BILOXI vs Florida Panhandle (insurance, how much, hotels)

[Tiger Beer]

Any signs of a, say 'mediteranean' type of housing on the horizon? Or mostly just more typical brick...?

To me, something about being on the ocean and having palm trees and mediterranean housing is simply amazing....whereas brick makes me feel like I'm not quite there...

[Tama]

By Mediterranean do you mean stucco? I think they are actually trying to build housing that withstands the storms but is still affordable. Katrina cottages are going in which are raised and more cute and beachy than Mediterranean. Sadly, before Katrina Hwy 90, was a long stretch of white clapboard southern-style homes with window shutters, gardens, sunrooms, and palms. All that is gone now.

[bornjacksonian]

They planted palm trees and the foundation for the city is going well. Some of those pics I put up were pictures taken before Katrina. This was/is a beautiful place to me (proud mississippian), I remember how we used to go down to the coast all the time when I was young. Now that casinos are on land it gives the "coast" an opportunity to add the atlantic city feel to it along with your beach atomsphere. As they continue to add high rises and more developments are under way, Biloxi will get back to a booming city like before.

[Tiger Beer]

Is the military presense strong throughout Biloxi.

I imagine it is in the Florida Panhandle as well.

I know its ridiculous reason, but as a regular guy, it is a bit intimidating having tons of GI guys all over the place. Just curious if they have a miniscule presense or a overwhelming presense in Biloxi.

[mccarley]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Is the military presense strong throughout Biloxi.

I imagine it is in the Florida Panhandle as well.

I know its ridiculous reason, but as a regular guy, it is a bit intimidating having tons of GI guys all over the place. Just curious if they have a miniscule presense or a overwhelming presense in Biloxi.

I find it very comforting. You could try some neutral country.

[cia191630]

It's not overwhelming...but there is Keesler AFB which is a training facility, so the mall will have them in uniform especially on weekends...Gulfport also has the Seabees...I think you have more of a military presence in Pensacola though, it's like 3 bases there and they are all training facilities so you see more people in uniform there...in MS they are usually in civilian clothes so they blend in and you don't know.

[Tiger Beer]

I do like the idea of a representable number of Vietnamese around though! Do they have much of a presense...perhaps some good Vietnamese business establishments, like Vietnamese food in particular?

[beachmouse]

The Florida Panhandle really is three or four distinct areas, each of which have some unique characteristics while sharing some really beautiful beaches.

Penscaola- very old by North American standards city that definitely has more in common with Mobile, Biloxi, New Orleans than it does with Miami or Naples. Neat old school downtown and some reallu wonderful historic neighborhoods to the north and north east of there. Moderate military presence because of NAS Pensacola. Lots of very low income and low income neighborhoods in the areas just west and NW of downtown. Least touristy part of the area, though still easy to find a place to stay on the beach if you want to. A decent number of concerts make stops at the Pensacola Civic Center.

Ft. Walton Beach/Destin- a military town that didn't really exist before the organization that would become the Air Force developed Eglin AFB during WW2. Lacks the historic charm that you'd find in Pensacola or Panama City proper, but is in general a more affluent area and you've actually got to work pretty hard to find the bad parts of town. Destin developed as a resort area in the 1970s, and now has a lot of yearly tourist traffic, though it's a smaller and richer group than what you get in Panama City Beach.

Sizeable Asian population, mostly involving war brides, their kids, and relatives from over there who they've daisy-chained over here using family reunification visas. More Thai restaurants per capita than any other place I've seen in the Southeast. Really good restaurant options of many different types and if you know where to go, at prices that make the big city folks weep. Also a surprisngly high number of tech companies and science geeks in the area because of weapons development at Eglin AFB. Outside of the special ops guys, often hard to tell the active duty guys apart from the science geeks when everyone's in casual clothes.

Beaches of South Walton- very affulent resort area between Destin and PCB that tends to get lumped in with Destin, much to the protests of the South Walton residents. Lower density than Destin, and few condo towers once you get east of the Sandestin resort complex.

Panama City- beach area really is like As Seen On MTV. Some nice older areas in Panama City proper in the St. Andrews and Cove neighborhoods. Really nice new park (Frank Brown sports complex) and the Pier Park shopping complex in PCB in the past couple of years, and in general serves as a commercial hub for that part of the central Panhandle. Moderate military presence because of Tyndall AFB and the Coastal Systems complex.

[jxndean]

I've always wondered why there is a large Vietnamese population down on the MS coast. Why is this?

[cia191630]

there's not only NAS Pensacola, there's also Corry Station in Pensacola or very close to it and I believe there's a smaller base there too