Looking 4 a Home in Jacksonville, FL (Hampton, Golf: rental, houses, safe area)

[4kidsandadream]

Hello All,
We are a Caucasian family of 6, with 4 children it can be hard to find a good place to call home. We are relocating to the Jacksonville area from NY and we are looking to rent a 3-4 bedroom home that is Pet Friendly. We are having difficulty determining if the houses we are looking at are in a safe area for children. There are alot of mixed signals about the quality of the schools. Any information would be greatly appreciated. We have been looking in the Jacksonville Airport Area ( around Duval Rd.) Is this a decent and safe area.
Thanks to all who read!

[fsu813]

Yes, that's a decent and "safe" area. Most of Jax would fit that criteria. Actaully, there's very little of anything up there right now. It's not a very populated area.

As far as schools go, find one in that area, check out it's "grade' or ranking, go to it's website, call them up, etc. The most important assest to your child's education is home life. A child will do fantastic at a "C" school if they have good academic support at home (ie, help with homework, etc). If noone will be able to help with school work, it's more improtant to go to a highly ranked school. School rankings are a reflection of parental involvment at home, more than anything else.

If the school that you're zoned for isn't very good and you don't have time to help at home, look into a Magnet school. These are great schools that draw kids in from around the city. In fact, there's a Magnet elementary not too far away from Duval Road, on Dunn Avenue, off the top of my head. They are popping up everywhere. Call the Duval County School Board's office for details on how to get a child enrolled in those.

[4kidsandadream]

Thank you very much for the information! We are going to look into all of your recommendations. We are comfident everything will go well with the transition from NY to Florida. Just want to make sure we are going to be in a good area for our children. We are firm beleivers that learning starts at home, as Parents are their childrens first teachers.
Thanks again for the info!

[Ryde41]

I don't think the area around the airport is good.

[4kidsandadream]

If you dont mind, may I ask why you feel that way? Please respond!

[Ryde41]

In general, areas around airports are not good areas. Its not where I would be choosing. If you look at a map of Jacksonville, try to choose an area further inside the 295 beltway; it circles the downtown area. Housing located outside of the circle is far from the good stuff. East of that circle (295) is okay because you would be heading towards the beach area. Where you are looking will be a distance from shopping and events but you'll be close to the zoo.

[mawipafl]

Any particular reason you chose the airport area? job-related or something? If commuting is not an issue, you can find exactly what you need (family-oriented, good schools, pet friendly) in Nassau, Duval, St. Johns, or Clay Counties.

[tennisJax]

Please take close look at Mandarin area. It is a perfect combination of good schools and safety. Check following zip codes:
32257 (west of San Jose)
32217 (southern part)
32223 (northern part)
https://www.city-data.com/zipmaps/Jac...e-Florida.html

How old you kids are, do you need to concentrate on elementary, middle, or high schools?
If you would be interested in magnet schools then Landon (San Marco area), Darnell Cookman, J W Johnson are good middle schools, and Stanton, Paxon are good high schools.

I'm pretty familiar with magnet program, so if you have any specific questions please ask.

[one2think]

You can get a decent rental in the Hodges & JTB [a.k.a. Butler Blvd or state-road 202] area (zip code 32224) with decent schools & a pretty good area. Specific subs include:

Johns Creek (has A-rated school in sub..Chets Creek) ....lots of sidewalks in this sub (for walking pets)
Riverbrook
Danforth
Windsor Parke (Lots of sidewalks in this sub)

*Edited to add, don't know what you are looking to pay in rent...that would also be good to know with trying to give you decent areas to live in*

Good luck!!!!

[donisanasfan]

I would agree with one2think. Good location, and relatively safe. Lots of college kids trash up the area, but still , in a certain price range it is good choice. The Cr210 area-South Hampton, St Johns Golf and Country also have good schools, is relatively safe, and would be in a similar price range.