Jax gouge?

[insanebikerboy]

Considering I've never stepped foot in the city and I'll be moving there in a few months, any and all advice on places to live would be great.

Any communities/areas to avoid? Which one's are the best? So far, all I've heard about is that Orange Park is supposed to be a nice area.

How's living out on the beach with traffic to and from work in the morning?

Haven't decided if it'll be an apartment/townhouse/or house, but if anyone has any recommendations on any or all of the above, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Navyfan06]

Are you going to Mayport or NAS?

 

[FLYTPAY]

Live at the beach, 25 minute drive, I had a blast there!

 

[insanebikerboy]

are you going to mayport or nas?

nas.

 

[Brett327]

nas.

That's a long f-ing drive from the beach.

Brett

 

[scoober78]

Brett's right...from the beach is nearly an hour...and alot more if traffic is sketchy.

Southside seems to be the general consensus for single folks especially. The deal is that it is a 20 ish minute ride to the beach bars and around a 30 minute door to door to work. There are a million big bix mart stores, restaurants etc...in the area. Look in the vicinity of Gate Parkway, Butler Blvd, St. John's Town Center etc...This is the "trendy" place for studs to live.

Orange Park is, in theory the short commute. However, while my buddies in Southside were driving 30 minutes and 20 ish miles each way, I was driving 8 miles in the same 30 minutes. Orange Park is not a good deal because of its "proximity" to base. There are reasons to live there...if you really want a house vice an apartment or townhome for example, Orange Park is your best bet. If you are concerned about schools, etc...there are reasons to go there. It has the same assortment of big box marts, with the exception of the high end stuff at St. John's Town Center, which is a 40 minute drive. The trouble is...as always in Jax...traffic. If you live in Argyle Forest, the main development there (huge...probably 5000 houses), you can plan on a good 10 or so minutes just getting out of the development.

The other real choice nearby NAS is Doctor's Inlet. There are some nice single family houses down there, it is close in terms of mileage to NAS and if you are looking to get away from big suburbia, its probably your best bet. I never made the drive to work from there, but it should be slightly shorter than Orange Park proper. There are some small-ish shopping centers down there with the basics, Target etc...but the area is growing. If I had it to do over again, I would probably take a look down that way, as I needed a house.

Overall big picture take-away about Jax though...is its damn big. You'd better get used to spending some time in the car to go anywhere and wherever you live, you will be at least an hour away from some other place you want to be! Good luck and feel free to hit me up with any specific questions.

 

[HooverPilot]

Doctors Inlet/Fleming Island area! I lived there for 3 1/2 years (Eagle Harbor) and I LOVED IT! Traffic on 17 wasn't great in the mornings, but it was better than Norfolk traffic.

 

[Navyfan06]

I live on the southside (San Jose Blvd) and love it, I am renting a house and the rent is pretty reasonable (with huge backyard for my big dog). Very easy commute, opposite traffic in the mornings (read: I never hit traffic...ever), closer to the beach and much less traffic than Orange Park (the beach to base is a pretty good commute, maybe 45 min or so). I am near all the crap you could need Walmart, Target, Moe's...I could go on, all that crap is off my exit. Orange Park is, like what scoober said closer, but in the morning and afternoons your bumper to bumper traffic and going down 17 isent that much better.

But I love Jax, lots of stuff to do, within two hours your can get to orlando, gainesville (I go for tailgating w/friends), savannah, Ga. It's great and best of all, at least to me, it feels nothing like a military town, you can actually go to bars and not run into a zoo of military folks.

If you have any questions PM me. Good luck

 

[picklesuit]

The west side has some good spots, Argyle Forest/ Oakleaf plantation...Julington Creek is right across the Buchman, but is a bit of a drive...both good

 

[billiken2002]

I live in Southside right now, and I really like it. I'd definitely say its a younger crowd in this area. Mind you it is very had to find (at least near Southside Blvd between Beach and Phillips) houses for rent, most of everything is apartments/condos/townhomes. Its also great having so many stores that close to my place, instead of driving 10 miles to the only Target in Corpus while living on the island. I also really like Avondale/Riverside and San Marco area. They are mostly older homes with huge oak trees and small shopping/restaurant districts within walking distance. However, pretty pricey for renting a house. If I was staying in Jax and going to buy a house, I would most likely look down by San Jose and Racetrack, newer homes with nice yards that were affordable, and I didnt have to deal with traffic from Orange Park.

 

[Hozer]

Avondale. Walking distance to bars. 15 mins to NAS. No traffic.

 

[propwife]

We're in Fleming Island/Clay County, which was tied in as Orange Park until July of this year (Zip code: 32003). Newer, planned communities (condos/townhomes/single family/apartment complex) and several mature, established neighborhoods. Within Eagle Harbor and FI Plantation, rent ranges between $900-$2300, depending on your needs. We run into NAS JAX stationed families, quite a bit. We do feel like the minority out here, which is actually a pleasant change from Norfolk. While it is a family oriented community, there's an increasing amount of newly opened businesses. Mojo's and a new wing place, sandwiched between a sports themed clothing store, Green Olive Martini Bar.. Ballys, Achieve Fitness, YMCA are the main gyms. Several boat slips within a few mile radius. Not sure if all mentioned is exciting enough for young, single guys. LOL!

Husband and I like being in between St. Augustine and Jacksonville. Commute to NAS JAX, horrible in the afternoon, but one straight shot down US 17! So, take the good with the bad in terms of not having interstate travel. They are doing some road widening and improvements on the bridge. It's smooth sailing once you get past it.

Fairly uneventful out here. We had an attempted CVS robbery (Guys tried to hold up the pharamcist for Oxycotin?) They were caught. That was newsy. Otherwise, it's mostly stolen bicycles (kids are out of school). I wouldn't leave my door unlocked, by far.. But, coming from Virginia Beach/Norfolk, it's nothing in comparison.

Anyhow, that's a personal view from this side of Orange Park.
I do work for a real estate office, not as an agent, though.
www.Realtor.com is your best source, honestly, search the rental tab and 32003.

Best wishes!

 

[MasterBates]

Oceanway was nice to live in. 30 minutes to NS Mayport once they finished Wonderwood, and about 25 to NAS JAX.

This is the area up by JAX INTL, new mall with some trendy-ish stuff, but not as nice as St. Johns town center.

3/2 1200 sq ft houses with big yards can be had for mid-150s. Maybe less with the current crap market.

Nice that it's more or less equidistant to all 3 bases (NAS, NS, SUBBASE Kings Bay)

 

[Lobster]

Doctors Inlet/Fleming Island area! I lived there for 3 1/2 years (Eagle Harbor) and I LOVED IT! Traffic on 17 wasn't great in the mornings, but it was better than Norfolk traffic.

I'll second what HooverPilot said, i lived in Habersham Harbor for about 9 years as a kid while my dad was stationed at Cecil, Great place, always stuff to do and from a kids perspective I had a ton of friends there some of which i'm still in contact with.