Yulee/Fernandina Beach

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by squarpeg

You will have to grit your teeth and mind your manners if your a liberal. That is just the price you pay. There are liberals around it's fun when you find one, you will have something to talk about.
So you want to buy a place here? I would not buy a place without renting for a year. .

I agree with every bit of your post, but these points are crucial.

I've been meeting a lot more liberal-minded people lately, but we are definitely still in the minority.

[JBtwinz]

While I am not one to stick my head in the sand I do find it hard to rationalize the distinction in wanting to move to an area with like minded political people.

I have traveled throughout the USA and abroad and believe that the uniqueness of locations is what makes them different and desirable.

Those who want to move to an area much different from where they are from and then try to change their new hometowns to fit the place they just left confuses me.

Fernandina and Yulee along with the logging trucks and mills were here way before me. Even after 30 years I do not consider myself a local. My daughters who were born here are. If you want to change the future you must look to its past.

There has been a lot on this forum and the local news about Saint John's county's explosive growth.........yet Nassau County's explosive growth has been mostly silent.

I truly believe in the next ten years you will see an additional 10k homes built here, a critical school shortage, Amelia Island to become unaffordable to the middle class and the median age on island to reach 60.

We are also losing our distinction as a very quaint small coastal town and becoming a full blown tourist destination and retirement community.

My three cents..........I love where I live, but it is changing dramatically by those moving here and the lack of sensible planning by the old guard is breeding tremendous confusion on priority's.

[squarpeg]

JBtwinz, I understand what you’re saying about moving someplace and then wanting to change it to look like where you came from. That is how it has always been. Just ask the American Indians. New people bring changes, some good some bad. They bring new ideas, new traditions and often different thoughts on morality. I have an example that illustrates that. Vermont is my home, I live out in the country on a dirt road about 2 miles long. It winds slowly through farms and woods along a river. One year some people bought a home bordering my property and they were from New Jersey. After the first winter and resulting mud season, they informed me they were going to go to the town and demand the road be paved. They wanted my help. They did not know me very well and while they were well intentioned I explained that I would be leading an opposition to a paved road. So who is right in this? Was I opposing progress? Perhaps, I know my auto repair bills would have been much less. These neighbors were just trying to improve things (in their mind). It is very easy for an outsider to move into a place and then want to change it to what they see as an improvement. I do it myself on Amelia Island. I have people who have blasted me with these same sentiments, that I am not a local, I have no right to change something. Legally I do have the right if I own property or am a resident. Their argument falls flat, but I do understand the substance of it. I moved here because I liked it, the island appeals to me, in truth however there are many things I would like to change about the place. For example, we could get rid of all the bill boards, I’d be for that. Why? Because where I come from they do not allow billboards. Cross the border into Vermont and all that commercial crap disappears. It is nice. When I drive across the country and come back to Vermont this always stands out to me as a very positive thing. So as a person who moved here, I want to change the place to look more like where I came from. Guilty. I will also admit that is not the only thing on my list of things to change. I have no remorse for it.


Moving somewhere specifically to be with “like minded” political people I think is very narrow minded. It only serves to reinforce the bubble you live in. Do I want to see Nassau County have more liberal democrats? Of course, Why? Because it IS a bubble. A big right wing, conservative bubble. It is the exact opposite of Vermont which is so left everything is a cliché. Having everyone in the country move into geographically segregated political areas is a disaster for our country as I firmly believe a balance is found out of both views. As for the changes you see, explosive growth in Yulee, The loss of the middleclass on the island, the rise of tourism and retirement folks. These things are all taking place under an unchallenged Republican governance. A belief, in pro growth, no restrictions on any business venture, heaven forbid we should even talk about a smaller sign out front. You are getting exactly what you voted for. In Vermont I must drive an hour to New Hampshire to go to a Wal-Mart. They don’t want them in VT. If you want to put in a Mc Donald’s it is going to have to look like a log cabin and have a huge spruce tree blocking your view of it. In Buddhism they teach something called the middle way. Which has nothing to do with politics …… but it essentially says walking the middle path, is best because only then can you keep your mind open to all possibilities. When you are livings at extremes then you close your mind to the opposite side. Anyway, I think that is a pretty good thought and wish we could have a bit more of that in Nassau County, or the country for that matter......

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by squarpeg

JBtwinz, I understand what you’re saying about moving someplace and then wanting to change it to look like where you came from. That is how it has always been. Just ask the American Indians. New people bring changes, some good some bad. They bring new ideas, new traditions and often different thoughts on morality. I have an example that illustrates that. Vermont is my home, I live out in the country on a dirt road about 2 miles long. It winds slowly through farms and woods along a river. One year some people bought a home bordering my property and they were from New Jersey. After the first winter and resulting mud season, they informed me they were going to go to the town and demand the road be paved. They wanted my help. They did not know me very well and while they were well intentioned I explained that I would be leading an opposition to a paved road. So who is right in this? Was I opposing progress? Perhaps, I know my auto repair bills would have been much less. These neighbors were just trying to improve things (in their mind). It is very easy for an outsider to move into a place and then want to change it to what they see as an improvement. I do it myself on Amelia Island. I have people who have blasted me with these same sentiments, that I am not a local, I have no right to change something. Legally I do have the right if I own property or am a resident. Their argument falls flat, but I do understand the substance of it. I moved here because I liked it, the island appeals to me, in truth however there are many things I would like to change about the place. For example, we could get rid of all the bill boards, I’d be for that. Why? Because where I come from they do not allow billboards. Cross the border into Vermont and all that commercial crap disappears. It is nice. When I drive across the country and come back to Vermont this always stands out to me as a very positive thing. So as a person who moved here, I want to change the place to look more like where I came from. Guilty. I will also admit that is not the only thing on my list of things to change. I have no remorse for it.


Moving somewhere specifically to be with “like minded” political people I think is very narrow minded. It only serves to reinforce the bubble you live in. Do I want to see Nassau County have more liberal democrats? Of course, Why? Because it IS a bubble. A big right wing, conservative bubble. It is the exact opposite of Vermont which is so left everything is a cliché. Having everyone in the country move into geographically segregated political areas is a disaster for our country as I firmly believe a balance is found out of both views. As for the changes you see, explosive growth in Yulee, The loss of the middleclass on the island, the rise of tourism and retirement folks. These things are all taking place under an unchallenged Republican governance. A belief, in pro growth, no restrictions on any business venture, heaven forbid we should even talk about a smaller sign out front. You are getting exactly what you voted for. In Vermont I must drive an hour to New Hampshire to go to a Wal-Mart. They don’t want them in VT. If you want to put in a Mc Donald’s it is going to have to look like a log cabin and have a huge spruce tree blocking your view of it. In Buddhism they teach something called the middle way. Which has nothing to do with politics …… but it essentially says walking the middle path, is best because only then can you keep your mind open to all possibilities. When you are livings at extremes then you close your mind to the opposite side. Anyway, I think that is a pretty good thought and wish we could have a bit more of that in Nassau County, or the country for that matter......

We came from a somewhat liberal New England also and I also look at things very moderately (middle of the road) and at this stage of the game we are going to try and tough it out into retirement on Amelia as our final home. I do feel we are getting to the point in growth that we can't turn back. There does not seem to be anything in place to make plans for the future growth. I personally don't see any stopping it now.

I must admit that I have never lived in an area that has seen such explosive growth before and it is mind boggling. It wasn't that long ago that there were two traffic lights from I-95 to the bridge coming on the island. There were also plans in place for business setbacks and service roads with trees and limited billboards in the early nineties on 200 but what happened to those plans who knows.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by JBtwinz

We came from a somewhat liberal New England also and I also look at things very moderately (middle of the road) and at this stage of the game we are going to try and tough it out into retirement on Amelia as our final home. I do feel we are getting to the point in growth that we can't turn back. There does not seem to be anything in place to make plans for the future growth. I personally don't see any stopping it now.

I must admit that I have never lived in an area that has seen such explosive growth before and it is mind boggling. It wasn't that long ago that there were two traffic lights from I-95 to the bridge coming on the island. There were also plans in place for business setbacks and service roads with trees and limited billboards in the early nineties on 200 but what happened to those plans who knows.

Remember the only constant in life is ......... change. Never stops.