Jax Downtown Apartment

[ProjectMaximus]

The issue most of the people in Jacksonville are suburbanites and want to pull up to the front door of a business. Go to a real city New York, Boston, Seattle, Chicago. You park in a parking lot or parking garage and walk.

While I agree with your sentiment wholeheartedly, the flaw with this particular argument is that we don't have any of the downtown amenities that those real cities have. Hard to make a case for that.

[MusicMan]

While Jax is a "big " city, downtown is still a work in progress. The best deal by far are the apartments at City Place. There are 2 currently active on MLS and are both less than $700 per month. These are nice "work force housing" options, meaning a place for someone making $30,000
or less to be able to afford.

The building is condos as mentioned before. The next most affordable apartments are 11E and The Carling, as well as Metropolitan Lofts.

Nothing available at Churchwell right now. The cheapest 1/1 I see at Berkman Plaza (a very well appointed building) is $1200.
This unit appears to have a great view of the St Johns River. If you can afford that I would give it a look. All these units I mention could be taken in a week, so don't delay.

[thelakelander]

From my view, suburbanites in major cities aren't really different from those in smaller cities like Jax. They spend most of their time in those suburbs as well. Their mall parking lots are just as filled as SJTC and they have just as many chain restaurants. Despite what some locals think, there's nothing really special about the SJTC or it's draw. It's pretty typical and shouldn't be used as an excuse to why DT Jax can't be better.

[sgcray]

Thanks for all the comments. I will definitely give Downtown a chance. I will check out Carling or 11E first.

[fsquid]

From my view, suburbanites in major cities aren't really different from those in smaller cities like Jax. They spend most of their time in those suburbs as well. Their mall parking lots are just as filled as SJTC and they have just as many chain restaurants. Despite what some locals think, there's nothing really special about the SJTC or it's draw. It's pretty typical and shouldn't be used as an excuse to why DT Jax can't be better.

agreed

[Tacachale]

Thanks for all the comments. I will definitely give Downtown a chance. I will check out Carling or 11E first.

Those are cool places. Depending on when you come, there also may be some studios in The Strand at or about $1000 a month.

Downtown is a work in progress but that means everyone who invests there has a say in how it grows. You'll also have easy access to everything in the in-town neighborhoods within miles of you, plus your work if you'll be working downtown.

But yeah, you may want to invest in a car, or maybe, like, a scooter or something.

[simms3]

And should point out that a studio in Jacksonville is 550-700 square feet, the upper range of that could easily be a 2 BR in NYC or SF (or in some extreme cases, a 2.5-3BR).

Also, you can expect amenities in just about any building you choose to live in, "workforce" or not.  And higher quality finishes and likely better management.  Welcome to a struggling urban market - a tenant's paradise relative to what you may be used to.

In Jax I would go for a car over a scooter.  You'll be doing highway driving, drivers in FL clearly don't know what to do around bikes and scooters and probably could care less and may have a middle finger bumper sticker to bikers, and some of the roads can be bumpy, particularly the highways.

You could give downtown a shot.  Honestly, wherever you live you're probably driving to the grocery for food, and you won't find bodegas/corner stores basically anywhere for simple convenience.  Also, yes, the nightlife is better in Riverside/Avondale and at the Beaches.  But relative to what you're probably used to, the difference between the bar selection downtown and the bar selection along King St/Park in Avondale is fairly negligible, and the distance between bar districts even within the "same neighborhood" would be an impossible feat for a night in Manhattan, so everything is definitely driving distance.

I say go for downtown - your standards are going to be naturally quite high, and you're going to be in utter shock no matter where you live in the city.

My only question for you - $1000 budget coming from NYC/Philly?  I know Philly's [relatively] cheap, but $1000 really really limits you in both cities.  You won't have any problems in Jax, and that will be the *huge* plus for you, but what was your situation up north?

[simms3]

I actually took a picture of a new building in SF that is exactly what I was referring to above (size wise) this weekend:

274 sf 1 BR and 625 sf 3 BR "suites", average apt size is 354 sf (160 market rate apartments).  Yes folks, it is possible, and don't inquire about what the rents are.


Photo Aug 01, 4 48 04 PM


Photo Aug 01, 4 48 11 PM

In Jax, a studio will be 650 sf, with even nicer finishes, almost no matter the building.  It's amazing what you get for your buck, but the city itself doesn't have much to speak for...

[MusicMan]

354 square feet? That's the size of my garage.

[CCMjax]

None of my friends enjoy spending free time at the Town Center, a mall.

The packed parking lots speak for themselves....an open-air mall and......... community.

Based on previous living choices (central Philly/central NYC) and looking for another downtown atmosphere, I wouldn't suggest the TC to this person.  It is a glorified shopping mall and is not a community, not a neighborhood, not anything with substance.  Just a facade made to look sort of like a fake town and endless parking lots, just like a mall (with a few scattered apartments that have fantastic views of parking lots and the freeway).  It is enjoyable by those who like chain establishments and suburban atmospheres, which I'm guessing is not what this person is looking for.  Believe me, the TC is going to seem like boring suburbia to this person, which is what I thought after moving from central Chicago.  It is not impressive or inspiring to most people coming from cities like those.  I go to the TC for certain reasons every once and a while, typically just to get something at a particular store that's there, but I wouldn't ever want to live within a couple miles of it.  Traffic is insane and does not provide a pleasant, unique atmosphere.

[thelakelander]

If they didn't prefer living near King of Prussia in suburban Philly, which is significantly larger than SJTC, they probably won't care for living in the parking lot of SJTC either.

[AngryChicken]

What are these amenities that you speak of in Springfield?  Drive though chicken restaurants, pawn shops and sporadic gunfire?

Yes, Downtown Jacksonville still has a long way to go, unfortunately. The exception may be the Brooklyn area, but as Max says the apts may be out of your price range. The surrounding neighborhoods should provide you with about anything you'd need, whether you chose to live in them or Downtown.

If you do decide on Downtown, I'd suggest you get the lay of Riverside, Springfield and San Marco where you'll find a lot of the amenities. If you decide on one of the surrounding areas you can get to Downtown relatively easily by bike or bus. I'm in San Marco and there are several apartments here for less than $1000. In northern San Marco there's now a good bus line that goes straight downtown and also the people mover. I expect Riverside and Springfield will be similar.

[mtraininjax]

why DT Jax can't be better.

Just because you hope it will get better and talk about it......doesn't make it so. Until the Landing or Shipyards move forward, downtown is dead.

Drive though chicken restaurants, pawn shops and sporadic gunfire?

No no, you forget the abandoned "mothballed" houses, which do nothing but improve the property values.

[simms3]

What are these amenities that you speak of in Springfield?  Drive though chicken restaurants, pawn shops and sporadic gunfire?

Yes, Downtown Jacksonville still has a long way to go, unfortunately. The exception may be the Brooklyn area, but as Max says the apts may be out of your price range. The surrounding neighborhoods should provide you with about anything you'd need, whether you chose to live in them or Downtown.

If you do decide on Downtown, I'd suggest you get the lay of Riverside, Springfield and San Marco where you'll find a lot of the amenities. If you decide on one of the surrounding areas you can get to Downtown relatively easily by bike or bus. I'm in San Marco and there are several apartments here for less than $1000. In northern San Marco there's now a good bus line that goes straight downtown and also the people mover. I expect Riverside and Springfield will be similar.

You probably have in-unit W/D.  That's pretty huge.

[tufsu1]

Just because you hope it will get better and talk about it......doesn't make it so. Until the Landing or Shipyards move forward, downtown is dead.

thank you for making this clear....as a resident of downtown for nearly 10 years, I was not aware that I was in fact dead