The Truth about Jacksonville, Florida
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5/29/2013
I have lived in JAX for two years. We are retired, no kids. I bought a condo in the Southside next to Tinseltown and Town Center. If you are going to come to JAX, THIS IS THE PLACE TO BUY OR RENT. Clean, reasonable prices, great shopping and dining, etc. I paid 67K for my 2br condo overlooking a 22 acre lake and is gated with a pool, gym, Jacuzzi, community center,tennis. Condo fees are 249 a month. I paid $450 in property taxes last year, using the Homstead Act to reduce the tax value by 25K. THERE IS NO STATE INCOME TAX! THERE IS NO TAX ON FOOD! Car tags run around $400 for the first year, after that around $100 a year. I can get a pitcher of Miller at the Ale House for 6.00 all day, every day. We have a winter here in Jan and Feb when the average high is 70 and the low is 45. We had 3 nights at 26 and I put our electric fireplace on 2 nights all winter. September through March are perfect and then it gets warm and then hot in July and August but no worse than Northern Virginia where I came from. The St Johns River flows through the city but the many bridges keep rush hour to a minimum and lasts for about an hour or two at most. There are two Navy bases in the city that helps the economy. We have 5 great beaches here and they are never crowded like our southern beaches like Coco and Daytona. We have professional football and minor league baseball, a soccer team, arena football, even girls roller derby (trust me, it's a hoot). Fishing is great, boating even better, the riverwalk is very chic and the restaurants are so varied and reasonable, you will want to try them all. Since JAX is the farthest west city on the Florida east coast and hurricanes rarely hit here, usually staying out at sea and slamming the NC coast. The schools are not good and the crime is high just like most big cities, but the burbs, like Southside are much better. Lots of colleges, lots of students and lots of military gives JAX a young feel and it is one of the youngest populations in Florida. Us retirees, love it because you can always get somebody to do a small job for you. Also, if you cruise, JAX has a cruise boat and we are 5 hours away at most from Miami, Tampa, Charleston and 2 hours from Port Canaveral. The people are friendly and always helpful. The rents run from 700 a month for a 2br apt to about 1500 a month for a 4br house. You can still get condos on the Southside for 60K if you look hard. These are facts that I have learned since living here and I am sure there are prettier places to live but JAX comes real close.
John | Jacksonville, FL