Beaches near Nocatee (Mayo: mortgage, house, schools)

[Robyn55]

I'm not sure how things work anywhere else. But when there's a reasonably big fire here at the Beaches - I've seen responders come from both Duval and St. Johns County out at the Beaches. Must be some kind of reciprocal agreement.

In terms of EMT service - I would worry less about EMTs getting to my house than what hospital they'll be taking me to. Before Mayo opened up - it was Beaches Baptist. Now I can choose between Mayo and Beaches Baptist (or perhaps other places if it's not a real time critical emergency). Note that when we first moved here - we didn't have a "real" fire department at all - only a VFD. Always joked that we'd drive to Duval County to call 911 if either of us had a heart attack. Robyn

[tonybahu]

Is having a fire in your home truly the main concern? If so, as far as frequency you could figure that 0.317% of households experienced a fire in 2010. Or we could say that 0.276% of housing units had a fire in the year. That's a pretty rare occurrence if you ask me. Other than that, I can say that in the next 30 years at some point, you will have emergency services closer. But really if it's a house fire that concerns you, the odds are so slim I would think you have not much to worry about!!!!

BTW, how did this end up in 'Beaches Near Nocatee'!!!!

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by tonybahu

Is having a fire in your home truly the main concern? If so, as far as frequency you could figure that 0.317% of households experienced a fire in 2010. Or we could say that 0.276% of housing units had a fire in the year. That's a pretty rare occurrence if you ask me. Other than that, I can say that in the next 30 years at some point, you will have emergency services closer. But really if it's a house fire that concerns you, the odds are so slim I would think you have not much to worry about!!!!

BTW, how did this end up in 'Beaches Near Nocatee'!!!!

A fair number of fires here are caused by lightning. And Florida is the lightning capital of the US. Robyn

[Florida2014]

Yes, I would not live in FL for that very reason. And CERTAINLY would not go anywhere near Nocatee. 7 minutes to respond to my house being struck by lightning and causing a fire??? CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also don't go into the ocean (sharks).

Forget driving (accidents).

Showers? Nah (slippage).

Food? Nope (choking).

I could go on, but I need to get away from my Wifi for a bit (radiation).

[fsquid]

There is a reciprocal agreement between Duval and SJC for the fire department.

[mspink]

Originally Posted by fsquid

There is a reciprocal agreement between Duval and SJC for the fire department.

Excellent info!

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

Yes, I would not live in FL for that very reason. And CERTAINLY would not go anywhere near Nocatee. 7 minutes to respond to my house being struck by lightning and causing a fire??? CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It isn't a reason not to live in Florida. Just something to be aware of when building/buying a house. You don't want a house surrounded by 20 tall pines 20 feet away from the house. It's also a good idea to install a whole house lightning system. I had a salesman at Sound Advice many years ago who moaned whenever we had a dry summer without lots of thunder boomer storms. A big thunder boomer season always led to lots of fried electronics - and always meant great sales and commissions for him .

When it comes to things like fire departments and - especially - water hydrants - it can affect your homeowners' insurance rates adversely if you don't have one or the other or both. Best to check before you buy.

FWIW - in our 15+ years here - we've had at least 2 big lightning strikes in our yard. And perhaps a half dozen more in our immediate neighborhood. Where trees were hit and caught on fire. A lot of shock and awe. Glad those trees weren't anywhere close to our house! Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by tonybahu

...Other than that, I can say that in the next 30 years at some point, you will have emergency services closer...

But not a hospital with ER capabilities IMO. I think the major players have already staked out their ground. So WYSIWYG. Robyn

[KAF41465]

Originally Posted by fsquid

There is a reciprocal agreement between Duval and SJC for the fire department.

that makes me feel much better! In other areas I lived the city FD had reciprocal agreements with other cities, but not towns or counties--which had reciprocal agreements with one another. If you lived near the city but technically in the county (as we were) the closest responding units could take a while. I hope to never need police, fire, or EMS but better safe than sorry.

As for ER's, I know Baptist southside has one--as well as a helicopter. With no first hand experience with any of the local ER's but plenty of experience with ER's in general, I will have to have a little faith that if I end up in one I am coherent enough to monitor things.

So all things considered, would those of you who have been in NE FL for a while be concerned with building a house in Nocatee in Duval county vs SJC, with all other things being equal? If so, why?

[Robyn55]

Even though I don't have kids - I think the main draw of Nocatee (and other parts of SJC as well) is the schools in SJC. And - apart from the schools - and the price point in various parts of Nocatee - and the fact that a lot of what people are buying is new - I don't see the attraction at all.

I think the main reason to move to any place is being reasonably close to the things that are most important in one's life. Could be a job. Or schools. Or - in our case when we last moved - being very close to tennis and golf recreational facilities - as well as reasonably close to shopping/dining/cultural and medical facilities. So what's most important to you? What do you want to be close to?

Note that as we've gotten older over the years - we enjoy having things closer to us - and driving less. And we've been fortunate that a lot of new stuff has gone up in the last 20 years that is closer to us - so we don't have to drive as much (we didn't foresee most of this - but we'll take it). This point has been driven home the last few months. Our "home" golf course - 5 minutes away - is closed for renovations - and we've been playing at a course 25 minutes away. I like 5 minutes away better (we'll go to our "home" course to hit a bag of balls and putt a few - but won't do it at the "away" course). Robyn

P.S. In terms of ER stuff - the only level 1 trauma center in this region is at Shands near downtown JAX. If you were - for example - in something like a very serious auto accident - good chance you'd be airlifted there. The primary burn center in this area is at Shands Gainesville. And people do get airlifted there. I've never considered being close to facilities like this to be a priority (because the odds of my having to use them are super super low).

OTOH - say someone is really a beach freak. The kind of person who wants to hit the beach whenever the waves are more than 3" high . IMO - that person should live within walking/biking distance of a beach if possible.