Jacksonville: Where Florida Begins

Call Jacksonville whatever you like-just don't call it sleepy. Last year marked the fifth consecutive year that single-family building permits set a record for the region. And this year kicked off with Super Bowl XXIX, which showcased the River City to an international audience.

Oops. Did we say "River City?" That's not what we call ourselves anymore. Nor do we refer to ourselves as "The Bold New City of the South." Both of those monikers have given way to "Jacksonville, Where Florida Begins," the tagline of a branding campaign funded by the city and originated by the Dalton Agency, a local marketing company whose other clients include the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The campaign is the first to position Jacksonville geographically as the entry point to the state. That's because Dalton's research indicated that most outsiders were generally aware that Jacksonville was in Florida somewhere-they just didn't know exactly where.

Still, they're managing to find it, according to the Northeast Florida Builders Association. In 2004 the Jacksonville MSA, which consists of Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, notched 13,636 single-family building permits compared to 12,784 in 2003. For perspective, that number is almost double the 6,955 permits issued as recently as 1997.

Bryan Lendry, president of Brylen Homes and 2005 president of NEFBA, cited the area's diverse economy, low interest rates and increasing home values as reasons behind the continuing boom.

"We expected 2004 to be special," says Lendry. "And we're gearing up for another big housing year in 2005, although we don't expect to be building at quite the same breakneck pace."

And that might not be a bad thing for buyers, who can expect quicker delivery of their new homes and perhaps an easing of pricing pressure as the market becomes more competitive.

Jacksonville housing is already a bargain compared to other Florida markets. As locals already know, the region has most of the same cultural and recreational perks found in glitzier destinations as well as a discernable changing of the seasons and a heaping helping of Southern hospitality.

For example, Coldwell Banker's annual Home Price Comparison Index shows that a home costing $250,000 in Jacksonville would cost $701,000 in Miami, $330,000 in Naples and $265,000 in Tampa.

And housing isn't the only thing that's affordable in Jacksonville. According to ACCRA, a nonprofit research group formerly known as the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association, the region's Cost of Living Index is 91, or 9 points below the national average of 100.

Ft. Lauderdale (121), Orlando (99) and Tampa/St. Petersburg (95) notched higher scored on ACCRA's most recent survey, which compiles statistics on the cost of housing, transportation, food, healthcare and more in 300 markets nationwide.

So where should a newcomer look? Jacksonville Homebuyer can help. Following is a neighborhood-by-neighborhood primer, in which you'll find everything from new master-planned developments to charming historic neighborhoods.

Undoubtedly, there's a home just right for you and your family "Where Florida Begins."

CLAY COUNTY

In 1803, when Zephaniah Kingsley purchased 1,880 acres on the western shore of the St. Johns, the property was lush with laurel trees. The wealthy land baron and slave trader dubbed his plantation Laurel Grove.

By the late 1870s, the tract had been redeveloped as a resort community and renamed Orange Park for the abundance of citrus groves that surrounded it. During its brief heyday as a tourist destination, such luminaries as Ulysses S. Grant, Buffalo Bill Cody and Sitting Bull stayed in luxurious hotels and enjoyed the scent of orange blossoms wafting through open windows.

Today, however, you'd be hard pressed to find any orange groves in this bustling Clay County municipality, which has emerged as a popular suburb dotted with dozens of subdivisions and hundreds of businesses. More than half the residents of Orange Park work in Jacksonville, according to the Clay County Economic Development Council.

And more are coming. Clay County's population more than doubled from 1970 to 1980, then grew another 33 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That pace is expected to continue, in part because there's still undeveloped land here. In fact, Clay remains one of the most sparsely populated counties in Florida, with about 234 residents per square mile versus a statewide average of 296.

Orange Park's residential development first gathered momentum in the early 1920s, when Caleb Johnson, president of the Colgate Palmolive Company, built Villa Mira Rio, a $500,000 estate on the banks of the river. Other millionaires followed Johnson's lead, as did less ostentatious families who were attracted by the community's natural beauty and its convenient location.

Vestiges of that era remain in Orange Park's small commercial historic district at the east end of Kingsley Avenue, where a few vintage buildings stand around what was once a watering trough and hitching post that served as the community's unofficial gathering spot.

A scattering of gracefully aging residential showplaces can be seen along River Road, while Johnson's Mediterranean-style mansion survives as Club Continental, one of Northeast Florida's most popular special event destinations.

Otherwise, Orange Park is a thoroughly modern place, where amenity-rich, master-planned communities attract hordes of buyers. For example, Eagle Harbor, a huge mixed-use development that boasts a Disneyesque waterpark, ranked as the sixth-busiest development in the region last year, with 209 housing starts.

Residential development along the U.S. Hwy. 17-Hwy. 220 corridor is also moving forward with projects such as Fleming Island Plantation, which notched 218 starts last year and will contain 2,000 homes at buildout.

And in the northeast corner of the county, OakLeaf Plantation will ultimately contain more than 11,000 homes. In fact, it was the region's second-busiest development last year-Julington Creek in St. Johns County was the first-with 581 starts.

Additional mixed-use developments containing at least 11,000 homes have been approved for 20,000 acres straddling Brannan Field Road, which extends from Blanding Boulevard in Middleburg through the Argyle area to I-10.

Clay County's highly rated school system is a major selling point for Orange Park, as is the community's location near Naval Air Station Jacksonville and its plethora of retail and entertainment outlets, including the sprawling Orange Park Mall and the Orange Park Kennel Club, a 5,100-seat greyhound racing mecca.

Other Clay County communities include Green Cove Springs, Keystone Heights, Middleburg and Penney Farms, which department store magnate J.C. Penney founded in 1926 as a retirement home for ministers and their wives.

Despite frantic development, much of Clay County remains rural, with Gold Head Branch State Park, Kingsley Beach, Strickland's Landing, Jennings Forest and Black Creek/Ravines Conservation Area offering camping, hiking, fishing and hunting.

DUVAL COUNTY

ARLINGTON/INTRACOASTAL WEST

Arlington is home to Jacksonville University and some of Northeast Florida's most precious environmental and historical landmarks. It's also a center for commerce, encompassing Regency Square Mall and vast expanses of shopping centers, restaurants and office buildings. Downtown is just a 10-minute drive over the Matthews Bridge, and the Beaches are just 20 minutes away via Atlantic Boulevard.

Roughly 50 square miles in area, Arlington is a melting pot of some 80 distinctive neighborhoods, containing everything from modest, ranch-style homes to spectacular riverfront mansions.

Although much of Arlington was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, its history goes back much farther. French explorer Jean Ribault came ashore here in 1562, preparing the way for a second French expedition to start a colony called La Caroline two years later. The centerpiece of the settlement was an earth and wood fort built on the bank of the St. Johns, which was then called the River of May.

The Spanish, led by Pedro Menendez de Aviles, later routed the French and captured Fort Caroline. Remains of the fort and the meadow on which it stood were swallowed when the river was dredged. But in 1964 a replica of the triangular structure was built, and stands today in the 680-acre Fort Caroline National Memorial.

The preserve also contains a replica of a stone column erected by Ribault upon his arrival. The monument stands atop a topographic anomaly called St. Johns Bluff, which is actually the shoreline of a barrier island that dates to an era when the ocean covered most of what is now coastal Florida. From the bluff, visitors can enjoy a breathtaking view of the river and of the large Heckscher Estates homes on its northern shore.

Arlington was also central to Jacksonville's brief heyday as a film capital in the 1920s. At the urging of an organization called Old Arlington Inc., the city voted this year to purchase and preserve four of five buildings that make up the Norman Film Studios complex on Arlington Road. During the 1920s, producer Richard E. Norman made silent films here starring African-American actors.

Homes in Arlington range in price from just under $100,000 to well over $1 million along the water, but the typical price is in the low- to mid-$200s. Young families are increasingly calling Arlington home, with nearly half the residents between 18 and 25 years of age and another quarter between 35 and 44 years of age.

Much of Arlington's growth is occurring in the area informally known as Intracoastal West, once a no-man's-land where the Intracoastal Waterway marks the traditional dividing line between Jacksonville proper and its coastal communities. There, new multifamily projects are springing up everywhere there's vacant land.

Several of the most intriguing are in Harbortown, an emerging mixed-use development off Atlantic Boulevard. Harbortown, which will also feature retail shops and a 150-slip marina, broke ground last summer. Centex's MiraVista, a condominium project, and Julian LeCraw & Company's Watersedge, a townhome project, are already hot sellers.

Real estate agents say Harbortown buyers include primary home buyers, second home buyers and investors. Many are boaters; the development sits on one of the last parcels of land in Duval County offering direct Intracoastal access.

Another major player is Vestcor, which has acquired property along the Intracoastal just south of Butler Boulevard for development of Marina San Pablo, a $100 million condo and marina project. The 113-unit project and marina will be built in phases, and plans call for two buildings of 57 and 56 units.

Although most closer-in Arlington property has been built out, there's considerable buzz about a new project, Kendall Town Center, developed by G.L. National, part of Jacksonville-based Gate Petroleum Company.

The 300-acre office, residential and retail center is planned north of Regency Square Mall and south of Merrill Road, bordered by Monument Road, Florida 9A and the Southside Connector. Developers say the project will take at least six years to complete.

A road project that will have a major impact on Arlington is completion of the final, nine-mile leg of the Wonderwood Connector, which runs through the heart of Arlington and joins Monument Road with Florida 9A. Because of funding delays, construction may not begin until year's end with a completion date no earlier than 2008.

THE BEACHES

Mayport, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach are contiguous coastal cities known for their lively pubs and good restaurants. Increasingly these low-key communities are attracting affluent homebuyers who are charmed by their laid-back ambience and unpretentious atmosphere.

The Beaches are certainly tied to Jacksonville by geography, but they have steadfastly sought to maintain separate identities. When Jacksonville and Duval County adopted a consolidated government in 1968, Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach insisted on retaining their own municipal charters and their own elected officials.

Starting from the north, here's a look these once-remote cities, which were settled by rugged pioneers, and which still attract people looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.

Mayport, at the mouth of the St. Johns, retains a gritty rough-and-tumble charm and is home to commercial fishing and shrimping operations as well as the huge Mayport Naval Station.

Locals enjoy traveling to Mayport via ferryboat, which departs from facilities on Hecksher Drive at the southernmost tip of Ft. George Island. The main attractions: dining at decrepit but delightful seafood eateries such as Singleton's, a local landmark, or chugging beers at any number of colorful drinking establishments along A1A, also called Mayport Road. Gambling cruises also depart from Mayport daily, and charter boats are available for deep-sea fishing excursions.

Mayport was originally known as Hazard because the large, dangerous sandbar created where the river spilled into the sea made navigation for large ships tricky. By the 1830s, it was a bustling little village in which most of the residents were employed by a sawmill.