If you're gonna live in the Jacksonville area and you're interested in your kids having good education from public school, stay out of Duval County. There are some good schools, but for the most part stay out. Clay County or St. Johns County would be better places for them to go to school. I was actually having this conversation recently with some friends in the Jacksonville area and pretty much everyone was saying if you need to work in Jacksonville, try to find a place to live outside of Duval County. A lot of the city is going downhill fast, though the city is trying to revamp itself. Traffic will be bad going to and from the south during rush hour. Not as bad to the west, though not good, and more "country" to the west. I haven't heard anything good or bad about school systems in Nassau County(north) and Baker County(west). But a lot of people, even when I was going to school, were leaving Duval to go to Clay and St. Johns County to send their kids to school. Good fishing opportunities in Jacksonville area. You will likely end up traveling for duck hunting opportunities. If I were to choose between St. Johns and Clay counties to live in, I'd choose St. Johns but part of that is because close to Jacksonville, it's a nicer place to live than the areas the same distance away in Clay County.
If you're going to be working for the City of Jacksonville, beware because they have had problems in managing their monies. I have a friend with JSO who was ready to retire a few years back but couldn't because the city was mismanaging their money very badly and the retirement funds weren't there for people ready to retire. I think they've recently changed to a 401K style fund but am not certain on that. So beware if you work for the City of Jacksonville....they have had a hard time properly managing their money. Hopefully good changes have been made in the last two years or so.
But it's a good location for fishing and it's close to central FL and they can have good duck hunting and snipe hunting.
I liked living in Jax though. Close to the beach. Close to boat ramps. Not too far from duck hunting. Things were convenient. But everyone has told me that if I were to move back to Jax, that I need to stay away from the area where I used to live and I wish that I could get my mom to move out of where she lives. It's not a good neighborhood. I never liked it to begin with but it's gotten a lot worse. And pretty much everyone has told me if I move back, don't live in Duval County. Live in one of the surrounding counties.