just got a job offer but i didnt get to see much when i visited

10/17/2006 9:25:00 PM

it stinks because of a giant paper plant. it's dull, overgrown and has numerous 'interesting' areas of town. i would compare it to charlotte. it's also north florida, so it still gets plenty cold.

10/17/2006 9:28:26 PM

went there for the bowl game a few years ago
the landing was pretty cool

10/17/2006 9:29:14 PM

well i will enjoy the job, and its the better of the two offers i have gotten... just dont know anything about jacksonville

[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 9:35 PM. Reason : significantly better of the two]

10/17/2006 9:35:26 PM

Quote :

"it stinks because of a giant paper plant"

huh???....i live in jax now...its ok...pretty much just like charlotte with a river in the middle and a beach....traffic blows ass....town is ok....it is more like south georgia than north florida....

10/17/2006 9:36:59 PM

jacksonville, fl >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> jacksonville, nc
it's not all that bad
the bridges over water in the middle of the city look really cool all lit up at night
you are fairly close to daytona, orlando, tampa, etc

10/17/2006 9:39:57 PM

i was trying to get a job in the area because my gf has a job here, but the offer in jacksonville is worth almost $20k more

she's going to be pissed if i go to jacksonville and consider the offer, so i just want to make sure it doesnt suck

10/17/2006 9:41:35 PM

making a job decision based on anyone you aren't married to is stupid imho - especially if she's just a gf and there aren't somewhat solid future plans

10/17/2006 9:42:34 PM

well she's not "just a gf", but im not going to make my decision based on her

but before i pissed her off i wanted to make sure it wasnt a shitty city (something that i do base my decision on). im going to go back down and visit before i decide

10/17/2006 9:46:10 PM

jax is ok trust me...i am moving back to nc very soon though for a new job....no racing going on down here....

10/17/2006 9:50:06 PM

Quote :

"it stinks because of a giant paper plant. it's dull, overgrown and has numerous 'interesting' areas of town. i would compare it to charlotte. it's also north florida, so it still gets plenty cold. "

that makes no sense unless you meant its almost the exact opposite of charlotte.

i'd say the only thing jacksonville has going for it is that is on water. that's kind of cool i guess


[Edited on October 17, 2006 at 9:53 PM. Reason : /]

10/17/2006 9:51:28 PM

come on down next weekend for the cocktail party

10/17/2006 9:54:55 PM

god damn i hope the gators lose...these fucking UF guys i work with get on my fucking nerves...

10/17/2006 9:59:10 PM

I hear just live a little ways out and it's not so bad

10/17/2006 10:03:42 PM

sublime_ncsu what kind of racing job are you moving back for?

10/17/2006 10:13:38 PM

Lived down there for a summer, well actually lived in Ponte Vedra Beach which is right next to Jax Beach. If I were you I would have definatly checked that out. Jacksonville itself is pretty shitty, but the beach areas are pretty badass and laid back. The drive isn't too bad, like 15min or so to get to downtown, so its not too far off.

10/17/2006 10:28:48 PM

i went for the Gator bowl & it reminded me a lot of raleigh (but prolly b/c there were lots of raleigh peeps there)

i do know jacksonville is the most spread out city, geographically, in the u.s.

10/18/2006 7:37:35 AM

florida is the source of all evil

10/18/2006 10:44:16 AM

Quote :

"went there for the bowl game a few years ago the landing was pretty cool"

From talking to people down there, the landing is supposedly dead except for the Cocktail Party and good Gator Bowls. It was sweet then, but I really wouldn't base an impression of Jacksonville on Gator Bowl weekend.

10/18/2006 10:51:02 AM

Jacksonville is REALLY ghetto. It's so bad that a Burger King took out a billboard advertisement trying to find any information on who shot one of their drive-thru employees in the face.

It's the biggest city in the USA so make sure you get a good idea of where you would actually be living.

Traffic is a nightmare and theres not much to do there.

If you dont own a boat, its not the place to be thats for sure.


V basically if you are a dirty slut or a gay dude thats a positive. If you are ANY other demographic that's an enormous negative for any city.

[Edited on October 18, 2006 at 11:01 AM. Reason : a]

10/18/2006 10:57:12 AM

Also a big military population if that is a positive or negative for you.

10/18/2006 10:58:15 AM

Quote :

"it stinks because of a giant paper plant. it's dull, overgrown and has numerous 'interesting' areas of town. i would compare it to charlotte. it's also north florida, so it still gets plenty cold "

I went to high school about 30 minutes outside of Jax and my parents still live in that area. Jax is not a bad town at all. He has it's ghetto areas like any big city, but does NOT stink of a paper mill (trust me I work in the paper industry). There is a paper mill in South Georgia that you can smell from I-95, but it is no where near Jax.

As for the city, the beaches are a good place for night life, restaurants, etc. The Landing is okay for New Year's and football games, but no much else. Traffic can be bad in cetain areas mainly because of a lot of construction going on. The city is the largest land area city in the US so it is definitely spread out. I'd live there if I had a great job opportunity.

10/18/2006 11:06:19 AM

I will be moving down there in January. I am looking at condos/apts to the east around Southside Blvd and J Turner Butler Blvd. If anyone knows a good area to live, I'd appreciate the input.

I am looking at a place that is about $900/month for a 1bed/1bath in a new condo community. But one reason I am looking at this place is they're also selling condos and would be willing to take a percentage of my rent towards a purchase at any time.

10/18/2006 11:24:03 AM

Look around the beach areas. There are some really nice places in Ponte Vedra. When I lived down there for the summer I didn't venture into Jacksonville itself but like twice. The beach areas are nice and pretty much where all the non trash lives. Sure there are some bad parts, and some beach bums, but its a pretty fun laid back area. There is no way in hell I would actually live in Jacksonville, but I am considering moving back down to Ponte Vedra/Jax Beach here soon.

[Edited on October 18, 2006 at 1:49 PM. Reason : .]

10/18/2006 1:48:45 PM

Which area is Ponte Vedra exactly?

10/18/2006 4:18:14 PM

i went there for the gator bowl back in '02, and i thought it was pretty cool, atleast downtown by the landing (it's like market square x3)

10/18/2006 4:22:17 PM

From a Person who Lives in Jax now

1. there is no stinky paper mill anywhere near here although the rives does stink on ocassion
2. the landing is shit and very ghetto...they just put a club paris in there and it is going under....
3. the hotspots to hang out are really the bars at jax beach and neptune beach
4. i lived at jax beach for a year and left because of the crime and overpriced rent....too many murders....i now live on Hodges blvd which is like 2 miles inland
5. The city is huge and traffic is bad....find out where you will work before chosing housing....my work is 9 miles away and some days it takes over an hour to get home
6. Ponte Vedra is in st johns county which is directly south...it is very nice but refer to #5
7. do not live in Orange Park and try to drive over the bridge in the mornings...you will want to kill yourself...
8. cost of living is higher than NC but less than most of FL....there is no state income tax
9. the city is a lot like charlotte
10. most of the homos live in San Marco which is near the river and downtown
11. i didnt know how much i didnt like Florida gators fans till i got here...they compare to unc fans
12. jax is very centrally located to many areas of interest which is convenient
13. property costs are getting high but not as bad as south FL....1500 sq ft 3bed/2bath = $200k

10/18/2006 7:32:28 PM

well i talked to them and explained that i didnt know much about the jacksonville area and they offered to fly me back down and show me some of the city, so it sounds like they really want me.

im likely going to take the offer so where are good areas to live (its about 10 miles south of the airport near 95)

10/18/2006 10:17:09 PM

Quote :

"9. the city is a lot like charlotte"

uh, i guess if youve lived in NC your entire life maybe...

10/19/2006 2:25:08 AM

nice place. ltos of roaches.

10/19/2006 2:31:30 AM

I've lived in Jacksonville for 24 years (except for when I was attending State), and it is actually a nice place to live. As some one said before, if you are looking for a good night life you need to head out to the beaches area. San Marco is the culture center and is the area that reminds me the most of Raleigh. Aside from that, expect a very different crowd than north carolina. In Raleigh you meet a lot of college "intellectuals", but Jacksonville lacks a major University and therefore presents a very different, more community college, crowd. I don't feel like I can hold a meaningful conversation with a lot of the people I meet at the beach's bars and the girls a good portion of the girls are kind of trashy. On the plus side, the weather is always great and the lifestyle is very laid back.

10/19/2006 2:24:18 PM

i grew up in Orange Park, it was an awesome little community back in the 80's and early 90's but of course we moved out because the minority population jumped and crime went up like whoa.

10/19/2006 4:14:08 PM

anyone know a good place to go in Jacksonville for New Years??

12/28/2006 9:10:25 PM

^^ I went to St.John's and grew up in OP as well.

Small world!

12/29/2006 9:38:58 AM

Quote :

"basically if you are a dirty slut or a gay dude thats a positive"

HAAHAHA

12/29/2006 1:36:37 PM

Quote :

"it was an awesome little community back in the 80's and early 90's but of course we moved out because the minority population jumped and crime went up like whoa"

jesus, if that doesnt sound like EVERY nice city in the country then I dont know what does. I'm sure Jacksonville is terrible with immigrants though since its about equidistant from mexico and cuba

12/29/2006 1:41:47 PM

Orange Park does suck pretty bad.

Quote :

"anyone know a good place to go in Jacksonville for New Years??"

The Landing might be ok. Lots of people go out to the beach bars and a few of them are open until 4 am.

12/29/2006 2:19:08 PM

^^^^The landing was pretty cool for the Gator Bowl, but that was more from the the 40K+ Wolfpack Fans there than anything.

12/29/2006 2:19:23 PM

If you don't mind stripmall / Target and Starbucks at every third corner, the layout of the city resembling a cumbersome grid, aggressive drivers, and one of the highest murder rates in FL, then you can manage it.

There are streets never to go down in Jacksonville, much like any other city. The only difference is you should never really go down these streets any time of day. I also recommend never getting gas at night. On Atlantic or Jacksonville Beaches, you will find many crafty characters out at night.

It's definitely a city in which you should arrive armed.

And in case you think I am paranoid, North FL has empirical data to back up these precautions. 30 mins South is St. Augustine, which is wonderful.
A friend of mine went to college in St. Augustine, and her first night there she was mugged.

Jacksonville is a cheap place to live because the county of Duval was incorporated into the city limits, hence the largest city by land area since the entire land area of the county itself is categorically a city. You can do some basic research at http://www.coj.net

The buildings are uncreative as everything is being parceled out into enormous gated communities owned by huge corporations, but the old ways on Neptune and some parts of Atlantic are shacks on the beach selling for upwards of 900K. You can still live in a particle board shack on the beach for about 700 bucks though. Your quality of life will not be very high though.

Just some tips from a former resident.

[Edited on December 30, 2006 at 11:08 PM. Reason : ]

12/30/2006 10:59:47 PM

never lived there, but I drive through it about every month. The road situation on I-95 is seriously terrifying at certain times of the day, esp rush hour at dusk. The roads are narrow and wind all over the place with construction, plus the traffic is terrible obviously.

That being said, the city looks really good at night with all the bridges lit up. I've also been to a few games at Altel, and have had some good times in the Bud Zone over there -- basically a field-side bar open to the general public.

12/31/2006 1:09:45 AM

haha, exits on both sides of I-95 with lots of scenery to look at on both sides = terrible driving situation

12/31/2006 8:43:19 PM

well I put a deposit down for renting a new condo in the southside area

I loved the weather in jacksonville and I can see where the mixed reviews come from. Some places look really cool and the people are really nice and other places I found myself wondering if I am gonna get robbed at night. The place where I will be living is off of Gate Parkway (the newer section that isn't on most maps yet) and will be just a couple minutes from Saint John's, an outdoor mall sort of area that reminds me of Southpoint and north hills.

1/7/2007 7:21:29 PM

^The weather in Jacksonville isn't that much different from Raleigh...

1/7/2007 10:21:42 PM

it was nice for new years

not sure how it was in raleigh, but i didnt break out a long sleeve once while i was down there

1/7/2007 11:31:27 PM

Murder rate is really high

Use this as a database to get a good idea of the relative danger you face based on the address to which you are considering moving:

http://www.jacksonville.com/homicide360

1/15/2007 3:43:22 PM

damn, just be careful like you would in any big city and you'll be ok

the area he is moving to is fine

1/15/2007 4:23:30 PM