Venetia - Jacksonville, FL

The land Venetia occupies was once considered for the location of a major road crossing the St. Johns River but instead has developed into a beautiful suburban vision complete with charming homes and luscious green space. A company set up by Dr. Raymond Turck, the chief surgeon at St. Luke’s Hospital between 1910 and 1916, began developing the Venetia neighborhood in 1925.

Residents can learn more about the history of Jacksonville and the South at the small but interesting Museum of Southern History, and there are a handful of popular museums downtown including the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. The annual Fall Festival in the neighboring town of Orange Park provides residents a fun, two-day gathering with music, food, crafts and more, with folk and bluegrass music on one stage and another stage for the main entertainment.

Get ready to eat, because Venetia hosts some southern-eating gems, and all roads from Venetia seem to lead to more food. In a cute yellow shop with striped awning over large windows, Simply Sara’s serves some of the freshest southern cooking in Jacksonville. That’s because its owners go to the farmers market daily for their ingredients and make everything from scratch in the restaurant. Be sure to look at the menu in advance, as the restaurant has different entrees available on different days of the week. If you order the eggplant fries (and you should), request the homemade creamy ranch to dip them in.

If you crave good southern-style seafood such as fried shrimp and hush puppies in a super-casual atmosphere, visit Trent’s Seafood. Blue walls decorated with fish plaques, boat-shaped shelves and other nautical-themed goodies set the mood as you devour the homemade crab-stuffed flounder, which definitely doesn’t skimp on the crab meat. So many tasty options comprise the menu that you might want to consider ordering one of the seafood platters so that you can pick several. On the lighter side, try the tropical salad with seared Ahi tuna. As the bright pinks, oranges and greens from the plate make their way into your mouth, the tastes dance on your taste buds.

A little farther, as you begin to approach downtown Jacksonville, stop by King’s Barbeque, where the focus is put on the food instead of the physical restaurant. Order from a window in a small shack on the side road and receive a Styrofoam container with some of the best tasting barbecue you can get not only in Jacksonville but anywhere. As if fall-off-the-bone ribs with mustard sauce aren’t enough, the mac ‘n’ cheese and corn muffins might be trophy-worthy.

Head to the LOFT for dancing and drinking on two levels with multiple rooms. Projectors show vintage commercials on the walls for a hip vibe, and you can get away wearing casual clothes or easy-to-dance-in club wear. The dance floor always gets crowded after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Most in Venetia choose to drive as their main form of transportation. Free public parking is available in Venetia, but as you get closer to downtown Jacksonville, you should expect to pay for street or garage parking. About 10 minutes north of 295 and 10 minutes south of I-10, living in Venetia is convenient enough for commuters who want to enjoy a slice of paradise not impeded on by heavy traffic. This makes for generally safe walking and bicycle riding throughout the area. There are plenty of sidewalks but few bike lanes, though there are plenty of smaller roads with little traffic depending on your comfort level.

Call Uber for a ride to or from Venetia, as you can't count on hailing a cab in the Venetia neighborhood. Alternatively, call a company like Omni Cab or Westside Taxi Service to arrange a ride.

Public transportation in Jacksonville includes buses with a number of routes all throughout the city, a trolley that runs between Riverside and the downtown area, a skyway downtown and water taxis on St. Johns River.

In addition to plenty of parks in the surrounding areas of Jacksonville, two parks right in Venetia add to the quality life there. Pack a picnic and relax at Stockton Park, an open area with grass, palm trees, a small gazebo and brick siding along the sloping terrain, as you take in the peaceful view of St. Johns River. A different kind of peaceful, Cortez Park offers an ideal path to walk along benches underneath old trees with sprawling branches covered in moss, which are quite pretty. Both of these parks are free and a great choice for dog owners.

In an impressive, desirable neighborhood like Venetia, it may come as little surprise that the cost of living runs 9 percent higher than Jacksonville’s average. The rental rate for a one-bedroom apartment averages about $674. You can expect to pay about 3 percent more for gas in Jacksonville than the rest of the nation. Relax at the end of the day with a cold beer at your local Venetian pub for $3.50 and up.

There are few shops right in the Venetia neighborhood, keeping it a pristine residential mecca, but plenty of shopping is close. Less than 20 minutes away, the Avenues Mall provides two stories of modern, popular shops including department stores, and when you go north toward downtown Jacksonville you have many specialty shops to choose from, ranging from affordable to high-end.

At Crave Boutique, make yourself at home as you finger through contemporary blouses hanging in open (doorless) closets along the walls. Crave Boutique options include personal shopping services and trunk shows. Book lovers can easily get lost in Chamblin Book Mine. From the outside it might not look like much, but with over one millions books, its narrow, winding aisles of shelves are nearly overflowing in a chaotic yet organized-and-easy-to-find sort of mess. Trade in books you no longer want, and buy your next adventure for the imagination used or new.

As for groceries, Target is one of the closest options, making it a convenient choice. Some might prefer Publix for a larger variety of food products, which is a little farther but still a reasonable drive. You can find a farmers market in virtually every direction from Venetia. Some close ones like the Bargain House of Fleas are known for unbeatable prices on produce. Others, like the Riverside Arts Market, also offer live music and scenic views.