What is it living in St Johns county actually like? (Jacksonville: best neighborhoods, home builders)

[WiCaWa...Tx]

My husband and I are relocating from Dallas to St. Augustine next month. We have lived on the West coast and Midwest previously as well. This forum has been extremely informative to learn about the different communities in the area. We are excited to be there in the next week for a house hunting trip.

One thing that I would love to know more about is what it's actually like to live there? What is the culture like? Are there common past times, etc. I will be giving up my career to be a stay at home mom for the next year at least. Is that common? I am assuming with the he draw of the great schools it is very family focused?

Thanks!

[SaintCabbage]

Very family focused, young couples with lots of kids, lots and lots of stay at home moms. Lots and lots of work from home moms/dads as well from what I can tell. Life is good!

[SmtSF]

St Johns County is very family friendly. I tell my friends in California that it's like Orange County in the 1960s--everything is new and fresh, people are friendly and for the most part unpretentious, the beach is welcoming. An added bonus is that the beach is warm. In the heat of summer, you may not see a lot of people b/c they're hiding from the heat index. But you will meet people walking on the beach, at the park, at the indoor refuges where your kids can rock climb, jump, explore art, etc. It's very low key and and up and coming. This means that whereas the Portland Saturday Market or any farmer's market on the West Coast has tons of vendors, huge crowds, lots of everything, here they are far more slower paced. There are fewer vendors. If you were actually on a mission, a stroll through the Riverside Arts Market in downtown Jacksonville would take you 15 minutes. But hey, it's under a bridge, there are breezes from the river, so take your time, enjoy the velvet Elvis paintings.

St. Augustine has more culture, more attractions than the rest of St. Johns. Some are cheesy but your kids will love them--Ripley's, Pirate Museum--and some are more sophisticated like Flagler. There's no Guggenheim, but again, there's also not much of a line. The food in St. Augustine is yummy. You will enjoy lots of choice restaurants.

There are music festivals, business conferences, Easter and other celebrations with parades and lighting of trees. It feels like a real town and a real community.

I hope you love it here!

[Ruger20]

Sunshine and Rainbows

[SaintCabbage]

Originally Posted by Ruger20

Sunshine and Rainbows

and Unicorns, you always forget about the unicorns....

[SmtSF]

My unicorn can tap dance and sing.

[WiCaWa...Tx]

Thanks all, I hope we love it there too! I appreciate the info.

[spinergirl]

We are looking to move to the area as well, and it seems like the perfect fit for us. Can't wait to get back down and look! But, need to sell my house on LI 1st

[C. Swip]

We love it here! Moved here from MI 14 years ago, so the climate change took a few years to get used to. We love not having the long, freezing winters, but I have to admit I miss the perfect summer weather in MI when we would enjoy being outside from sunrise until long after dark every day! The summers are so hot here that unless we take our 4 kids to the pool, which is a lot fortunately, they are pretty much cooped up inside in the air conditioning which gets pretty old for their whole summer vacation. That's really my only complaint. I am a stay at home mom too, and there are many in our community, (Aberdeen near Durbin Crossing and Julington Creek Plantation). Mostly young families, very, very nice people! The schools are wonderful. I like all the nature, parks, and secluded areas around, but we're still not too far from St. Augustine and Jacksonville for all that they have to offer. I think St. John's County offers a very high quality of life - the perfect place to raise a family in my opinion! Anyone relocating to the area please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions, like what the best neighborhoods or home builders are.

[Debg1]

We relocated from Massachusetts a little over two years ago and live in Heritage Landing in World Golf Village. We chose the area for the schools which we have been very happy with including Pacetti Bay Middle and Nease High School. There are a lot of stay at home and work from home moms in our community and amazing amenities including outdoor movies, food truck nights, two pools, walking trails and fields with organized sports for children in the neighborhood. Our neighborhood is very family friendly but it is rural so a drawback is that it takes a half hour to get to a Target or Lowes and the commute to Jax for work is a bit long. There are lots of Meetup and Facebook groups that are a great way to meet other moms and most people are friendly. Please feel free to PM with any questions and best of luck with your move!