School me on Jacksonville, FL

[Eurodriver]

I'm very familiar with the state, climate, etc. Looking specifically for Jacksonville info.

I'd be working in the Wells Fargo building downtown Mon-Fri 9-5.

I know Jacksonville is pretty rough in some areas. I was just there last weekend and I've seen some bad places in Hialeah, South St. Petersburg, Tampa, etc but Jacksonville seemed to be all over the place. For example, St. Petersburg's "bad" area is probably 30x30 blocks. Hialeah is a suburb of Miami and easily avoided. It just seemed like the threat of robbery never ended as I got off I95 and made my way through the entire city and even north into the suburbs.

Anyway, my questions:

Where is a safe, nice place to live that won't result in me living next to Section 8 hoodlums and won't take an hour to get to work every day. Does such a place exist? Looking to buy a home in the $250,000 range but can go higher if it means peace of mind.

What is there to do in Jacksonville that won't result in me getting robbed or my car stolen? Miami has nice places on the beach, St. Petersburg and Tampa have nice downtown areas. Are there nice upscale dining/bar places in Jacksonville?

I'll probably eventually get married and have kids. What are the schools like?

P.S. I love "Public School Number Four" on the side of the interstate.

[Dobie]

The bad - Lots of crime and poverty. Over 100 murders average a year. Was the murder capital of the state for over a decade, not sure its rank today but must be in the top three. Industrial city not a vacation spot. Find a home on the south side or beaches areas. Stay off the West, North and downtown areas for a home. Get alarm system with CCT and a safe. CCW everywhere.
The Good - cost of living isnt high, $250K will get you a nice house. Coastal so beaches near by. North Florida fishing is good if your a boat owner. Hurricanes stay away, last direct hit 1964. Got the Jaguars if you a NFL fan.

[Failure2Stop]

Healthy shooting crowd.
Lots to do just down the 95.
I can't talk much about J-Ville, I pretty much only stop in to visit Gun Gallery when I'm heading north.
Good stuff within easy driving distance: ranges with good matches, Savannah, Orlando, St Augustine, New Smyrna, Daytona. If you aren't super into Jacksonville, there's plenty to keep you occupied.

Can't really vouch for the living conditions of that specific area though.

Oh, no state income tax is pretty nice, roll that $ straight into your 401K if you the responsible type, straight into beer and ammo if you're like me.

[cop1211]

It's where I live and police. It's had the highest crime rate in every major category in the State for the past decade.
Just had a biker shoot out last night at a nice eatery at the beach at 8:00pm.
The schools suck, they are overcrowded and full of thugs. The school board police officers are highly discouraged from making any arrests unless it's a felony.
The area you want to look for a home is in the east near the beaches. You can try Neptune or Ajax Beach but you will get a lot more house if you look 15 minutes away.
Jax Beach is where everyone comes for the nightlife tons of bars in a small area. The area has a lot of festivals.
If you have a wife and kids aid look at St. John's County. Much nicer area to live. Much lower crime and A rated school system. There is the best range in the area in St. John's county as well. The owner is good to go and isn't a stand over your shoulder range nazi type. If you look at northern St. John's your commute isn't going to pretty probably 45 min to an hour, but the quality of life for your wife and kids would be worth it.
Anything else I can help you with let me know. If you end up here let me know, free ride along with me and my police K9.

[Eurodriver]

Thanks for the info. I've lived in FL almost my entire life so I'm familiar with everything and the surrounding areas. I'm quite literally just trying to figure out if I can maintain a normal suburban lifestyle without being murdered or having my wealth redistributed from the likes of that Corrine Brown idiot. I drove passed her re-election billboard on I95 and almost threw up.

Edit: Thanks for the offer cop1211, we must have posted at the same time.

I've applied to a pretty big financial firm in several Florida cities, West Palm, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville. I think I have the best shot at Jacksonville but that city has always scared the shit out of me. I'm not sure if it's as well deserved given that my hometown has a pretty serious crime problem as well but I think they just do a better job of masking it from the media down here to avoid worrying tourists.

[ucrt]

.

Avoid the "Jacksonville Bypass" route that some guy gave me and a buddy taking a high school road trip ...40+ years ago. :)

Took us something like 3 hours to go 50 miles. We learned...

.

[cop1211]

Most of the violent crime is dirt bag on dirt. Also Jacksonville has around a 800,000 -900,000 people. The county is officially Duval but the city if Jacksonville makes up the entire county sans the 3 beaches which make up about 15 miles long by 3 miles wide. Avoid the north side and west side at all cost. Look Far East and far south and you should be fine.
I live 15 minutes from the beach. My house is 1,500 square feet, neighborhood isn't bad, plenty of houses for sale for around 130,000-150,000. From my house I could get to where you would work in 35-45 with the rush hour traffic.
Let me know if you end up here we can get together and go shoot.
There is a nice quality carbine club that goes down to the range in St Johns the last Sunday if the month. No fuuds or herp-derps allowed.

[bullittmcqueen]

Get a condo or house at Jacksonville beaches. Both my brother in laws live there and the beaches area is the only part of town I would live in.

[Palmguy]

Family friend lives in the area around 295 east of the St Johns on the south end of town, it's pretty nice down there. About 20 miles to downtown. From what I know about the area, I'd echo the geographic recommendations you've received so far.

[tgizzard]

I avoid that place like the plague! But it seems that you've been given some good local info if you end up moving there. To bad one of those other cities doesn't work out. I live up the road from West Palm and it's nice here on the Treasure Coast!

[DragonDoc]

I grew up in Orange Park just south of Jax. It was a great place to raise kids when I left. I don't know what it is like now. Besides crime and schools you also need to be concerned with the commute. There aren't very many secondary roads that you can take to get you downtown. If you don't mind a commute I'd look into buying some land in Middleburg or Green Cove Springs. St. John's county also has plenty of land you can buy. No sense looking for a range when you can live in the country and shoot in your backyard.

[Reagans Rascals]

I was born in Orange Park and spent my formative years in Jax Beach, graduated from Fletcher.... but I'll never go back... its an awful dirty place in a lot of areas. The Autozone on MLK BLVD had to have an armed guard because the manager was shot in the face and killed during a robbery for the night drop..

When I left in 04 Jax Beach was a nice place, it was small, not a huge population. When I went back in 07' and then again in 09 it was a pure shit show.. population had increase so much it would take me 48 minutes to go from Atlantic Beach to Arlington Blvd... a distance of roughly 13 miles... no thank you

[Eurodriver]

Passed on Jacksonville. Everything bad said in this thread is true. What a dump - looking at South florida right now.

[El Cid]

Passed on Jacksonville. Everything bad said in this thread is true. What a dump - looking at South florida right now.


You mean north Cuba? I would not choose it over any other part of Florida. They used to say the "DMZ" was the Broward/Dade line. Now it's Broward/Palm Beach. Traffic is a constant nightmare especially if trying to get to downtown Ft Lauderdale or Miami.

I don't know the crime stats but it's out of control. The number of LEO's killed in the line of duty over that last 20 years far exceeds the number lost by most states... since they became states. Everything is more expensive from housing to groceries. Your car insurance will probably double if you move here. Home owners insurance/hurricane concerns are out of control to the point many companies (including USAA) won't finance a mortgage here.

Groups from all over come here and will not assimilate. I've visited and lived all over the state - south Florida isn't really Florida in my book.

[jondoe297]

I was born and raised in Jacksonville. I left about 4 and a half years ago and every time I go back, I miss it less.

[Ron3]

I think it's typical of an American city of almost 1 million people.

There is crime and traffic and the government schools aren't good. Most of the crime is dirt bag on dirt bag.

Carry a pistol and a have a newer vehicle. Can't do much about the schools except private education. There are some better schools south of the city.

It is also true that north Florida (North of Orlando) us just south Georgia. The panhandle is south Alabama / Mississippi. The southern part of Florida is where the money and most of the obama fans are.

[PatrioticDisorder]

You mean north Cuba? I would not choose it over any other part of Florida. They used to say the "DMZ" was the Broward/Dade line. Now it's Broward/Palm Beach. Traffic is a constant nightmare especially if trying to get to downtown Ft Lauderdale or Miami.

I don't know the crime stats but it's out of control. The number of LEO's killed in the line of duty over that last 20 years far exceeds the number lost by most states... since they became states. Everything is more expensive from housing to groceries. Your car insurance will probably double if you move here. Home owners insurance/hurricane concerns are out of control to the point many companies (including USAA) won't finance a mortgage here.

Groups from all over come here and will not assimilate. I've visited and lived all over the state - south Florida isn't really Florida in my book.

Palm Beach county is nice outside of some parts of Lake Worth & Riviera beach. Miami-Dade traffic sucks and crime is bad in some parts (north Miami). Cubans are great people, older Cubans came here to flea communism like my girlfriend's family and are generally good hardworking people who can't stand Obama, younger Cubans come here for the same reason other groups do unfortunately... North miami and 50% of Broward is a hell hole and hate commuting in and out of Miami-Dade to PBC but PBC is in general a nice place to live.

[floridajpr@mail.com]

I was born in Jax, FL. and lived here most of my life. I did live in N. Palm Beach County (Jupiter, FL) for 9 years and then moved back to Jax. I will never go back to South Florida! Jacksonville use to be a decent city but started to gain in crime and poverty around the same time the NFL Jaguars were implemented and got real bad when a third of the New Orleans idiots moved here after the big hurricane.
I would suggest living in the Mandarin area South of Jax or around the South Jax beaches area (Ponte Vedra). If you can deal with a commute I would suggest, Middleburg, Green Cove, International Golf Parkway area, St. Augustine, Fernandina/Amelia Island area.
We are in the process of electing a new Mayor and Police Chief. If we can just get someone in office that cares, we can get Jacksonville straightened out. Existing Mayor is an OBUMMER Fan!