Advice Needed on Jacksonville Neigborhoods

I live in the 32256 area-Gate pkwy near the new St. John's Town Center-James Island
It is a nice neighborhood-gated community (one of the few in the area). There are lots of houses for rent in the subdivision but there are also condos and apartments across the street that are for sale or lease.
We have never had a problem here and it is conveinent to everything (I-95, the 202 aka JTB aka JT Butler Blvd, 9A/295, malls, grocery stores, zoo, etc). I have a 3 year old son, 1 year old son and pregnant with #3.

I live in orange park by fleming island. Nice quiet neighborhoods and very easy to get over to baymeadows. About 20-30mins. A few of my playgroup friends live by that way and like the neighborhood.

Another choice is mandarin county. We have been looking for a house there as are just renting our current house and like to buy in a few months. All the shopping is close by and good parks. That is the 32223 area.

Stay away from Blanding Blvd= traffice is a nightmare.

Hi,
Hi I moved to Jax 6 months back and we thought of Bay Meadows too but because I am usualy home and not good reviews so we decided to live on Gate Pkwy N..its a very safe area look into Touchton road and Gate Pkwy N...those areas are very safe with many gated community...Good luck with the search.
On Southside Montreux are very nice too..
Good Luck with your apartment hunt.

We moved to Jax from PA almost 9 years ago. We love the community we live in called Julington Creek Plantation - the zip is 32259. Here is the link for the communities new rec center http://www.jcpcdd.org/. It wouldn't be too bad of a drive to work for your husband - maybe 30 minutes. This area is so great for families and kids. And the schools are rated better in St Johns county, too for when your daughter is older. Jax has been great to us! Good luck!!! :)

202 which is J. Turner Butler which runs from I-95 to A1A at the beaches is a WIDE area. ALOT of new and up-coming neighborhoods out there. If you are wanting an apartment for this 6 month period you may want to try rent.com . Not sure of which real estate offices deals with rental homes.

There are great communities out there not far and it has grown around the Gate Parkway area in the last 10 years.

You may want to contact Jacksonville Sherrifs Dept. for a listing of activities around town in neighborhoods. Check out www.coj.net. Maybe they can help with telling you with statistics in the area you are looking at.

I would stick with JTB and anything going East to the Intracoastal Waterway. Traffic is bad just about everywhere to be honest.

Good luck and enjoy Jaxville!

I live in a community called Ironwood off of Gate Parkway West. It backs onto the 202 and is about 2 miles east of the 95. There are single family homes as well as townhomes and there are a few for rent currently. This a gated, safe, family community. You can google Highgate Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32216 for a map. (There are 2 Ironwoods - North and South, I live in the North section). There are also several other condo communities within .5 of a mile (all on Gate Parkway West) - including a brand new, nice rental property - Citigate.

We live in Jacksonville Beach and really love it. We have many parks that are not crowded. There is a library in Neptune Beach. There are art walks, an Adventure Landing, many preschools and the beach! We ride our bikes to the beach every weekend. Like the Avondale area, the Beach is a little community within this HUGE city. Jacksonville Beach has its own utlity company separate from JEA. When tropical storms knock out power, we are without power for a few hours compared to a few days for some areas of Jacksonville. There are a few condo communities at the
beach that would probably be great for someone in your situation because you wouldn't have to deal with the upkeep of the yard. Jardin de Mer and Summer Sands are two that come to mind. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

Also, the beaches offer easy access to JTB (202).

We moved to Jacksonville 3 years ago and have always lived in the Riverside/Avondale district. The area code is 32204-32205. I love it becaue it is it's own little community tucked into the city. We are only 30 min. from the B. and about 20 from the zoo. There are quite a few parks, a library, restaurants, Publix, Walgreens, the list goes on and on! Hope this helps and welcome to Jacksonville.

Hi T., for what you need, the Gate Parkway area will likely be a perfect fit. It is a beautiful area with lots of nice rentals (condos & homes) and is close to everything (great shopping at the town center and UNF a couple blocks away). This is a safe area and close to everything (beach is about 6 miles away). It's very close to the 202/I-95 area. I don't think you could get a nicer area that is any closer to where you need to be. Traffic can be a mess in Jacksonville at times so I would recommend the gate parkway area to avoid as much of that as possible. As for Baymeadows, it depends on which side of Baymeadows. I would say that anything east of Southside Blvd. is safe and nice.