Cruising Ponte Vedra Beach

[Metro Jacksonville]

Cruising Ponte Vedra Beach



Metro Jacksonville takes a ride down one of the First Coast's most prestigious streets: Ponte Vedra Boulevard.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-aug-cruising-ponte-vedra-beach

[spank-2]

 As a child this was everyones beach. You could enter it at micklers Landing and drive to the next inlet if you wished.Now the houses you see are the inhabitants that totally own the beach. They have used the epa
and other "laws" to keep drivers off their beach. The protection of the sand dunes,the poor turtles,
the oil on the beach. All of this was nonsense;but served their purpose very well. You cannot drive or
easily access this beach.
We no longer have to worry about the sand dunes,there are millionaires homes built on most of them.
Now there are accesses to this beach;however they have made them as inconvenient to the public as possible. You park across a1a then traverse hot asphalt and sand to the beach. This while lugging your refreshments and children.
Good news though,whenever there is a norther or a storm that erodes their beach;once again it becomes ours. The taxpayers get to foot the bill for re-nourishment,so the millionaires can continue to enjoy their beach. The most outrageous abuse of power and money I have experienced in my 60 years in Jacksonville.

[Garden guy]

Welcome to jacksonville

[Captain Zissou]

If the beach is so hard to access, how do thousands of people manage to do it every day during the summer??  My advice; wear shoes, travel light, relax.  You can always go down to Vilano or Crescent if you really want to drive on the beach.

Also,  much of the sand removal on our beaches is caused, at least in part, by  the disruption of the coastline at Mayport.  As such, the burden for replenishing the beaches falls largely on the federal government.  They pay for most if not all of the beach re-nourishment in Jax. 

[Doctor_K]

No, no, Captain!  You've got it all wrong!  It's all the evil rich peoples' fault!

In other news, I really like the pics of the varying architecture of all of the houses highlighted in the article.  Some very unique and pleasantly not-uniform.  Gives the place some extra charm.

[AmyLynne]

Welcome to jacksonville

How is this Jacksonvilles fault? Isn't that St. Johns County?

[Captain Zissou]

Welcome to jacksonville

How is this Jacksonvilles fault? Isn't that St. Johns County?

+1,000,000

[fsujax]

Love Ponte Vedra. Wish my great grandmother still had her 3 acre estate in Palm Valley on the ICW!

[Garden guy]

This city and it's neighbors have had a long history of cutting off the public to the beaches...rich people don't want the "unwanted" on their back doors....that is a quote from several of those on the beach in PV...

[AmyLynne]

This city and it's neighbors have had a long history of cutting off the public to the beaches...rich people don't want the "unwanted" on their back doors....that is a quote from several of those on the beach in PV...

I would think that would pretty much apply to most of Florida... not just locally.

[simms3]

Considering PVB is the only "private" stretch of beach in the area, NE FL does pretty well for access.

I really think people have an immense chip on their shoulder.  If you HAVE to go to the stretch of beach between Solana and Corona, join the friggin Club.  It's surprisingly not as expensive as you would think.  Otherwise, drive for a whopping 5 minutes more to have the same beach at Mickler's or Guana.  Or go to Jax Beach.  Or go to Neptune Beach.  Or go to the most unique beach in the area...Atlantic Beach.  QUIT BITCHING you annoying people who have the biggest chips on your shoulder and nothing more.

And you guys clearly have not been to south Florida.  Practically 90% of our beach is *very* public and accessible.  Do you absolutely have to have the other 10%?  No.  You just want to whine about it because you are angry at literally 1,500 people who you don't even know.

Furthermore, having the "despicable" Ponte Vedra in our metro area attracts all sorts of people from around the country and in some cases the world who settle down there or own a 2nd home there or a club membership, and they spend their horrible money in our little metro area.  If we didn't have a PVB, we would be completely off the radar.  Ortegans would pack up and leave as soon as they turned 55 and/or retired, but because of PVB (and AB) they stay in the area at the beach.  All of those horrible Jews from NYC would completely pass us up on the way to Miami (being facetious, of course I don't mean horrible, but I bet at least a few of the people who think PVB is horrible think along those prejudiced lines).

Just like a city must have affordable housing for the masses, it must also have areas to cater to those who run things.  For us that's PVB, so get over it and be grateful we have such a nice, noteworthy community in our area.

And frankly, as much as I HATE suburbia, without SJC our metro would literally not grow.  Clay County is not growing much anymore and is not a haven for white collar workers.  SJC is a haven for families and a haven for big earners, and I know that there is a shuttle that runs from PVB to downtown to take residents to the Symphony and other cultural institutions.  How do you contribute to the Symphony?  Residents of PVB certainly may not pay taxes to the city (like that would make a difference anyway considering how low the taxes are and values), but they support so much in this city.

And btw, there are cheap houses in PVB, too.  If you're so concerned with the beach access there and those residents' business, why don't you move out there a few streets in from the beach?  I bet you could find a house out there for ~$250K.  It would probably be in bad condition, but nothing a little paint and TLC couldn't fix.  I know there are condos right off of San Juan going for pretty cheap, and you would be on the golf course and a 2 minute walk from the beach.

[aaapolito]

I would like to thank the author, Sarah Gojekian for a really nice piece on a wonderful part of the First Coast.  I, and I'm sure many others on MJ, really appreciate the recent attention to the "beaches" area on this forum.  While downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods are great, the "beaches" area is another great part of our community.  This is a testament to the evolution of MJ as a city-wide forum. 

Regarding PVB, I personally enjoy this part of this area (whenever I'm lucky enough to get invited to the Inn and Club or an event in the neighborhood).  Even if I'm just driving through on PVB Blvd, it's still a sight to see.  This article has given us a greater sense of the history of PVB.

However, as some of the comment show, the unintended consequence of this type of article is the start of negative comments about the people that live there, mainly because they have the means to do so (I live in Jax, not PVB).  While there may be issues regarding beach access and other things, the point of the article is to feature a part of our community.  I really hope people do not miss that part.

Even though I do not know Sarah Gojekian from a hole in the wall, I thank you for sharing, and would like to let you know that some of us appreciate your effort to put this piece together.

[peestandingup]

come on guys, criticizing the county tolerated practice of cutting off beach access isnt exactly a body slam to ponte vedra or ponte vedrans.

I love the area, and have spent more happy times than I can recount at the Ponte Vedra Club.  I grew up at the beaches and the trek from Jax Beach to St Augustine was one of the best things about teenagerhood down there.

I have many friends and people that I love in Ponte Vedra.

But the disappearing beach access is a real fact and we are shortchanging ourselves if we forget that these beautiful beaches belong to all of us.

I agree with you in a way, but honestly I kind of like that its limited. The limited/hidden access keeps the riff raff out, but it's there for anyone who knows how to find/use it.

If I want to be seen by a ton of people & be tripping over bodies to find a spot of the beach, I'll head up the way. If I want total peace & quiet & feel like I have the beach to myself, I go to PVB. I can't imagine it would stay that way if it were "wide open".

P.S. The limited access does come in handy. I had a very self-concious friend who came to visit me recently who likes the beach, but hates all the people there because he thinks they're looking at him. I took him to my "hidden spot" in PVB & he was great. I don't think more than a couple people passed by while we were there.

[buckethead]

If the beach is so hard to access, how do thousands of people manage to do it every day during the summer??  My advice; wear shoes, travel light, relax.  You can always go down to Vilano or Crescent if you really want to drive on the beach.

Also,  much of the sand removal on our beaches is caused, at least in part, by  the disruption of the coastline at Mayport.  As such, the burden for replenishing the beaches falls largely on the federal government.  They pay for most if not all of the beach re-nourishment in Jax.

Additionally, I've been around quite some time and cannot recall a beach re-nourishment project in Ponte Vedra..... Ever.

Beach access is a tough issue, but it is there. You can ride a bike... walk... drop off the Fam and one person parks and bikes to the beach.

I was opposed, however to the county giving away right of way to adjacent homeowners to prevent roadside parking. I understand the feeling of not wanting the public parking in your front yard to go to the beach, but that is what they bought, then changed the rules.

Besides... PVB is not a great break. Sloppy, mushy, closing out... except when it gets huge beyond what other breaks can handle. (once every 15 years)

[cline]

Considering PVB is the only "private" stretch of beach in the area, NE FL does pretty well for access.

I really think people have an immense chip on their shoulder.  If you HAVE to go to the stretch of beach between Solana and Corona, join the friggin Club.

You are incorrect.  The beach in this area in not private at all.  In fact there are beach access points.  You just have to look for them, they don't have parking.  The Surfrider Foundation helped to have them cleaned out (through a legal challenge).