Live in Southwood
A town the St. Joe Company planned on the southeast side, where a house pays a community development district's assessment on the tax bill and association dues on top of the City's 19.2060 mills, and SouthWood families get first call on about 30% of the seats at Florida State University Schools.
Southwood here is the SouthWood Residential Community Association's area: 1,275 acres south of Orange Avenue around Four Oaks Boulevard, where the 2020 census counted 4,821 residents on 1,896 housing units. St. Joe announced the project in 1988, lost it in 1989 when the state asked for 40% affordable housing, won the City's approval for a new plan in 1999, and the first residents moved in during 2002. Its ponds, parks and alleys belong to the Capital Region Community Development District, a special district that assesses every platted lot on the property tax bill, from $299.30 to $683.17 a single-family lot for 2027 before any bond debt. The zoned elementary school, Conley, has been graded C three years running; SouthWood residents can instead take seats reserved for them at Florida State University Schools, first come, first served.
A town St. Joe planned, run by two boards and billed by three
The SouthWood Residential Community Association's area as the Tallahassee-Leon County GIS office (TLCGIS) maps it on its Open Neighborhoods layer (OBJECTID 480, an active homeowners association on the City's side, registered through the City's Neighborhood Affairs office), clipped to the current City of Tallahassee limits: a line the association filed, not one the City drew, 1,275 of its 1,283 acres. Read against TLCGIS street centerlines, Orange Avenue East is the northern edge and Biltmore Avenue, with a short stretch of Southwood Plantation Road, the eastern one. The western side follows Four Oaks Boulevard and jogs west along Blair Stone Road to Esplanade Way; the southern side runs along Shumard Oak Boulevard, Grove Park Drive and Salinger Way, past Merchants Row Boulevard and Bald Cypress Way. It is not all of the SouthWood St. Joe planned: Florida State University Schools and John Paul II Catholic High School are outside it, south of Shumard Oak Boulevard. The four residents of the association's line who live outside the City are not counted.
Southwood on this page is the SouthWood Residential Community Association's area: 1,275 acres south of Orange Avenue, between Four Oaks Boulevard and Biltmore Avenue, as the joint City and County GIS office maps it. It is a line the association filed, not one the City drew, clipped to the City limits. It is not all of the 3,300-acre SouthWood the St. Joe Company planned: Florida State University Schools and John Paul II Catholic High School are just south of it. The 2020 census counted 4,821 residents on 1,896 housing units inside the line, 2.54 to a unit, with no dormitory or prison block among them.
It took two tries. In 1988 St. Joe's SouthWood Properties announced a 30-year plan for 8,705 acres of pasture and pine outside Capital Circle and about 32,000 residents. It was canceled in 1989, after the state's Department of Community Affairs asked for 40% affordable housing. A new plan by St. Joe and Arvida won the City's approval in 1999, construction began in the fall of 2000, and the first residents moved in during 2002. The City had annexed the ground in pieces from 1993 to 1999. The County's map records the Development of Regional Impact at 1,675 dwelling units; the current order was not read.
The deciding cost is a third line on the bill. Streets, ponds, parks and alleys were built by the Capital Region Community Development District, a special district under Chapter 190 of Florida law with its own five-member board, established on 28 February 2000. It still maintains the stormwater system, Central Park and the alleys, and it pays for them with assessments collected on the property tax bill. For the year from 1 October 2026 the operating assessment on a single-family lot runs from $299.30 for the narrowest lots to $683.17 for 100-foot lots, $273.27 for a townhome and $819.81 for a half acre, up 3%. Lots in sections financed by its bonds pay a debt assessment too: $346.64 to $891.99 a single-family lot on the 2013 series. The association is separate: its quarterly assessment covers the community center, pool, tennis courts and common areas, and six neighborhoods and the townhomes pay more. The association's pages read for this guide print no amount; a brokerage's guide prints $195 a quarter for 2026. Every exterior change, fences and paint included, needs its Architectural Review Committee first.
Then the City's share. Every parcel pays 19.2060 mills for 2025 to the City, the County, its EMS levy, the schools, the Children's Services Council and the water management district. A homestead takes $25,000 off every levy and a second, indexed slice off all but the schools; Save Our Homes caps the assessment's rise at 3% a year and ends at a sale, so the seller's bill understates yours. Stormwater ($11.00 a month), garbage ($28.19) and a fire services fee come on the City utility bill; the fee's amount was not found, and it has been under a lawsuit since 17 November 2025. The City also sells the electricity, water, sewer and gas.
Water and buses. On the County's FEMA layer 14.5% of the area is zone A, along the ponds and drainage, and 650 residents of 2020 lived on blocks whose center is in it. The reference point is in zone X on a panel dated 18 August 2009; read FEMA's map for the house. Flood here is rain, not surge, and the City is in Class 5 of FEMA's Community Rating System, 25% off flood insurance in the flood zone. StarMetro's SouthWood route stops about 220 meters from the reference point, but only at the weekday peaks, six departures a day; the nearest all-day route is 3 km away.
- Look up the parcel's last tax bill for its development district lines, operating and debt
- Ask the association for the current quarterly assessment and any neighborhood or townhome charge
- Get the Architectural Review Committee's rules before planning a fence, pool or repaint
- Ask Florida State University Schools whether your address counts for the SouthWood seats
- Check the address on FEMA's flood map: 650 residents lived on zone A blocks in 2020
How Southwood got here
- 1988The St. Joe Paper Company's SouthWood Properties announces a 30-year plan to turn 8,705 acres of pasture and pine outside Capital Circle into homes, offices and shops for about 32,000 residents.
- 1989The project is canceled after the Florida Department of Community Affairs asks for 40% affordable housing.
- 1996The City annexes about 863 acres of today's line, after a first 108 acres in 1993, on TLCGIS's annexation history layer.
- 1999The City approves a new plan by St. Joe and Arvida after about 20 months of negotiation, and annexes the last 298 acres of today's line.
- 2000The Capital Region Community Development District is established on 28 February, and construction begins in the fall.
- 2002The first residents move in.
- 2012Across all of SouthWood, 3,322 acres are developed, with 1,341 houses and townhomes, 488 apartments and between 4,000 and 5,000 residents, by Tallahassee Magazine's count.
- 2019HCA's freestanding Southwood emergency room opens in the fall on Capital Circle Southeast, northwest of the line.
- 2020The census counts 4,821 residents on the 115 blocks inside the association's line.
- 2024Hurricane Helene leaves roughly 53,000 City utility customers without power at its peak in late September.
- 2026The development district adopts its budget for the year from 1 October, raising gross operating assessments 3%.
Central Park and the stormwater lakes are the open space, and the district owns them
The open space is the development district's, not the City's: Central Park, its lake and paved trails, the tot lot, the conservation areas and the ponds that carry the stormwater, all paid for by the assessment on the tax bill. Tallahassee Magazine counted more than 1,000 acres of green space across SouthWood in 2019. The nearest City park, Four Oaks Park, is 62.8 acres just south of the line, with ball fields, basketball and pickleball courts, beach volleyball and a cricket field.
What the map does not show: the County's parks layer draws no park inside the line; the district's parks are not on it. Zone A on FEMA's map follows the same ponds and drainage.
25 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 25 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are computed from the population-weighted center of the line's census blocks, near Four Oaks Boulevard, using straight-line distance multiplied by a road factor and a tiered speed model: honest ranges, not routed times.
Every gym within reach
The association runs the community center, with a pool open April through October and tennis courts, for members with an amenity card. SouthWood Golf Club, inside the line, is open to the public. The City's nearest community center and pool are at Jack L. McLean Jr. Park, about 5 km west.
- Community center pool: April through October, lap swim 8 to 9 a.m.
- Four Oaks Park: the City's courts and fields, south of the line
- Jack L. McLean Aquatics Center: the nearest City pool, season not read
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| SouthWood Community Center open | The association's community center and pool, open to members with an amenity card: the pool runs April through October, lap swim from 8 to 9 a.m. and open swim after, with tennis courts beside it, all covered by the quarterly assessment. | 3–5 min |
| SouthWood Golf Club open | An 18-hole course at 3750 Grove Park Drive inside the line, opened in 2002 and open to the public. | 2–4 min |
| Four Oaks Park open | The City's courts and fields south of the line: basketball, pickleball and beach volleyball, a cricket field and ball fields; free. | 5–8 min |
| Jack L McLean Jr Park Center open | The nearest City community center, at 700 Paul Russell Road; programs and hours were not read. | 9–14 min |
| Jack L McLean Aquatics Center open | The nearest City pool, at the same park; its season and hours were not read. | 9–14 min |
The free option is the district's paved trail around Central Park Lake and the courts at Four Oaks Park.
A zoned C elementary, and a reserved share of a lab school
Leon County Schools assigns by address, and every resident of 2020 was zoned for J. Michael Conley Elementary, across Orange Avenue, graded C for 2026, 2025 and 2024; Fairview Middle, graded A for 2026 after C; and Rickards High, graded C three years running. Fairview and Rickards are listed among the district's magnet schools. The alternative is Florida State University Schools, the university's developmental research school just south of the line, where about 30% of enrollment is granted to SouthWood residents under an agreement with St. Joe, filled first come, first served. Its general lottery draws about 2,000 applications a year.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| J. Michael Conley Elementary School | Leon County Schools | 2400 Orange Avenue East, across Orange Avenue from the line. The point is zoned for it on the district's 2026-27 elementary layer, as was every resident of 2020. FL DOE lists it as J Michael Conley Elementary School at Southwood and graded it C for 2026, 2025 and 2024, at 49% of points for 2026. |
| Fairview Middle School | Leon County Schools | 3415 Zillah Street, about 4.5 km west of the point in a straight line, and the zoned middle school for every resident of 2020. Graded A for 2026 after C for 2025 and B for 2024, and listed among the district's magnet middle schools. |
| James S. Rickards High School | Leon County Schools | 3013 Jim Lee Road, about 4.2 km west, and the zoned high school for every resident of 2020. Graded C for 2026, 2025 and 2024, and listed among the district's magnet high schools. |
| Florida State University Schools | Florida State University | The university's developmental research school, run with its College of Education, at 3000 School House Road just south of the line. Its general lottery draws about 2,000 applications a year; the portal for 2027-28 is open, and initial selections are expected to begin in March 2027; under an agreement with the St. Joe Company, SouthWood residents are granted about 30% of enrollment, filled first come, first served, with most openings in kindergarten and sixth grade. |
Check the address in the district's school zone lookup, since the zone layers carry no edit date, and ask the university school how its SouthWood seats are claimed. The grades are the state's, as CBS12 republished them.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Highs near 17.7 °C and lows near 4.7 °C at the airport, about 8 km west, with about 10 nights at or below freezing on the 1991 to 2020 normal
- Homestead eligibility turns on where you lived on 1 January
- About five nights at or below freezing and 109 mm of rain on the normal
- If you bought last year, the homestead application is due with the Leon County Property Appraiser by 1 March
- 1 March is the homestead deadline: up to $51,411 off the assessed value for 2026, the first $25,000 against every levy
- Florida State University Schools expects its first lottery selections for 2027-28 to begin in March 2027
- The association's pool opens for the season in April and runs through October, for members with an amenity card
- Highs near 27 °C and 90 mm of rain
- About 13 days reach 32 °C on the normal, and 85 mm of rain makes it the driest month of spring
- Exterior changes, from fences and paint to pools and decks, need the Architectural Review Committee's approval before work starts
- The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November; here the risk is wind, falling trees and power cuts, not surge
- The wettest month on the normal, 197 mm: 650 residents of 2020 lived on blocks in FEMA's zone A along the ponds and drainage
- SouthWood's own Fourth of July drew 6,000 to 8,000 people in Tallahassee Magazine's 2019 account; the City's Celebrate America is at Tom Brown Park, about 7 km north
- Highs near 33 °C and about 25 days at 32 °C or more
- The Property Appraiser mailed 2026's TRIM notices on 17 August; a petition to the Value Adjustment Board is due by the 25th day after the mailing
- The development district's assessment for the year from 1 October rides on the same tax bill; its 2027 budget raised gross operating assessments 3%
- Helene came ashore in the Big Bend late on 26 September 2024 and left about 53,000 City utility customers without power at its peak
- Highs near 31 °C and about 17 days at 32 °C
- Florida State University Schools' lottery portal typically opens in October for the following school year
- The pool's last month; 82 mm of rain and highs near 28 °C
- The tax bill carries the City's 19.2060 mills and the development district's assessment together
- Hurricane season ends on 30 November; about two nights at or below freezing on the normal
- About seven nights at or below freezing and highs near 19 °C
- If you closed this year, the bill in hand was the seller's: Save Our Homes ends at a sale and the assessment goes to market value the next 1 January
Every photograph in this guide's library is above
This library holds 6 photographs and the page has already printed all of them, each once. The credits are in the footer.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Southwood, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Tallahassee library.