Might have a job opportunity down in Jacksonville, FL. Anyone live down there that can speak to its runner-friendliness? Good trail system, etc? I have kids, so I'd need to be somewhere with good public schools. Zillow ratings seem to show St. John/St. Augustine are good options for public schools. I'm coming from Mississippi, so I'm already used to terrible summer heat.
Input is appreciated.
There is a strong running community cultivated through many road races put on by 1st place sports. Many training groups. Not a ton of trails, although UNF has adequate ones. Jacksonville is rather spread out. So the airport is different than the beaches which is different from the Southside which is different from San Marco.
Within Duval County the top schools are Stanton Prep and Paxon.....otherwise many choose the privates, Bolles, BK, Episcopal, Providence, Bishop Snyder. Many prefer to reside in St. John's county for the public schooling. But that could mean a bit of a drive depending on where your job is located.
I would say it is definitely a runner friendly community.
It's one of the largest cities in the US if not the largest. They designed it like that for a reason. There are areas that are very nice and friendly. Beware there are also areas that have rednecks that are very racist . But if your coming from Mississippi than you have probable already seen that. It's possible that you could find areas where there is none of this and everything could work out fine.
Thanks for the input.
In college the team went down to the Florida Relays and stopped in Jacksonville on the way out. We stayed for a day as it was our Spring Break trip. In the morning a teammate and I did an out and back run along the beach. Well, we went out along the beach but came back along a road.
Unfortunately I had stomach issues along the way and needed to stop. Unfortunately it was just residential neighborhood after residential neighborhood. The plants in the woods were all cactus like and not fit for wiping, and I don't thnk there was much privacy if I remember. Taking a gamble we turned into a residential neighborhood. Horrified, I thought i might have to go in someone's yard. Finally, we located a building site with a porta potty (still my favorite porta potty of all time).
Anyway, I know that's a gross story, but FYI there are parts of JAX that are nearly impossible to "go" in if you have an emergency.
Tampa/Sarasota area is very nice.
Anyone knows how's the market is down there as far as attractive women? I'm asking for a "friend".
The first two times I visited Jacksonville, I was really unimpressed. Downtown had nothing going on (I couldn't even get lunch downtown on a Sunday), Riverwalk was super touristy feeling, night life seemed limited, etc.
Then I came to realize the problem was me. I was just in the wrong place. There were some really great areas (Avondale was one, I think) not too far away from core of downtown that matched anything in Orlando for sure and in most of the cities I've lived in (excepting New York).
Not sure hownrunner friendly it is, but Gate River Run is one of the best races in the country (and one of many available in Jacksonvillle) and there are some quality runners there based on the race results I've seen.
I now look forward to trips to Jacksonville.
Nocatee is a massive planned community in St John’s County. About 10 separate neighborhoods. A few miles to the beach, quick to downtown. 2 new schools. Bike, running, golf cart paths every where. Guana preserve a mile away. You can run a race every weekend of the year in Jax. Good high school XC.