relocating to JAX for Deutsche Bank

[JMG0924]

I work at DB and would be glad to help answer your questions:

- are there nice neighborhoods to live in the vicinity of their office? can you provide any names of apartments or condos?

There are tons of great neighborhoods in Jacksonville but we'd need to know what you're looking for to make a recommendation. I live in Neptune Beach and love it. It takes me about 20 minutes to get to the office. There are a ton of apartments and condos near the office but I don't love this area. It is all new construction and doesn't have that much personlity in my opinion. If I were in my early 20's, this would be a good spot because there are quite a few bars / restaurants around here.

- what is the public transportation system like?

Terrible and almost non-existant. Plan to drive / take taxis everywhere you go.

- should i be overly concerned with crime? (apartment or car getting broken into, getting mugged? city-data says crime is terrible there

Not unless you decide to live in a bad area, which you shouldn't.

- what is nightlife like? restaurants any good?

Different people will answer this differently but I think there are enough good restaurants to keep me happy and more opening frequently enough to provide new and interesting things to try. At the beaches there are North Beach Fish Camp, Marker 32, Mezza Luna, Eleven South, Sliders, Ocean 60 and a few more but the scene is definitely more casual. Depending on where you're looking, there will be options but Avondale / Riverside and San Marco will have more new places opening up than out at the beach. You'll have to be more specific re: what kind of nightlife you're looking for. There are a few good live music venues around town, Freebird at the beach and 1904 and Underbelly downtown if you're into that. I can't really speak to whether or not there are any good clubs, not my thing. There are plenty of bars in the neighborhoods I mentioned ranging from hipster craft cocktail joints to dive bars to sports bars, etc.

- what is the dating scene like for a single male young professional?

Not sure, married, not so young professional. Best of luck there.

- is it hard to get around town without a car?

Yes, bring or get a car

- are there places to get a haircut by someone who actually knows what they're doing like at a NY salon? or are there only $10 supercut type places?

Yes, there are a few. I ama big fan of the barber at The Art of Shaving in the St. John's Town Center these days but there are other options.

[lmsands]

- are there nice neighborhoods to live in the vicinity of their office? can you provide any names of apartments or condos?
Yes this area is called Southside, there are a lot of nice communities here, Riverside, Avondale, San Marco, these are all nice areas too.

- what is the public transportation system like?
Practically non existent, if you want any kind of life outside of where you live you will need a car

- should i be overly concerned with crime? (apartment or car getting broken into, getting mugged? city-data says crime is terrible there
Like all places you live there is crime everywhere, just apply the same precautions as you would living anywhere, don't walk alone at night, lock you car, etc... I relocated from London to DB Jax and I don't feel unsafe here at all.

- what is nightlife like? restaurants any good?
Southside you have St Johns Town Center which is huge, some nice bars and restaurants, you are around 20 mins from the beach one way and 20 mins from downtown the other way (a taxi one way is around $20)

- what is the dating scene like for a single male young professional?
Depends on your person I guess, if you like the bar scene there are plenty around, if you have hobbies there are meetups, you can become part of these groups and find like minded people which is a good way to hit it off with someone...

- is it hard to get around town without a car?
Yes

- are there places to get a haircut by someone who actually knows what they're doing like at a NY salon? or are there only $10 supercut type places?
Yes, I use a salon 10 minutes away from the office located in a Mall, they have always done a decent job.

Hope this helps

[mrblahblah]

jmg0924 and imsands,
thanks so much for your guidance..

in terms of living, i've narrowed it down to either the terraces at town center (which i believe is .5 miles from the office) or the uptown at st john's (roughly 2 miles away)...
in the beginning, i'm looking for something close to the office and near somewhat of an active/interesting area, so i'm happy with either location, just hoping my salary would make it easy to live there

haha, so both of you say public transportation is terrible. well, hopefully i can get by on bicycle and taxis if it rains because still no plans to bring my car town right off the bat...

don't think there's much else for me to worry about at the moment, i've gotten some good help from these boards.

thanks again

[projectmaximus]

Just to echo the sentiment of others, I'd strongly advise to bring the car as well. But clearly you have a compelling reason to go without at first, so good luck!

I'd prefer the uptown as it would be in a vastly better location to walk to restaurants and some shopping. Just more excitement in general than living in a gated suburban condo complex (I think is what the terraces are) You could also look into getting a sublease at tapestry park, deerwood place, or montreux, the latter two allow you to easily walk to a nice grocery store, the first one is a nice (but small) walkable multi-use neighborhood. Also the under construction "deerwood lake lofts" which are luxury rentals next to the aforementioned deerwood place.

All that said, I wouldn't want to live in any of these places without a car because then you're very much confined to that area, and you would have a hella lot of difficulty getting to the urban core or beaches which have all the best places to go, in my book. Being young and single you'd probably feel the same.