Niceville vs Destin for young family (Miramar, Miramar Beach: 2014, rental, how much)

[alicat211]

Hello! We will be moving to the Destin area in Dec because my husband will be working at Eglin. We have two small children (2.5, 1) and will likely add to that while we are there I am really getting conflicting information about whether or not to live in Destin or Niceville.

I have friends who live in both, and both say the other is terrible. I have combed the threads, and still feel unsure. My friend who lives in Destin says the traffic isn't that bad for her and that there is nothing in Niceville and we would be bored. My friend in Nicevilel says its not worth being in the tourist area and they wanted the community feel.

We live in an amazing town rights now wheeeee everything is super close and we can walk to coffee, restaurants, farmers markets, etc. I'd hate to feel stuck out in the middl elf suburbia. At the same time, I don't want my hubby's commute to be terrible, and I want to be close to other stay at home moms. I feel like if we are that close to the beach, I should live somewhere that takes advantage of that (destin) but don't want to be in a transient neighborhood just for that.

Any/all advice appreciated!

[alicat211]

Please excuse my spelling and typos, the iPad kills me! Also, I think I am struggling because of how much we love our current area, so I feel like I have to make the "perfect" decision.

[Mike711]

I lived and worked in the Niceville and Destin area for about 19 years and honestly they are both great. Niceville is a great place and if you want to be closer to destin without having to fight the traffic I would recommend Blue Water Bay. It is a great community and right there by the Mid Bay bridge which gives you quick access to Destin. Bluewater Bay is also a short 15 min drive to base but depending where he works on the base, plan for 30 min. Also if you have children or plan to have any in the near future it is a great place to raise kids and it has great schools. If you want to do anything in the way of night life you will have to go to Destin, but again you will be right there close to it.

[Mike711]

Destin is great too but more expensive and during the summer the commute for him would be a bit of a battle, but not unbelievably so. If you have any questions I know both places very well and i am more than willing answer any questions.

[beachmouse]

95% of the population growth down here happened during of after World War 2, so the number of old school walkable areas is pretty small. There's downtown Ft. Walton Beach, and the Elliott Point area just north of there is okay, but probably not what you're looking for in terms of housing stock.

We're in Bluewater, and it does seem to be the best of both worlds in terms of having easy access to the beach and Destin Commons shopping area without having to really drive on US 98. It's just a straight shot across the toll bridge and you're there. It's also relatively pedestrian-friendly by Panhandle standards (the developer was a German guy with a thing for volksmarching) and I see a lot of people out with strollers there when the weather is good for it. Down side is that is can be a bit expensive by local standards, and your money won't go as far in Bluewater as even in some parts of Destin.

[alicat211]

Thanks! How far (minutes wise) is Destin (and beaches) from BWB? My Destin friend is saying that if we live in Niceville we'd never go to the beach after work, it would be a pain to get into Destin, etc. However, she only has 1 child who is in school so we do have different needs. I really want family-friendly, but don't want to have to drive forever just to grocery shop. It looks like BWB has lots of parks/pools which would be great for the kids.

My biggest concern with Destin is that it will feel to commercial and busy, and I'll be heading out to Nceville to meet up with other Moms anyway. It's hard to gphave any idea since we have never been there and don't have a feel for the area. We are thinking about just getting a vacation rental for the first month while we get to know the area.

[beachmouse]

From my part of Bluewater close to Hwy 20, it's a little more than a 10 minute drive to a part of Crystal Beach where you can find realistic parking, and slightly less than that to Destin Commons/Destin Publix. (Publix is seen as the premium grocery chain in Florida.) Niceville Publix is currently under development and supposed to open the first quarter of 2014.

Renting for a month is probably a good idea in general. In both your target areas, the housing market is very tight in the sub-$300K buy/$1500 a month rent range and you still aren't necessarily going to get a ton of options in $300-$400K and renting for a bit would give you time to see more homes before they get snapped up. Sub-$300K in Bluewater frequently goes under contract in 7-10 days, and there are rumors of minor bidding wars going on for homes that don't have original 1982 kitchens.* It's weird; it's like the more popular parts of the area are inching toward 2006 prices.

* Be prepared to pay a significant premium for either new construction- not too much undeveloped land that Eglin doesn't own in Niceville-Destin area that's got streets in for new construction right now- or remodeled to 21st century taste. If you're coming from California or Hawaii, you'll be thrilled with prices here, but if you're coming from a place like Texas, you'll find your money doesn't go as far as it seems like it should for small town Florida.

[southernnaturelover]

Once you live near the coast the beach gets kinda old fairly quickly. You probably won't go as often as you think you will.

[jghorton]

We live in Destin, but, perceive Niceville as more of a more family-oriented (less 'touristy'... and way less traffic) area -- My daughter also has some concern about the Walton and Destin schools for the grandkids.

As a sidelight, the Midbay Bridge toll is $3 ($6 per day round trip/Eglin)

[beachmouse]

Schools down here are by county, and Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, and Niceville are all Okaloosa County. Miramar Beach and Santa Rosa Beach are Walton County schools. (Yes, Santa Rosa Beach is NOT in Santa Rosa County, and Ft. Walton Beach is NOT in Walton County. You get used to that quick.) The elementary schools are generally all pretty good in that region, though I'd give the edge to Niceville there. Where Niceville gets a lot of its 'great schools' reputation is at the middle and high school level- lots of kids from there go on to he Ivies and Ivy-equivalents out of NHS. Destin is zoned for Ft. Walton Beach High School, which isn't quite as good as NHS but still significantly better than South Walton HS. (Walton County)

Though for a military family with rather small humans, I'm guessing the secondary school options don't matter so much.

You can knock $1 off toll bridge fare each way by getting a Sunpass transponder at and CVS or Publix and paying for it that way. It's also frequently quicker to get to use the Sunpass only lane instead of having to wait to pay a toll.