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Living in Jacksonville Florida Pros and Cons | Moving to Jacksonville

Posted By: Sarah Schwartz

Thinking about moving to Northeast Florida but you really don't know what it's like to live here? Well, hang tight. I'm going to share some pros and some cons about living in Northeast Florida.

For those that are new here, I'm Sarah Schwartz, a local realtor in Jacksonville Florida. Come on, let's get started! Wanna know something pretty cool about living here? There's water literally everywhere. What else does that mean? There are plenty of waterfront homes here! Most people don't realize this but Jacksonville has a huge river, a big creek system that can accommodate boating, the intracoastal and the ocean. You can go surfing, paddle boarding, take part in boater skip day.. the options are endless! We even have neighborhoods with canals that go down the back so everyone can have their own boat lift and head on out when they want to have a good time. One really cool feature of Jax (that's what the locals call it) is the diversity. Because Jacksonville is so huge each part of town is basically broken down into its own "neighborhood". We have the beach scene with 20 miles of beautiful beaches. We have the Town Center for shopping and all of your dining pleasure. Riverside and Avondale are so cute for little boutiques and your trendy restaurants. You've got the west side where you can get bigger lots with more land so you can play with all of your toys. You can go mudding, dirt-biking or have some horses! There's so many unique parts of Jacksonville, I can't even name them all but they all have their own unique personality.

Another great part about living here, the food scene. We have so many local restaurants to choose from no matter what side of town you're on. They're all so amazing and worth a try. Some of my personal breakfast favorites are Metro Diner, who doesn't love chicken and waffles, The Fox or Maple Street Biscuit Company. Even though Jacksonville is over 875 square miles, it is such a big small town. You know the phrase "six degrees of separation"? Well there couldn't be a more appropriate phrase to describe living here. It seems like everyone knows everyone who knows someone that you know. It's nice when you move here, it's like you automatically have a connection and someone that you can talk to or meet for coffee. Another really great thing about living here or more so just a convenience, is that it seems like no matter what part of town you're on you're only going to be 5-10 minutes away from a grocery store or your new favorite restaurant. And did I mention that we have two Costco's and another one on the way! Don't forget about Buc-ee's too! One of my absolute favorite things about living here, hands down the weather! It is the end of December and today it's 80 degrees outside.  Yesterday the high was 72. If you want to go for a walk on the beach, go for a bike ride lay out by the pool this is the place for you. You know while you're here make sure to hit that little Subscribe button and make sure you like this video. Are you a sports fan? We have the Jacksonville Jaguars, though they're not the greatest. The Jumbo Shrimp, which the name by itself makes you want to go to a game and we have the Icemen. Want to move somewhere where there's a lot to do? Well you have found the right place. We have beaches, trails and every type of waterway you could possibly think of. We're also a short drive to so many fun destinations. Savannah, Atlanta, Tampa, Busch Gardens all within a few hours. If you want a boatload of information on what to do in Jax, make sure to check out my video on The Top 5 Reasons I LOVE Living In Jacksonville! It's packed with lots of hidden gems and fun stuff to do around town. 

Sooo, let's talk about some not so great parts about living in Jacksonville. 

Earlier I mentioned the different parts of town, well that's because Jacksonville is huge! Jacksonville is so spread out, you're most likely going to want to live somewhere close to where you work and by close, I mean 30-45 minutes. Depending on where you live and where you work, it might take you a while. Just something to think about during your search. Something else that can be kind of frustrating about living here, especially if you're from a bigger city, not a lot of the neighborhoods here have a high walkability score. There's definitely certain parts of town where you can walk to your favorite restaurant or grocery store but not too many. You're definitely going to want to have a car here. So it's not going to come as a surprise to you when I tell you this but there's crime here, just like every other city. If you're not super familiar with an area, I like to encourage my buyers to use the JSO Crime Map, search the address and check if there's been any action in the area in the last few weeks. I think it is important to point out it does get really humid here. Ladies, I have a lot of product in my hair just to try and keep the frizz away and I'm sure it's still a little bit frizzy, but that's Florida. Also, if we're talking about makeup, you're going to want to do it either as little as possible or be prepared to touch up as often as possible. Have I mentioned the rain? Over the summer, it rains here like every day at like three o'clock. You know it might only be 20 minutes or it could be for an hour so be prepared. If you look up and you don't see a single cloud in the sky and it is just a gorgeous day, don't let it fool you! It's going to rain! If you're from another city, you probably go out downtown. Well not here. Our downtown is kind of dead. Hopefully it won't be like that forever but it is for now. We have a pretty skyline, it looks nice. We have a beautiful bridge that lights up blue but there isn't much to do. We have some restaurants and bars and a lot of headquarters there but it's not a "fun" downtown like a lot of other cities have. Don't worry, there are a lot of other places in Jacksonville where you can go out. Sooo city transportation is kind of a thing here but not really. Sure, we have a bus system but Jacksonville is so big that the ride is gonna take you a while. We don't really have a commuter train. We don't have any ride share programs. Add that in with the heavy construction and traffic and it could be a bit tedious to get around town sometimes. And last, but not least, but pretty close to last. We have the Jaguars. Why, oh why! Yes, we have an NFL team. No, we are not good. We have a hockey team but we can't seem to fill the seats. We have sports, we're not very good and it's pretty disappointing. But it is still fun to go to the games! 

Still hungry for more cons about Jacksonville? Easy there, tiger! I got you covered. Check out my video on The Five Things They DON'T Tell You About Living In Jacksonville.

So there you have it, seven pros and seven cons and a couple videos that dive in a little bit deeper so you can get the full scoop. Thanks for watching, make sure to Subscribe so you can see more videos on pros and cons on certain neighborhoods in Jacksonville. See you next time!