Pensacola, Florida...Tell me all..The good, the bad and the ugly

[Leader of the Club]

Hello Fellow Budgetears!

We have an opportunity to move to Pensacola, Florida. It will initially be for a 2 year gig, so we would want to rent a house. We have an elementary kid and a high schooler and a dog.

I need any info y'all can give me.

Schools
health care
part-time job for me
climate
neighborhoods
fun stuff
serious stuff

Help!

 

[mikehn]

Pensacola is right there in the hurricane zone

 

[Leader of the Club]

yes. I suppose that would fall under the heading of "serious stuff."

anyone else?

 

[ah1126]

I live about an hour down the road in Destin, FL. Pensacola has military, college and tourist areas. This should give you a pretty good range of housing possibilities.

The weather is Hot and humid in the summers, Christmas can still be in the 70's. If we get much "winter" it is January and February. It can get down in the 30's at night, but it doesn't last very long.

For fun you have the beach, and all the tourist activities that come along with it.

I hope this helps a little!

 

[FeFeMJ]

I live in Pace,Florida (about 10 min out of Pensacola) and work in Pensacola. It stays hot here. Like one poster said, if we get "winter" it's usually Jan and Feb. Sometimes it'll get cold in December, but for the last 2 Christmases it's been warm when we've gone outside to play with the kids new toys. When we do get cool weather, it's rarely consistent (one week freezing, the next hot). For part-time work, there's always retail. Plenty of stores in the area that hire for part time. And if you want to work in customer service Navy Federal has a huge call center and they pay pretty well (actually one of the highest starting pays in the area for non degree related work.) I work there full time, but they do hire for part time positions as well. You can usually find something to do in town. During the summer, it's mostly the beach. Downtown Pensacola hosts "Gallery Night" every couple of months, which can be a lot of fun.

Hurricanes are the only real downside that I find to living in this area (some people hate the heat, but I don't mind it.), but thankfully we've been pretty lucky since Hurricane Ivan.

 

[iheartdisney]

My parents and sister have lived in Pensacola for 12 years now, and I lived there with them for a few deployments, including when my sister was buying their house.
Pensacola is a weird place to look for a place to live. you will see really nice houses, turn the corner and you are in not-so-nice territory. I would defiantly not rent a place until you have seen it in person, and driven around the neighborhood.

That said, I would look for a place in the around Scenic. Really nice neighborhood, and the elementary school, A.K. Suter is amazing. It is a small school, very friendly administration, great teachers!

As mentioned, the weather is like living inside of a sauna. It doesn't really cool down at night, so your power bill might be sky high due to the air conditioning.

As far as employment, one of the biggest complaints my dad has with the area is that with so many military retirees in the area, it is hard to get a job with competitive pay. Most retirees are working to have something to do and not for the money.

A little on the serious side... Pensacola is very much "the south" in the attitudes of some people. on both sides. And there is a "bad" part of town.

For the good, the beaches are beautiful!! The water is clear and warm, the sand is white! i live 5 minutes from the beach here in California we rarely go, because it just doesn't compare to the gulf!
If your kids are into sports, there are lots to do, both recreational through the YMCA and competitive.
It is a very historic area, lots of stuff to see including the Aviation museum, forts, etc. The downtown Mardi Gras and Christmas parades are awesome! More moon pies than you can eat in a month. lol. The navy's Blue Angels are based there, so you can watch them rehearse every week, as well as the season opening performance at the beach.

That is all I can think of right now! lol

 

[POOHsie]

Moving to Pensacola could be nice for you. The warm weather year-round is welcome, and the Gulf Coast access is a plus. Only downside is, the whole Panhandle of Florida is very rural. If you're used to cities to visit for nice shopping or sightseeing, you would have to drive somewhere else. Florida is so big, from Pensacola it's six hours' drive to WDW!

 

[worm761]

The absolute best part about living in Pensacola: FLORIDA RESIDENT TICKETS!!!!

 

[gottaluvPluto]

That said, I would look for a place in the around Scenic. Really nice neighborhood, and the elementary school, A.K. Suter is amazing. It is a small school, very friendly administration, great teachers!

A little on the serious side... Pensacola is very much "the south" in the attitudes of some people. on both sides. And there is a "bad" part of town.

I guess it is all perspective because I think the admin in AK Suter is horrible.

I have lived 40 years off and on in Pensacola and I'm wondering what you mean by attitudes of some people "in the south".


Here is a list of High Schools that are good:

1. Tate
2. West Tech - can only get into if Freshman
3. Gulf Breeze
4. Washington

I would not send my child to a high school not on this list!

FYI - If I could sell my house and move to a different school district it would be Gulf Breeze.

 

[worm761]

Our (as in my family's) healthcare is part of the Sacred Heart Health Care system. We have a children's hospital here too. For a pediatrician, I recommend mine. Dr Foland with Pensacola Pediatrics on 9 Mile Rd. I like that everything is interconnected. When I had to go to the ER my doctor just logged on and looked at my scan results and told the ER doctor what he wanted to do since he knows my history.

East Hill is another good area of town. Scenic is nice too. I am not too sure about the school. DS went to Little Flower Catholic School before and attends the Escambia Virtual School now. Love the virtual school option!


Do you know where the job is? It might be easier to help with schools and home areas if we know the general area. Pensacola is actually pretty large.

 

[erisgirl44]

Our (as in my family's) healthcare is part of the Sacred Heart Health Care system. We have a children's hospital here too. For a pediatrician, I recommend mine. Dr Foland with Pensacola Pediatrics on 9 Mile Rd. I like that everything is interconnected. When I had to go to the ER my doctor just logged on and looked at my scan results and told the ER doctor what he wanted to do since he knows my history.

East Hill is another good area of town. Scenic is nice too. I am not too sure about the school. DS went to Little Flower Catholic School before and attends the Escambia Virtual School now. Love the virtual school option!


Do you know where the job is? It might be easier to help with schools and home areas if we know the general area. Pensacola is actually pretty large.

We lived in Pensacola, Fl for many years and Dr. Foland was my son's pediatrician too! She is an amazing pediatrician. I would definitely recommend finding a doctor who has privileges at Sacred Heart rather than West Florida or Baptist.

 

[Leader of the Club]

OP here...

So much as happened since I posted this! Life is funny like that.

We are two steps closer to being able to move. Hubby just has to snag that job and we're good to go.

The job is in Gulf Breeze so we are looking in the Gulf Breeze and Navarre area. I've been looking at rental homes since this is a two year gig that he's trying to get. Holley by the Sea looks nice.

Thanks for all the tips. Keep them coming!

 

[Swimalie]

I would definitely check out the National Museum of Naval Aviation. It is an awesome museum for all ages. A great place to check out planes and history. And eat at the re-built Cubi-O Club for a meal (my husband is on a plaque in there).

Across the street from the museum is the lighthouse. A fun place to see.

 

[DisneyLover83]

My Dh and I relocated to Pensacola, FL area in Sept of 2012, so we've been here for about 5 months. I'll be honest, we moved here from Charlotte NC, a large city, and we are thinking of leaving already. We going to stay at least a year because we signed a lease and such but this has been a huge culture shock. If your used to malls, museums, events, big city life.... Look somewhere else. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Leader of the Club]

I'll be honest, we moved here from Charlotte NC, .

I lived in Charlotte for 364 days in 2001. Absolutely HATED it.

I live in a big city now. Major sports teams, museums, malls, markets, the whole sha-bang. I've also lived in small towns. I like both.

Maybe this is a mid-size town?

 

[DisneyLover83]

I lived in Charlotte for 364 days in 2001. Absolutely HATED it.

I live in a big city now. Major sports teams, museums, malls, markets, the whole sha-bang. I've also lived in small towns. I like both.

Maybe this is a mid-size town?

Just trying to provide an opinion. I know how much one can have invested in a major move, emotionally and financially, I hope everything works out for you and your family. Going from a city of about 750k people to 50k has been a shock for us, but were all different.

 

[pigget74]

What about Perdido area or Perdido Keys

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

My 2 cents....I would never choose to move to Florida. I have family in both Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando...have visited many times...and they all say the same....you simply can't send your kids to public schools in Florida...they are that bad. It is also very economically diverse...most people/places are either very wealthy or very poor. Basically consensus that its a great place to visit, but not live.

 

[worm761]

What about Perdido area or Perdido Keys

That would be a really long commute to Gulf Breeze for work every morning. I live closer than that and when I worked in GB it was a good 45 min to an hour commute.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We live in Northwest Florida and are quite happy here. I grew up here, moved away for college and moved back - I missed it. My husband was my college sweetheart and moved here before we got married. Even though we'd intended to move once he found a full-time job in his career field and near an Army Reserve unit he could join, he found those things here so we planted roots and have not left.

I don't agree with the PP who said you can't send your kids to public schools and that residents are either very rich or very poor. I think especially here in the Panhandle (we are 2 hours from Pensacola), public schools are pretty good for the most part. My kids attend public school and I feel they are very safe and getting a good education. My oldest is gifted and his school has separate classes for the Talented & Gifted kids. All kids have Art and Music and PE classes - funding has not been cut for those. Due to the number of military retirees and military servicemembers, I think we have a lot of middle-class to upper-middle-class residents. I would count my family in that general group. Housing is fairly affordable, compared to other areas of the country, and property taxes are lower than many other areas. Our house is almost 3000 sf, on a large lot in a good neighborhood and cost less than $250k, and our property taxes are just over $2000/yr.

The Panhandle is pretty laid-back, not rush-rush-rush. It is very conservative and very religious. If you aren't either, you may not be happy here. The Panhandle is about 2-to-1 Republican over Democrat. All our local representatives and the State legislature is predominantly Republican. Pensacola may not be quite as conservative as my immediate area, but it's close.

And yes, it's about 6 hours from where we live to Disney World - another big + in my book!