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Had to laugh about the boars. To be honest that could happen a lot of places down here. There was a whole family of boars, little babies and all that where wondering around our neighborhood, but have since been trapped and moved into the witness relocation program. Just one those Florida things...like the snakes and the gators.
I think it is interesting too that there seems to be just a "feel" that isn't right in JCP. My wife and I both just had a visceral reaction to the place that wasn't pleasant. Can't say that I can put my finger on it accept to say that I just knew I didn't want to live there. From some of these posts it seems that we are not alone in that feeling.
Snakes, gators, and boars....And here I wanted to move to Florida enjoy the great outdoors? I will have fear running down my spine the whole time that I'm on the nature trails....omg, too funny!
What do the little kids do for sports down in Nocatee? My son is 11 and loves to play baseball almost as much as xbox call of duty (lol) so I was hoping to check out that stuff to help us make a decision.
Thanks so much for your help, you don't know how much it means to get your feedback!!
My nine year old eats and sleeps baseball (thank god....I just never got the soccer thing) so being able to play as much as he wants is a big plus. Between spring , fall and travel teams there is no shortage of baseball. They play most of their games right at Davis park, which is just down the street about five minutes from our front door . There is a diamond here in Coastal Oaks as well, which we use for practice at times. Glad I can help you out. Wish I would have known about this resource when we first moved to Florida six years ago. It would have made things easier.
There are TONS of kids in Coastal Oaks! Our street alone, we have 4, my neighbors behind us have 4, my neighbors across the street have 4, beside them they have 3, down the road they have 3, next to them they have 2 and 2 (those 4 are older though), going up the street there are 3, 2, 3, 2, and I'm sure I'm forgetting one or 2. Our house and cul de sac are like grand central kid station most days. If you have little kids and are interested in moving here, please send me an e-mail before you visit and you can come see our kid craziness! Sometimes it gets to be almost too much, but then I remind myself, this is why we moved here, we wanted a "real" neighborhood for the kids, where they were surrounded by friends and could come and go all day. Which the kids definitely do here! There are even more kids in the Ambassador section (we're in the Signature), and also in the Estates there are quite a few. I'd say at least 90% of the homes out here have kids and 3-4 is the norm!
I was also concerned about how far away the elementary school is, but to be honest, the kids love riding the bus. They sit with the same friends they are playing with constantly, so they love it. It's about 20-25 min bus ride. Our 3rd is going to kindergarten in the fall, and we will have her ride the bus just like her brothers and like alot of other kindergarteners. They have the kids sit in grade sections, so they'll be sitting with the other kids their age. I go to the kids' schools fairly frequently, and yes, it is kind of a pain that it's far, but just like anything else, you get used to it and you couple it with errands you need to run. Jacksonville as a whole is really spread out, so you have to get used to some amount of running around.
We were also intrigued by JCP and Durbins Crossings, and the price points for homes were much more reasonable than Coastal Oaks. On our first visit there, we did really like it, but it is very much like where we live here in NJ. It seemed pretty congested and while I loved the fact that the kids could ride their bikes to school, the more I thought about that fact my mind started to wander to some unpleasant ramifications of a bike ride home. When we went back and really loooked through the neighborhoods, it seemed too cookie cutterish for us. And then when we saw the two hogs/pigs/boars come out of the woods, we all about died and ran to our cars...that was the last of Durbin for me!!
Toll is offering a great upscale home with lots of bells and whistles....do I need all of them , not so much but they are very nice to look at when you walk through the models. I love the fact that it is close to the beach and has a very tropical feel throughout the town. It seems to have all the popular eateries somewhat close by and also offers some big city type restaurants which we don't even have where we are now.
So from a purely visual standpoint, I guess we are sold. We are still struggling with the emotional side though....
Actually those animals are domesticated pigs brought here by the Spanish in the 1500's "gone wild". You'll find them in a lot of parts of St. Johns County (and other parts of Florida). We tend to see them mostly on or near A1A when we're driving on A1A through the Guana Preserve. Robyn
The proximity to the beach is what is drawing me to Ponte Vedra! I can't wait to get down there and start seriously looking!
Before you get too attached to the beach - keep in mind that beach access in Ponte Vedra Beach is horrible (the issue is in the Shorelines section of the Florida Times Union every other week or so). There is basically one area with public parking - Mickler's Landing - and the parking is totally inadequate. There are public beach access points on Ponte Vedra Boulevard - but no parking (it's a high end residential neighborhood). The Guana Preserve beaches about 5 miles south on A1A are nice (although I don't think they have lifeguards) - and there is ok parking. But you have to cross A1A from the parking - and there has been a fair amount of crime (mostly car-related) at those beaches. Probably the best combination of access - parking - lifeguards - etc. is at Jax Beach - but that is about 5-6 miles north of Ponte Vedra Beach. There are a couple of non-equity beach clubs in Ponte Vedra - and they are probably your best bet if you're a serious beach fan.
The second thing to consider is that prolonged exposure to the sun in Florida is bad - especially for children. And the summer sun is *very strong* (winter here isn't "beach weather"). Even with a lot of sunscreen - you don't want to spend more than an hour outside at the beach in the summer. Members of my father's generation (he's 92) were the first to spend a lot of time in Florida year-round - and they have basically become an annuity for local dermatologists. Also - there are some very undesirable things living in the ocean - stinging jelly fish - sea lice - etc. I think swimming is a great sport for kids - but in a swimming pool. Apart from various skin cancers - another problem you get from too much sun is early on-set cataracts (which I have).
Note that I lived on the water for 25 years in Miami - am a good swimmer - and think I went in the ocean only a couple of dozen times (which was enough for me). Robyn
Aside from the cataracts, snakes, gators, and baby boar families....and all kidding aside, what do you Jacksonville folks love about where you live? People? Quality of life? Schools?
Also, locally, where do you typically go to the movies or bowling...is D&B's the kids hot spot? And what is the best shopping in the area?
We may make a quick trip down in the next week and want to see as much as we can....
Thanks,
Lorraine
PS- Our beaches here in NJ have all those undesirable things floating around as well, however our water is freezing until August!! There is something about sitting on a beach and watching the ocean that I think is relaxing and somewhat amazing! While we will be giving our of famous jersey boardwalks if we move, I wouldn't trade a short ride to the beach for anything!!
OK, truth be told, Florida would never have been on my list of places to live. I am a western guy. California native, Colorado for many years after that. I am here because of my wife's career....period. Having said that I really do find that Jacksonville seems to me to be the best place to raise a family in the state. Orlando is a tourist and traffic nightmare and Miami isn't even part of this country. The Jacksonville area has some great schools, great weather, ( OK, personally I could do with out June , July, and August, humidity and me really hate each other) and a pretty good conservative family atmosphere. The whole southern thing is a bit annoying to me , if I never saw another confederate flag again I would be a happy man. However , for the most part in the Ponte Vedra area you do not feel like you are around the pick up truck and gun in the window crowd. ( I know I am rubbing some the wrong way, not the first or last time I will have done that) In fact, there have been a number of Californian's move into Nocatee, which may mean we are store for better food soon. I don't care what anyone says, the food here sucks.....I just can't tip toe around that one. There are some good higher end restaurants, but if you just want a good deli, or a good pizza, or salad, well you better get cooking because you will not find it here. (not to mention Chinese or Mexican) The beaches are nice, and relatively uncrowded, and Saint Augustine is a very pretty old city. Having Disney World close is fun for the kids and there is a lot to explore in Florida that I have yet to see. Lots of parks, wetlands, and of-coarse coast line. No place is perfect, well for me Colorado is, but other then that no place is. All in all, it is a great place to raise a family and the good thing is that I expect that it will only get better. From what I have been told about the history of Jacksonville, you could not have paid me to live here 20 , even ten years ago. However , to me it seems to be going in the right direction, and certainly for someone looking to be in Florida with a family, it would be my first choice.
That is funny donisanasfan. Like that old cartoon - on the internet no one knows you're a dog. I always thought you were a woman (just a sexist assumption - like people sometimes assume I'm a man).
You're right that east and west are *really* different. I've spent a lot of time out west - and I have to tell you that if most of California wasn't so frigging expensive - and the taxes weren't so awful - and it didn't have earthquakes - I'd probably enjoy living there. I even like Los Angeles (although my husband hates it). We used to spend a lot of vacation days in Colorado when we were younger and went to "ski country" - but those days are behind us. In fact - we once took a 4 month trip to the "mountain states" in the winter. It was really fun and interesting. We visited all the national parks there in the dead of winter - learned what black ice was - and I found out I had no future as a skier.
My husband and I are really middle of the road people. And the far right stuff - including the confederate stuff - is annoying to us - but not more so than the left wing stuff we encounter in various parts of the US - and in other countries (we were in Berlin during a G-8 meeting a few years ago - the G-8 meeting of course brought all the crazies). We have encountered some confederate stuff in PVB - like the high-school aged son of our next door neighbor who insisted on driving the expensive pick-up truck mommy and daddy gave him with a big confederate flag. We just thought the kid was a moron (albeit a moron originally from Alabama).
I agree with you that the food here - as well as in most areas in Florida - sucks compared to what we find on the west coast (we ate at the restaurant that won this year's JB award for best restaurant in the SE last year - it's in Miami - and it was mediocre at best IMO). If you want to get some "Good Eats" - and have time for a nice long weekend trip - go to Atlanta (which has some excellent restaurants as well as some fun tourist attractions - note that Alton Brown from "Good Eats" on the Food Network is an Atlanta guy). Spring is the best time to travel just about anywhere in the south. The only advantage of the food here IMO is I was forced by necessity to learn how to be a good cook!
FWIW - I took the Florida Bar exam here in JAX almost 40 years ago - and you couldn't have paid me enough to live here then either.
Anyway - give a holler if you need some ideas about things to do in Florida. We've lived here almost 40 years - and know the state very well. If your kids are old enough to do things like canoe - there are some very wonderful state parks in the northern half of Florida - like Manatee Springs State Park. Kayaking is popular here as well - and places to do it are pretty close (although by the time we got around to trying to learn how to do it - we were too creaky - so we stick to canoes). There are some bike touring outfits. Even a day at the Jacksonville fishing pier can be fun for kids (I like to fish there as well - I never catch a fish I'm tempted to take home and eat - which means I don't have to clean fish!).
BTW - and this is just my 2 cents. This is a huge golf area - tennis as well. I know there are tons of kids who do things like play soccer. But how many kids are going to be playing soccer when they're 40? I would take advantage of the golf/tennis in the area if I wanted my kids to learn sports they can take with them when they become adults. I didn't start to play tennis until I was almost 40 - or golf until I was about 55 - and wish I had started with both a *lot* earlier.
Try to enjoy - and don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have about our specific area - or Florida or the southeast in general. Regards, Robyn
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Nocatee
