OT- Poss. move to Jacksonville Fla. ? about area

I live in Pennsylvania now and we have a chance to move somewhere around Jacksonville Fla. My Hubby works for BJ's Wholesale club in the Distribution center. He wants to relocate and I have not lived outside of Pa except England as a young child. The address is 8011 Philips Highway Jacksonville Fla. 32202.

I have been searching around for afforable houses and I just don't know anything about the area. If anyone could shed some light on this for me. My Hubby is willing to travel up to 30 minutes away.

Of course I need to find a weight loss surgeon for my followup since I am having surgery in 5 days. We plan to move in 3-6 months Thanks for all help.

Hi Victoria ~ I too relocated to Jacksonville from my native Chicagoland area back in 1991.  I absolutely LOVED it!!  The people there are like no place else - so friendly and welcoming!  I also worked on Phillips Highway (for the IRS).  It's a very melancholy memory though, because shortly after we moved there, my husband died very unexpectedly and suddenly, so I ended up taking our daughters who were 7 and 9 at the time down to Clearwater where I have family.  But I absolutely LOVED Jacksonville.  It was great for families.  The short time we were there, we lived in the Mandarin area - not too far from Phillips Hwy. My commute to work was about 20 mnutes.  I have been back to Jax many times since I had to move away, and I still get a vey warm feeling.  Also, I have to say this - we were there such a short time when the tragedy struck - just a little over a month - and the massive outpouring of care and concern from people who barely knew us touched me so deeply.  My husband was comatose for nine days before he died, and I never left the hospital the entire time, and do you know that during those nine days, not ONCE was I ever alone?  My new Jacksonville coworkers and friends held a vigil with me, a virtual stranger.   All this to say, if you have the opportunity to move to Jax, GO FOR IT!  There are so many very nice, family oriented areas there.   I still reside in the Tampa Bay area, and have a great surgeon here, however I have seen LOTS of posts here by people from Jax who are very pleased with their surgeons up in Duval County and that area.  Also, depending on how far you are willing to drive, the Orlando area also has some highly recommended surgeons - Dr. Jawad's name comes up often, and I had the pleasure of meeting him and his family (including his beautiful new grandbaby!) while manning  my booth at the Florida Obesity Help Conference in May.  (I own Ruby Cruises, and we are sponsoring the official Morton Plant Cruise to Lose and were asked to be sponsors at this event).  In any case, Jacksonville has a LOT to offer!   Good luck, and if I can be of any help, please feel free to ask away!  I'm most happy to share my experience there!   ~ Terri

I am so sorry about your husband. My heart ached reading your reply. I met my Hubby when we were 17 and 18 So we have been together 1/2 my life. I can't even imagine the pain. But, what love from the community.

We just want a break with the over the top bills, Our taxes alone are $500.00 a month. There is nothing holding us here. My parents are also looking into moving we just did not tell each other for fear of getting the other upset. It's all about the grandkids with them.

We will be planning a trip down to have a look around the area after I recover from my surgery.

We have never been on a cruise and are planning one for our 15th wedding anniv. Not this October but the next.
Thank's for the help I am sure I will be asking more questions in the future.

Wow Victoria - I just looked at your surgery date..that's next WEEK!!  You must be SO excited!!!  Congratulations!  I wish you all the BEST!!!  I am SO glad I did it.  I was so scared, especially right before, but looking back, it was without a doubt the best thing I have ever done for myself. Thanks for your expression of sympathy for the loss of my husband.  You know, even though it has been almost 16 years, it still hurts.  Like you, I met him when I was 17.  He was 8 years older, all of 25, but we were together 12 years, married for 10 of them, and had our two beautiful daughters.  He was and always will be the love of my life.  It was absolutely devastating to lose him, but the thing of it is....what he and I shared in our 12 years together was more than most people have in an entire lifetime.  He was far from perfect, and our marriage had it's ups and downs, but honestly, I couldn't ask for a better husband and father.  His girls just adored him, and he them.  He was a burly, beefy guy - big and sort of gruff looking, but an absolute teddy bear!  He'd bake brownies with the girls and sit at their "tea parties".  They had special routines - they'd take turns helping daddy make coffee in the mornings, and then the three of them would watch cartoons together on the couch.  The girls have these wonderful warm memories of their dad, and for that I am so grateful and blessed.  I have also been blessed with the man I have been with now for 8 years (after I met a destructive MONSTER shortly after my husband died.  I was stupid and vulnerable and fell prey to a very evil EVIL man who I FOOLISHLY married.  But that's in the past, and I am again with a wonderful guy, so in spite of the heartbreak, we came through it okay.  It's something I will never get over, but I did get through it.   So anyway, GOOD LUCK next week!  If you have any questions, feel free to ask!!  I'm sure you'll do just fine!!

I must say with all the excitement over the move I have not had much time to think about my surgery. I think that is good because I would just worry myself crazy with every last detail.

I have faught my insurance for 4 years to have this done then I had a chance to get different insurance and it all has fallen into place. I had a bad time about a week ago about the risks then after I watched big med. I let it go. Being the size I am I will have a 100% complication rate.

Hey Victoria I'm originally from Baker County (Macclenny), but moved to Jacksonville at age 18.  I've been here over 9 years.  It's a really good city for families.  It's not the big metropolitan city that people associate with "the biggest city in the country."  It's only the biggest land wise.  The entire county is the city of Jacksonville. Manadarin and Southside are great areas.  There's a pretty wide price and age range of neighborhoods in both areas.  Baymeadows is predominately apartments, and many of those are under renovations.  Baymeadows got old pretty quick.  The good news is that our roadways are excellent (compared to other cities).  You'll have plenty of options that will keep your hubby a comfortable distance from home.  Even if you chose to live in Macclenny his commute would only be about 30 miles.  I highly recommend Macclenny if you like small towns.  Naturally, I despised it as a child.  Now I see it for the wonderful experience it was, and my family still lives out there.  Good luck and welcome to Jacksonville!

Thank you we are country more the city people. Where we are now we are 1 hour from Philadelphia and 2 hours in either direction to the mountians and the beach. It has become too city and too expensive.

Hi Victoria, I live in Jacksonville and have for most of my life.  This is a beautiful city that is ever growing!  We are just a few hours away from everything that is "far from us".  The area of town that you listed is more of a business area.  I live in the area called Arlington which is about 20 mins (without traffic) from Phillips Hwy.  There are many great areas around Phillips Hwy, not to mention some malls for lots of shopping.  If you have any questions, just ask and I will try to help. Kim

Thank you for giving me the name of where you live I am adding to my list to ask the realtor. My Hubby drives into New Jersey every day to work now and he would not mind a drive to work.

No problem, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.  I love this place, my moms entire family lives about 30 miles out, close to Georgia and I have always ended up coming back "home"...my dad was in the military, so we been all around and never stayed anywhere for too long!  I forgot to tell you about the doctors here...I am not going to lie, it has been a HUGE hassle!  I actually drive to Ocala (about 2.5 hours) for my appointments.  I went to a few different Doctor's in Jacksonville and they were ummmm, not what you would want to see on more than one occasion!  Dr. Jawad is in Ocala, but he now has an office here in Jax that is for follow up's.  His website is AWESOME www.mdjawad.com and the older one www.jawadmd.com.  Also, my husband and I are ex military, and we know the hardship with moving and sponsorship, and if you would like, we can send you a Sunday paper for you to browse through the ads.  You can email me at [email protected] if you are interested.