[2goldens]

Marianna: Small town center: $300 will put you in a beautiful home in this area. The new Panama City airport will take time to build for the bigger jets. Right now Panama City airport has smaller planes and we change in Atlanta, GA. Lots of acreage here, hospital, doctors, stores and attractions.

I do not recommend Bonifay - the town is wrapped around the I-10 highway and thats it.

[TomJ]

Hi,

You seem to know the areas pretty well. I just registered on, and would like to ask you about the Pnscola are in general. Live in Michigan, and have two companies. One marketing for years, and the second as a certified commercial roofing company. I have been told that there is much need for a good roofing company in the pan handle in general, as there are not enough contractors there. Can you help?

Thanks, Tom

[rnsltd]

I to live in Navarre, been here about a year, it is great if you like the beach or the zoo otherwise there really is nothing here but the drive is not bad to Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, or Destin for shopping and restaurants.

Schooling options are non-existant, there are no private schools to speak of in the area.

Pensacola has a nice airport and connects to all major cities, I have flown out of there at least 20 times and found the flights to be very reasonably priced.

Overall it's a quiet low crime area.

[sunrico90]

We are in the top 10:

1. Okaloosa - A
2. Gilchrist - A
3. Brevard - A
4. Martin - A
5. St. Johns - A
6. Santa Rosa - A Navarre HS got a B and the rest of the schools got A's
7. Seminole - A
8. Sarasota - A
9. Charlotte - A
10. Nassau - A


Escambia is getting better but still holding a C average.

[wacahootaman]

And the very best thing about North Florida?

In just two months it will be Flannel Shirt Weather!!!!!

South Florida will be hot till Christmas.

[sunrico90]

I found this in the Tampa forum, more info:

1. Okaloosa - A: Fort Walton Beach, Shalimar, Destin, Crestview, Niceville, Valparaiso, Mary Esther.

2. Gilchrist - A: Rural

3. Brevard - A: Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, Merritt Island, Palm Bay, Malabar

4. Martin - A: Rural

5. St. Johns - A: Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine, Palatka

6. Santa Rosa - A: Navarre, Gulf Breeze, Milton, Pace

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by rnsltd

Pensacola has a nice airport and connects to all major cities, I have flown out of there at least 20 times and found the flights to be very reasonably priced.

The crucial word here is connect.
You won't get a nonstop flight, you will always be *connecting* or at least stopping at Memphis or Atlanta. Quite often this will cost you money or at the very least, time because of the connections.
It depends where you want to go.

I too have flown in/out of Pensacola, and Valparaiso, and Panama City.
I actually liked all of those airports, (and Pensacola's is certainly close to Navarre) it's just that they are small and do not have a lot of airline choices.

It is a breathtakingly beautiful area and I agree with all of the other information being presented here (including the flannel shirt weather! yay!) though I do think Highway 98 can be kinda scary sometimes.

[2goldens]

Originally Posted by wacahootaman

And the very best thing about North Florida?

In just two months it will be Flannel Shirt Weather!!!!!

South Florida will be hot till Christmas.

We do have freeze warnings to protect the live animals and bring
in your plants. I've never seen it but people have told me they
saw snow in the middle of the night and melted. Yes it's cooler here
than south FL during the holidays.

[menglin]

Thank you all so much. By the way if I could get good schools and cooler weather I would be in heaven. LOL We tried Massachusetts and it was a little to cold. LOL

[Strel]

Originally Posted by menglin

HI I was looking into northern Florida for a possible move. Does anybody know anything about the area? Schools are my main focus. We like having a town center, not the urban sprawl we have here in Orlando. We would like a little land 1/2 + acre. Our price range is $300. Again I am looking for a good school system. We don't like houses right on top of each other but we like neighbors for our kids to play with and such. I have been tubing down and swimming in the springs up there and went to school in Gainesville. I visited Tallahasse back in my college days but don't remember alot. LOL Some of the cities I noticed online are Alchua, Chiefland,High springs. We do like restaurants and shopping. So within 30mins? My husband is very flexible since his territory includes Texas- South Carolina. Maybe a good airport within 45min? Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.

Tallahassee. There is a lot to the town away from the University/stadium party scene (which is, I assume, why you do not remember much LOL).
Check out the north and east sides and outlying areas. You can get some nice land and a house cheap - especially with what's going on right now in the housing market. Schools are mediocre to excellent, depending on what part of town you live in. Lots of restaurants, shopping still somewhat limited...but there is a decent airport and Tampa and Atlanta are less than an hour away by plane.

There is some light sprawl but Tallahassee local government controls it somewhat, and the city still has a well-defined "downtown" area east of FSU campus with parks, etc., and activities. Downtown has been cleaned up and developed a great deal over the last 20 years, and there are plans to extend this urban renewal project southward to Gaines street at least. If the plans come to fruition, it will make a very nice "town center".
Gorgeous beaches and the springs you no doubt remember are anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours away, at most (it's 2 hours flat by car to Gainesville, 4 to Tampa).