[csmda]

I'm looking for info on best school districts in this area. We do not want to live on base and will probably rent for a bit and think about buying. Unsure of that one. We still have to sell this house and don't want to do that twice in 4 years.

I'd also like to know if the schools require uniforms.
What is there to do in the area? malls and so forth?
What are some good non-denominational churches in the area?

Are there a lot of snakes and gators in these areas?
Best beaches to go to?
When do tourists seem to overtake the area?

Is there anything else I Should know?

We're coming from Arizona. We're a young military couple, I'm still in my twenties husband will hit 31 when we come lol. Kids are 9, 7 and 5.

[beachmouse]

Public school districts in Florida are defined by county lines. Good news is that both Okaloosa (Eglin/Duke Field area) and Santa Rosa (Hurlburt area) county schools both tend to range from good to excellent. Best of the lot would be the east side of Niceville, Destin (then waiver into Niceville High after middle school) and the Gulf Breeze area west of Hurlburt. Uniforms in the public schools are on a school by school basis.

Okaloosa County School District > Home
Santa Rosa Home

Malls- Santa Rosa Mall in FWB, the more upscale Destin Commons, and the very useful Silver Sands outlet center.

Beaches- many and varied. The Brakin/Boardwalk beach on Okaloosa Island is the more social beach, the Eglin Beach club near Destin seems nice when I've seen it from the road, and if you want secluded, Topsail Hill east of Sandestin is a hidden treasure.

Tourist season- peaks during the summer. I assume because it's even hotter in New Orleans, Birmingham, and Atlanta than it is here.

Best month- October. You're past the peak of hurricane season and have daytime highs in the low 80s and overnight lows in the low 60s.

Winter- it exists, but is somewhat subtle compared to northern climates. Usual winter highs are around 60F, but we'll get about two weeks in either January or February involving overnight freezes (hard on the tender plants) and a daytime high struggling to hit 45F.

Timing the housing market- you've got a little bit of a gap right now between when the F-15s draw down (prices flat) and the F-35s and Green Berets start showing up. (wouldn't be surprised to see prices go back up) An average 3 bedroom single family home will run you $200-$250K in Niceville or Destin, a little less than that in Ft. Walton Beach, or $150K-$200K in Crestview. The down side of Crestview is that you're driving pretty far to get to what makes the area interesting, IMO, and they've got some serious sprawl issues.

Taxes and insurance- no state income tax, average sales tax, (no sales tax on staple grocery store foods) pretty average property taxes that will seem cheap if you've lived in New York and expensive if you've lived in Alabama. Homeowner's or renter's insurance- figure two or three times what you pay in Arizona. Considering the number of times I've been undr a federal disaster declaration down here, that's probably fair.

Snakes and gators- not as many as you get in S. Florida and fortunately the pythons haven't made it that far north yet. Don't swim in murky waters and watch for pygmy rattlers when gardening and you cut the risk of crossing paths with those critters by about 98%

Other critters- assorted black bears, giant insane wild boars, coyotes, and foxes, and armadillos regularly wander in off Eglin reservation. If you have cats or small dogs, bring them in at night, especially during coyote pup season.

Churches- haven't looked too much, just go to the Catholic church down the way when I'm craving the ritual. But it seems like you can find a full spectrum of them down there from non-denominational fundamentalist to unitarian.

Driving time to Disneyworld- about 6-7 hours depending on gas, food and bathroom breaks.

If you're military or can otherwise make the employment situation work out, and don't find an area of about 250K people too small, it really can be a great place to live, and a lot of AF folks end up retired here.

Feel fre to ask more questions as move date approaches!

[csmda]

That is a lot of info!! Thank you!

We're coming from an excellent (A+ excelling) district and would like to continue that for our children. I'm kind of opposed to uniforms lol. But their education is more important than that

Housing prices seem great to us. We might later look for something in the 3-350k range. I've noticed rent is very reasonable and so are buying prices, especially in those areas.

We're used to coyotes and the wild boars. Our dog is a fat, 85lb lab so no worries there. We will also be buying or renting something with a fence!

Does it ever snow? lol that is probably a really silly question, but it has snowed here in arizona almost every winter for the past 3 years. I'm southern arizona 115+ summers and that is so rare for us! So you see why I ask. I will miss the snow, it was such a nice surprise every winter. Nothing like a snow white desert. Very pretty.

I'm kind of sad we'll be so far from disney. But that's about how far we are now from disney land and we go almost every summer. I just wanted to go more. We didn't get the patrick assignment I would have lived at disney during off peak season.

[JAS]

You can forget about the snow - there might be a dusting in northern FL about once a decade, but it generally melts within the day.

[beachmouse]

I think my local elementary school only does uniforms on field trips to make it easier to keep everyone together. The one I know they're mandatory for is the ballet and French language magnet school in downtown FWB.

For reliable snow, you need to get into the Appalachians in northern Alabama and Georgia. Someone will see five snowflakes at 5:30am in the parking lot of Choctawhatchee High School, but when it's cold in winter here, the air is almost always too dry for snow storms to form.

Here's a listing for $305K in my area:

EmeraldCoastHomesOnline.com

Housing was really cheap here until about 2003, and you end up with a lot of rental properties in nice areas because people figured out that you actually could cover your entire mortgage payment with a renter during that time, and that there would always be Eglin people who wanted to rent for two years instead of buying.

But these days, because Eglin owns about 95% of the land south of I-10, unless you've got about $500K, you're probably going to have to chose from:

1. House from 1970s or 1980s with big yard that is structurally sound but not updated
2. Newer home on lot only slightly bigger than house
3. Newer home with good-sized yard that's at least a 35 minute commute to base one way and an hour from the beach

Make friends with the people who have boats. It's a lot less expensive and time-consuming than buying one on your own.

Area demographics- 80%+ white, about 12% black and the rest split between Hispanic and Asian. There was essentially no Hispanic population here until the construction workers came to help rebuild after Ivan. Most of them have since moved on to Misisisippi or New Orleans, but there are some folks who have stayed to make a go of running businesses down here if you find yourself craving taco truck food, fresh tortilas, or glass bottle coke. The Asians are either tech workers on base or war brides who retired with their spouses to the area and have since worked to bring large parts of their extended families over here.

Nearest big cities: New Orleans is about a four hour drive, but for something functional you're talking Tampa, Orlando, or Atlanta. It would be nice if one of those places was a day trip instead of a long weekend to get to.

[csmda]

Well I'll be upping the hispanic population! Just by one person, but it's a start lol I guess my kids could be considered the same, but only my daughter looks the part. Boys have blue and green eyes.

I really like the porch on that house! Not a fan of the kitchen at all. But those things can be fixed.

I guess I can live without the snow since there is a beach and I love water.

I've been finding a lot of good properties on this site. I kind of like this place
Pfitzer Circle, FL (http://www.militarybyowner.com/listings/tourplus.asp?F_BASE_ID=87&F_STATE=FL&LISTING_ID=10 7549 - broken link)

My 2 favorite properties are gone

[beachmouse]

If you're going to look in Crestview, I think south of I-10 is a must for spouse to get a reasonable commute. And that way you're probably in the Antioch Elementary attendance zone, which seems to be the best of the elementary schools up there.