Why would anyone move to Jacksonville? (Tallahassee, Jacksonville Beach: crimes, house, magnet school)

[parks71]

The color of the water is affected by two things, one the the filty st johns river and two the gulf stream being 60 miles off the coast. If you go even 30 mile south to st augustine the water is greener and clearer.
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Say what you want about my grammar, Im not a english major and I am typing this from a cell phone. While Im not rich by any means, my income is over 100k a year and we live in a decent area in jax where houses range from 250k and up so one would think the schools would be better and the crime. My cars has been broken into twice last year and my house was 3 years ago.

Every single day when you turn on the news someone was killed or a killer is on the loose. The school my daughter goes to which is the closest high school to the beach other than the one ON the beach is rated at a D- overall. Thats TERRIBLE. Once this year I have had to keep her home due to a kid saying they are bringing a gun on her bus and 3 weeks ago while shes at school, the school went on code yellow and locked everyone int he class due to a kid having a knife at school.

I dont have to prove any of this because its public record, check the crime rate statistics. You are 2 times more likely to be murdered here than the average major city in the US. We are top 5 in the nation for aids, STDs, drunk drivers.

Our reading scores suck and the cost of living which used to be a big plus is now well above the national average. For what? This used to be a nice quiet city, over the past 10 years it has gone to hell. The schools were never good though and Paxon, the school you speak of was just on the news for having some of the most toxic air in the US to breath. Do you really want to move here banking on the fact your kids will go to a magnet school??? Which happens to be right in the middle of some of the worst parts of jacksonville?
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I will be moving out but I found these forums by looking for new cities. My wifes whole familiy is here and shes finally had enough, were getting out of here or I would have been gone long ago. The weather everyone brags about can be found A LOT of places with less crime, better schools and lower cost of living.

[crash330]

Originally Posted by parks71

The color of the water is affected by two things, one the the filty st johns river and two the gulf stream being 60 miles off the coast. If you go even 30 mile south to st augustine the water is greener and clearer.
\

Say what you want about my grammar, Im not a english major and I am typing this from a cell phone. While Im not rich by any means, my income is over 100k a year and we live in a decent area in jax where houses range from 250k and up so one would think the schools would be better and the crime. My cars has been broken into twice last year and my house was 3 years ago.

Every single day when you turn on the news someone was killed or a killer is on the loose. The school my daughter goes to which is the closest high school to the beach other than the one ON the beach is rated at a D- overall. Thats TERRIBLE. Once this year I have had to keep her home due to a kid saying they are bringing a gun on her bus and 3 weeks ago while shes at school, the school went on code yellow and locked everyone int he class due to a kid having a knife at school.

I dont have to prove any of this because its public record, check the crime rate statistics. You are 2 times more likely to be murdered here than the average major city in the US. We are top 5 in the nation for aids, STDs, drunk drivers.

Our reading scores suck and the cost of living which used to be a big plus is now well above the national average. For what? This used to be a nice quiet city, over the past 10 years it has gone to hell. The schools were never good though and Paxon, the school you speak of was just on the news for having some of the most toxic air in the US to breath. Do you really want to move here banking on the fact your kids will go to a magnet school??? Which happens to be right in the middle of some of the worst parts of jacksonville?
]
I will be moving out but I found these forums by looking for new cities. My wifes whole familiy is here and shes finally had enough, were getting out of here or I would have been gone long ago. The weather everyone brags about can be found A LOT of places with less crime, better schools and lower cost of living.

Well then be gone with you. Jacksonville will be better off without negative nellies like you.

[MAI1229]

Parks, I think you have too much time on your hands. Honestly, Jersey has issues, but there's no way in h*ll I would post a "why would anyone move to xxx" thread.

You're offending the good people who consider Jacksonville their home and who go out of their way to help folks who are moving/contemplating moving to Jacksonville. I highly doubt anyone is paid for their participation/responses and I truly appreciate their opinions/insights.

I also echo ShakenStirred's response . His/Her response is not only applicable to your thread, but to a few others who also have too much time on their hands with all their b*tching/whining about your community.

Have a little more respect for the town you consider home, or move. It really is as simple as that.

[KerryB]

Dont feed this guy anymore. I mean, he can feel the way he wants to feel & some of his concerns are legitimate, but he's clearly just trying to get a rise outta people right off the bat (new member, not very articulate, etc). So I wouldnt take what he says to heart. Any yahoo can get on here & post whatever they want at anytime, so this happens.

And to the original poster. I agree with others in saying if Jax isnt working for you, then you should probably move. But it also sounds like you havent done your family any favors either. I mean, did you not know the school your daughter was gonna attend was D rated?? That's your own fault. There's crappy schools & bad parts of town everywhere, so do your homework next time.

[Joe 4520832257]

How much you want to bet that this guy lives 15+ miles from the city center, if not outside the county entirely? Most people who b*tch and moan about Jacksonville like that don't live in the traditional "city" but rather in some far-flung subdivision that's only part of Jacksonville by technicality of our huge city limits.

Regarding the color of the water .... Jesus H. Christ, it's NOT pollution. Oak trees produce TANNINS which stain the water black. This is why the St. Johns River (and the Eastern seaboard of the US in general) has such dark water. The water gets more blue South of Jax because Oaks cease to be the predominant tree type once you get to South Florida.

[heatrnnr]

Parks, i'll speak for myself and my family. We moved from a Chicago suburb about 6 months ago and love it. We moved in the middle of summer so we were expecting the weather to be awful. It wasn't. It was the same as what we had left up north, not any more humid. You mention st. louis, have you been there in august? It's terrible. I would say it's like being in the middle of georgia with the humidity there. As for being spread out, that is true, however it doesn't take long to get places here because they have planned for traffic. Up north my commute took an hr and a half each way with buses, trains, cars and walking involved. The alternative was a crapshoot commute driving to pay 14 dollars a day to park by my office. I am only about 5 miles closer now than I was before and my commute is 20 minutes each way. I live in North St. Johns country, we did research on the schools even though our kids are only 2 and 10 months before deciding where to live. Cost of living is MUCH cheaper here than the chicago area. The air quality here is much better than up north. The crime is bad in Jacksonville but it is also bad in Chicago. Crime goes up dramatically when the economy is bad and we all know it is bad now.

[parks71]

Heat I would expect you to like it more here than chicago, I would. However, jacksonville is still IMO the worst place to live in florida. St. Johns county is not really jacksonville, the schools are much better and cleaner, the whole county is. Same with nassua county, you cant even compare them to duval county, its night and day.

I dont want to offend anyone who lives here, I just call it how I see it. The St johns river is VERY poluted from sewage leaks and the power plant. Its not Oak trees. Look it up.

I'm not here to make fun of the people that live here, Im on this site because Im trying to figure out where Im going so I figured I would post my honest opinion for those that want to move here. Even if it offends you, what I say is true and its public record. If you like it here, great, defend the thread with what you like, then back it up. Saying magnet schools are good is a weak argument, not all kids can get into those and most cities have them.

[Kool]

parks71, you are not being entirely honest ... you hate ALL of Florida not just Jacksonville. I came across your other post on the Denver forum:

Coming from Florida, I'm sick of this flat hot place. I love to ski, snowboard and mountain bike and I'm sick of spending 5000 plus a year to do it.

Those are your words. You prefer cold to heat and there's nothing wrong with that, alot of people do. But why give Jax the finger before you move out west?

[parks71]

I dont hate all of florida, i dont "hate" jacksonville but I ask myself what does jacksonville bring to the table?


Florida has many reasons to live here, I am just tired of it, been here for about 20 years, time for a change

[Kool]

Originally Posted by parks71

I dont hate all of florida, i dont "hate" jacksonville but I ask myself what does jacksonville bring to the table?


Florida has many reasons to live here, I am just tired of it, been here for about 20 years, time for a change

OK, so now you sound much more reasonable. You ask what does Jacksonville bring to the table. Well, I would say it brings different things for different people. Just like you don't like the heat and the flatness of Florida there are people who don't like cold, snow and mountains. I even know people who like sprawl and the spaciousness of Jacksonville. I'd bet that somewhere in Denver or Utah someone is saying the exact thing: what does their city bring to the table? Different things for different folks.

So because you have been living in Jax for 20 years and want a change you don't need to poke your finger in the eyes of people who love this city in spite of its shortcomings. But anyway I think you are doing the right thing moving out west for a change to do the things you like, skiing and snowmobiling.

I wish you well!