[spaghetti_squash]

i cant believe theres no forum for the panhandle!!
......................
alright, so in a few months i will be moving from mississippi to either new orleans, mobile, or pensacola / destin / ft walton beach.
i would LOVE a run-down on the florida places. ive been to the other possibilities, but never been to the florida panhandle. ive heard its beautiful, & according to statistics, the destin/ft walton area has some of the lowest unemployment rates, which is always good these days......
i know that i would love being near the beach, etc, but what im mainly wanting to know about is
1. the safety of the area. im assuming it would be safer than new orleans, but since ive never been there i was just curious as to whether general safety is an issue (any more than anywhere else) in that whole area between pensacola & panama city beach.
2. the job situation there. i dont need anything specific. just wanting to know if there are service jobs available (b/c where i live right now, u cant even get a job at burger king, its RIDICULOUS), like bartending, restaurants, sitting, office work, etc. im a freelance photographer, so i do that on the side & get a part-time or full-time job.
3. o, & if youve ever lived in new orleans or mobile, i would love your input, esp if youve lived in florida as well & can compare the pros & cons.

thanks so much in advance!

[TD*]

You should try Tallahassee, Still in the panhandle, however we have a low unemployment rate compared to the rest of the state, one of the lowest in fact.

[beachmouse]

(bringing this over from the Jax thread in case you didn't see it)

I'm in the Ft. Walton Beach area. Violent crime against strangers is pretty low. Property crime happens, but it seems like 80%+ of it happens because people don't lock their home or car. I've been all over FWB with a previous job, and feel reasonably safe everywhere during the day, though there are about 3-4 small neighborhoods I'd feel uncomfortable in at night.

Employment right now is okay but not exceptional in the service industry. There will be jobs to be had for the summer season (you already missed the hiring for spring break). The question is how much your shifts would be cut back come fall when they number of tourists starts to decrease. White collar jobs are hard to come by and will generally not pay as well as bartending unless you've got special skills or know the right people.

[2bohemians]

Originally Posted by red_0329

i cant believe theres no forum for the panhandle!!
......................
alright, so in a few months i will be moving from mississippi to either new orleans, mobile, or pensacola / destin / ft walton beach.
i would LOVE a run-down on the florida places. ive been to the other possibilities, but never been to the florida panhandle. ive heard its beautiful, & according to statistics, the destin/ft walton area has some of the lowest unemployment rates, which is always good these days......
i know that i would love being near the beach, etc, but what im mainly wanting to know about is
1. the safety of the area. im assuming it would be safer than new orleans, but since ive never been there i was just curious as to whether general safety is an issue (any more than anywhere else) in that whole area between pensacola & panama city beach.
2. the job situation there. i dont need anything specific. just wanting to know if there are service jobs available (b/c where i live right now, u cant even get a job at burger king, its RIDICULOUS), like bartending, restaurants, sitting, office work, etc. im a freelance photographer, so i do that on the side & get a part-time or full-time job.
3. o, & if youve ever lived in new orleans or mobile, i would love your input, esp if youve lived in florida as well & can compare the pros & cons.

thanks so much in advance!

We are in Santa Rosa Beach, along the Scenic 30A and the Beaches of South Walton. We're located just a little east of Destin, in between Sandestin & Panama City Beach. Our location is a beautiful little stretch of beach communities with a bike path, rare coastal dune lakes, nature trails and state parks. If you like the outdoors, we have lots of opportunities for enjoying it.

Certainly there may be crime in our area, but we never hear about it. Other than a pair of flip flops that went missing from the bottom step of the beach access, we've never experienced any issues and have never felt fearful.

Jobs. This has been a very tough season. With the economy in question, it was a rough winter for most people who live here. Lots of business closed but new ones have opened too. The Spring Break season has begun and this week has been busy. On the 30a, service industry jobs are the bulk of jobs. Now that season has kicked in, we are seeing more jobs spring up. But they are seasonal so you have to keep that in mind. We have several resort towns on the 30a where you will find much of the service industry jobs: Rosemary Beach, Seaside, Watercolor. Additionally, we have a host of restaurants from casual to fine dining. Another resort that hires frequently is Sandestin - just a few miles west of us.

Since you say you a freelance photographer, you may be able to find your way into some work in this field too. We have lots of weddings that need photographers, along with families looking for portraits at the beach.

If you have any other questions, shoot them to us and we will try to help as best we can.

[On-da-Beach]

and considering that the last photographer I talked with charges more per hour than my attorney...

[spaghetti_squash]

thanks so much for the info! hopefully i will be able to make a trip down there before making the final decision, but just in case i cant....
thanks a lot yall! very helpful

[grapico]

retail/service jobs are down 11% in tallahassee u will be competing with 70K college students for these low wage jobs.

[secroft]

Originally Posted by 2bohemians

We are in Santa Rosa Beach, along the Scenic 30A and the Beaches of South Walton. We're located just a little east of Destin, in between Sandestin & Panama City Beach. Our location is a beautiful little stretch of beach communities with a bike path, rare coastal dune lakes, nature trails and state parks. If you like the outdoors, we have lots of opportunities for enjoying it.

Certainly there may be crime in our area, but we never hear about it. Other than a pair of flip flops that went missing from the bottom step of the beach access, we've never experienced any issues and have never felt fearful.

Jobs. This has been a very tough season. With the economy in question, it was a rough winter for most people who live here. Lots of business closed but new ones have opened too. The Spring Break season has begun and this week has been busy. On the 30a, service industry jobs are the bulk of jobs. Now that season has kicked in, we are seeing more jobs spring up. But they are seasonal so you have to keep that in mind. We have several resort towns on the 30a where you will find much of the service industry jobs: Rosemary Beach, Seaside, Watercolor. Additionally, we have a host of restaurants from casual to fine dining. Another resort that hires frequently is Sandestin - just a few miles west of us.

Since you say you a freelance photographer, you may be able to find your way into some work in this field too. We have lots of weddings that need photographers, along with families looking for portraits at the beach.

If you have any other questions, shoot them to us and we will try to help as best we can.

Good to hear a post about Santa Rosa Beach. After living in Kentucky for all fifty years of our lives, and liking, but not loving the seasons change, we're slowly but surely making the decision to move toward the Panhandle. This (Feb 09) a disasterous of an ice-storm devasted our state and our community. We yearn for consistantly warmer weather, no sleet, or 0-degree temperatures. Moreover, the sound of the gulf, and golf year round is a goal for our family.
For the last year, we're been researching the area, reading bogs, requesting information, contacting the chamber, tourism, etc. We've found that it meets most of our needs, with the exception of the hurricanes. Therefore we'll be searching for something away from the gulf, hopefully to minimize the winds and rain from a hurricane. While our goal is to find a "golf community" somewhere in the area. We're also heard a great deal about the new airport, which is exciting for us and was a BIG determiner in moving to the area. We had anticipated moving to Orlando, but after reading some post and the distance in flight, we've changed our minds completely.
Note- we are not expecting a perfect Panhandle, but a growing community that embraces families and community, one that includes community/cultural activities, and a more professional image.
Thanks again for your post, and I look forward to learning more about the area.

[beachmouse]

The Panhandle does have distinct seasons. It's not like Kentucky (we spent a couple years in Tennessee so we're familiar with the diff) but there is a noticeable winter and you'll need to keep that winter coat for the couple weeks of cold snaps we get every year.

As for the new Panama City airport, the press releases and hype really aren't going to match the reality for the first 20+ years. It will be a nice facility, but if they can bring current very low passenger volume to what Pensacola and Ft. Walton Beach get, then they'll be a success by objective standards.

Having said that, I feel like the area does have a very good quality of life provided you're bringing your job or investment income with you. In terms of inland golf course living, there are a couple places in the Niceville area, Foxwood in Crestview and a course or two in the Pensacola area that might meet your needs. Windswept on the fringes of Freeport is a very nice course, but I've heard complaints that it's too isolated from everything else in the area. I'm not terribly familiar with inland Panama City golf.