Moving from Naples to Pensacola? (Niceville, Milton: apartments, job market, transfer)

[alexis1027]

I'm a single mom to an 7 year old autistic son. I'm thinking of moving from Naples, FL to Pensacola or surrounding area. I've heard of East Hill Academy in P'cola as an autism school....does anyone know of any others? Is this a good school? What about apartments in good areas? I don't know what my budget will be, but hopefully the cost of living is lower there than here. How is the job market? I currently work for the county, so I'd like to try to transfer up there. Any info on P'cola, Niceville, Milton, etc would be great.

[Boricua80]

Originally Posted by alexis1027

I'm a single mom to an 7 year old autistic son. I'm thinking of moving from Naples, FL to Pensacola or surrounding area. I've heard of East Hill Academy in P'cola as an autism school....does anyone know of any others? Is this a good school? What about apartments in good areas? I don't know what my budget will be, but hopefully the cost of living is lower there than here. How is the job market? I currently work for the county, so I'd like to try to transfer up there. Any info on P'cola, Niceville, Milton, etc would be great.

Hi,

I have heard of East Hill Academy, but am not sure as to the quality of the school.

I used to live in P'cola although now I'm in Los Angeles. I'd say you can find apartments in good areas just east of Cordova Mall (the main mall there) and areas to the northeast, like around Nine Mile Road. Anything to the east and northeast of downtown are the best. If you can get something around Scenic Hwy you're doing great!

The cost of living isn't too bad, and is probably cheaper than Naples, unless you live right on the beach areas, and Gulf Breeze is rather high too.

I would NOT live in Niceville. It is small and probably a bit backward, with not much to do or see.

Milton is fairly inexpensive and about a half hour northeast of Pensacola, but it is tiny and also nothing to do.

Check out the jobs in Pensacola before you move, as the economy there right now isn't too keen. If you get a job, everything else will follow.

I hope this helps!

[alexis1027]

When you say "not much to do" in Niceville or Milton, what do you consider stuff to do? We don't get out much here b/c everything is so expensive, but all we really need is a fairly close beach, a few parks to choose from, and maybe bowling/movies/mini-golf. We don't mind the drive to P'cola for a museum or something like that. And as it turns out, I won't need a special school for my son since we got an IEP from the public school, so that helps. Thanks for the info!