Tampa to Jax? Is it that bad? (Jacksonville, Miami: how much, neighborhoods)
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Well, I've been looking at moving alot to different places lately. I like to be in a big city. I live in Tampa now, but I would like to move to a larger city with more opportunity (I'd like to get into publishing). I've been considering Jacksonville, but my Tampa friends all gasp in horror when I mention it. Is it really that bad?
Jacksonville isnt bigger than Tampa.....Tampa has about 2.5 million people and Jacksonville only has about 1.2 million.....give or take a few thousand..........Jacksonville city limits are the whole county of Duval......That's why people say its really big.......Tampa area has a MLB ,NFL, and NHL team.....Jacksonville only has the Jags (NFL)
As Fireball said, Jacksonville is the largest city in the US by land mass, and it's also the 3rd largest East Coast city by population.....it's pretty big .
That's funny, because here people gasp when you mention Tampa! They say its terribly overcrowded and overpriced. As far as publishing goes, I wouldn't move here without having a firm job offer first. The opportunities here aren't unlimited in certain areas, and I may be mistaken, but publishing's probably one of them. Check it out first.
In actuality, Jacksonville has a population over 700,000 residents and Tampa only has about 350,000 (which makes Jacksonville have more in-city residents), but when you combine in the rest of the Bay area, then it is quite large and hits very close to 3 million.
Jacksonville isnt bigger than Tampa.....Tampa has about 2.5 million people and Jacksonville only has about 1.2 million.....give or take a few thousand..........Jacksonville city limits are the whole county of Duval......That's why people say its really big.......Tampa area has a MLB ,NFL, and NHL team.....Jacksonville only has the Jags (NFL)
I would never discount Jacksonville and never have. Before moving to New Jersey in 98, I was considering a move to Jax, but thought it was too expensive and too conservative. To my surprise, with visits I have made and such, Jacksonville is quite the opposite and when you compare the crime statistics, the two cities are very similar.
P.S. I am a huge Florida fan. All of it is good to me. I rarely leave the state because I can find everything I like here.
I think Tampa feels bigger, regardless of whether it is or not. I adore Jax so far but certainly do not consider, for example, the entire southside to be "city" in any way, shape, or form.
After relocating to Jacksonville for an insurance job I can honestly say I wouldn't move here unless you really have to. I just do not feel it has enough to offer most people. It is very conservative bible belt kind of town and very behind in many ways. Jacksonville will never be a trend setter or opulent kind of Florida area.
The only thing that makes Jacksonville big is that they renamed the whole county Jacksonville. Other than that it is just a small city surrounded by neighborhoods with little culture or diversity. Very generic. Little or no reason to go downtown from what I hear from everybody.
As for the job market it pretty much stinks like the rest of Florida. Sure there are a lot of corporate office parks but they mostly offer low-paying customer service or sales jobs. Nothing high paying or solid industry. Banking is prevalent but from what I hear pays really bad unless you get into high management. I have lived all over the country and a comparable job to mine pays at least $20,000 more elsewhere. I have also lived all over Florida and I have learned you pretty much have to be very specialized in medical industry or maybe own a lucrative business to make any kind of money. A generic corporate job pays nothing and is even worse in Jacksonville for some reason. My company even pays 10% less if you live here. Not good.
Shopping here is also a total joke. Mostly low end stores that closed years ago elsewhere. No Macys, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdales, Sax Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, etc. JC Penney is about the best you will do. I've lived in small town USA that had all of these. I feel sorry for women living here and trying to be stylish since Macy's is pretty much the place to shop for trendy clothes and great shoes.
The crime and murder rate is also the highest in Florida by far. As far as friendliness of the people go it is the same as anywhere else.
To me Jacksonville is Florida without the sizzle. I think that sums it up. I cannot recommend it to anybody.
It is very conservative bible belt kind of town and very behind in many ways. Jacksonville will never be a trend setter or opulent kind of Florida area.
The only thing that makes Jacksonville big is that they renamed the whole county Jacksonville. Other than that it is just a small city surrounded by neighborhoods with little culture or diversity. Very generic. Little or no reason to go downtown from what I hear from everybody.
As for the job market it pretty much stinks like the rest of Florida. Sure there are a lot of corporate office parks but they mostly offer low-paying customer service or sales jobs. Nothing high paying or solid industry. Banking is prevalent but from what I hear pays really bad unless you get into high management. I have lived all over the country and a comparable job to mine pays at least $20,000 more elsewhere. I have also lived all over Florida and I have learned you pretty much have to be very specialized in medical industry or maybe own a lucrative business to make any kind of money. A generic corporate job pays nothing and is even worse in Jacksonville for some reason. My company even pays 10% less if you live here. Not good.
Shopping here is also a total joke. Mostly low end stores that closed years ago elsewhere. No Macys, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdales, Sax Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, etc. JC Penney is about the best you will do. I've lived in small town USA that had all of these. I feel sorry for women living here and trying to be stylish since Macy's is pretty much the place to shop for trendy clothes and great shoes.
This is your take on it, and you're certainly welcome to it, but it seems to me that you haven't scratched the surface of Jax.
Yes, there is a sector of the population that would fit into your "conservative bible belt" description - some parts of town more than others. I would say it is an apt description of much of Clay county, which is NOT part of Jacksonville. But there are plenty of people in Jacksonville proper that DO NOT fit this description by a long shot. These words are written by one .
I don't think Jacksonville is trying to be a trendsetter, it's a pretty laid back city. Jacksonville prides itself on things like the city's history, our parks system, our beach culture, etc. This is the kind of city where you can walk into most establishments in a t-shirt and flip-flops .
You're right, part of Jacksonville's history involves consolidation. The entire county is a consolidation of former small towns. The exceptions are Baldwin, Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach & Neptune Beach which are part of Duval county but remain unincorporated (which explains why our population count is under a million or over a million depending on how the count is done). Since consolidation, though the city is still a large geographical area, it functions as one city. Many cities are the result of consolidation, Jacksonville was hardly the first to do this, so I'm not sure why you take issue with it.
Downtown? It's going through revitalization like many other Southern cities. This is the South, they let their downtowns die. They've learned from that mistake and are making efforts to correct it. I would not say there is 'little reason' to go downtown. I go downtown with some regularity. There are downtown events, restaurants, clubs, a modern art museum and an awesome new city library. There's still a long way to go, but don't count out downtown until you've checked it out for yourself.
As for jobs, it depends on the individual. If you want safe and secure, your salary will reflect that. If you're more of a go-getter, a risk-taker, you've got a shot at making much better money. That's just the way it goes no matter where you live. I know quite a few people making six figure salaries here in Jax that are not in management, they are in sales (and many of them are making more money than their managers ).
As for shopping, I've never stepped into a JCPenney in my life, and I don't plan to start now that I live in Jacksonville. You need to check out Dillards and Parisian - these are decent clothing stores until the better ones come. We also have the St. John's Town Center - have you been there yet? Anthropologie, Lucky Jeans, Abercrombie, soon to open: Louis Vitton, Coach, Brooks Brothers (the real stuff - not the outlet stuff), Lacoste, BCBG, Betsey Johnson, Juicy Couture, True Religion, etc. Should be high end enough . We don't yet know what the anchor will be, but in the running is Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom or your well-loved Macy's . We also have cute boutique shopping in San Marco and some other parts of town. So, I think the women here have plenty of options for stylish clothing if that's their thing.
We also have some great restaurants in the city (be sure to pick up this week's Folio - it's a special restaurant issue) and plenty of entertainment, etc.
Sorry for the long post, but I think people need to realize that Jacksonville can't compare to cities like NYC where everything is at your doorstep, but there is plenty going on here, you just need to seek it out a bit before you write the whole city off .
"It is very conservative bible belt kind of town and very behind in many ways. Jacksonville will never be a trend setter or opulent kind of Florida area."
yeeeehhaaawww!!! let us keep some of our old fla that we natives prefer! leave us a little of old fla that hasnt been taken over !!! thank you!!!
I live in the Jacksonville area and frequent Tampa,Atlanta,and New York (I am originally from NY State). Jacksonville is very large and covers all of Duval County which makes it seem like it has a large city atmosphere.There is no real night life or trendy clubs. There are definitely areas that I would suggest. I would look in the Southside/Tinsletown area, there is more to do there and is set up for more young professionals. If you visit this area and find it not up to your liking then I would be willing to bet that Jacksonville is not for you. Moderator cut: soliciting
Last edited by AustinTraveler; 08-21-2007 at 08:35 PM..
After relocating to Jacksonville for an insurance job I can honestly say I wouldn't move here unless you really have to. I just do not feel it has enough to offer most people. It is very conservative bible belt kind of town and very behind in many ways. Jacksonville will never be a trend setter or opulent kind of Florida area.
The only thing that makes Jacksonville big is that they renamed the whole county Jacksonville. Other than that it is just a small city surrounded by neighborhoods with little culture or diversity. Very generic. Little or no reason to go downtown from what I hear from everybody.
As for the job market it pretty much stinks like the rest of Florida. Sure there are a lot of corporate office parks but they mostly offer low-paying customer service or sales jobs. Nothing high paying or solid industry. Banking is prevalent but from what I hear pays really bad unless you get into high management. I have lived all over the country and a comparable job to mine pays at least $20,000 more elsewhere. I have also lived all over Florida and I have learned you pretty much have to be very specialized in medical industry or maybe own a lucrative business to make any kind of money. A generic corporate job pays nothing and is even worse in Jacksonville for some reason. My company even pays 10% less if you live here. Not good.
Shopping here is also a total joke. Mostly low end stores that closed years ago elsewhere. No Macys, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdales, Sax Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, etc. JC Penney is about the best you will do. I've lived in small town USA that had all of these. I feel sorry for women living here and trying to be stylish since Macy's is pretty much the place to shop for trendy clothes and great shoes.
The crime and murder rate is also the highest in Florida by far. As far as friendliness of the people go it is the same as anywhere else.
To me Jacksonville is Florida without the sizzle. I think that sums it up. I cannot recommend it to anybody.
The most obvious mistake on your knowledge of Jacksonville is your information on crime statistics for the state of Florida. If you refer to the link below you will see that the number of murders in Florida has had a steady decrease since 1989. Which is pretty good considering the steady growth it is experiencing.
Income depends entirely on the individual. If you put yourself into a career, then you will be paid accordingly. There are many things to consider (cost of living being one) before jumping to that conclusion. My field of work is within less than 5k difference no matter where I move to. From the sounds of your remarks, I would say you are an unhappy person which would reflect on you job performance. I could see you getting less pay. The medical comment is true in the fact that the medical community is huge in Florida and Jacksonville is on of the leading cities in medical technology. Every area is know for it specialties.
I could go on and on but instead will leave you with the old saying "Opinions are like a**holes. Everybody has one" Its sad to see someone so unhappy with their life that they cannot accurately conclude a real critique on Jacksonville. But I'm assuming you do have enough common sense to leave if your are that unhappy with the area.
Overall I would say Jacksonville is a community with neighbors willing to reach out and help each other. If this is what you were chastising with your "bible belt" comment, then I would not want you for a neighbor.
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Look at the Southside of JAX!!!
