Living in Fort Walton Beach FL

Are you getting ready to relocate to the Fort Walton Beach Florida area but you're not sure if you're going to like it or not? Well, in this video, I'm going to talk about why living in Fort Walton Beach might help if you can handle these 10 facts.

Alright. So, living in Fort Walton Beach might be hell unless you can handle these 10 FACTS.

1. NEIGHBORHOODS

Let's talk about the neighborhoods. There are inconsistent neighborhoods here in the Fort Walton Beach area. What I mean by that is that, you know, Fort Walton Beach is a bit of an older town. So, there are a lot of older homes. However, there's a lot of newer construction homes as well. Lots of lots been cleared out to make space for newer homes. So, even if you are focusing on something a little newer, you might go into that neighborhood. You know, great looking area, find a new construction home, and then right across the street from it, you might still see like a manufactured home or maybe an old abandoned home. Just might not be easy on the eyes. You'll have a lot of areas to where there's not a lot of HOA communities out here. So, not too many areas where people are forced to maintain their yards or you know, their property in general. So, you might come across the neighborhood to where you have every other home that's just absolutely stunning. And the lawn is well groomed, bushes are trimmed, flowers blooming. And then, you might also see across the street or next door to that home. There's a home that's just, you know, has lots of stuff sitting outside, not put away. Might have abandoned vehicles or car parts or old bicycles, motorcycles, RVs, old motor homes, just whatever they don't want to get rid of. They have it right outside of their home to where everybody can see. And then, you know, the next other house down or the two houses down, there's going to be another well maintained home. So, it just doesn't kind of flow together in one neighborhood. But again, with Fort Walton Beach growing the way it is. Again, you'll still see a lot of newer homes, but there are still lots of older homes too. Even a lot of older homes have been completely renovated and, you know, up to today's modern look. However, not every neighborhood has that and some neighborhoods do still kind of have that older feel to it. But then right down the street, there'll be a, what feels like a whole new subdivision. So, there's not a whole lot of consistency when it comes to the neighborhoods here on the Fort Walton Beach.

2. HOMES ARE CLOSER TOGETHER

Speaking of homes, a lot of the homes are closer together. So, whenever we have people that reach out to us looking for homes, they talk about how they would love a big yard. They have dogs and children or maybe they would want a pool. Or if it doesn't already have a pool, they want space to be able to have one put in. However, when they start looking in the Fort Walton Beach area, they do see that their options are limited when it comes to the lot size. There are a lot of homes to where, especially the newer homes, where lots have been cleared to build new homes. They're kind of putting them where they can fit them in. So, it will start to feel kind of congested, a little tight together, you know, you feel like you can reach out one window and kind of knock on your neighbor's window, kind of like that. So, a lot of people are not too crazy about that. They don't want to be too close to the neighbors. They don't want to hear what's going on in the neighbor's home. They don't want to feel like they're actually in a townhome or multifamily home. So, I have come across that issue with a lot of buyers that need more space, more distance from the neighborhood or from the neighbors. Or need more room to add more stuff to their backyard like the pool or fire pit, or just a general play area for their kids. There's just not a lots of options within Fort Walton Beach that I've seen these days. But again, they're just, with all the new construction going on, they're just trying to lots of areas where they can just fit them in regardless of the lot size as long as the home looks beautiful. But again, that doesn't work for a lot of people who need that extra space.

3. AIR TRAFFIC

Let's talk about air traffic. So, of course, Fort Walton Beach, is right in between two military bases. There's Eglin Airforce Base and Hurlburt Field Airforce Base. So, with that being said, you're going to hear a lot of the airplanes going over, you know, across your homes if you're living within Fort Walton Beach. There's also the airport right there by Eg;in airforce base. So, even if you live in the north part of Fort Walton Beach, you'll probably hear more of that. So, if that bothers you, if you don't like to hear the airplanes or maybe it actually scares you to hear airplanes that close to your home, Fort Walton Beach might not be for you because it's that, even a lot of people like the sound of it, it's the sound of freedom. Other people might not like that so much because it's just annoying or maybe they're light sleepers and it wakes up up a lot. Maybe they have babies or children that wake up easy and can't finish their nap or can't sleep through the night because they're hearing a lot of ear noise. So, if you, in fact don't like to be close to airports or be around the airplanes then, Fort Walton Beach would definitely not be for you. With the two military bases and the airport close by, wouldn't work out for you.

4. NO AMUSEMENT PARKS

There's no amusement parks per se in Fort Walton Beach. So, if you are coming from an area such as, like Orlando, that's a big one of course. Or even, you know more South Florida, where there's SeaWorld Fish Gardens. Of course, in Orlando, you have Disney World and Universal Studio. If you live in an area like that to where you just have that quick and easy access to all that fun, the amusement parks where they have the roller coaster rides, and all the fun things to do. Fort Walton Beach would definitely not be it for you because we don't have that in this area. There are a little mini amusement park that you can probably enjoy. There is a Wild Willy's Adventure Zone on Okaloosa Island. It's a little small. Well, they have a go carts and pet pet golf. They do have an arcade and have a wall climbing or like a wall climbing thing that you can enjoy with even kids. And then, there is the Gulfarium also on Okaloosa Island, it's next to the Boardwalk. So, if you do like to see the sea animals, there is a little spot for that in Fort Walton Beach. It actually is expanding. They're in the process of adding on a dolphin oasis. So, it's great to see that expanding as well to have more animals to enjoy here in the area. But of course, it's nothing like SeaWorld. And there's also, there's a water park in Destin, not too far for Fort Walton Beach. And if you really want to enjoy something a little bit bigger, you'd have to head a couple hours down to Panama City Beach and enjoy, I think it's Shipwreck Island. But outside of that, I mean, we do have our annual county fair that makes its rounds every year out of the Fairgrounds. But other than that, there's not much of a, amusement park environment here in the Fort Walton Beach area. So, if you like that every so often and not have to travel far then, Fort Walton Beach wouldn't be for you.

5. POLICE ARE EVERYWHERE

What you might not like about Fort Walton Beach is that you do see police everywhere. So, I guess this is directed towards those of you that are little troublemakers out there. People that don't like to follow rules. I know every time I'm out, maybe it's just because I'm very aware of what's around me, I do see a lot of police. Whether they're in front of me, behind me, or cruising parking lots, or off the shoulder waiting to catch somebody doing wrong. They are out there everywhere. So, if you're one that don't like to follow the rules, you like to speed, you have your heavy foot. Or, you don't like to keep up with your registration, have expired tags, or you don't maintain your vehicle. You have your bulbs are out, your taillights out, headlights out. Maybe, you don't like to use your current signal or maybe you just like to speed through school zones or just any rule out there in general that will get you pulled over. That might not fly right with you here in Fort Walton Beach because the police are out there. I mean, they're not out there just completely harassing you. But again, if you are one of the ones that just like to bury all the rules, then you will definitely get caught here. So definitely, you would not want to consider Fort Walton Beach if you don't like to play by the rules. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people, I'm guilty of doing a little speeding here and there. I might realize it might not. However, I do try to to play it safe here. I need a good clean driving record especially with my line of work. I do need my car, I do need the license, I do need to drive everywhere I need to be. So again, if you're a bit of a troublemaker, then you might not like this area with all the police that we do have floating around.

6. LOTS OF TOURIST

We do have a lot of tourists in the area. So, if you do not like to live in an area where there's a lot of people coming and going, then the Fort Walton Beach may not be for you either. Now, these tours would more so be probably in the south part of FortWalton Beach and Okaloosa Islands, while the condos, and of course the fabulous beach is located. However, there are people that will still kind of make their way into town. They might want to try and find a place to shop or to eat. So, they would need to come more into town for that. There are options in downtown Fort Walton Beach near Okaloosa Island, so it'll be more congested there in that area with the tourist. However, again, if you don't like to be in an area with to see lots of new faces or people that just don't know what they're doing or where they're going, that might hurt your nose a little bit. So if you don't like to be in a place where you'll see a lot of new faces, then you definitely wouldn't like the Fort Walton Beach because they're out there floating around, you'll see new people every day.

7. NO BIG SHOPPING MALL

We don't have a big shopping mall here in Fort Walton Beach. So, if you're a big shopaholic, like to shop to your drop, then you might need to head out somewhere else, maybe to Destin or Pensacola, Florida. Fort Walton Beach does have a mall called the Santa Rosa Mall, but there's not a whole lot going on with it. There's a lot of stores that are shut down. There's a lot of vacant stores in there. It's not, not doing so well these days, not the way it was back when I was a teenage and used to hang out on the mall a lot. So, there's not many shopping options in the mall here. But, we do have other areas like there's a, uptown station. You went there for a minute, there's uptown station off the Eglin Parkway. So, there's some retail stores there like Ross and Five Below, Ulta beauty, there's a Winn Dixie, there's also Buffalo Wild Wings, and Thai ramen if you like some Thai food, a few other options there as well. There's Starbucks, of course, Baskin-Robbins let me not forget about that. And there's also going out towards Mary Esther, you'll see before you get to Santa Rosa Mall, you'll come across like TJ Maxx. There's Bells and there's a couple pet stores in the area as well. But other than that, nothing big, nothing fancy. Again, you'd have to head out to Destin if you like to do some hardcore shopping and hit up Destin Commons or the Silver Sands Outlet or maybe go to Pensacola and go to the Cordova Mall or even ride out the Panama City. But, you don't have too many big options here in the Fort Walton Beach area as far as shopping.

8. TRAFFIC

As we mentioned in a lot of our videos, we talk about the traffic. You are maybe from a smaller town to where maybe there's like one, four way intersection and stop signs and no stop lights or maybe the caution light. You might get a little annoyed here in the Fort Walton Beach because we do have a lot of traffic in certain parts of the year, certain areas, of course, with this being a military town. We have a lot of military members that have, you know, work the same shift to getting off work. At the same time, we're heading to work at the same time, people getting out of school. Though it'll just drive the traffic congestion up a little bit higher and they have upwards and peak season when all the tourists are joining in all the fun as well. You'll definitely hit up a lot of traffic. But again, you just, if you don't have the patience for that, then you might want to stay away from Fort Walton Beach. We do have Highway 98, which is the main road that kind of zips through the coastal areas that, you know, goes from Pensacola through Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Mary Esther, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Miramar. It's the one road that goes straight through. So, you don't really care for the traffic, again, just kind of stay away from Fort Walton beach area, you might want to head out maybe a little further north away from the congested area.

9. A LOT OF CHILDREN

In Fort Walton Beach, you'll see a lot of children everywhere, which is a great thing. But, if you don't like to be around a lot of children, then this area would not be for you because, again, with the neighborhood's the way they are a little congested and cramped. You'll see a lot of kids nearby whether they're out there playing. They could be making a lot of noise, just having a good time. You might consider them just being obnoxious, but kids are kids. I think they're going to just be off in their own world, whether they're quiet or loud. And of course, the school zones. You'll have a lot of schools that are kind of closed together that with the high schools and the middle schools and even with the elementary schools. You're going to come across a lot of school zones in the morning and afternoon, which is also going to contribute to that traffic I just talked about. But again, there's a lot of children around. I know there's a lot of people that kind of don't like to be around that. They work their nerves a little bit. Maybe they just, maybe don't have children on their own or have grown children and just don't want to have anything to do with the, you know when the children are innocent and friendly for in most cases. However, if you don't like to be around that, you don't like to have children playing around your home, maybe close to your property, or you don't even like to hear children playing, or you don't like to be in your school to where you have to deal with kids walking by or riding bikes, then you either need to make sure you pinpoint just the right area where you won't have to come across all that or pretty much just find an area where there's not so much children that reside in that area.

10. A LOT OF NEIGHBORS THAT COME AND GO

This is for people that get very attached to other people. There are a lot of neighbors that come and go because there's a lot of military families in the area. So, if you grow to love your neighbors wherever you live, it's kind of hard to, you know, grab that attachment with your neighbors and become good friends. Maybe your children become great friends with their children and you learn to love their children like they were your own. It gets a little hard to say bye to them when it's time for them to move on. Because they are a military family and they got orders to relocate. So, I remember experiencing that when I was a child. I was a military brat myself. So, it was hard to kind of pack up and leave, say bye to my friends. And same thing, if I am living somewhere and got settled in and made a new friend next door, a few doors down. And next thing I know, just when we started to build a good bond, they had to move away. So again, if you like to just have the same neighbors and just kind of just kick it together for long, long time years to come. It's kind of hard to get that around here in the Fort Walton Beach area with so many people just coming and going. That could be a big disappointment for you if you are living in the Fort Walton Beach area.

Alright. Well, if you can't handle those 10 facts, then maybe Fort Walton Beach would not be right for you. However, that's all for today guys. If you have any comments, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com