Question about Pensacola (Jacksonville, Orlando, Panama City: for sale, insurance, how much)

[jegonda]

A possible job opportunity had presented itself to me - but I have never been to this part of FLA (furthest over I ever was, was in Panama City). I'm more familiar with the Jacksonville, Orlando areas. So, I was wondering...as a general rule - is Pensacola, good, bad, saf, clean, dirty, etc? Any advice from those down that way? I'll possibly be relocating from Ohio.

[Jammie]

Hey, Tulsa is actually a very clean, friendly, nice town. It's not as beautiful as Fla. with the palms and the ocean, but it's a very decent city.

[beenaround]

A friend of mine moved there from Central Florida and I visited Pensacola several times. I honestly did not care for Pensacola, or that whole panhandle. Although it's still Florida, the panhandle seems isolated and backward. But one good thing I can say: The traffic issues were not as bad as in other parts of the state and the people seemed laid back overall.

[JBrown]

That's funny...the fact that it's NOT like the rest of Florida is EXACTLY what I like about the area. Been there a few times sort of "looking around".
St.Joe,Appalatchacola,Carrabelle...
the so called "Forgotten Coast"

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by jegonda

A possible job opportunity had presented itself to me - but I have never been to this part of FLA (furthest over I ever was, was in Panama City). I'm more familiar with the Jacksonville, Orlando areas. So, I was wondering...as a general rule - is Pensacola, good, bad, saf, clean, dirty, etc? Any advice from those down that way? I'll possibly be relocating from Ohio.

Pensacola or Pcola is a great city with a diverfied culture. Does have great places and bad ones, but is up to the person to find the area that fits the bill.

The main source of income is the Naval Station, this generates jobs in/outside the base. The community is diverse, of course many Navy families in the area, this is a good thing. The town was affected by the hurricanes, but most of the areas area back on line.

I live about 20 minutes east of Pcola in Navarre and we visit the town 4 to 5 times a month. Good housing market, but stay away from the water (insurance will increase in a flash). Weather is hot in summers and mild in winters. Very similar to Panama City. Lots of things to do, if you like to get involve in the community.

See the attached sites, they provide info about the area. If you have an area that you want to talk about let me know. Good luck...

http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/live/index.asp (broken link)
http://www.pensacolachamber.com/
http://www.co.escambia.fl.us/

[jegonda]

Great info - THANK YOU!!!

[Keikis]

Escambia county is the 13th poorest county in the country. If you stay near the water, there are nice areas. Gulf Breeze, Perdido Key, Pensacola Beach are all nice but as you might expect, pricier. In town, northeast Pensacola (around the airport) is fine too. Best schools are around Gulf Breeze and northeast. If you go east of Gulf Breeze, expect a heavy traffic commute. Home prices shot up in the last few years, but Ivan and Dennis slowed the market considerably. The beaches are beautiful in this area 95% or more quartz content.

[MrTudo]

Pensacola and area is very nice . We spent a week there just before the new years and are planning on flying back in a couple weeks as we're interested in relocating there from SW Fla.

VERY affordable there and for a couple hundred thousand dollars you can buy a fairly new house that's less than 10 minutes away from one of the nicest beach areas in the country.

We're looking at 4 bedroom houses ( Navarre ) on half acre +, that are essentially new and with our upgrades will be looking at maybe 400K when all done but to duplicate that in South Fla it would take at least double that and even more if one considers the costs of southern east coast Fla.

A great buy.

[dmorg]

I've lived in Pcola for 7 years. Yep a transplant. Here's my take. Some might agree, where as others disagree. That's ok. But, Pensacola is slow moving. People are laid back for the most part. In Pensacola itself, there's not a bunch to do for middle aged between 40's on up, unless you belong to a country club or volunteer organization. I've been scotting for a long time and speaking to true locals in the area. And they've told me the same thing. The make-up of the town is simply set for the college crowd (there is West Florida, Pensacola Junior, Christian college) as well as the military. Not a bad thing at all. If you fall into these catagories are age groups the place is a gem. Now you can spend alot of time fishing if you have a boat, wading or simply off the local beach peer. Lot's of water sports if that's your interest. And of course resturants galore for your pickings. But notice this is all along the beach areas, except resturants are plentiful in town also. As it has been told to me by realtors, the town is built around the vacationers not like most towns who build thier towns oppositely. The business is built in towns and population trends to the area based on the development of the business. (if you understand what I mean, it's opposite here as it would be in most metropolis type atmosphere. Business trends to the area based on the population). Oh and as I read from an earlier respondant, good luck on getting 400K on housing in the area. In Escambia and Santa Rosa counties it's been documented that there is roughly 9000 houses for sale. Builders have slowed tremendously in building houses. Although they've lowered pricing on some from what was initially 300K down to the 150/200K area, this might be good for the initial purchaser but for the seller it simply grusome.One customer came in and was telling me how his customer purchased a home for 325K. After purchasing it several months later was curious to see how much it had increased and chose to have it appraised and it was appraised for 400K. As expected he was simply delighted that he made a wise investement. However after the housing bubble busted in the area he had it reappaised after hearing some housing was being reduced. As expected he thought he would be safe only to find his investment had tumbled to a mere $295K. Not a good sign. If the pricing comes down that will be great to help move the housing that has been stagnent for months, but don't think you'll get rich around here anytime soon. Many businesses to the contracting industry has slowed tremendously. Granted I'm not looking at stats per say from the county, but working and selling in the construction field and speaking to competitors, customers, builders, contractors, realtors and many retail types they tend to say the same thing and when that many people speak, you tend to get the message alot quicker than listening to typical statistics. Simply put in my own accord, I do hope to further my way of life by looking else where for growth, however the panhandle although a nice place is struggling to be bigger than the infrastrusture can handle. Once again this is simply one persons take on the surroundings. Good luck to all if they can be successful here.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by Keikis

Escambia county is the 13th poorest county in the country. If you stay near the water, there are nice areas. Gulf Breeze, Perdido Key, Pensacola Beach are all nice but as you might expect, pricier. In town, northeast Pensacola (around the airport) is fine too. Best schools are around Gulf Breeze and northeast. If you go east of Gulf Breeze, expect a heavy traffic commute. Home prices shot up in the last few years, but Ivan and Dennis slowed the market considerably. The beaches are beautiful in this area 95% or more quartz content.

Is your statement correct Escambia county is the 13th poorest county in the country. If this is the case they are rich; if I'm ready your post correctly, please provide source....