Jacksonville residents: How friendly is your city? (Miami, Tampa: fit in, neighborhoods)

[curiousdd]

Hi there. After going through another awful midwestern winter, I'm contemplating a move to Florida, so I plan to start some job searching soon. I know there are lots of things to consider (salary vs. cost of living, finding a job in this tough economy, the stress of starting over in a new city, etc.), but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I just want to decide which areas of Florida to focus on when searching for jobs. I know it is a large and diverse state. So... should I look at Jacksonville as an option?

Of course, in order for you to answer my question, you need to know more about me: I'm a 29-year-old single gay male. I work in a professional/technical field, and would seek a similar type of job. I currently live and work about 40 miles northwest of Chicago... timewise, that's about to 1-2 hours away from the city, depending on a variety of factors! I grew up in Indiana and have family in Florida. I can't stand the cold weather and have no use for it. I've always been a warm weather person, so I can handle the heat. I love the ocean: no matter where you are in Florida, you're a lot closer to it than I am right now!

I don't need to live in a huge fast-paced city, but I know that a large-ish city would likely have better job opportunities and/or more places for me to find my niche and maybe make some new friends. I don't need to live in the hippest (or "gayest") part of town, but it would be nice to live in an area where I can be myself and meet some people that are (at least somewhat) close to my age and share a few common interests.

So, where do I begin my search? I think that Miami is too big and crowded for my taste. Tampa, St. Pete, Orlando, and Ft. Lauderdale all seem like viable options (please correct me if I'm wrong or if I'm leaving another city out). What about Jacksonville? Reading through some of these threads, it seems like, for a city with that large of a population, it still has a "redneck" stereotype. That in itself shouldn't scare me (remember, I am from Indiana!)... but it does leave me wondering how difficult it might be to meet people that are gay-friendly. I'm a fairly private person and I definitely don't wear my sexuality on my sleeve, but my biggest concern is moving to a new city by myself and not finding a place where I might fit in, therefore ending up friendless and bored.

I await your candid responses!

[JagFan27]

Well, I'm originally from Indiana, but I have never thought of myself as redneck.

I would think Orlando would be a place that would have better job opportunities than Jacksonville. The schools are in the process of laying off hundreds of teachers, so all of those people are going to be looking for jobs, along with everyone else.

I do believe there is a gay community (Riverside area?), but I am not sure. I'll leave someone else who might know more than I do to discuss that.

I do understand the need to get away from those winters. There is no way I could live in that cold ever again. Those grey skies from November to March are just too depressing. Give me the sunshine!!!

Good luck with your move.

[lokahi]

I have several gay friends in Jax, and they've told me that it's great if you move here with a partner, but if you're single, it's not the easiest place to meet other ppl. - there's really only one gay club, which is called the Metro, and it's downtown.

Have you thought about Pensacola, FL? I know that it might sound like a small town, but P'cola has a really thriving gay community...check out historic Pensacola, north hill and east hill neighborhoods there...

The sections of Jax that you'd prob. feel most comfortable in would be Riverside, Avondale, 5 Points, San Marco, etc. and they're towards downtown Jax.

South FL is def. different that this part of FL and is much more accepting (not that Jax isn't - it's just that the gay scene in South FL has been accepted for many years). The gay community has really moved out of Miami and into Ft. Lauderdale, as Miami's gay peak period was really in the mid - late 80's and early to mid 90's. As Miami has gotten more touristy over the years, alot of ppl. have migrated north to Ft. Lauderdale.

All that being said, I'd encourage you to take a road trip through the areas that you've mentioned and see which cities you'd like to be in.

Best of luck!

[riveree]

Originally Posted by curiousdd

I don't need to live in a huge fast-paced city, but I know that a large-ish city would likely have better job opportunities and/or more places for me to find my niche and maybe make some new friends. I don't need to live in the hippest (or "gayest") part of town, but it would be nice to live in an area where I can be myself and meet some people that are (at least somewhat) close to my age and share a few common interests.

As I read your post, this quote above is really what stood out for me and here's why......

You said that right now you live 1-2 hours outside of Chicago. If you were to move to Jacksonville, you DO NOT want to live 1-2 hours outside of the city! This is the Deep South, you do not have to travel very far outside of the city at all before you are in a place where, frankly, gay men would not exactly be welcomed with open arms .

So if your thoughts are to move here and locate yourself in the outer suburbs/rural areas, I would recommend against it. If your thoughts are to live in either the dense suburban areas on the outer edges of downtown (see Lokahi's neighborhood names above), or to live out at the beaches, then fine (Jacksonville or St. Augustine beaches). You don't have to live in "the" hippest neighborhoods, but you probably would want to live pretty close to them .

[HopToIt]

I agree with Riveree about not going living in rural areas outside of Jax. I would think downtown Jax and some of the areas like Riverside and others would be accepting, not so sure that I would live in the outskirts/rural areas. Jax isnt exactly S FL or Key West when it comes to acceptance, but that is what I like about FL. N FL is VERY different from S FL.

[JBFL]

Jacksonville actually isn't too bad, gay friendly wise. You will encounter ignorance from time to time, but isn't as bad as people portray it to be. There are actually alot of gay people in Jacksonville. The community isn't very organized here, its more scattered around town. If you are still considering Jacksonville, consider the southside or the beaches. Gate parkway area is a safe, afforable area with good shopping close by, and very easily commutable to others parts of town. The beach is a little further commute wise, but is afforable considering its at the beach. There is a Gay bar at the beach as well, has been there for many decades from what I have gathered. And the beach community is just very nice here overall. There is a PRIDE parade at the beach every summer in fact and alot of people come out. . . In my opinion, it'd be better to live southside area and commute to the riverside area (known for its gay bars and shops) or wherever else you'd be looking to socialize.

Being gay myself, I haven't had much problem meeting associates and people to socialize with. Nor has other gay people I know here. And most people are very tolerant, considering the "redneck" stigma it has. In fact, alot of my friends are straight. But that doesn't mean I haven't met any gay people. Im just not big into the scene much anymore, but it does exist!

As far as other places you mentioned, haven't spent alot of time in Fort lauderdale, but from what Ive heard, it is very gay friendly and a nice place to live. Its hot there though, like really hot. I've lived in Tampa and because ST pete is like 10 minutes from there, have spent time there as well and absolutely hated both!!! It is just a dirty place to live, all people wanna do is drink and are very rude there. Not much to do other than that anyways. Of course, that is my opinion, but I would never go back! And hate even visiting. I am however from Orlando, and Orlando is really thriving as a city. There is tons to do, plenty of jobs and can be a fun place to live. People say its gay friendly, but I just think the clubs are better and has a big Gay days event, which is at Disney so consists of many out of towners. Not really a very organized gay community. I personally like jacksonville better,only because it is more a laid back and relax type of city. Opposed to Orlando to being more fast paced. But thats just me. I was also raised in Orlando so the things that most people think iis fun, I find old and played out. And I think that if you live in Florida, you gotta live near a beach! Orlando doesn't have one, and I love being able to go to the beach at any given time and be there within 10 minutes! But i guess it depends on the person.So theres my comparision between Orlando and Jacksonville as well.

Good luck, I hope you find a good Florida city that suits you!

[Rhonda53]

Hello Curiousdd. I was born and raised right here in Jacksonville( fl) I'm 55 now.
I've never moved away from here, but have lived for a couple of months here and there, in Ky, Mich, and Calif. I have been to every area in this city. You're asking how friendly people are here... that's an easy and hard question to ask. There's a mix of all walks of life here. If I had to rate this city on 1 to 5 ( 5 being most friendiest) I'd have to say 4, I guess. Then later today, I'll run into some rude person. Would I recommend moving here, sure if you just can't stand where you're at. It has lots to offer I guess, Plenty of all types of water to make it interesting, beach, lakes, ponds, creeks, river, the intercoastal waterway which is like many meandering rivers or creeks. We are just about missed by every other hurricane there is... and if one comes by us , we mostly get alot of rain and some winds, so , we're lucky in that respect. There's lots of problem spots with rising water in an around the city when we have thunderstorms, problems with drainage in different parts of the city. We don't much of a winter to speak of. You can golf just about eveyday.

But, in my very personal opinion and feelings about the city... I'm tired of it. I'm tired of the humidity .. Jacksonville is just plain boring. I don't think Jacksonville is a pretty city either, it mostly looks industrial to me with wanna-be areas trying to be pretty. But overall ... 'eh.... My husband (born and raised here too) and I want to move somewhere else but we're not sure just where yet. We're done with all the 'water' life there is to do. We want to look at something else besides pine trees and Live Oak trees with moss hanging from them.

I have to say there's a ton of Northerners moving here daily! alot from Pa, Illinois...