OK, we are still on our quest to return home to Florida after living in exile for more than 20 years. We have been looking state wide but just recently a job opportunity for Mrs.Makarov is making St. Augustine more and more attractive. Tell me about life in or near America'a oldest city.

specifically;

Places to shoot
Safe and enjoyable places to live
Best fishing opportunities
Social life
Boat clubs
Weather

Thank you all

ETA- Places to AVOID as well please.

We want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly.

Shooting: Ancient City range and Saltwayers NE
Eating: Osteens for shrimp
Gypsy cab company for salads/ sandwiches and brew
Fishing: the ocean and intercostal  is where it's at,the water has been green and clean lately
Two beaches to choose from,St Augustine and Villano /North beach
Old Historic St Aug has a few taverns and restraints like the Rain tree and other downtown
You can go downtown and walk and enjoy the evening without worry of being robbed or assaulted for the most part.

Ranges - you might want to get on the waiting list for the FOP range - it is a very sweet set up.

Beaches - Miles and miles of beaches, and they are all different - so you will just have to find the one that works for you - if you go north of Vilano there are some hard shell beaches that you have to walk to - very not crowded.

Places to go - lots - you tend to stay away from the tourist - there is plenty of room.

Fishing - all over - inter-coastal, offshore, St. Johns river - we are the Fishing Capital of the World! LOL

St. Augustine has one low rent district just to the west of US1 - other than that - it is a very safe place to be.

Where you want to live would be set up by your funds and life style - the beaches would be very different than living in World Golf Village.

I hope this helps.....

Red

Thanks for the responses

I have no interest in living in a "golfing community". For me it is going to be fishing/boating/diving and shooting.

Exactly where "west of US 1" do I want to avoid?

Apologies, usually I draw go/no-go zones for newcomers in Jax; don't know St. Aug. This might be helpful, though.

Where did you live before?
Fishing... can be had inshore and offshore, but it isn't like South Florida. The fish are further out offshore. Inshore is more technical like hunting. Diving is not nearly as good. Colder, muddier, more technical for bugs (deeper water, etc.).
Social life... Age?
Boat clubs... Freedom Boat Club. There are sailing clubs, too.
Weather... Compared to S Fla there is a break from humidity Dec-Mar. Gets down to 30* in Jan. No monster rainstorms.
St. Aug is a nice place to live unless someone likes the craziness of a real city like Miami. N Fla is great because it's not as congested as S Fla. And the signs are in English

I'd look North of St Augustine.  The area around SR210 is very nice.

Thank you for the response. Good information

We have lived all over Florida; Orlando, Gainesville, Jax, Ormond Bch, Sunrise and have worked everywhere from Defuniak Springs to Miami. We are anxious to return to Florida and looking for a nice place to call home and keep our stuff while we look for adventure. We have been concentrating on SW Florida simply because neither of us have a history there but so far we haven't found a place we want to call "home". Mrs. Makarov has a job opportunity in Jax but we don't want to move back to the city.

We are in our late 40s. My Wife is a social butterfly and likes to make friends so she doesn't want to be too far out into the country. Personally, I am more of the "when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself" kinda guy but I want my Wife to be happy.

North of town is crazy busy. Stay away from West king street in town. Depending on how far you wanna drive I would look at sr207 and south.
Best range in town is the fop go ahead and get on the waiting list $168 a year cant beat it. Its near the outlet malls by sr16 and 95. Just google fop St Augustine.
Fishing anywhere on the inter coastal is good.
Social life anything downtown any night.
Comanchee cove has a boat club along with the St Augustine yacht club.

I second the FOP range. It's inexpensive and right off the interstate, as is Ancient City. 210 area is booming right now, and there are tons of new neighborhoods going up. It's less than 30 minutes to downtown St Augustine and 15 to the ranges.

Nocatee... End of thread

I'm moving to Ormond Beach in a few weeks.  How did you like it there?

I live 2 cities south of Ormond. Just avoid Dirtona! (Daytona)

LOL, I know, you posted in my other thread.  

Just want to make sure you understand.

Ormond is a nice community. Lots of great local things to do that the tourists never find out about. A good location as a base from which to travel to and do anything state wide (basically about a days drive from anywhere in Florida). I would love to move back there but Mrs. Makarov watched both her parents decline in health and pass away in Ormond so the bitter-sweet memories prevent her from enjoying it again.