[calypso913]

My family will be moving to the Ft. Walton Beach area in a few months.
We have one son, 2 1/2. We are not sure where we are going to live, My husband will be working at Hurlburt Field.
Looking for Info on good cities to search for houses (We've heard not to live east of the base b/c of traffic.) as well as daycares in that area and schools. My son is mildly autistic so i need to find the perfect school/daycare for him. Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[beachmouse]

I'm afraid I don't know too much about services for special needs kids in the area. Would probably check with your relevant on base contact for further info there.

The Hurlburt gate turnoff itself is the bad bottleneck point on 98. There are some nice areas just east and just west of there. East of the gate does tend to be more expensive than west of the gate because it's a better commute for folks who work in Ft. Walton Beach proper, Destin, or Eglin AFB. West of the gate area is split between Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County schools, which are pretty similar good/above average quality for K-8. (Okaloosa has better high school options, in case you PCS back to the area by that point)

If you are buying, be aware that you'll usually pay significantly more in homeowner's insurance if you buy south of 98, and those properties are more likely to put you in an early hurricane evacuation zone. (Base housing south of 98 was under a couple feet of water in spots after Hurricane Ivan. Somewhere in the Daily News archives, they've got pictures of people on the ride-out team on jet skis through that area after the storm) If you get good feedback on Santa Rosa schools and your son's needs, I'd probably look in the Navarre area west of base. You can get a lot for your money out there, shopping situation there has improved significantly in the past five years, and it's an easy drive to some relatively quiet beach areas.

Don't mean to scare you too much on the hurricane front. If you haven't lived in a cyclone-prone area before, 95% of the time, named storms are about the equivalent of a Up North snow day. Or less. A tropical storm warning isn't necessarily enough to cancel the local high school football games.

Let me know if you've got more specific questions!