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Tell me about Pensacola, Florida please....

MJ5150

MJ5150

Moderator
Staff member
Gold Supporting Member
Apr 12, 2001
17,408
35,736
Edinburg, Texas
#1
I got a job offer today as a Senior System Admin for a wireless company in Pensacola, Florida. The benefit package includes relocation expenses. I am somewhat excited about the job. If I take the job, I will be moving with my wife and 18 year old son.

Now I know about the hurricanes, but what else do I need to know? I'm not interested in the music scene or cool bass shops. I need to know about the everyday things that are going to concern my wife, my son, and myself.

Things of interest to us would be.....
What kinds of bugs are there and are there lots of them?
What are the roads and streets like?
Is there a level one trauma center nearby?
Do people generally take care of their yards and belongings?
Is crime a major problem?
Is it a big tourist area?
What is the average age of most of the people in the area? How racially diverse is it, and dominated by what race?
Is the community environmentally friendly, and proactive about protecting it?
What is the public transportation like?
Are there any big all indoor malls?
How about the dining scene? Lots of choices?

Anything else along those lines that you could add would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

-Mike
 
#5
MAJOR METAL said:
" The humidity is deadly !"
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know about that too. I grew up in Pennsylvania which has it's own flavor of humidity. But I have also spent about a month over the last year in New Orleans and that is as close to deadly as a man can get without actually being dead.

My blood thinned out pretty quick though, and I learned to work like the locals do....early in the morning and later in the evening. The midday is left for sipping tea and chewing on hickory twigs. :D

-Mike
 
#7
Pacific Northwest to Atlantic Southeast. That's one heck of a move to bust. A mere upstate relocation in Cali was daunting (for me). Visit there. Now. Insist that your employer give you ample time to make an informed and investigated (first-hand) decision. That's the general view I take. Pensacola specifically, for me, however, was a splendor and a delight. I was there May - July 1983. Military type post/training. Pensacola was my favorite place from there to Memphis to PA. But nothing matches Cali (grins).
 
#8
onewebfoot said:
Visit there. Now. Insist that your employer give you ample time to make an informed and investigated (first-hand) decision.
Click to expand...

Good idea!

They want me to fly down, on their dime, soon to let me meet the folks on my team and check the place out. I told the guy I wasn't going to accept the job until I could spend a day or two in and around the facility and town to make sure I am comfortable.

They have not put any kind of pressure on me to accept the offer by a certain time. I do know they want me, they increased the relocation package by almost $5K today from their first offer. I said I would need time to pack, and the guy told me they would take care of all of that, and then he increased the relocation package to cover packing and moving. All we need to do is drive down.

This is all kind of overwhelming. I need to think about it some more. The hurricane thing scares me good.

-Mike
 
#9
I know I'm going to offend some folks here...

But the biggest problem with Pensacola is that it's in Florida. Lousy place to visit and I sure as heck wouldn't want to live there. Florida just gives me the creeps for some reason.

But that's just me.

I live in Illinois, we have humidity AND sub-zero temperatures.

Never said I was smart.
 
#10
High humidity, lots of rain, stays in the 80s and 90s for most of the year. Extremely mild winter (basically not much of one at all).

There are some nice parts, and some crappy parts (just like any town). It's not that big of a city, so traffic is not really a concern. There's a decent sized Navy Base, and it's pretty close to an Air Force base, so there's a constant military presence.

Don't worry about the hurricane thing. I lived in FL for a long time, and there were only two hurricane seasons that did a significant amount of damage to the state (Hurricane Andrew back around 92 and the one a couple years ago). FL has learned a lot about how to deal with hurricanes, so when they come, the state is very prepared.

I don't remember much about malls and shopping there...I only visited P-Cola a few times while my wife was stationed there. But I know there are lots of restaurants, and a lot of smaller mom and pop kind of places. I do remember a huge, fairly new movie theater, and of course the beach!

As far as bugs, it's FL. There's a lot. Mosquitoes and palmetto bugs (aka bigass flying roaches) are the worst ones. Regular pest control and a screened porch make a huge difference.

Didn't hear much about crime. It's not anywhere near as bad as places like Miami or Atlanta.

Pensacola itself isn't a huge tourist spot. Further down the beach is Panama City. THAT is. Especially during spring break. But it won't really effect you living in Pensacola. Your 18yr old son will love it though ;)

As far as environmental awareness, FL is kind of the California of the south. There are extensive recycling and conservation efforts. Most cities issue you recycling bins to be used in conjunction with your trash cans.

I mentioned the military aspect...there are some positive aspects. Besides the obvious influx of money into the local economy, military people are constantly being shuffled around. That means there are always houses, vehicles, music gear, etc, being sold on the cheap. It stinks when you have a lot of military friends, because just as you really get to know them, they end up having to move away! (I was in the AF for 8 years, so I know have friends spread all over the world!)

I wish I could give you more details about P-Cola, but I lived mostly in Orlando and Gainesville. Hope I helped a little! PM me if you have more questions.
 
#11
MoD_Scotty said:
High humidity, lots of rain, stays in the 80s and 90s for most of the year. Extremely mild winter (basically not much of one at all).

There are some nice parts, and some crappy parts (just like any town). It's not that big of a city, so traffic is not really a concern. There's a decent sized Navy Base, and it's pretty close to an Air Force base, so there's a constant military presence.

Don't worry about the hurricane thing. I lived in FL for a long time, and there were only two hurricane seasons that did a significant amount of damage to the state (Hurricane Andrew back around 92 and the one a couple years ago). FL has learned a lot about how to deal with hurricanes, so when they come, the state is very prepared.

I don't remember much about malls and shopping there...I only visited P-Cola a few times while my wife was stationed there. But I know there are lots of restaurants, and a lot of smaller mom and pop kind of places. I do remember a huge, fairly new movie theater, and of course the beach!

As far as bugs, it's FL. There's a lot. Mosquitoes and palmetto bugs (aka bigass flying roaches) are the worst ones. Regular pest control and a screened porch make a huge difference.

Didn't hear much about crime. It's not anywhere near as bad as places like Miami or Atlanta.

Pensacola itself isn't a huge tourist spot. Further down the beach is Panama City. THAT is. Especially during spring break. But it won't really effect you living in Pensacola. Your 18yr old son will love it though ;)

As far as environmental awareness, FL is kind of the California of the south. There are extensive recycling and conservation efforts. Most cities issue you recycling bins to be used in conjunction with your trash cans.

I mentioned the military aspect...there are some positive aspects. Besides the obvious influx of money into the local economy, military people are constantly being shuffled around. That means there are always houses, vehicles, music gear, etc, being sold on the cheap. It stinks when you have a lot of military friends, because just as you really get to know them, they end up having to move away! (I was in the AF for 8 years, so I know have friends spread all over the world!)

I wish I could give you more details about P-Cola, but I lived mostly in Orlando and Gainesville. Hope I helped a little! PM me if you have more questions.
Click to expand...

+1 to everything. I live about an hour away and visit at least a couple times a month to make the rounds in the local music shops. Pensacola is a nice place. There are good and bad spots of town, the downtown area is nice and quaint, and the music scene is pretty good. The civic center always has big acts playing.

Sacred Heart hospital is a level one trauma center, I believe. There are two large indoor malls. From what I've seen, the population is about half white, half black. Can't comment on the bugs or weather as I've dealt with them my whole life and don't really notice them anymore.

Can't believe no one has mentioned the beach yet! That's always a plus in my book. Definitely give it a visit!
 
#14
Not too much to add from me, except that I like to head over to P'cola to surf and fish. Surfing gets better a little further east, and fishing is better a little west, but it's a good medium. The beaches are beautiful!

There's a few TBers from P'Cola. Off-hand I can think of Wolfhollow (sp?) and Rhett, but I know there's a few others. And luthier Jacob Marchlewski is a little east of there.

Let us know if you're heading down this way sometime, Mike!

Mr.Chucklebunny said:
I know I'm going to offend some folks here...

But the biggest problem with Pensacola is that it's in Florida. Lousy place to visit and I sure as heck wouldn't want to live there. Florida just gives me the creeps for some reason.

But that's just me.

I live in Illinois, we have humidity AND sub-zero temperatures.

Never said I was smart.
Click to expand...

No offense taken, because you would be very hard-pressed to get me to move from Mobile to P'Cola, but it seems to me that you really have no idea what you're talking about. The whole Gulf Coast area, from New Orleans over to Tallahassee, extending 50 (+/-) miles inland,
is like a different region altogether than the states represented. Much of Alabama thinks that Mobile and Baldwin counties are like separate entities unto themselves. The same holds true for many of the coastal Mississippi counties, and definitely much of the NW Florida Panhandle. Just traveling within Florida, going from Pensacola to somewhere like Miami or Tampa would seem like going from Omaha to New York. Different worlds.
 
#15
Thanks for the info fella's. I appreciate the input.

Does it really rain a lot down there? I don't mind the rain really, but I didn't think it rained a lot down there.

When I look around with Google Earth, it does look really nice. The beach does not look too far away. I'm about two hours from the ocean right now where I live. My wife totally digs the ocean, so she is excited about the prospect of being even closer.

The level one trauma center is a big deal to us. Not because we plan on being there often, but the quality of health care in a city with a level one trauma center is typically higher than areas where there is not one.

Good to know there is an active effort to be environmentally friendly. The one thing that disappoints me about my hometown in Pennsylvania is that they are light years behind on being environmentally friendly. When I was back there in February, it was sad to see how little effort is made on recycling and such. I'm no tree hugging granola head, but I like to know my community is interested in protecting and cleaning up the environment.

Is the city itself a clean city? I know there are bad parts of any city, but is it generally a clean looking and smelling area?

What about housing? We're going to rent for the first six months. Let's say I worked downtown. Can I live close to downtown without spending a fortune on rent? Many of the rentals I have seen online are very fairly priced, but also kind of old. I don't mind old, but I also like newer places. No apartments for us though, it has to be a house.

-Mike
 
#16
Mr.Chucklebunny said:
I know I'm going to offend some folks here...

But the biggest problem with Pensacola is that it's in Florida. Lousy place to visit and I sure as heck wouldn't want to live there. Florida just gives me the creeps for some reason.

But that's just me.

I live in Illinois, we have humidity AND sub-zero temperatures.

Never said I was smart.
Click to expand...

No offence taken. I wish every northerner felt the same way you do :eyebrow:
 
#17
Mike -

My father grew up in Pensacola, and I spent a lot of time there when I was growing up, as Slidell, LA is just over 3 hours away and we visited a lot.

Of the state of Florida, the panhandle is the ONLY part I would ever consider living in again, ever. It's not overcrowded, the weather isn't quite as oppressive as central/south FL, and there are some amazing beaches. The fishing is awesome, and the music scene along the whole northern GC coast is actually fairly solid.

Oh, you do realize if you moved there, you'd have to become a Saints fan, right? :D
 
#19
Wait a minute...I was born in NY but grew up in FL! WHY I OUGHTTA!

Back on topic:

Pensacola is kind of a small town. It has a downtown, but nothing like Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Atlanta, etc. So no matter where you live, you're no more than like 15-20min away from wherever you want to go. That's also the reason why there's no major traffic. The population is only about 53,000 within the city limits. Here's a site with some really good numbers for you to crunch:

http://www.city-data.com/city/Pensacola-Florida.html

Looks like there's only 1 murder per year.
 
#20
Gard said:
Of the state of Florida, the panhandle is the ONLY part I would ever consider living in again, ever. It's not overcrowded, the weather isn't quite as oppressive as central/south FL, and there are some amazing beaches. The fishing is awesome, and the music scene along the whole northern GC coast is actually fairly solid.

Oh, you do realize if you moved there, you'd have to become a Saints fan, right? :D
Click to expand...

Thank you for that bit of info Gard. I am getting that same vibe from other people about the Pensacola area. The only thing that really concerns me right now are the bugs. She isn't one of those "OMG, a bug on the ground!!" women, but my wife would not like to live somewhere that bugs affect how you go about your business everyday. This could be a sticking point in the move, seriously. I am not about to force my wife to move anywhere. Any of us married guys know......if momma ain't happy, ain't no one happy. :)

About the Saints.....sh-yeah right, as if! I lived in the shadows of the Holmgren Empire for the last nine years and never once thought of converting, even after the oh-so controversial SB XL.

The Steelers are in my blood pal, just like the Saints are in yours.

-Mike
 

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