Expat assignment in Jacksonville, Florida
 

Hi,

My husband has been asked by his company to do a two year expat assignment in Jacksonville - we have three children, the younger two will be attending school there they are 4 & 6!

Can anyone tell me what Jacksonville is like? best places to live with a family? schools etc!

Thanks in advance for your help :)

Re: Expat assignment in Jacksonville, Florida
 

We moved to JAX in November, and so far we like it. The locals tell us summer is hot and humid, but that isn't an issue for us. The winter has been great (compared to Michigan winters).

No experience WRT schools (ours is only 7 months), but our realtor has been great and recommended we look at Clay and St Johns counties for schooling. We ended up potentially building a house in Clay county as the 3 schools there have been rated quite highly. If the house doesn't go through, we will probably look at St Johns.

the I295 and I95 often have accidents which turn them into parking lots. We work at home so doesn't affect us but if you commute, it could be something to consider. And Blanding Blvd is a nightmare at anytime.

It seems like a lot of places are built around golf courses too. Our place is going to be at Eagle Landing, a newer community built around golf. Includes things like kids pools, club house, play areas, gym, tennis etc. There is an older (built in the late 90's) community called Eagle Harbor. Same builders so same concept. This was the initial reason we moved to where we are currently. We ended up looking at Eagle Landing because it is newer. I believe both communities have websites if you google. There are number of other similar communities on both sides of the St Johns river. I'm not sure about north JAX, except Georgia is like right there.

Others will be along shortly to bemoan the state of FL education. And to query your visa situation.:)

CWT

Re: Expat assignment in Jacksonville, Florida
 

This is the WIKI on schools, which is good starting point to understand the process and some of the differences.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Educat...s_in_school%3F

The key takeaway from that is location-location-location. One side of the street vs. the other can make a serious difference when it comes to schooling.

As for which side of the street or neighborhood to live in, we often recommend 'City Data'. It's a relocation messageboard for Americans who discuss in greater detail the different bits of specific towns and cities.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/jacksonville/

Re: Expat assignment in Jacksonville, Florida
 

We moved here 18 months ago and have really enjoyed living here. We are only 2 miles from the Beaches district, on the Intracoastal waterway and about 12 miles from the city. Very impressed with the district.
The "best" areas of Jax are the southside and eastside from what we have seen. Northside is a no-no and the westside can vary greatly.
Sorry, can't help with the details about schools. It's been years since we have needed them.
We've only had one summer here but it was not as bad as we expected. Normal day was 90/91c, but not a steam bath. That was for June/July/August. Rest of the year is great with a few chilly days in winter.
Real Estate is amazingly cheap. At least for us from where we moved from.

Re: Expat assignment in Jacksonville, Florida
 

thank you all who have replied so far - some very useful information, much appreciated :)