[grew-up-3rd-culture]

This area along the Emerald Coast has to be the next undiscovered discovery. Does anyone know anything about this part of the panhandle of Florida in terms of quality of life, real estate, etc...?

[Strel]

Nobody wants to talk about it. It's the Forgotten Coast.

I hope it stays that way, so shhhhhh.......

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by grew-up-3rd-culture

This area along the Emerald Coast has to be the next undiscovered discovery. Does anyone know anything about this part of the panhandle of Florida in terms of quality of life, real estate, etc...?

heh
I just spent about twenty months in PSJ.
It's got a ways to go, but you can find a good quality of life there.
Real Estate is not cheap, that much I can tell you right now.
If you do a Search, you'll find a lot that I've posted about the place.

[grew-up-3rd-culture]

Originally Posted by cil

heh
I just spent about twenty months in PSJ.
It's got a ways to go, but you can find a good quality of life there.
Real Estate is not cheap, that much I can tell you right now.
If you do a Search, you'll find a lot that I've posted about the place.

Can you get pretty good seafood?

[2goldens]

Panama City has variety of seafood restaurants which are good.
You can find lots of information by reading www.MyFlorida.com

[Strel]

Originally Posted by grew-up-3rd-culture

Can you get pretty good seafood?

Depends on what you think "good" is. If you like Gulf seafood, then yes!

You can definitely get fresh Gulf seafood - so the shrimp, oysters (in season) and native fish like grouper and amberjack are in plentiful supply.

Grayton Beach is my favorite town in the area - a bit west of Port St. Joe and closer to Destin:

Virtual Tours by Moon Creek Studios @ www.mooncreek.com

Compare those beach photos to ANYTHING on the east coast of Florida.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by grew-up-3rd-culture

Can you get pretty good seafood?

Better shrimp and oysters there than anything I've had here so far.
As Strel says, it's Gulf seafood.
I've rarely had fresher.

[jbcorbin]

We moved to PSJ 4 years ago and lived in the central residential area. We looked all over Florida and found that this area is on of the least spoiled coastal areas, both cost & cultural.
We are now 10 miles West in the Mexico Beach area. We like it much better. Living in this area has been described as like living in central Alabama with water. PSJ is an old mill town (the mill is gone). It is still passively segregated and is controlled by a few old families plus the St. Joe Land company (surprisingly, the same folks who used to own the mill). PSJ is a classic Southern town controlled by a few and governed by strict Baptist rules. We have seen no progress in attracting new food or retail businesses unless the leading families are in the payoff. No new restaurants move into PSJ because of the restrictive alcohol ban on Sundays. The downtown main street (Reid) is deserted after 5 o’clock on weekdays and very few stores are open on the weekend. The hardware store closes early on Saturday and not open Sunday. If you eliminated all the real estate, mortgage, & banking businesses, Reid St. could be one block long.

Not that all of this is bad if you want to live out of the rat-race of South Florida & the Eastern coast. It’s not called the Forgotten Coast because no one can remember it; it’s because most of us who live here somehow forget to tell anyone where it is. I would stay out of PSJ and look to the beach communities nearby. There are many lots offered and many, many houses available near the beach. I bought mine last year at a very good price. It’s time to buy now, while the sellers are willing to deal. I am cutting my own throat on these statements, because I have a wonderful house for sale right in PSJ.

Ps, I, too, suggest going to CIL’s entries in this forum to find out about this area..

[postmuffin]

I've lived in Port St Joe for 3 years and the area for 15 years. It's definitely the forgotten coast. If you want decent schools, grocery stores and shopping, you're looking in the wrong place. A ton of condos have been built in Mexico Beach, but there's no place to eat or buy groceries, unless you drive all the way to Panama City. Housing is very expensive - $150K for a trailer...taxes are high...homeowners insurance high and hard to get. I'm moving to Tennessee as soon as I can find a good job and sell my house. I've been a Floridian all my life, but I'm being priced out of my state.