More info about crestview (Niceville, Destin: rental, cheap house, to buy)

[GroovyGrandmomma]

Could someone who lives in or near Crestview give us some idea what it is like to live there? When we visited recently we only had 2 days to look around. The people that we spoke to were friendly, but to be honest, im a little nervous about moving. It was very hot and muggy when we were there last week, and some people told us that there were seasons there. Obviously, it hasn’t gotten to the cool down season there..... Is the area there conservative? Does anyone know if there is art groups or classes there? I know that’s a lot of questions but like I said, I’m nervous

[slduvall]

Not sure what seasons they were referring to, maybe gnat or mosquito or hurricane? JUST Kidding!! We don't really have 4 distinct seasons, its about 84 this morning, but not as humid as it has been, so that is nice. The humidity will go away, and the temps will drop. It can get in the 30's at night and early mornings, but it isn't often that the temp will stay that low all day, but it does happen. But it is a wet cold, so many find it bone chilling. Crestview, being a little further from the Gulf gets a little colder than say Niceville and more rain/thunderstorms, due to the Gulf breezes, and Niceville gets more than Destin.

Historically, Crestview was conservative and a more closed off town, not that welcoming to outsiders. I'm talking 60's/70's, when my dad was thinking about moving up there. He was trying to buy some land, and the guy wouldn't even show it to him or let him on the property at all. Told him to back his fancy truck up and git! He had gotten our last name from the realtor, and assumed we belonged to family with the same name that he didn't like. It took awhile, but as land is limited in the south part of the county, and the bases around it grew in population, Crestview became the place to find affordable housing. It still is. So basically it serves as a housing area for commuters to the various bases, and the necessities have popped up, Walmart etc. It actually has more shopping than Niceville. But having cheap houses brings it owns problems.

As for being conservative, generally the whole area would be considered conservative, church is huge part of family life around here, but it's not in your face conservative. Not sure about art classes, but Niceville does have some.

That being said, I wouldn't buy a home there with just visiting for two days. Renting maybe.

[Bayouliving]

In this area we do have seasons but not very extreme. We have been known to still be boating at Thanksgiving. Sometimes at Christmas we are running the air conditioner but sometimes we have had snow flurries! Most of the time the weather is great. We do have a lot of humidity. That seems to get to people when they first move here. The whole area is friendly and you will feel right at home. It is very conservative in this area. We are surrounded by several military bases and that really helps our economy. Definitely art classes in Niceville. There's Northwest Florida state College located in Niceville and the school really offers a lot of great classes in all kinds of subjects. It also has the Mattie Kelly Arts Center where we are blessed to have great shows scheduled. You can go online and check out what's scheduled for this season. You probably do need to spend more than two days down here to get a feel for the whole area. You might want to visit Crestview, Niceville, Shalimar, Ft. Walton and check out the rental and housing market to see where you would be most comfortable.