Pros and Cons of Gulfport MS (Biloxi, Hattiesburg: apartment, for rent, houses)

[Mississippienne]

I've lived in Gulfport since last summer. Here's some of my pros and cons about Gulfport-Biloxi, trying to be fair on both sides. Might be useful for people who are considering a move.

Pro: Strongest economy in the state, lots of jobs.
Con: You have to live in Mississippi, which some folks just aren't willing to do.

Pro: There's bars, some nice restaurants, a couple of clubs, and the casinos and the convention center lure some decent musical acts.
Con: Still not much of a nightlife compared to the big cities of the North and West Coast.

Pro: You can rent an apartment a two-minute stroll from the beach for between $600-900 a month.
Con: Hurricanes. Also, after Katrina the realtors keep trying to drive the rent up and up, forgetting that no one's going to pay $1500 a month for an apartment in Mississippi.

Pro: You can see dolphins at Ship Island, go parasailing, fishing, or shrimping.
Con: Hot humid summers. Rainy winters. Wild weather swings. Alligators. Every kind of poisonous snake you can imagine. Also, mosquitos. But that's everywhere in Mississippi.

Pro: Within easy day-trip distance of New Orleans and Mobile.
Con: New Orleans isn't what it used to be, might not get back to it's old self for a long time.

Pro: Friendly, laid-back locals.
Con: Has that odd mix of the best people you'll ever meet along with the nastiest, skankiest people you'll ever meet that Mississippi excels at.

[aslowdodge]

that was a pretty interesting read. As far as the rents go wasn't is just market forces which drove rents up? I would imagine that after Katrina there were a lot fewer places to rent out which drove prices up. Conversly market forces can drive rents down too, so it goes both ways.
I thought a lot of entertainment places got taken out by the hurricane. Have a lot of them been rebuilt back? I own a few houses out there and was told by my property manager there wasn't much rebuilding completed. They said maybe about another year or so.

[Mississippienne]

The casinos are definitely up and running. I went to the Beau Rivage this past weekend. The convention center has been hosting concerts since last summer at least, I went to see Hinder/Three Days Grace/Staind there.

The rent issue frustrates me because the realtors here are so DUMB. Our first apartment here, we were paying $600, they wanted to take it up to $800. We told them we weren't paying that for a 2-bedroom and moved out. I drove past my old apartment every day for 6 months and it was empty. They were just letting it sit there with a "for rent" sign up out front, because they were too stupid to drop the rent! Average folks here just can't pay that kind of rent, and the construction jobs, et al, aren't going to last forever. Those contractors are going to be packing up and going home pretty soon, and who's going to pay those ridiculous rents? Not the locals. We'll move to Hattiesburg or someplace before we pay that.