The Stanton College Prep (highschool) media & newspaper published a piece recently about why some Stanton grads leave Jax permanently, why some stay, and data associated with it. Pretty interesting, as these are our among our best & brightest young people.
Full feature:
https://www.devilsadvocatepaper.com/features-1/2020/4/8/leaving-duuuval
Quote from: Bill Hoff on May 11, 2020, 09:13:50 AM
The Stanton College Prep (highschool) media & newspaper published a piece recently about why some Stanton grads leave Jax permanently, why some stay, and data associated with it. Pretty interesting, as these are our among our best & brightest young people.
Full feature:
https://www.devilsadvocatepaper.com/features-1/2020/4/8/leaving-duuuval
Why, thank you!
Read the article and realise now that you are also a Stanton alumnus - or, using the author's approach, an "alumni".
Good article. I imagine I'll have to think about this at some point.
I'm at UF now, and I'll probably try to go out of state for law school if I can, which means eventually needing to decide whether Jax is worth coming back to.
Part of me wants to stay and try my best to make things better, however I can do that. But another part of me wonders if this city even really wants to change. I like Florida, but is that because I like it or because it's the only state I've ever lived in?
Really makes you think.
Quote from: marcuscnelson on May 11, 2020, 11:28:20 AM
Part of me wants to stay and try my best to make things better, however I can do that. But another part of me wonders if this city even really wants to change.
What would you have to see change for you to enjoy life in Jax?
Quote from: marcuscnelson on May 11, 2020, 11:28:20 AM
Good article. I imagine I'll have to think about this at some point.
I'm at UF now, and I'll probably try to go out of state for law school if I can, which means eventually needing to decide whether Jax is worth coming back to.
Part of me wants to stay and try my best to make things better, however I can do that. But another part of me wonders if this city even really wants to change. I like Florida, but is that because I like it or because it's the only state I've ever lived in?
Really makes you think.
The way I see it, you have your entire life ahead of you. Undergrad and law school are both opportunities to experience different cities and what they have to offer. Same goes for when you start your career. You'll likely be employed at quite a few jobs over the course of your working years. Each one represents a different experience and opportunity as you advance in your career.
The one constant will be that Jax isn't going anywhere and you'll always have the opportunity to be here if you desire it. Then even if you do decide to come back to Jax after school, I'd still recommend traveling often. This way, you can enjoy the best of what Jax has to offer without getting overly frustrated about what the city does not have and will not have anytime soon. In the end, you get to experience the best of multiple worlds.
Not that anybody asked me, but I am a Stanton alumnus and have left Jax, so...
I always wanted to experience life elsewhere. I had moved around a bit as a kid before settling down in Jax when I was 7 years old (my dad was in the Navy). I suppose part of my desire to live elsewhere might've come from having got to travel a little as a small child. Who knows. I tried to leave a couple times (Connecticut and Tampa) before I finally moved away back in 2007.
To be honest, when I left, I had no intention of ever coming back. But now, over 13 years on, I miss Jax quite a bit. I can see the positives that I maybe couldn't see when I lived there. And I have learned to appreciate Jax for it being what it is - not worrying about how much it isn't like other places. That's not to say it couldn't or shouldn't change some things or that it can't emulate things done elsewhere, of course.
Quote from: Adam White on May 12, 2020, 07:56:24 AM
Not that anybody asked me
but I've been in and out of Jax basically ever since graduating from Stanton back in '02. I am perhaps somewhat unique in that I've been mostly location independent for the past decade, so it allows me to tread down the middle and not necessarily ever have to explicitly choose to "stay or leave." I expect that for the rest of my life I will continue to leave and then return, maintaining a presence (business, relationships, etc) in Jax forever.
We have been in Miami for almost three years now and are planning to make the jump to Asia in the next year or two. But since coming to Miami I've been spending about 10% of each year in Jax, and probably would have been closer to 20% this year if not for Covid forcing us to hunker down here in South FL.
From living in both, how do you compare the two....Jax and Miami? What's the pros and cons of each in comparison to your lifestyle?
That's a great article. Well researched and well written. I also love that the Stanton newspaper is called The Devil's Advocate.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on May 13, 2020, 08:47:29 AM
That's a great article. Well researched and well written. I also love that the Stanton newspaper is called The Devil's Advocate.
I'm a former Devil's Advocate reporter and copy editor. Officially - in actual fact, I did very little of either.
As someone who's born in Miami, went to school in Gainesville and has a job in Jacksonville; each city has something unique to offer based on where I was at my current development from teenager to adult. Speaking for my younger self, my decision to leave Miami was rooted in an attempt to see what kind of person I would become outside of my family structure, as well as the right program and cost. It generally had nothing to do with Miami as a city.
My choice to take a job in Jacksonville, had more to do with a Jacksonville vs Miami comparison. My favorite saying about Jacksonville was that it's a small town disguised as a big city. For me and my lifestyle preferences, it offers the comforts of big city living (Sports, culture, skyline, cuisine, diversity) without some of its downsides (traffic, cost of living). Obviously Miami has things to offer that Jacksonville can only dream of right now, but I don't find those things as dealbreakers. College kids may lament the club/party scene in Jacksonville, but as you approach your 30s; that gets less and less important (for some).
Quote from: thelakelander on May 12, 2020, 04:54:00 PM
From living in both, how do you compare the two....Jax and Miami? What's the pros and cons of each in comparison to your lifestyle?
Ha I started with the intention of a brief reply to you, Lake. And as I wrote I started noticing more and more things to mention. Thanks for getting me to think a bit deeper/critically on this topic, I will save this reply to use in the future haha. tbh my life here is very insulated so in terms of overall lifestyle Miami isn't much different. Our youngest is about to turn 2 so I'd say for the past 2+ years 99% of our life is at home or with my wife's family (the entire extended family is basically all in south FL and is the reason why we're here). Sure prior to lockdown we maybe got out to do something once a month or so: Super Bowl festivities, Miami Marlins FanFest, lots of Venture Cafe events (a big startup community organization), but are those activities hugely different from what we did in Jax? Slightly larger scale and profile but not too much of a different experience. If we were kid-free or had older kids then yes I think we'd craft an experience that would be far more unique-Miami.
Just to touch on living environment slightly, I would say that one difference to note is that down here we actually live in Doral, a very kid-friendly suburb, while in Jax we lived in San Marco, obviously one of the urban core neighborhoods. And so there is a change for us from urban core to suburb, but actually the difference isn't super pronounced. Doral, at least in its most common sections, is a fairly dense suburb. Everything is squeezed tight, from the homes (lots of multifamily, and any sfh are on small lots with little space between neighbors) to the people in the homes (this is, uhhh, observational but I am quite confident in saying the person/sq ft inside each home is multiples higher than in Jax***) to the commercial retail spaces. Yes it looks like a suburb, and the more urban design aesthetics of San Marco is far preferred, but for practical living it isn't terribly different. I don't do it often but in a 25-min walking radius I can reach four strip malls that offer a combined three grocery stores, two drugstores, and probably something in the range of 40 restaurants and 30 retail stores. I mean, from a distance they seem like typical strip malls but they just squeeze in so many more storefronts than in Jax. One example is a gas station at the corner of one of these strips...there are 4, yes 4, distinct restaurants inside the gas station. They share an outdoor seating area, but otherwise have separate prep areas/kitchens and staff. I'd also note that I have used the free trolley circulator in our suburb (it operates three circulator routes in Doral and a fourth that runs back and forth from Doral and the adjacent Sweetwater neighborhood where FIU is located) more times than I used public transport in Jax. There are also three fantastic parks within a half mile of our home (this was something I loved about San Marco, but actually these parks are wayyy nicer) and two schools. We walk to these places pretty often actually. Oh and there's a great network of sidewalks. Everywhere. Makes walking to everything much easier. In fact, there is a biking/jogging trail that cuts through a decent swath of the city. (I don't see anyone biking though and there aren't any bike lanes at all, but there are lots of runners)
So anyway, it is interesting but I'd say moving from a great urban core neighborhood in Jax to a suburb in Miami was somewhat of a lateral move in terms of urban living. Caveats being that this is just one particular suburb of Miami, we have young kids, we work at home, and certainly I prefer the urban aesthetics of San Marco much more.
***one example is when we moved into our current home we had people in the community approach us about renting out a space in our driveway. I've also never seen every inch of every driveway filled with cars parked in such creative ways before. Homes with expanded driveways seem to be gold!
Quote from: Captain Zissou on May 13, 2020, 08:47:29 AM
That's a great article. Well researched and well written. I also love that the Stanton newspaper is called The Devil's Advocate.
Haha you know I agree wholeheartedly. And when I was at Stanton I always thought (at least based on reputation) that we had a great student-run newspaper. But then I went to UF where the Alligator had the same rep, and Northwestern where the Daily again was regarded as one of the best. So....then I just thought maybe everyone loves their own paper. It may also just be a coincidence that I attended schools with strong English/journalism departments. But yeah, as I read this article I thought it was exceptional for a high school. (I also thought he probably just asked all his friends for interview quotes, not that it detracted from the final product)
Quote from: itsfantastic1 on May 13, 2020, 12:46:13 PM
As someone who's born in Miami, went to school in Gainesville and has a job in Jacksonville; each city has something unique to offer based on where I was at my current development from teenager to adult. Speaking for my younger self, my decision to leave Miami was rooted in an attempt to see what kind of person I would become outside of my family structure, as well as the right program and cost. It generally had nothing to do with Miami as a city.
My choice to take a job in Jacksonville, had more to do with a Jacksonville vs Miami comparison. My favorite saying about Jacksonville was that it's a small town disguised as a big city. For me and my lifestyle preferences, it offers the comforts of big city living (Sports, culture, skyline, cuisine, diversity) without some of its downsides (traffic, cost of living). Obviously Miami has things to offer that Jacksonville can only dream of right now, but I don't find those things as dealbreakers. College kids may lament the club/party scene in Jacksonville, but as you approach your 30s; that gets less and less important (for some).
This feels like it's probably the most common take for most people. If Jax is good enough, then it's quite possibly the better option. If Jax isn't good enough, then of course it won't match Miami's offerings.