Pedestrian Friendly Neighborhoods (Jacksonville, Sebastian, St. Augustine: best neighborhood, to rent, insurance)

[Karma70]

My husband and I are considering moving from Annapolis, MD to the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area of Florida, the pull of warm weather and family draws us south. We would like to continue to live in a small town atmosphere where we can park the car and walk to most of our activities -- not a suburban environment where the car is needed for everything. We love the water oriented life of the Chesapeake region and believe Jacksonville, SA is most comparable -- sailing, kayaking, nature and the local arts, festivals and music scene. A college town adds an intellectual stimulation we also enjoy. We are retired but prefer -- a "real" place -- to a gated community or retirement village. We love St. Augustine, and hear great things about Avondale/Riverside in Jacksonville. Our price range is in the $500,000 area, though we are open to rent.
Any thoughts or recommendations about "in town" living for us? Traffic in our current hometown is a bear, but only for those driving into town -- for us it's a non issue because our car is parked 6 out of 7 days a week. Thanks for any thoughts or recommendations.

[madcapmagishion]

I live in and love Avondale, it meets just about all of your requirements. But a car is still needed as the closest large grocery store (Publix) is 2 miles away on Riverside Ave at Margaret Street or 2 miles away in the other direction on US 17 at San Juan Ave.

Here's some of the best buys in your price range in Avondale. The first one is a condo in a fantastic building and is waterfront, the others are within 3 blocks of the river.
2970 Saint Johns Ave # 12E, Jacksonville, FL 32205 - Zillow
3509 Hedrick St, Jacksonville, FL 32205 - Zillow
3524 Saint Johns Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32205 - Zillow

[Peter the Brit]

You are a perfect fit for a home in downtown St Augustine where there are condos and waterfront homes in our price range.

[abvavgjoe]

Well, Riverside is really nice. Just as an example, here's a listing I found for $400,000 about 3-6 blocks from the Publix grocery store, restaurants, Suntrust Bank, pubs, Starbucks, a movie theater, The St. John's River, parks and lots of other stuff. It's right by/in "5 Points" which is the busiest, most walkable part of Riverside. Anything in this area should fit your needs pretty well. Good luck.

2345 Riverside Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32204 - Zillow

It's a pretty busy street, but other than that it looks pretty sweet to me.

[Karma70]

Thanks for your quick replies. Are there public access in either place to launch our kayaks? The walkability sounds great in either place! We've stayed in SA and like the vibe there, with only a day's walk around the Riverside/Avondale area and so it was harder to get a feel for it. Although home to us, Annapolis can be a bit standoffish to new comers. We are looking for a friendlier place and assume places that are more mobile like Florida would be welcoming to new faces.

[Peter the Brit]

In St Augustine there are plenty of launches. I have 2 kayaks and put them in all over the place as we have the Matanzas Bay, the Intercoastal, St Johns River, Atlantic and San Sebastian River
see http://www.kayakstaugustine.net/

[abvavgjoe]

I believe the closest canoe/kayak launch to Riverside is at 901 Museum Cir.. One way to get there would be to go down Riverside Ave. to downtown, cross over the Acosta Bridge, make 3 quick left turns and you're there. It's in Friendship Park, right next to River City Brewing Co., Friendship Park Fountain and The Museum of Science and History. Total distance, 2.65 miles.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by Karma70

My husband and I are considering moving from Annapolis, MD to the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area of Florida, the pull of warm weather and family draws us south. We would like to continue to live in a small town atmosphere where we can park the car and walk to most of our activities -- not a suburban environment where the car is needed for everything. We love the water oriented life of the Chesapeake region and believe Jacksonville, SA is most comparable -- sailing, kayaking, nature and the local arts, festivals and music scene. A college town adds an intellectual stimulation we also enjoy. We are retired but prefer -- a "real" place -- to a gated community or retirement village. We love St. Augustine, and hear great things about Avondale/Riverside in Jacksonville. Our price range is in the $500,000 area, though we are open to rent.
Any thoughts or recommendations about "in town" living for us? Traffic in our current hometown is a bear, but only for those driving into town -- for us it's a non issue because our car is parked 6 out of 7 days a week. Thanks for any thoughts or recommendations.

No matter what anyone tells you - you will need a car in this area to do almost everything in terms of your day to day life. You may not have to drive far - or drive in bad traffic - but you will have to drive - unless you like walking 2-3 miles or more each way to do things like shopping for groceries when it's 80-90+ degrees outside.

What parts of St. Augustine do you love (just to get an idea of what you're looking for)? If you're into "quaint" (I'm not) - keep in mind that our property insurance market here is a real bit** - especially when it comes to older places - older being more than about 20 years old. Also keep in mind that a lot of older "renovated" places here were renovated during the building boom. Many renovations were half-a** and cosmetic only (new granite counter tops in the kitchen - no upgrades to ancient electrical systems). So those renovations are useless in terms of insurance (the oldest houses in my neighborhood are approaching 20 now - and - when they're sold - putting a new roof on is usually a pre-condition of getting property insurance).

Also - keep in mind that a lot of this area is in various types of flood zones - and that the maximum federal flood insurance available for structures is $250k (it's possible to buy an excess flood policy - but they're super expensive). So unless you can afford to self-insure in excess of $250/k - that would kind of be my limit in terms of rebuilding costs. Note that the areas that flood here aren't always obvious to people who don't live here. For example - we've never had flooding in the part of the large community where I live. A small part of our community has had flooding once or twice. Parts of JAX Beach flood more frequently. There are parts of Riverside/Avondale/Mandarin/etc. that are under water more than the residents would like. Etc. Sometimes these areas flood simply because storm drainage is inadequate (not because we've had the storm of the century or anything like that).

FWIW - I think there's some very interesting architecture of minor historical importance in the Riverside/Avondale area. But - being retired - I didn't want to spend a lot of time taking care of/upgrading an "elderly house" when I moved here. Still don't care to. YMMV. If I were moving here now - I'd do exactly what I did 15 years ago. Build new from scratch to current code. Will buy you probably at least 10+ years in terms of "house tending" so you can enjoy doing the things you'll be moving here to do.

BTW - there's a very active Retirement Forum on CD which I can recommend highly (like I said - I'm retired and post there on a regular basis). Robyn

[fsu813]

My husband and I are considering moving from Annapolis, MD to the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area of Florida, the pull of warm weather and family draws us south. We would like to continue to live in a small town atmosphere where we can park the car and walk to most of our activities -- not a suburban environment where the car is needed for everything. We love the water oriented life of the Chesapeake region and believe Jacksonville, SA is most comparable -- sailing, kayaking, nature and the local arts, festivals and music scene. A college town adds an intellectual stimulation we also enjoy. We are retired but prefer -- a "real" place -- to a gated community or retirement village. We love St. Augustine, and hear great things about Avondale/Riverside in Jacksonville. Our price range is in the $500,000 area, though we are open to rent.

Any thoughts or recommendations about "in town" living for us? Traffic in our current hometown is a bear, but only for those driving into town -- for us it's a non issue because our car is parked 6 out of 7 days a week. Thanks for any thoughts or recommendations.

There are just a handful of places you'll want to consider. All are older, historic neighborhoods, near the water, directly surrdond Downtown Jax, are walkable/bikeable, with a plethora of parks, culture, diversity, etc. All have plenty to offer with a $500k budget as well.

The Riverside & Avondale historic district, as you mentioned is the best neighborhood in all of Jax:
www.riverside-avondale.com

San Macro: www.mysanmarco.com & www.smpsjax.com,
and the Springfield historic district: www.myspringfield.org & www.sparcouncil.org

are also varying degrees similar, and many of the same people are attracted to these three areas. Little towns unto themselves, more or less, in the middle of a city.

I have many maps, articles, resources, etc pertaining to these areas, if you are interested.

Enjoy!

[madcapmagishion]

Originally Posted by fsu813

All are older, historic neighborhoods, near the water,
and the Springfield historic district: www.myspringfield.org & www.sparcouncil.org

Do you consider straddling the toxic Hogan's Creek to be near the water? Really!