Base housing VS Off base housing

[Jennifer]

My husband and I will be moving to the Area soon... I was wondering if its better to live in base housing or off base... Any Advice would be appreciated!!! This is all so stressful and trying to find a place while I am all the way on Great Lakes isnt easy haha!!

[Charlenelk]

From everyone I have heard, untill you are high up in rank, move off base.  Be careful with housgin. READ THE REVIEWS! We are moving out of The Kensley's as they are too expensive, but they are safe, friendly, and well-maintained. Honestly, one of the best you find in the area for all that. I will warn you, they really get the money out of you for pets though. Don't get any while you live there if you do decide on it.  You won't get the 300 back per pet, and will tack on 15 in rent a month per pet.  This place is definitely pricey.  However, as I said, they are safe. We had one break-in last night and they notified everyone this morning.  This is the 2nd or 3rd time it happened in our 14 month lease.  It's not too far from base either.  The complex next to us is alright I hear, however, it is not gated.  Ours is gated AND maintained.  It really does keep out a lot of rif raft.  One across the street isn't maintained and people get their property stolen and damaged quite often.  Research dilligently.  Like I said, look into where we are right now.  However, I would NOT get pets while living in this property if you want to save money.  The rent can be pricey enough.  You get what you pay for.  Keep that in mind! You could move to Southside.  However, the commute can be pretty rough on 295 during rush hour.  I know there are some good houses to rent just in the general area, but I couldn't give you a select one.  You can find a nice place, and 500 ft down the road they have a lot of crime.  I know some places in Argyle forest are decent as well.  Avoid Northside!!  Hmm, I have to think on this... Hope you can understand my brain spills that I feverishly typed out as the thoughts came!  Message me if you need more help! Good luck! I'm looking for new housing myself in this area and it's tough!

[528harrison]

We lived in the Lake Gray Apartments off of Blanding Blvd. before my husband deployed.  They apartments weren't bad at all, it was the crime that bothered us.  There were a few break in attempts and car vandalism.  There was even an "unknown death that's being investigated" while we lived there.  The management is HORRIBLE, it changed halfway through our lease.  They don't seem to care much about keeping the place up either... they have basically no pool lounge chairs anymore.  Every time we went down for a swim, there was always one less chair or it was broken.  I would recommend staying away from Northside as well.  Stay in Orange Park, Argyle, Oakleaf, Southside and Bartram Park.  Mandarin isn't bad either, but it's going downhill.  If you want to live close to base, you have to risk safety, but it is cheaper.  If you have a fb, there's a fb group of spouses of NAS JAX that you can go on to ask questions like this.

[Brittany proud Navy Wife :)]

We are moving to Jax in a few months as well. I would really like to get base housing. The housing on base i pretty new but they wait is 3 to 6 months - http://www.nasjacksonvillehomes.com/defaultFamily.aspx?cid=39 My hubby will be an E4 - so not very high up if we can I want to live on base!! They have off base base housing called "Yellow Water" that may be available but it is 30mins away so we dont want that one. We will be looking into apts in Orange Park and other areas too.

[maddy08]

My husband and I are currently stationed at NAS Corpus Christi and expect to be moving to Jacksonville in a few short months. We prefer not to live on base in an effort to keep my husband private life separate from his daily commitments. Any suggestions on areas off-base to begin looking for an apartment? Advice from anyone who is familiar with the area would be much appreciated!

[navymom3]

Maddy08- My son is at NAS and we live in Middleburg. It is about 20-25 min to base depends on traffic. I would look in Fleming island, Green Cove springs, some parts of Orange park. We used this site to find a place. militarybyowner.com They have houses for sale and rent from military owners. You can look it up by the base you want to be closest to. Also try hovergirl.com they say they are military wives and have rentals and homes for sale. You will want to live below the base and not above the base. Otherwise traffic is crazy to get there in the morning. Let me know if you have any other questions.