Liked Jax as a tourist, interested in becoming a resident (Jacksonville: apartments, rent)

[The Dissenter]

Hello Jacksonville!

I chose your city to bring in my birthday earlier this month and I was extremely happy with my choice. I was very impressed with Jax and not just the beaches, but the downtown and river walk as well. I stayed in Spring Park which wasn’t the most inviting hood to an outsider but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. I hated leaving but I’m probably going to make another trip in the next few months.

I’m finishing my Masters and was going to move to Louisville or Cincy to help my mother who had health issues but with getting great news about her health now I feel more comfortable exploring other possibilities. Which brings me to Jacksonville.

Few facts:
- I’m an early 30s black male. Over the bar and club scene.
- I have 10 years in Banking and an HR degree. How are these fields for job possibilities there?
- I’d be looking for a Studio apartment there. I don’t need it to be in the greatest neighborhood, just not a war zone. What am I looking at for minimum rent in a decently safe neighborhood? Any neighborhood you’d recommend on a particular side of town?
- I know being a Navy town, some may have lived in Jax and my native Hampton Roads, VA. Anyone who can compare is more than welcome!

Thanks in advance Jax!

[projectmaximus]

Welcome and glad your mother is doing better!

Both of those fields offer decent opportunities in Jax. Deutsche Bank has a major presence (although it obviously has been struggling of late) as does BOA and Citibank, though those are smaller back office and call center type jobs. DB has pretty much all functions in Jax. And Adecco North America is HQ'd in Jax.

Hmm, a cheap non-warzone studio? I am pretty sure I could find that for like $400. Even for just a modest budget like $800 you ought to be able to get something nice in an ok part of town or something ok in a nice part of town.

I have no personal experience with Hampton Roads but it's supposedly got a lot of similarities. I think overall the HR metro feels a bit larger but slightly more disjointed.

[Florida2014]

Jacksonville has a ton of finance jobs, as projectmaximus indicated, several large banking/finance firms have set up shop in Jacksonville. They are adding more and more professional positions and are not all call center (although that is still the vast majority). Also look at Everbank (now TIAA), they continue to add jobs down here. Good luck!

[Gromicide]

I work for Citibank (aka Citi, Citigroup) at the Jax location which is right on the border of Duval and St Johns county. The campus does house huge call center groups for service, collections etc but also has a large IT, HR, project/BA areas as well. The whole campus holds about 5K people and always has a bunch of job openings with decent pay and benefits.

I am not real sure what apartments go for but there are a couple right near citi campus and more being built. The whole area there is growing with business and residential. Gate Parkway area also has some nice apartments which is close to a lot of professional work places.

As others have said, Jax has tons of jobs and the unemployment rate being so low is even sweeter for those looking for a new start in the area.

[jdn9201]

Even for a studio, I'm not sure you would have options under $500, at least ones that are safe. You'd be better off renting a room in someone's house if you are on a tight budget.

I, like you fell in love with Jax while vacationing growing up. I grew up in Atlanta but lived there for 10 yrs after college. You should have no issues finding a job. I would caution you on adecco though, as they have been going through some restructuring and have had lay offs. You should line up your job first before moving there though. Since the city is so large, I'd schedule some weekend trips to explore different neighborhoods to figure out what you like. I lived in the baymeadows area and loved it because it was 20 minutes away from everything. Good luck!

[The Dissenter]

I’m not sure about the budget right now, since I have to get the job first. I pay $1k for a room in the DC area so if I can find something decent for $750 I’d be giddy. I just started to apply for jobs today, one which is exactly what I was doing in VA before getting reassigned.

I’ve heard a lot of the story on the Westside and Northside. Are there ANY areas in those parts of town that are decent? I’d probably target the South end of Jax but I’m pretty tolerant of transitional/working class areas.