North Florida Babies
Need advice from Jacksonville/St. Augustine moms
Hi everyone. My husband just accepted a job in Jacksonville, which we know nothing about. We will be moving from the Tampa Bay area. I'm looking for advice (I trust other moms) on what areas would be best to find a place to live. We will be renting at first. I have 4 children. I feel overwhelmed because Jacksonville is HUGE. I have visited St. Augustine several times when I was a 4th grade teacher for our yearly field trip and really loved the area. I have never been to Jacksonville. Do you recommend the St. Augustine area or are there areas of Jacksonville that would be great for families?? His job starts in a month. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: Need advice from Jacksonville/St. Augustine moms
St. Augustine has one of the the best school systems in Florida, so I'd definitely look there. There are also a lot of family friendly things to do.
I'd stay away from Duval County schools - they're not great. If you decide to live in Jax though, I'd research the schools in the area, it can totally be hit or miss. The one thing I didn't like about living in Jax (I lived off of Hodges, between Beach and Atlantic) was the traffic - it would take me forever just to go to the grocery store, I hated it. It was super convenient to literally everything though, as long as you didn't want to go during rush hour
We live just south of Jax, in Fleming Island, and I love it. My office is downtown and it takes me about 35 minutes (in traffic) to get there. DH works off of Gate Pkwy and it takes him about 20 minutes (he goes in early though and has no traffic). The schools out here are wonderful.
Any idea where your husbands office is?
Are you looking for public or private schools? I second what K said about the schools in FI and Clay County in general. If you can, stay outside of Duval County. If you can't avoid it there is a good magnet program and I would recommend Avondale, Ortega and Riverside bc with 4 kids there is so much to do with in walking distance. On Satuday's you have the riverside arts market and there is always a restaurant or a park you can walk to easily. You could also try San Marco.
I just sent you a PM:)
I don`t know about Schools, my Son is just 3, but I love St. Augustine. My Husband workes there. We decited to move to Palm Coast, but that would be a 1 hour drive for your Husband, maybe too much. I am not much of a help, but just want to say Welcome to the Area and I hope you enjoy it here.
BTW, we are from Tampa, too. Lived out in Brandon.
I live off CR 210 which is the dividing line for Jax and St Aug. We are in St Johns County so we have better schools than just one exit north. There isn't much out this way yet but I dont mind driving 20 minutes to get to bigger areas. Gate is less than 30 minutes from this area. I do love the Avondale area. Very "neighborhoody" and family friendly. Fleming Island (Clay county) where Kristin lives is very nice too and has quite a bit out there.
GL!
As someone that worked in the Duval County school systems, I wouldn't say they are bad per se, but I would recommend the St. Johns county or Clay county even. However, there are *excellent* schools in Jacksonville. It's really all about what side of town you live on though, since a lot of schools can't take special assignments because of full class sizes.
Over near Gate Pkwy, and the Town center would be a nice area to live, if you are wanting to live in Jacksonville. Riverside and Saan Marco are also nice, however you do have to be careful in both of those areas, because they do drop off into not so nice neighborhoods quite suddenly.
If your husband doesn't mind the drive, I would look more to the south of Jacksonville. Fleming Island area, County Rd 220, St. Augustine. I wouldn't look in Orange Park simply for the fact that its so overly crowded there. I hate the OP traffic.
Good luck!
Let's try this again...
Thank you all for the information. You have been very helpful. We are going to avoid Duval County. We are thinking St. Augustine may be best for us, but still considering the Fleming Island area. We don't want to be too far from the beach. We are going to make a trip over there soon so we can check out the areas. I am trying to understand the difference between Fleming Island and Orange Park. Is Fleming Island an area in Orange Park? I do love being near everything...5-10 minutes to grocery stores, shopping areas, etc...but I don't want to be in a traffic mess either. I'm trying to find a happy medium.
Right now we live in a golf and country club which is located on a nature preserve. It's very quiet and peaceful here, which I absolutely love. At the same time, we are close to everything and about 20 minutes from the beaches. We don't need to live in a golf and cc, so I'm just wondering if anyone knows of areas in St. Augustine or Fleming Island that are also quiet but still close to everything?
Thanks again!
Fleming Island is just a bit south of Orange Park.. it used to be part of it, but about a year ago became its own town, which tends to make it confusing
The area I live in is similar to what you described - I'm in Fleming Island Plantation - it's a golf community and once you're inside, its pretty quiet. Within about 5 miles of my house though is a Target, 2 Publix's, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Micheal's, lots of restaurants, library, YMCA, daycares, etc.. I love it, we ride our bikes a LOT
You could also check out Eagle Harbor, it's a more established community, but the same idea. It's just across the road from Fleming Island Plantation.
If you want to be close to the beach, I'd look more in St. Augustine - Fleming Island is about 40 minutes from both Jax and St. Augustine beaches. I'm not really familiar with the neighborhoods out there, but I know there are several of them off of 210.
I work for Clay County Schools and they are very good. Stay away from Duval Schools in my opinion. I'm not saying they are all bad, but I've had students from there and they were behind the Clay students. I live in Fleming Island and it's very nice. We have many golf courses, great schools, and shopping centers. It is about 30-40 minutes from the beaches. If you want beaches then go to St. Augustine. St. Augustine is great and has an excellent school system. Plus, there are lots of stores and restaurants. It's more of a tourist destination.
I live in the World Golf area which is zip code 32092 and we LOVE it.
Its in St. Johns County, lots of nearby excellent schools, I'm 3 minutes from Publix (grocery store) but about 20-25 min from Target, malls, etc. Kind of a pain but I really don't mind. There is hardly any traffic and its peaceful.
Oh yea and the beach is about 25 minutes away! (Vilano and St. Augustine beaches).
I love the area she is in - if we moved, it would be out there