Are there any Asians in Jacksonville? (homes, safe neighborhoods, construction)

[ctunstal]

My husband is interviewing for a job in Jacksonville so a move there could be in our near future. We have two Asian children and would like to live in a safe, family friendly area that has Asians. Could we find that in Jacksonville?

[riveree]

By Florida's standards, Jacksonville has a good-sized Korean population and a good-sized Filipino population. You will also find some Chinese families, Vietnamese, etc.

From my personal experience, I've found the most diverse neighborhoods to be in the new neighborhoods of Intracoastal West and you will find many Asian families that live there. Try searching for homes in zips 32246, 32225 and 32224. These are very family-friendly zips that are close to jobs, shopping, the beaches, etc. and the neighborhoods are very nice (many are new neighborhoods as well).

[ctunstal]

Thanks, riveree! What schools would those zip codes serve? I'd like to look up the schools as well.

[travelingfood]

I have to assume you're not Asian from the way you specified "Asian Children." Sorry if I'm wrong.

There are Asians all over JAX, and as riveree pointed out, it's mainly Filipino, Korean, and Laos. You won't find any Asian strip malls as you would in major cities with large Asian population. However, there are dozens of little Asian grocery markets around town. Jax even has Asian Association if you need networking.

[ctunstal]

Originally Posted by travelingfood

I have to assume you're not Asian from the way you specified "Asian Children."

Yes, you assume correctly. Our kids are adopted from Korea. So all of your comments about there being many Koreans has me excited. I originally was not too enthused about a possible move to Jacksonville but it's looking better. The initial search I did on schools (greatschools.net) didn't show many Asians. I guess I didn't find the right schools to look at.

Any help with schools?

[riveree]

Originally Posted by ctunstal

Thanks, riveree! What schools would those zip codes serve? I'd like to look up the schools as well.

There are a few different elementary schools, I know Kernan Elementary is one (A-rated), Sabal Palm is another (not sure of rating). For middle school, I think most of those zips feed into Kernan Middle (also A-rated).

For high school, these zips are likely to feed into Jacksonville's largest high school, Sandalwood, which does not rate well. Sandalwood is overcrowded and it's led to a decline in the FCAT rating for the school. There is a new high school opening in 2010 (under construction right now) and the new high school will pull from Sandalwood, amongst other high schools. So that will hopefully resolve the overcrowding issues at Sandalwood. There will be a redrawing of the boundary lines for the new high school, but the school system won't release which neighborhoods will feed into the new high school until close to the opening date. It's anybody's guess which neighborhoods will be included since the boundary redrawing will affect multiple high schools in different areas of the city. So if your kids are elementary age, I would not be too concerned about the rating of Sandalwood, a lot can happen in the years to come.

To double-check schools, find some homes/neighborhoods you like and then "map" them on the city's property appraiser site. This will pull up the schools for that particular address. You'll need an exact address to do this though (on realtor.com, the home's addresses are listed):

Property Appraiser - Basic Search

[travelingfood]

Oh ok, well if you're worried about getting funny looks, um, yes that'll happen here but please don't get over worried. I've seen many many families here with adopted children. Even everyday Asians here still get the looks lol.

If you need to know, there are also local Korean churches here too.

[projectmaximus]

Yeah, speaking without having checked any of the statistics (sorry I'm feeling lazy right now) I'd guess that the Filipino population is the largest Asian demo in Jax. Followed by the Koreans. I had many Korean friends and I believe there were three or four Korean churches throughout the city back when I was in grade school in the 90s, and the community sustained a similar number of Korean schools (weekend language classes). Compare that to the Chinese community of which I was a part, where there was one small Chinese church and a Chinese school that pretty much died out by the turn of the century.

Anyway, I'll just add from personal experience that I never felt uncomfortable as an Asian kid growing up in Jax. We're not a haven for Koreans and there is no Chinatown or Koreatown, but I dont think diversity is lacking here.

[coolyfett]

Originally Posted by ctunstal

My husband is interviewing for a job in Jacksonville so a move there could be in our near future. We have two Asian children and would like to live in a safe, family friendly area that has Asians. Could we find that in Jacksonville?

Are there asians in Jax?

I would think so.

[lokahi]

Jacksonville isn't like other parts of the country, such as Washington DC or LA. It's still somewhat of a small town, although b/c of the Navy, there is a large Filipino community, and b/c of the 1970's-1980's refugees fleeing Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. there is a relatively healthy Vietnamese and Cambodian community. There has recently been a rising number of Thais in Jax as well.

But, Jax has really become a melting pot over the years, and the Navy has really helped that alot. I wouldn't worry about them being "asian" and fitting in as much as I would worry about the humidity in Jacksonville! They'll be fine, I'm sure. I would concentrate on good schools, safe neighborhoods, etc.

Here is a link for you:
Jacksonville Chinese Association - Jacksonville Chinese Association