Living in Destin Florida Pros and Cons

So you're thinking about moving here to the Destin area and you're wondering what the pros are and what the cons are for living here. Well, lucky for you, we came up with the top five pros and top five cons for living here in the beautiful Destin area. And make sure to stick around to the end because we added a couple extra pros that you won't want to miss. So stay tuned.

CONS: 

All right. So let's jump right into it. We're going to start with the top five cons for living here in the Destin area.

#5.  Which is the lack of public accesses to beaches in this area.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of beautiful, gorgeous beaches out here, but the public access, to these areas, aren't that great in the city of Destin. There's only a couple of different places for you to be able to get in, but we're going to tell you about those because the ones that you can get to are fantastic.

#4.  The extra costs that you have there.

There are a lot of extra things that you have to consider being in the center of everything. You have to pay for extra fees for parking in some areas. Now this could be common in most areas that you may go vacation in, but this is something new that just came out just recently. To get down to some of the places that you want to go, you're going to have to pay to park, now. Also, as a resident of Destin, there are a lot of regulations and taxes that go along with that. So it may take you a little bit longer to get the things that you need to get done. Just know, because it is a tourist town, that the food, beverages and services, they're going to be up there a little bit more in the price, but totally worth it to be in the middle of everything.

# 3. There's tons of tourists here.

There's tons of tourists here, because it's gorgeous. Yes, it does have a tourist feel. The Destinates will have the actual place to themselves right around, we're going to say, the beginning of November all the way until about spring break starts and that's where the locals have it back. But other than that, it's packed full of happy people, beach goers, people just checking out the area and just having a great time. So that can impede that.

#2. There's lots of aircraft noise.

If you're not used to that, it could drive you crazy. Most people here were veterans of the military or the air force. They're really used to hearing this. There's actually a small airport in Destin. And then just across the way is Eglin Air Force Base. It's super cool that you get to see these military aircraft flying around in formation and doing everything, but it can get loud and annoying sometimes. And if you're on the approach path of the airport at Destin, it can get a little bit noisy there and could drive you a little crazy.

# 1. The traffic.

Oh my God, the traffic. The traffic is so bad, sometimes. Now, there's ways to mitigate it. If you have Google maps and you can see where the traffic is, you may want to go all the way around the sound in order for you to get back to your destination, depending on where you're going. If you're living in Destin, that's not a huge deal because there are back roads for you to get around. But traveling through, in the heart of the tourist season, the traffic just, it sucks. It doesn't move, people aren't used to it. It's not regular Floridians that are driving around. It just can get pretty crazy. So, traffic's number one for our cons.

PROS:
All right, let's jump right into the top five pros for living here in Destin.

#5.  Is the cost of living. 

The average home price in Destin is $317,000. Now, that's the average. Know that there are million dollars on the beach, multimillion dollar properties, all the way into a couple of trailer parks. So, that's the median range. You'll see something that's pretty affordable and nice, anywhere around 250 to 300 is actually pretty good to be able to get your foot in the door and be in a nice, well, where you could consider respectful place. The average rent in this area is around $1,404. And the average household income for this area is 75,500.

# 4. Is the beaches. 

Oh yes. The beaches here are amazing. We have Henderson park, which is a national park that they do have here, to go out and check the beaches out. They have Norriega point, which actually was just wiped out in a hurricane, not too long ago, probably like 15 years ago. And then just recently they dredged the area and made the peninsula back out. So it is now another park that you can go out to. It's all been set up. It's absolutely gorgeous. If you can get out there and through the parking.

And then of course, a personal favorite of mine, is Crab Island. It's not a real Island. It's actually an Island that sits below at least two feet of water or more, where people just go out on their boats and they just dock tie, tie off to each other, and then they spend out all day with barges, that have music playing, there's other people. And of course, being in this area, there's so many friendly people that are around here that just going out in the day in crab Island is so much fun. Just make sure you got yourself a designated boat driver when you do go out there, if you like to party.

#3. The Harbor Walk.

The Harbor Walk is the strip that's just over the bridge, just to the right, where it's just lined up with different shops. It's got the Emerald Grande that sits right there. There's actually a zip line that goes all the way down. There's a free fall place. They always have carts. There's usually some music going on. Lots of food choices, games for the kids. There's a Margarita there, right on the strip. And cool thing is, is you can take your beer at one end or whatever libation that you'd like and walk all the way down to the other. And at the other end, there's a big stage. There's another bar there. All this time you're going by all the peers and everything else, which you can have access to all the boats and water sports and things of that nature. Is just absolutely a great time. If you'd like to go out, bring the family, it's so much fun.

# 2. Is the weather. 

The weather in Destin and the surrounding areas is amazing. It is anywhere between, on average, between 60 degrees all the way up to like 90 plus degrees. The thing that does get you is a bit of the humidity, but once you get used to that, everything's just fantastic here. If you like the heat, this is the place to be. Even if you're here in the winter time, it really just doesn't get that cold. Most of Floridians, like myself, will consider cold being 50 degrees. I have seen it once or twice with it getting down to close to 20 degrees. And we have another video on this channel to check out, to see how you survive. So make sure to check that out.

#1. Proximity of things to do.

Pro for living in the Destin area, is the proximity of things to do. This is where everything's at. If you don't want to go to Pensacola or Panama City Beach, which by the way is only an hour, a little bit over an hour drive either way, this is the center where everything is at. So you want to go do go-karts, you want to go to the water park, the Harborwalk, the things that I've already mentioned... There's outlets. There's lots of great shopping and there's an outdoor mall to go check out. They got the big movie theaters. There's everything out there that is just absolutely fantastic. And you're right in the center of it. All the shops, all the good restaurants, they're there. The shops, the restaurants, the foods, the services, they're all centrally located there in Destin. So what a great, absolute time to live in the epicenter of the fun that happens here in Destin.

And of course, as promised, I've got some extra bonus pros for you for moving to Destin. First and foremost, is the atmosphere. The Southern charm that comes with being in the panhandle of Florida. It is fantastic. The people, the community, everybody waves to each other, even if you don't know them. If you're not from a place that that normally happens, you'll get used to it. There's tons of water sports and excursions that happen year round. If you like fishing, this is the luckiest fishing village, that's their motto. So this is a great place to be able to fish year round. There's year round golf, as well. If you're a golfer or you're thinking about getting into it, there's lots of golfing opportunities here. I could go on and on. But if you want to be in the epicenter of the things that are happening here on the Emerald Coast, and you want to be in part of everything and be part of the atmosphere, Destin will be the place for you.

So that's all that we do have for you here today about the Destin's pros and cons. If you have any questions about anything that I've mentioned here today, make sure to put them in the comments below. If you have any other questions that you'd like us to answer or make another video about, make sure to put that in there. And we'll be sure to make that for you. Make sure, also, to hit that subscribe button so that you're notified every time that we have a video about the Destin Fort Walton Beach coming out. Until next time, we'll see you then.

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