Between Pace, East Hill & Gulf Breeze which is the least conservative? (Tampa: houses, neighborhood)

[sahara910]

I get that the area in general is not southern California. But are any of those three areas more open to non church goers, LGB community friendly etc? We may end up headed that way. I'm a big supporter of gay marriage/ equal rights for all (interatial etc) and have some gay family members to boot. Depending on how things go job wise, the commute would be into Pensacola. We lived in Tampa and found we hardly made the trek to the beach much but we do like to fish and kayak so places where we can do that relatively close by would be nice, and good schools but mostly... somewhere less close minded in general is prefered. (Everyone here has said Don't do it! the panhandle is so racist/ corner preacher screamers etc) :/

[beachmouse]

I'd go

1. East Hill- very artsy/close to downtown amenities, draws people interested in not just the same bland suburbia
2. Gulf Breeze- skews affluent business types, and, while not perfect, I think their demographic is a little more 'as long as you keep your yard nice, we're cool' sorts.
3. Pace- you're getting awful close to Alabama, and a lot of people buy homes up there to avoid having to send their kids to school with the 'wrong' kinds of other kids

[sahara910]

Thanks for the information. We have a pretty good budget (going from S. California) Are there any new construction still in East Hill or is it all established?

[leathergrrl]

One half of a butch-femme couple here. I'm an open lesbian activist, part of the leather crowd, very out writer who gives classes in how to write an erotic love scene while using dirty words. Never had a single problem in Pace in the 3 years we've been here and we go out together, and have made many friends who are not LGBTQ. Tolerance is not acceptance, no, but we'll take it given we've been places where tolerance was not even present. There's not an 'active' community to speak of in Pensacola or Pace but there are several LGBTQ bars. They skew more m/m than f/f but they are open which is something if you know how the LGBTQ bars across the country are always closing down or vanishing.

As to the comment made about people moving to Pace--well, Pace grew 171% between 2000-2010 and it is still growing. Part of it might be that up there but the bigger part of that is that schools are waaaaay less crowded than in P-Cola. Housing stock is better due to the high amount of new subdivisions being built and the prices are slightly lower than in Pensacola. Awful close to Alabama? If you cross the bridge to Pensacola you're only 15 minutes further than if you were in Pace, so that is sort of a moot point. Furthermore in some areas of Pensacola you'll be closer to Alabama than even Pace is. Like--Perdidio Key. Pace has grown to include a lot of stores and restaurants, most of them on Caroline Street (Also known as HWY 90). Traffic is not as congested as it is in P-Cola but it can get hectic during early mornings and in the evening when all the people who live over here head to Pensacola to work.

As to social injustice and rasicm? Trump stickers are now flying next to Confederate flags. Welcome to the year of flaunt your bigotry. And that's about all I know to say about that. Does racism exist here? Yes, just like it does everywhere. There's a lot of Hillary and Bern supporters in Pensacola and Pace too however.

Kayaking abounds all over. Blackwater River is close by, as is the bayous near East Hill's park. Simpson River in Pace provides good fishing as does Blackwater, which is situated in a nice state park. Big Lagoon Park near Perdido Key has a terrific kayaking but there's parts you might have to portage depending on the weather. Google kayaking in Pensacola. Also don't overlook the small but beautiful Navarre,which is where we head to avoid crowds and so forth for our summer beach fun. Destin's also close and it's freaking way more awesome than also nearby PCB. If you're a seafood foodie Destin and San Destin (And Ft Walton) are your spots.

Lastly I have never been screamed at by a preacher. Maybe it's because I flaunt my atheism widely and they're afraid they'll burst into flames if they get too close.

[leathergrrl]

Also, as to East Hill. We lived there first. Housing stock is low, and mainly already built. The houses vary from street to street. You can get a decent 'Mcmansion' for less than a cost of a 1200 sq. ft. place in, say, Encino or a smaller fixer-upper. It depends on your personal tastes I'd have to say. Mull the listings and see if the place appeals is my best advice. You have the added advantage of a nearby kayak launch there in the neighborhood but keep in mind it is in the same area as the doggie beach and you'll have to avoid both dogs and their owners in the water in some places. It does feature the dog beach and park but we no longer take our dogs there as the rates of infection in unvaccinated dogs and dog bites and fights got to be too much to risk considering we actually love our dogs. It's not recommended by vets--the dog park I mean--either, if that's a concern.

"Artsy"? I suppose that depends on your worldview. We've lived across the globe and I just can't seem to find anything at all 'artsy about East Hill unless you count the houses with the crazy windchimes or lawn art and the occasionally interesting(Architecturally) house. There are no 'true' galleries, interesting crowds or coffeehouse readings, though there is a coffeehouse, no 'cool' shops unless you're into running or water sports. There's not a huge 'artistic' crowd that lives there either I'm afraid. No clutch of writers or artists or performance artists or anything else that I would have to label as artsy. Most of the area musicians don't live in East Hill (too pricey) and there's not a lot happening in the neighborhood either. Your mileage may vary, and unless you look in downtown Pensacola you're not going to find much like that in the area either. Downtown has the artsy you need however--if that's what you are interested in. But it varies a lot. There's plenty of festival and art crawls and tiny bars and eateries and so forth downtown.

The people are a mixed bag. Some uptight Republicans and some liberals. It's as close to a 'gayborhood' as you are going to get, I suppose, but it's a shopping wasteland.I mean wasteland. Coming from SoCal that may or may not be an issue for you.

[sahara910]

Originally Posted by leathergrrl

Lastly I have never been screamed at by a preacher. Maybe it's because I flaunt my atheism widely and they're afraid they'll burst into flames if they get too close.

This made me literally LOL

Thank you SO much for this perspective. It's pretty dang hard to tell from clear across the country when everyone says "Well they don't call it lower Alabama for nothing!"

The office will be somewhere in Pensacola. So I think Navarre may be too far to live in but might make for good beach trips

We're secular Homeschoolers (2 out of 3 kids) so we already know we will be in a small minority as is.

[leathergrrl]

I have a weird sense of humor. Seriously, socio-economic disparity does exist here. So does racism. That's a worldwide thing and I encountered plenty of racism in SoCal in the late 80's when I was still out there and dating a big ol' Mexican baby butch (I'm white). I've seen bigotry in so many shapes and forms it isn't funny. I have never in my day to day life in Pensacola or Pace encountered it due to my sexuality. There's been people who looked at our kiddo, who's white, and our nephew, who's bi-racial, and went cross-eyed but they never said a word. But at my age my skin's also much thicker.But there's also a large amount of military personnel so that adds not only diversity but wider mindsets than many would assume.

[sahara910]

Oh I don't for once think I will avoid it all. But when I was in Atlanta there were some GE cities that still had KKK meetings. I need to not live in one of those

[beachmouse]

Unless you want to overspend for a designer swimsuit or need to pick up basics at the outlet malls in Foley or Destin, the shopping experience tends to be rather underwhelming across the Panhandle. The nearest Costco is in Mobile, AL; the nearest Whole Foods opens up in April in Destin. The nearest big city worth a road trip (I don't count Birmingham) is New Orleans about three hours away once you get onto I-10. Internet shopping is awesome.

I also feel like Florida, even the northern part, tends to be far more live and let live than the South proper. When the gay marriage rulings came down, Floridians just kind of shrugged and pondered 'How can I make some money on this?'. The Alabama side is still ranting about sin before the eyes of the Lord and Judge Moore is fixin' to get himself removed from office again for failing to follow the directives of the US Supreme Court.

The military does smacketh down racism (and presumably now, blatant homophobia) when it finds it. I have seen businesses get on the military blacklist for discrimination/civil rights reasons, and once a place is declared a no-go zone for the troops, it tends to close shortly after. Also, interracial marriages sometimes seem more common in the service than in the civilian world around here so if your family presents as such, you'll probably be assumed to be somehow military-affiliated.

For a place that was designed to be as inoffensive as possible, Pace tends to be a polarizing place- either you love all the shiny newness of it or think it's urban sprawl hell with no soul. (You can guess where I fall). If you can ignore the odd Confederate flag, I actually like the Milton-Bagdad area better- some more diverse housing stock, and Milton has a cute historic downtown on the river.

There is a lot of public land and waterways around here. In addition to the usual state forests and such, get a rec pass for Eglin Reservation from the Jackson Guard office in Niceville- runs about $15 per person and my friends who kayak say that it offers a lot more wildnerness than you get on the Blackwater River.

[sahara910]

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty stressed out in general about potentially moving BACK across the country again. And only 3 hours to New Orleans? Well that's a bonus I have never been there But the whole no Costco/ Whole Foods thing is a bummer