cleogirl33

Hi! I am relocating from Atlanta to Jacksonville. I am a single caucasian female, mid 30's, professional. I need suggestions on neighborhoods or areas in Jacksonville that are safe and have a "social" feel to them. I am looking to rent at 1st. $700-$800 range for 1 bdr apt. Does anyone have any suggestions on apts or areas? I have read about San Marco and it sounds like my style. I am into the retro contemporary style and would love to be able to walk to stores, shops, parks etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

benj

My family lives in Jax & San Marco is a neat area. We also used to like Riverside. Renting first is the best idea. San Marco was a bit run down years ago but has really been in a revival. Where will you be working?

Now I want to ask you about Atlanta. My brother is going to be working in Alphretta. An advice about apts there or good places to explore? He's single & mid 20s professional.

I'll ask the Jax family for advice about San Marco & the areas for renting.

Good luck!

cleogirl33

Alpharetta is a very nice area. There are tons of apts in the area and they are all pretty nice. He would be approx 30 mins to Atlanta and the social scene. If he likes the more social area like San Marco, I would suggest Virginia Highlands area in Atlanta.

benj

Thanks for the Alpharetta advice. VA Highlands looks very nice. Do you know anything about the commute from there to Alpharetta?

The advice from my Jax family is to check these places. Don't know your work location but maybe some of these will work. San Marco will have the most "charm" for neighborhood, I think.

Try zip 32246 off Southside Blvd near J.Turner Butler

The Reserve at James Island
Portofino
The Aventine at Deerwood
Courtney Meadows
54 Magnolia At Deerwood Park
Colony At Deerwood


or 32224 off Hodges & J.Turner Butler

starrsville

Benj, lots of nice, new apartments and other housing in Alpharetta. Commute from Va-Hi would be 45 minutes on a good day and 1 1/2 hours on a terrible traffic day (20 minutes without traffic).

sunlover

The apartment complexes above are all nice and I now own a home in the JAmes Island subdivision (ther Reserve at JAmes Island apartments are across the street). HOWEVER, all of these complexes are in the same general area within 3 miles of each other (between Tinseltown off Southside and 9A. They are nowhere near San Marco. THe area of town descibed by these apartments are new construction in growing suburban area. Granted it is a nicer area where lots of young professionals live and lots of social scene (why I chose the area) It is not a walking neighborhoss and does not have that urban city feel. I do love the area as there are some families but mostly early 30s singles and young marrieds with no kids. If you are looing for htat city feel, I suggest San Marco or Avondale/Riverside. You will not find apartment complexes int his area but older victorian homes converted into 3 flats. You will need some help from a realtor or will have ot have avisit to rent there.

cleogirl33

Thanks everyone for the great info.

I will be working in the Baymeadows Way area. I've been told that traffic is a total nightmare!

I also have heard about Avondale/Riverside but was told the traffic across the bridge is horrible and it would take an hour to get to work.

Are these apartments on Southside Blvd
located near the Baymeadows Way area?

Is San Marco, Avondale & Riverside a "walking" community? Can I walk SAFELY to restaurants, groceries, shopping etc?

Thanks so much! Gina

anissa

My realtives live in Avondale (and have for over 25 years) and I lived in Riverside for over 6 years... both areas are growing up considerably. I would consider both areas "safe" - of course use your common sense! Jax is a city afterall and there is crime there!!! Riverside tends to be a little more "bohemian" - I lived around the corner from 5 Points which is the epicenter for the "alternative lifestyles" in Jax. I never had a day's prob there and I walked my dog at all hours (small dog) and would go shopping/eating out alone in that area. I never felt unsafe. Avondale tends to be more the family types and/or YUPPIES... but there are exceptions of course.

both areas have one street where there is not so nice houses/apts etc and the next block is VERY nice. RAP (the Riverside/Avondale Preservation Society) is trying to clean it all up, but it takes time. You have to see the houses/apts before committing to renting one! The hospital St Vincents is down there too (could be a plus or not...)

As for traffic, Jax traffic is bad no matter where you live! I worked over in Southside and I worked on the North side of town - both places took me aprox 30 -40 mins to get to work (with or without the bridge!). if you go from Riverside down St John's Ave to the Accosta bridge and go over to 95 then it doesn't take so long to get to Southside, but if you try to do the Fuller Warren it can be a night mare (but was much worse when it was a toll bridge and a drawbridge = as well as where I10 and I95 converge!).

San Marco is also very nice, and is just over the river (so no bridge), but it will still take you about 30 mins to get to Baymeadows...

sunlover

The apartments previously listed above as the Tinseltown/9A area are a short commute to Baymeadows. Short commute by JAX standards being bout 15 min. Commute from San Marco area to Baymeadows in rush hour about 25 min and Riverside/Avondale 35 min. All three areas are very safe though there is nothing to walk to in the Southside (everything is drive). If you are still looking for anice urban walking community with shops restaurants etc your best bet is San Marco which in feel is euivalent to Buckhead area in Atlanta. Southside is very nice as I said I live there and if you don't mind new construciton and a non walking community, there is a lot to do there and it would be a shortere commute. Apartmetns are expensive here though. I paid $850 for a small one bedroom before buying my home (and that was over 2 years ago). I would think the Southside area is more akin to the Dunwoody/Perimeter area of Atlanta, closes to malls office parks and lots to do but a driving community. They are opening a new mall in our area this weekend which is really and upscale outdoor shopping containing stores not previosuly in JAX such as Sephora, Cheesecake Factory, maybe Nordstroms . . . They are breaking ground as weel to build townhomes in the same complex with connected walkways. This might be something to look into as well to have the best of all worlds (location, walking community, social scene etc.)

cctraveler

Don't really want to hiJack this thread, but I'm going to Jax next week for an interview. I too will be stationed in the BayMeadows area.
My situation is different than cleogirl33 in that I'm looking for family oriented area's to live ( suburbia not a problem ) and hopefully 45 minutes or under commute.
I do have another thread going "family relocation". But don't seem to be getting any JAX input.
How would the commute be from areas outside of Jax. i.e. Fernandina Beach, Jacksonville Beach. Thanks and once again sorry for the hijack

cctraveler

ttt

Scarlett

I believe that the Baymeadows Way area is around I-95 and yes, Baymeadows is very congested all the time with traffic but rush hour is terrible.


My daughter lives in Avondale/Riverside and works on Baymeadows...it does take her an hour to and from work..you have to go by 295 over a bridge or through San Marco and over the I-95 bridge then into Riverside along city streets with plenty of traffic and lights.


"Is San Marco, Avondale & Riverside a "walking" community?"
San Marco is sort of a walking community in that you can walk around town and do some shopping, go to a few places to eat, either after parking in town or walking from one of the homes nearby- which cost in the high $700K+ range..the shops and places to eat are also a bit expensive..
Avondale is my favorite, but St Johns is the street, it is a short stretch of shops and places to eat and some great homes full of charm..also very very expensive.
Retro- would in my mind be Five Points, in the Riverside area.

"Can I walk SAFELY to restaurants, groceries, shopping etc?"
Jacksonville is unfortunately NOT a walking city. During the day most areas are safe, but the entire place consists of strip malls. You drive to them, you can walk around whatever shops that they include, then you drive to the next ... one of my pet peeves
Check the MLS listings for Jax rentals.
Go to Jacksonville.com and read the Times-Union newspaper online for ideas.
Good luck! it really is a nice city and growing by leaps and bounds.
As such, the prices are also rising, but houses and apts are being built daily!

You know- from my house (not that far from Baymeadows) to the beach is about 20-30 minutes..you might want to consider going in that direction, the atmosphere at the beach is great, there are more apts there and apt communities and you would still have a "commute" but a nicer one

sunlover

As for a family oriented suburban area to live an commute to Baymeadows. I woudl not reccomend Fenandina as this would be more then a hour Fernandina is way north of the city and Baymeadows is south of downtown. I know many people I work with who have familes and live in st. John's County which is south of Baymeadows and even furthe south of downtown. That is a growing area without much social scen. You will get communities, grocery stores etc, not much in the way of entertainment though. Definitely what I call soccer mom terirtory. The schools in St. john's County are supposed to be very good and specific area to check out woudl be Julington Creek Plantation and any of the new subdivisions off County Road 210 near Nease High School. I believe two of them are Walden Pond and Cimarron. The address postal address would technically be St. Augustine but you woudl be north of the city limits for St. Augustine. The commute from here to Baymedows a half hour. From St. John's County to downtown an hour.

cctraveler

Thanks! I will be sure to check this out next week.

beachysis

Ha! I had to laugh when I read about "Walden Pond" off of 210 near Nease - it's actually Walden Chase (I live there), but you're not the first person to use "pond" instead!
I would definitely recommend this area for cctraveler. Lots of subdivisions with families of all ages, and newer shopping centers w/ grocery stores and family restaurants (one of which my friends own). Commute would probably be 20-30 minutes to Baymeadows Way. I also agree that outtoward the beaches is a good area.
Unfortuneately, this probably would not be the place for cleogirl, and I agree that San Marco is the only type area in/around Jax that would seem to meet the criteria of a few cute shops & restaurants to walk to and social feel - can't think of any modern apartment complexes there though, as the ones mentioned in the Southside/Tinseltown area. All older buildings in San Marco (sort of historical charm - some houses gives tours at Christmas time).
Good luck, both of you!

Jersey04

Hello all! I saw this post and think I can be of great help to both of you. I work for an apartment locating company based locally in Jacksonville. We are a free service sponsered by apartments to help people find the best options available! We offer a personalized search to narrow down your choices to the top 3-5 based on what you are looking for specifically. There are hundreds of properties, and the search can be very frustrating. I deal with the properties on a daily basis, so I can send you to places where I know you will be taken great care of. If you are interested, I can email you some information. To 'cctraveler', we will also take you around to tour the communities when you are in town. Sometimes its hard when you are unfamiliar with the area, so that's where we come in. I moved here about 3 years ago from Ohio, and had no idea that services like this were available. I would love the opportunity to help you. You can look at info on our service at www.firstcoastapartments.com. You can also call us at 904.387.3022 and I can give you more information to get started! Take care!

Scarlett

"How would the commute be from areas outside of Jax. i.e. Fernandina Beach, Jacksonville Beach."

As sunlover said, Fernandina is way too far for commuting, but Neptune, Atlantic and Jax Beach might be possible..Ponte Vedra if there were anything affordable.

beachysis, we were talking about this today- I have not seen any "nice" apt houses in San Marco, mostly they rent out houses that are divided into 3 and 4 apts. And I think rents in that area are very high.

I think being in Avondale would be nice for a single person, Julington Creek etc, are all families and IMHO boring (unless you are a family with children)
cleogirl, will you be coming to visit?

Jersey- Fodors frowns on advertising.

weimer

I moved from the Midwest to Jax a few years back and went through the same situation. I choose to live by the beach (Atlantic Beach),other areas didn't seem to hav much to offer to a single guy. I figured if I were at least by the ocean I could enjoy the beach, go running, etc. I loved the whole experience at first but the commute to downtown on Atlantic Blvd or JTB were wore me down. Sometimes it was 1 1/2 hours to go 15 plus miles!

I have since moved on from JAX but one thing that bugged me was the lack of singles scene. Everyone my age (mid twenties) was married and had kids. I hope things have changed.

Anyway, I miss my little place by the beach but I don't miss JAX or the traffic.

diann

I recently returned from Daytona beach. While in Daytona we made a trip to St. Augustine, (what an awesome charming town.!) up to Jacksonville to visit my son. The traffic was bad, around rush hour. He is stationed in Mayport. I am not at all familair with the area but he lived on St. Johns Bluff. We headed in the opposite way of traffic. There was a lot of building going on nice new shopping centers, and new homes. It seems wide open area at this time and not at all congested. His apt was a 1 bedroom with a fireplace, about $600 a month. He didn't like it there at all when he first lived there. He was very unhappy but now he seems to have adjusted.

lidevsfan2

I just took a job in Jax. Smack in the middle of downtown (Laura St.) Likely will end up in St. Johns county. Is the commute really going to be over an hour??---my two bosses who live in Ponte Vedra said their commute is about 35-40 mins. Being from Long Island I hate traffic. Please tell me they are right.