Potentially Relocating to JAX from Chicago (Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach: appointed, how much, houses) - Florida (FL) - City-Data Forum

jagged34 · 01-21-2009, 12:53 PM

My fiance and I took a trip to JAX from Thursday to Sunday. We met with a couple of realtors and looked at houses in both Duval and St. John's County. Overall, I thought JAX was a nice, clean city and we both really liked the Atlantic Beach area. However, I was disappointed that I didn't see very many 'downtown-y' areas like we have up here in Chicago/Chicagoland. I'm not trying to compare Jacksonville w/Chicago because that's like comparing apples to oranges, but it just felt so completely spread out and commercial to me. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'd like to know if there are areas that have little shops, restaurants, etc that aren't chains and that are truly Jacksonville. That is my major issue with the city. Other than that, even though you have to drive every where, traffic didn't seem bad, weather was nice (even though it was the coldest it's been down there in years), and the cost of living is great. We are planing to take another trip down there in summer, so if I could get some suggestions on where to go for that type of atmosphere or other places we should definitly go while we are down there to get a better feel for the city, that would be great. Thanks!

Joe 4520832257 · 01-21-2009, 01:50 PM

Well, you basically hit the nail on the head. I love Jacksonville, but it has a huge problem with suburban sprawl. Everything is spread out, and Jax lacks many unique walkable neighborhood shopping districts.

You probably already saw the small walkable parts of Atlantic and Jax beaches. Beyond that your only options are:

San Marco Square
5 points/Riverside
Avondale
Downtown itself (although downtown is mostly geared toward office workers)

jagged34 · 01-21-2009, 04:47 PM

Thanks. Actually, we couldn't find the area in Jacksonville Beach. Of course, we really didn't know where we were going without an address we could plug into GPS. Like I said, we are planning to go back during the summer so we can see just how hot it gets there, so I'd like to check out the areas you mentioned. Thanks again!

Joe 4520832257 · 01-21-2009, 08:20 PM

Honestly, the Jax Beach strip isn't that great in terms of attractiveness. However, there's an area on 1st street with lots of bars and restaurants.

Enjoy your trip this summer! The temp probably isn't much different than a Chicago heat wave, but the 99% humidity can be a real shock. The daily summer thunderstorms can be a surprise too. But they clear up very fast.

jagged34 · 01-21-2009, 09:08 PM

I'm originally from St. Louis area. So, humidity is nothing new to me. Just want to know how much worse it is down there

. My fiance, however, is from Chicago and thinks it gets humid here in the summers - whatever! Anyway, looking forward to going back and checking out those areas and maybe some parks if time allows. Thanks again for the info!

projectmaximus · 01-21-2009, 10:22 PM

What's up with Joe and I being the only folks to respond in some of these threads?!

Anyway...yeah, Joe covered it pretty well. The places he named, along with the beaches, are the only authentic walkable areas in town. There's also the St Johns Town Center: a horrid, generic, faux town center east of downtown (horrid, but I still kinda like it) there are also a few new urbanist communities.

And about the summer temp...I spent june and july here in Chicago and thought the heat was awful, walking around downtown sweating beads...

Of course I then returned home (Jax) for a month and remembered what real hot weather was like. Muggy, humid, can't-stay-outside-for-more-than-2-minutes, quick-turn-on-the-AC weather...enjoy!

mawipafl · 01-22-2009, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

What's up with Joe and I being the only folks to respond in some of these threads?!

You'll find me responding here and there ... I just don't want to sound like a broken record about how much I enjoy life here in Jax. :-)

joninclay · 01-22-2009, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by projectmaximus

What's up with Joe and I being the only folks to respond in some of these threads?!

Dude, you responded at 12:30 in the freakin' morning...most of us are still asleep!

heatrnnr · 01-22-2009, 08:05 AM

Hi there, my wife and I moved down here from Chicago last summer. We love it here. We moved from the suburbs (Bolingbrook) so not having a downtown wasn't that big a deal. We both lived in the city before we got married so that was pretty much out of our system by the time we moved here. There is so much open land compared to up north. It took a while to get used to the driving around to get places. We live in the World Golf Village area. If you are looking for a walkable downtown with lots of unique restaurants you might want to consider St. Augustine. Where we live it is about a 15 min drive to downtown st. augustine and about a 20 - 25 minute drive to my office in the southside of Jacksonville. It really depends on where you are going to be working and what kind of lifestyle you want. People around me consider anything over 30 mins a long commute. Compared to what I was doing (and paying) for my commute in Chicago it is nothing. We really like it here, it's hard to underestimate the impact of the nice weather. Even though it started in teh 20's here this morning I keep telling my co workers, this is like a nice day in April/May in Chicago! Good luck in your search!

projectmaximus · 01-22-2009, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mawipafl

You'll find me responding here and there ... I just don't want to sound like a broken record about how much I enjoy life here in Jax. :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by joninclay

Dude, you responded at 12:30 in the freakin' morning...most of us are still asleep!

The OP's post was made early in the afternoon, Jon. Anyway, I was just kidding, folks! But I'm sure you guys are too. By the way, it was only 11:30 here in Chitown, although I admit I'm usually up til 2 or 3 in the morning anyway.