I'm in the military and was looking for a spacious 3 bedroom 2 bath. This is one of the largest floor plans I could find in the Orange Park area. They have two floor plans for 3 bedrooms and I went with the smaller size which is still an amazing 1,316 square feet. The apartment complex is managed by Equity which offers a 5% discount off the rent to military members and some other incentives with the application fee and security deposit. Naval Airstation Jacksonville is located approximately 5 to 10 minutes away depending on traffic. Most of the apartments have fireplaces, but I do not recommend one since I never personally used mine very much. The floor plan with a fireplace takes a huge chunk of your living room space to accomodate the fireplace in one of the corners. The office staff was always nice and never had a problem accepting my UPS or FEDEX packages when I wasn't home. Parking is not assigned, but it's always available. The parking spots are wide enough so your neglectful neighbors will not put a door ding in your vehicle. Overall, I would say that the apartment complex is still a good choice to live but I feel that I have to mention some of the negatives. Keep in mind that some of these are isolated cases and I am more pleased than displeased with this complex. It's a good place and I would still move in if I had to do it all over again, but I'll let you form your own opinion.

Cons:

Noise: There's a train that transits several times a day across Wells Rd. My apartment building is on Wells Lake and water is a good carrier of sound waves. If your apartment building in anywhere near the lake you can rest assured that you WILL hear the train during the day and at night. You get used to it after a few months and it doesn't really bother me. When I first moved in, I was annoyed and I thought to myself that it would have been nice if the office staff would have mentioned the train.

In addition, there's some young people mostly Navy personnel who live in the complex. On some occasions they will have weekend parties and make noise. You can always tell when there was a party because the parking lot will be littered with beer bottles and other trash. The apartment complex quickly cleans up and is good about maintaining a clean appearance. There are a few young people that annoy me with their loud car stereos. Apparently they like to share their music with the entire complex, mostly gangster rap with foul language. Like I said, only a few people and they don't do it all the time.

Crime: I have lived here for almost five years and I'd say the first three years were crime free mainly because the main entrance gate was still somewhat operational. I'm not sure if they still claim that they're a gated community, but they're not. The gate has been completely removed. The office staff is good about sending out notices of criminal activity (I think they have to let everybody know) when a crime takes place on the property. Within the last 6 months crime has been on a rise. For example, there was a resident that was robbed at gun point when he or she was checking the mail. There was another instance of a break-in while a resident was sleeping. A scuffle took place between the resident and the burglar and the resident received minor injuries. There's a few police officers that live in the complex, and they're supposed to be the "courtesy officers" but I never see them actively patroling the complex. I thin having a police cruiser parked in the complex is supposed to be a deterrent to crime, but apparently it's not working. I have heard of bicyles getting stolen and peoples storage closets, which are external to the apartment, getting broken into. The good news is that I don't believe it's residents or their teenagers who are doing the crimes. There's a bad area located in Grove Park approximately 1 mile away right next to Grove Park Elementary school. It's mostly low income housing and I strongly believe the crime is coming from that area from the looks of the people who live there. I have observed a few unkown people riding bicyles through the complex who seem to be scouting the area for future crimes. Unfortunately, since the gate was taken down, there is nothing to prevent them from gaining access to the complex.

Sexual offenders. Please visit the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) website and conduct your own search for sexual offenders in the 32073 zip code. There is Gano Avenue (located by Grove Park Elementary) and it seems that there are many registered sex offenders living on or near Gano Ave.

Schooling:

Grove Park Elementary is where my daughter goes. Like I mentioned earlier, it's in a bad area. The school is a good school and I think it's rated as having a "B" grade which is not bad in the Jacksonville area. Like I said, it's in a bad area and I would not feel comfortable having my kids unsupervised in that area.

Rent:

Expect your rent to increase anywhere from $60.00 to almost $100.00 every year.

Traffic:

If you want to live here and plan on working in downtown JAX, good luck! The traffic is a huge problem mostly on Blanding Blvd and on Park Ave during the rush hour. Wells Road is not that congested, but once you get to either end of it, you can expect several light cycles before you can make a turn. Traffic is a huge problem because everyone wants to live in Clay County for the better schools, but most work in Duval County.

Pets:

This complex restricts certain dog breeds, but I have observed two Pit Bulls and I have told the complex in the past about them. Also, pet owners do not clean up after their pets like they're supposed to. If you walk on the grass you can pretty much guarantee that you'll step in dog waste. It's a shame because Wells Lake is a nice lake to take your kids out to feed ducks. Unfortunately, all the dog owners walk their dogs next to the lake so when you take your kids for a walk to feed ducks you will get a nice suprise on the bottom of your shoes!

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