Anyone move to St. Augustine Beach from California coast? (Jacksonville: new house, public schools)

[Caroline Hope]

We are a family of four, kids 10 and 11, currently living in Santa Cruz, CA. We surf and love the beach. We went to St. Augustine Beach last spring and fell in love with it. Waves aren't as good, but with warm water and enough waves to have some fun, we didn't care. We are wondering if there are any other families like us who made the move and could provide some thoughts on what you like, don't like, etc. for us and overall just let us know how you have adapted socially, professionally, etc. Thank you in advance.

[heather5]

I moved about 4 years ago from the Orange County San Juan Capistrano area kids ages 5, 7, 8, 12, 13. I love the affordabilty of the area and the easy access to the beaches here versus CA. Rarely do I have to wait for a parking spot to get into a beach here and it's such an easy drive. I laugh when people here mention the bad traffic although I'm not sure how bad Santa Cruz is with traffic. I miss the cliffs of the California coastline and the seemingly endless expansive beaches, but with that also comes inaccessibility. There are a lot more bugs here versus CA, that includes cockroaches. You will need to be OK with them, sand gnats and mosquitoes. Oh, and alligators! It took me awhile to be OK with them but they are really shy and not aggressive, in general. It rains here more and is certainly warmer than Santa Cruz. It is subtropical here versus a coastal desert environment in CA. The variety of birds here is amazing if you are into birding. People are less fancy here and certainly like to party more... it's 5 o'clock somewhere in Florida at all times There is less of a rich/poor gap, not as many uber rich folk here. It's also more politically conservative here than CA, that means more guns and much less taxes, which is awesome to see in your paycheck, but that also means less public benefits like fancy parks and upscale libraries. There are more Christian people here who aren't afraid to share the gospel. The public schools here are lightyears better than the CA public schools where we were at, so I guess that's weird since CA schools get way more money that FL schools. My kids here have free bussing, sports (if you make the team), languages, art and music, all of those were cut out of our schools in CA. I also love that we are more connected to the East Coast of the US here, so I feel there is more patriotic stuff and it's easier to get to DC and more of the historical sites that were part of our US history. All in all, we are glad to have made the move, mostly because our quality of like is so greatly increased, which I feel is a result of being in a more conservative state that is not over taxing it's people.

[shokwaverider]

We moved here from Mission Viejo CA 15 years ago, we love it. 2 miles from the beach, Island Life, (Could never live like this in SoCAL). We do miss the weather and our friends though.

Also, we are not so shallow that we care one iota what other people think, we are not religious either. No one hassles us about it. We lean Center Left Politically and have friends of all political and Religious persuasions, they are all good, well educated and smart enough to appreciate our views, as we do theirs. We do not socialize with the narrow minded.

[Mchrismsw]

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I always hear the weather thing even from people contemplating to move to Florida or other humid parts of the USA. But at the same time, millions of Americans (Pre Covid LOL) go tropical Asia and the Caribbean to vacation and even live. I am in Santo Domingo, DR at this time. I love the Caribbeanisque and Asianisque type weather. Its better for the skin, cheaper on utiliities (You can hang dry your clothes) and most people prefer ceiling fans over air conditioning and the solve on air conditioning is they use those room sized air conditioners which are awesome to cool a single room.

I guess its different strokes for different folks. But the weather and location to Latin America and the Caribbean was one of the top reasons I moved from California to Florida. I am social worker and educator so I am used to not being rich (I wasn't making big money in California but loved my career).

Once again, loved reading your post.

[Gromicide]

I think you'll find that the Anastasia island in St Aug a perfectly fine trade-off from Cali. I've never lived in Cali but known plenty that moved here from CA. The above posts are mostly spot on. I think you'll love it.

[Tonestar]

We moved from Laguna Hills, CA in September 2019. Rented for about 6 months in St. Johns and then purchased a new house (new like we are the very 1st owners) in January 2020 to St. Augustine. We brought our 11 y.o. daughter and our son enlisted in the USAF right after HS. He's stationed overseas for 2 year. So just 3 of us.

Anyway, we absolutely love it here. This moved was planned 4-6 years ago. We wished we could have moved sooner. Lower cost of living, less urban sprawl, less crowded and just plan more laid back. Thing we hate most here are the drivers especially as you get closer to Jacksonville. Truck drivers aren't much better. I think because the freeways are not as congested as California, some folks tend to speed especially at night on the I-95. Very common to see cars going 90+ MPH dodging in and out of lanes. Tailgating is pretty hardcore here too.

Daughter fit right into school and made friends quickly. There are a lot of out state families moving in so there's always a group of new kids. School system in St. Johns is top notch. Her average classroom size is about 15 students where in California 1 teacher was responsible for teaching 33-34 students. Just about everything the school system here has been better.

There's ton of growth in northern St. Johns County. That being said, its about 75-100 years behind from what old Orange County California used to be like. And we enjoy it this way very much. Won't last long but I figure I'll be dead or almost dead by the time it gets as crazy congested as southern California. I mean LA County has 10-15 million residents which now basically connects to Orange County. Add them and its probably closer to 20 million folks.

[shokwaverider]

^^^^^^ Glad you like St. Auggie, as mentioned we do too. We still miss SoCAL though, especially in June, July & August. But the likes / good out way the dislikes. Enjoy the beach.

[OCMOMMA]

Originally Posted by shokwaverider

We moved here from Mission Viejo CA 15 years ago, we love it. 2 miles from the beach, Island Life, (Could never live like this in SoCAL). We do miss the weather and our friends though.

Also, we are not so shallow that we care one iota what other people think, we are not religious either. No one hassles us about it. We lean Center Left Politically and have friends of all political and Religious persuasions, they are all good, well educated and smart enough to appreciate our views, as we do theirs. We do not socialize with the narrow minded.

You sound like my type of people!

We are in Portola Hills, thinking of making the move.