Being laid back as you say is fine but ambition and advancement are also very important to most people that just doesn't exist here. Jacksonville seems to be the last town in Florida to get anything even though it has the population. I'm not sure why.

You are right, maybe my expectations were too high. I want to get ahead and make a better living, shop at better and familiar stores, get a better education, not get shot or stabbed going to a store in broad daylight, not get my front door bashed in while I'm home, meet well educated and ambitious people who actually want to do something with their lives other than go to minimum wage jobs in flip flops, have something to do other than getting drunk in some dark bar with rebel flags everywhere, be free to express my opinions even if they are not ultra bible belt conservative, hold an intelligent conversation with people who actually know what you are talking about, and more.

The bottom line is guess is if you are motivated and have high expectations in life don't move to Jacksonville. If you just want to get by and don't mind low to mediocre then this just may be your town. By the way, believe it or not I don't mean to offend anybody at all whether here or anywhere else. This is just the way I see it and many others I have spoken with.

[backtofla]

i keep trying to tell myself that jax and surrounding areas are so much better than orlando, and i think they are, but not sure how much better. i know the crime in jax is pretty high, but it is secluded to the northwest. though break-ins and muggings on the southside, which is where i'd be more interested in, is not good. this is still fla, but it's no longer "old fla." ppl move in abd bring the crime, rude behavior, terrible driving, etc... and if anyone eants to disagree with me, talk to a native who's lived here for yrs. before the invasion. they'll tell you. old fla was awesome. now we are becoming like ny and nj, or southern california. which is where everyone moving to fla is trying to escape. and now it's turned into the place they are trying to escape. bringing all that non-sense to fla.