Hi,I'll try to keep this brief.My husband and I decided to take the leap and make a major lifestyle overhaul.We currently live in a small suburb 1/2 hour from Manhattan.I work from home and should be able to continue with my job when we move.My husband has his own business and will probably be looking to purchase/start another business.We'll rent first for about a year.We definitely don't want to live in a city and have narrowed down our three choices to the Pensacola/Navarre/Gulf Breeze or Tampa or Jacksonville/Palm Coast areas.We have very few requirements,it doesn't take much to satisfy us.Schools will not be of a concern for another couple of years.Our priority would be to be in an area with strong economic growth and stability for a business.My tug is towards the Gulf side,though I know the beaches shouldn't be my at the top of my list.We were planning on touring around early this summer,but we put our house on the market last week and we received an acceptable offer in five days!We've got some serious hustling to do.Thanks for any input and I appreciate all the information that you can share.

toodles,

I'm assuming you've already visited these areas at least once, and fairly recently. They are really quite different, in a number of ways. Weather, politics, population size - just to name three.

I was born and raised in Jacksonville, but moved from there in 1975. I still have family in Jax, so I go back at least a couple of times a year, but had no desire to "move back home," as my mother put it, when I got my divorce twelve years ago.

Since 1980 I've lived in the greater Pensacola area, from '84 to '94 in Gulf Breeze and at Pensacola Beach since '94. This part of the state is truly, truly different from the rest of Florida. Some good, some bad - and which is which depends on who you ask.

For myself, I wouldn't live anywhere else, no matter what. But that doesn't mean that this area is the one for you. Give us a bit more information to work with here and you should get better answers.

In the meantime, feel free to ask me anything about this part of the state. I'll do my best to answer.

Hi toodles,
My husband and I sold our home in NYC and moved to Jax this past January.

Rent first .. a very good idea.
Executive homes rent around $1200 +
Everyone here talks about how the city has grown by leaps and bounds and with the Super Bowl coming, there is a huge amount of building going on and whole neighborhoods being created.
There are some huge companies here,the feeling is of a city that is expanding and growing very quickly.
If you live outside of Manhattan, you might be more used to the feeling of suburban living, we are taking some time getting used to it.
There are many very good restaurants, shops and neighborhoods that are great for Sunday brunches and browsing the shops.
We haven't been here that long and have been busy with work on the house, but it is very nice so far.
Especially when we left on a 7 degree day and arrived to 70 degrees~
Good luck with your choice and the move~

Scarlett,I've read many of your posts;you're always so helpful and with such a kind,gentle tone.We currently live in a small Hudson River suburb in Westchster County.We love it here.The cost of living has become absurd.Without boring you with details,my 46 year old sister recently died from Cancer,and shortly after my dear,sweet Dad passed away.My husband and I added many factors of our current lifestyle and decided to make a change;new faces and new places.May I ask why you chose Jacksonville?We won't be terribly picky with our rental,but eventually would love to be somewhere within walking distance or short drive to the beach.When we do buy,we're not great fans of gated communities.Can you recommend any areas that I should be researching?Sounds like you're happy with your choice.Anything you don't like?Are you near the water? Floidafran,I confess that we were never big travelers to Florida.I had relatives that lived in Gulf Breeze and Jacksonville and we had visisted severeal times,but that was many years ago.My brother currently lives in Atlanta and will be moving to Gulf Breeze,hence my interest in that location.He's a retired military officer and obviously has much different criteria in his choice than us.He refers to that area as Hurricane Alley,and has told me that area may not have as much disposable income as my other choices.The beaches there are magnificent.What is it that makes you love that area so much? Thanks again-

toodles, I'm happy to weigh in with information about Tampa. It has a vibrant business community, Latin roots, a mix of older and newer burbs. And don't forget St. Pete which is going through a really interesting metamosphosis (real estate there is sky-rocketing).

Pitch some questions and I'll try to answer. You've picked three great communities.

Toodles, you've asked a hard question! There are so many personal reasons why we fall in love with one place and not another. What I might find exciting in a city might make you yawn.

However, having said that, I have to tell you that although I have no familiarity with Jax, I do have a friend there who likes it well enough, and she's a sophisticated, well-traveled person. So give Jax a good mark.

We have other friends who have a beach home on the Gulf side of Florida, in Pass-a-grille, near St. Pete and Tampa. We've become pretty familiar with that area and we love it. There's so much to do, whether your interests veer to the cultural or the athletic or to the leisure time activities. Any kind of food you want, you can find a restaurant that features it. You like music and theatrics, no problem. You like beautiful beaches, Tampa/St. Pete can't be beat! And business (and real estate) is booming. Luckily it's not as expensive as Naples (yet). Another good point for this area is that you can fly into and out of it very conveniently and cheaply. You might find yourself enjoying a lot of NY company if you move there!

We visited Pensacola the summer before last and were surprised at how much we liked it. It's small but has quite a bit to offer. The downtown has several good restaurants, galleries, museums and nice neighborhoods, particularily the turn-of-the-century neighborhood that's up on the hill. The airport and the beaches are really easy to get to. And both Atlanta and New Orleans are an easy day trip from Pensacola. The city has a really nice atmosphere. I wish I could tell you about its economy, but I'm not sure about that. Maybe someone else could fill you in there.

toodles, thank you for the kind words!
I understand your feelings about it being time to change things, you have certainly had some sad changes happen..a move would most likely be very good for you two~

So far we are happy with our choice, but we do realize that if we had rented, we could have explored more and perhaps chosen a different place to live, but we feel lucky to have found this very large and comfortable house in a nice spot in town.
We are 20 minutes at most, from the beach. I consider moving out to one of the beach communities, every time we go there
Ponte Vedra especially~
Also-St Augustine has some great little neighborhoods, a walk from the beach.
We did something similar to what you are doing, we visited Jax twice, our home sold quickly and we still hadn't found what we wanted in NYC, so the Yankee and I decided (at dinner on our anniversary) to buy a house in Florida and have a fresh new life somewhere else. So far, the decision remains an excellent one.
We will be going to Tampa and to Sarasota in a few weeks, exploring and visiting friends. I recommend that you come down here every chance you get and do your own exploring.
We used ReMax..they are great and will spend weekends with you just looking at houses.
You can email me if you like~

Toodles,
I grew up on Long Island, but since have lived/worked in Chicago, San Francisco,Billings and Seattle. I now live in Tequesta (which is moon of Jupiter, Fl). Florida is a bargin which is why I moved here from Seattle. Like Scarlet try locate yourself within the proximity of an airport so you can sneak off to Europe convieniently.

tootles,

I don't know if we're more "hurricane alley" than other areas, although my second husband swears we built a "hurricane magnet" since we have had more storms than usual in this area since we moved out to the Island.

I like this area because it is more like "old Florida" - less developed (although that is changing daily), less congested (again, changing), and a more relaxed lifestyle, overall. I didn't want to have to deal with a bumper to bumper 45 to 60 minute commute. My husband works about 17 miles from home and can be there is less than 30 minutes. I'm a residential contractor so my commute time depends on the job site location, but nothing has ever been a more than 45 minutes, most less, and none of it stop and go except if I hit the "rush hour" going over the bridge between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola.

Economywise - the per capita income is probably lower here than the other two areas you mentioned. But so is the cost of living. The City of Gulf Breeze and all the beach areas have their higher incomes offset by the rural northern parts of the two counties where incomes are lower. Whether or not our financial opportunities will meet your needs, I can't say. For a lot of people the "benefits" of living here seem to outweigh the lower pay. My husband left the University of Florida in order to return home even though that meant a pay cut and teaching at the junior college. My son, who's an attorney in Chicago, kicks himself daily for not taking the Florida bar six years ago when he graduated from law school up there. And my son-in-law has turned down several offers to go where he could make a lot more money because it would mean leaving here.

This is an absolutely beautiful area. I love the water and here I get my fill of seeing it, every day. Since you've been to this area you know the views coming over the bridge from Pensacola to Gulf Breeze, then across the shorter bridge to the Island. Every time I see it I think, "people save to come here to vacation and I'm lucky enough to live here." Exactly what it is about this area that draws people, I can't say for certain. All I know is a lot of people who have visited or been stationed here end up calling this home.

For me, the Pensacola area has enough good restaurants (a few great ones) and a diverse enough cultural scene to meet my needs. But then I never lived 30 minutes from Manhattan.

Maybe if I tell you I can take New York City for about 5 days before the hustle and bustle and seemily constant noise get to me, you'll get an idea of where I'm coming from. I prefer vacations in National Parks over those to metropolitan areas. For me our symphony, opera company, art museum and other cultural offerings are usually all I need. If something I want to see isn't here, it will probably come to either Atlanta or New Orleans and neither of those are that far away. And when I get the urge to gamble I just zip over to Biloxi.

I definitely agree with the rent first idea. It's a whole lot easier to leave a place if you decide it's not the one for you if you don't have the financial considerations and hassels of a house to deal with.

Good luck.

I want to hear more about Biloxi!
We got an offer from the Bellagio to stay at the Riverboat? so the Yank and I are considering driving there..

floridafran - as you seem to know much about the area, can you give me any thoughts on Crestview, FL? I've check out the housing market pretty thoroughly online, but am interested in the availability of jobs within the whole Okaloosa/Walton county areas. Does the Pensacola area have significant benefits over Crestview/FWB? My husband, who is retired military, and I have been agonizing over a relocation. Much as I'd love the Florida lifestyle, I'm afraid it would mean a major career change and cut in salary for me. I'm trying to do as much homework as possible before we narrow down our choices.

Joy

I live in the DC area and own several homes in the Tampa area. I am thinking of possibly moving down there in a few years but for now, just investing. The area I have homes in is just 20 min north of Tampa in an area called Lutz and New Tampa. New Tampa is about 30 min from downtown. It's an area of many new communities being built with quite affordable housing when compared to NYC and DC. As far as renting, a 2 bedroom apt in New Tampa will run about $1000/mo. I love this area and I find that for about $250K you can have a nice single family home in a very nice community. Be careful when buying since just north in Pasco county, a lot of homeowner insurance companies are not writing new policies because of a surge in sinkhole and hurricane damage claims in the past year.

As far as recreation, the beaches are about a 30 min drive but can take up to an hour is you figure in traffic, especially Clearwater. There are also many state parks that have beach access if you prefer less crowds and noise.

Just a thought, but have you ever considered small-town life between theme-park heaven and the ocean? You might want to check out western Volusia County, specifically Deland (100-year old homes surrounding a quaint main street in a college (Stetson) town, or Debary, on the banks of the St. John's River. Both are just a short drive to beaches and the theme parks in Orlando. It's a more laid-back lifestyle with a terrific climate, and cheaper insurance rates than those on the beachfront. We live in Debary, I work out of Deland, and really love the area. I-4, the east-west interstate, runs alongside these towns, and you can get to most places in Florida as a day-trip. As I said, just a thought, but worth a look.

Scarlett,

Sorry, but I don't know anything about the Riverboat in Biloxi. We usually stay at The Grand. Is it Gulf front or on the Back Bay? I'm sure if you post your Biloxi question as a separate post you'll get lots of info.

bjboothman,

I can't tell you much about Crestview, I'm afraid. I have been there once or twice, but it's been some time ago. One major difference between the Pensacola area and the Ft. Walton - Okaloosa area is traffic. They seem to have more than we do. I'm sure the fact that both Hurlburt Field and Eglin AFB are right there have a lot to do with that. I don't live near NAS Pensacola so I don't see the impact the base here makes on traffic.

Another thing is that, in MHO, Pensacola is classier/more refined. I'm not sure that's even the term I want. It's just that Pensacola is a historic place. Downtown is compact and being revitalized, we have the oak-shaded historic district and a couple of "historic" residential areas, with lots of little parks. To me, Ft. Walton especially has more of a feeling of strip malls and hodge-podge sprawl. I'm sure someone from that area will blast me for this, but that's the impression I've gotten everytime I have to go over there, which is at least once a month. For me, it isn't where I'd choose to live. Maybe my business trips just haven't taken me to the right areas. Which is not to say that Pensacola doesn't have some strip malls and run-down areas. It does, just as every city I've been to, has.

Availability in the job market depends a great deal on what your career field is. Both areas are highly service industry oriented because of the tourism factor. And some things are very seasonal. Also, with military bases in both areas you have a large employee pool of military spouses.

I know this isn't much help. But not knowing what field you're working in, I can't get more specific. Some job areas are good here and some, frankly, suck. My knowledge on the job market is pretty much limited to greater Pensacola. A separate post about relocating to either of these areas might get you more info on the Okaloosa/Walton picture.

You might also want to try PensacolaNewsJournal.com and see if you can search the classifieds. The Sunday paper carries the most jobs. There's also a site, I think it's called Pensacolajobs.com, that has job listings.