Pensacola

Ferry Pass offers a lively place to live among the natural beauty of Northwest Florida, just 8 miles north of Pensacola. “People get a small-town feeling without a heavy southern vibe,” says Andrea Herring, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty, who has lived in the Pensacola region her entire life. The area was once home to a ferry, which crossed Escambia Bay in the 1820s. The Civil War stopped ferry service for several decades, but the ferry was reestablished in 1915, allowing for economic and population growth. Today, it’s home to the University of West Florida, the Pensacola International Airport, and HCA Florida West Hospital, which are major employers. “People mostly move here because it's such a central location,” Herring says. The old ferry site is now a private boat launch and marina. According to Herring, there are many military bases nearby, which attracts military families to settle down here. Residents can find lots of recreation on land and water and breathtaking views along the Gulf Coast. The neighborhood has a majority of single-family traditional and ranch-style homes ranging from $200,000 to $400,000 with modest porches and proximity. There are also waterfront homes on Escambia Bay, ranging from $450,000 to $600,000 with expansive yards. Most houses are surrounded by willowing trees and sit directly on the street with no sidewalks. Escambia County School District serves students in the area with a B-minus from Niche. Kids can attend Ferry Pass Elementary School, which has a C-plus, before advancing to Ferry Pass Middle, which has a C and a student government association. Students may advance to West Florida High, which has a graduation rate of 99% and an A from Niche. The school offers 12 specific academies such as aerospace engineering, nursing and multimedia. Numerous parks dot the Ferry Pass area, such as Regency Park which offers basketball courts, a walking path, and a dog park. Bryan Park is a popular destination with a large grassy area for activities like yoga and a small playground for children. Residents head to Pensacola Beach for outdoor relaxation while boating, surfing, or laying in the sun. Scenic Hills Golf Course is known for its rolling greens and tree-lined fairways. The members-only club is the only golf course in the state that has hosted a U.S. Open. Interstate 10 and East Nine Mile Road run through the area, helping people get to places like work or the grocery store. Those without a car can reach places like Pensacola by bus through the Escambia County Area Transit. Pensacola also offers a public ferry service, which helps residents get to the area and back. The Pensacola International Airport is 5 miles away. Coastal County Brewing is a newer restaurant that features a beer garden, patio, and live music seven days a week. It's also a pet-friendly eatery. The unusually named Goat Lips Chew and Brewhouse is a popular hangout spot that’s been serving the area for two decades and is known for its extensive craft beer selection and tasty food. Residents visit the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Nine Mile Road for grocery hauls, and Home Depot for home improvement items. Residents drive 10 miles to downtown Pensacola for streets lined with boutiques, bars and museums. In September, the area hosts an annual seafood festival, which has music, art vendors, and lots of shellfish. There are also weekly concerts held every Saturday at The Well on East Garden Street. “Downtown Pensacola is thriving these days,” Herring says. “My family and I always look forward to the festival.”

Easy access to the amenities and parks of the region, without the constant traffic of downtown makes South Pensacola a destination for residents of the region. “Not only is South Pensacola walkable and bikeable to downtown, it’s also close to the bridge to get to Gulf Breeze so it’s just 20 minutes to Pensacola Beach,” says Christine Landers, a Realtor with Voyage Real Estate with 30 years of experience in the region. It’s a developing and growing neighborhood, with century-old bungalows and modern coastal farmhouses under shared groves of palms and moss-covered oaks. Skinny streets with well-maintained sidewalks help the walking crowd stay safe as they venture to their favorite local watering hole or make the walk downtown for shopping, dining, and regular events. Along the gridded streets of South Pensacola sits a mix of the old and new. Midcentury brick ranch-style homes on oak-shaded lawns sit amongst renovated 1930s and 40s bungalows under towering palms. More recent builds offer Craftsman-style bungalows with neat, manicured front lawns and contemporary coastal homes lined closely together, featuring open floor plans and farmhouse accents. While most parking is off-street, this is accomplished a number of ways – for some, it’s a nicely-paved driveway, while others opt for the traditional Florida method of parking in the grass in the front yard. With an overall median price of $322,000 there are homes at numerous price points. Most single-family homes range from $200,000 to $500,000, but some communities in the neighborhood demand a higher going price. “Homes closer to the water tend to be higher priced, from the upper $300,000 to the high $800,000 or $900,000 range,” says Landers, adding that “anything under $300,000 would be a fixer upper.” The same goes for homes closer to downtown. Further inland, prices begin to drop, and a renovated bungalow under old-growth trees with a single-car garage might be found for under $200,000. Longtime neighborhood favorites and hip, modern establishments mix throughout the South Pensacola neighborhood. At Captain Joey Patti’s Seafood and Saloon, fried shrimp, oysters and other Gulf Coast seafood favorites are on the lunch menu, while The Oar House offers seafood with tiki vibes. Taste of Jerusalem and More imports Middle Eastern flavors, and Five Sisters Blues Café serves up Creole-style fare with a blues soundtrack. Emerald Republic Brewing, housed in a 1960s mechanic’s shop hosts running clubs, trivia and other events while tapping house-made brews. Up the road, locals hang out at the Elbow Room, with an easygoing vibe and low-key drinks in a dimly-lit bar. A short distance to downtown, Palafox Street is lined with local and high-end retail shops. Small local markets such as Shoreline International Food Market & Deli stock specialty items, along with meat products and local produce. Larger markets like Aldi and Publix, along with big-box retailers including Walmart and Lowe’s, are located in neighboring communities along U.S. Route 90. Pensacola calls itself “The Festival City of the South,” so there is always something going on. South Pensacola is convenient to many of these events, like the weekly Palafox Market that features local vendors sharing their homemade and homegrown wares, from baked goods and produce to fine arts and crafts. Pensacola Bay Center – home to the Pensacola Ice Flyers hockey team – is also the place to be for national music and comedy tours. From spring through fall, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos play at the Blue Wahoos Stadium in the Admiral Fetterman Field complex. With events at locations in and around the South Pensacola neighborhood every November, the Foo Foo Fest celebrates the weird and wonderful arts and culture of the region with music, shows, food, and more. With these events being close to but not within South Pensacola, it offers some separation - “It’s vibrant, growing and at the same time quiet,” says Landers. South Pensacola is served by the Escambia County School District, and students attend either the C. A. Weis Elementary School or the Global Learning Academy, both of which earn a C-minus from Niche.com, to start their schooling. For grades six through eight, they’ll move on to either Warrington Middle or J.H. Workman Middle schools, again both also rated C-minus by Niche. High schoolers attend Pensacola High School, established in 1901 and recognized as the oldest secondary school in Pensacola. Rated A minus by Niche, Pensacola High is both a comprehensive school as well as a magnet school. It hosts the only International Baccalaureate program in Escambia County and has regularly been named among the Top Public High Schools in the United States by Newsweek. South Pensacola is also home to multiple private schools, including Pensacola Christian Academy, Pensacola Private School of Liberal Arts and Valley Christian. The city of Pensacola boasts an extensive park system, with 93 parks and open spaces for the public to enjoy. Within South Pensacola, Kiwanis Park provides an interactive and colorful playscape for kids, including a music park where kids can make sounds on various equipment. Recently updated, the park also boasts a brand-new dog park with an obstacle course, as well as basketball courts and a baseball field. Adjacent to the Westside Branch Library, Legion Field offers multiple sports fields, basketball courts, a football field, playground and splash pad, and restroom facilities, so kids can release some energy after story time. Bill Gregory Park features two youth baseball fields and a concession stand and is home to local youth baseball leagues. Of course, a day by the water isn’t far away either, just over the bridge to Pensacola Beach. Served by Escambia County Area Transit – ECAT – South Pensacola has some public transit options, and is extremely walkable thanks to a network of clean, even sidewalks. It’s also highly bikeable, although some of the busier thoroughfares, such as routes 90 and 98, require caution. These routes, along with Interstate 110, put everything from Pensacola Beach to the Gulf Shores of Alabama within a short drive. Pensacola International Airport, with regional, national and international service, is only 6 miles from the heart of South Pensacola. Baptist Health Care is within the neighborhood, and provides health and emergency care, as well as being a top employer.

With its many parks and museums, plus a buzzy dining scene, Downtown Pensacola attracts those looking for a cultural fix. Add to that a dynamic mix of historic homes and cutting-edge condos, plus pedestrian and bike-friendly streets, and it’s also a highly livable city. “There are a lot of activities, and people are always on bikes or walking. If you don’t have a far commute to work, you might go to any one of the local bakeries and eateries to have breakfast. You might take a stroll in the middle of the workday or go shopping because there are so many shops and galleries,” says Christine Landers, Realtor at Voyage Real Estate. Downtown Pensacola boasts a bustling restaurant and nightlife scene, mostly along Palafox and Jefferson streets. For fine dining, there’s The District: Seville Steak & Seafood, serving dry-aged steak and fresh local seafood in a 130-year-old building that was originally a general store. Just down the road on N Palafox Street, Restaurant IRON dishes up seasonal Southern classics with local ingredients in a chic industrial environment. Locals stock up on local produce, baked goods and handmade items at Palafox Market, open on Saturdays year-round. For regular grocery runs, residents shop at Publix just a half mile away. Scattered between boutiques and restaurants are a variety of well-maintained historic homes, including early 1900s bungalows and traditional Florida Cracker homes with deep front porches, as well as classic Victorian houses with sweeping verandas and turrets. New construction has recently popped up, and modern styles seamlessly blend in with the historic streetscapes, including beach houses with front porches and balconies and coastal cottages. "A lot of residential houses have been built in the last two or three years, including high-rise condos,” Landers says. Homes range from $385,000 to $750,000 — although some historic and new luxury homes range from $1 million to $2 million. Upgraded in 2017, Corinne Jones Park includes a playground, swing set, basketball court and a lighted walking path. Community Maritime Park hosts free movie nights and the Blues Angel Music’s Blues on the Bay concert series in the Hunter Amphitheater. Weekly events, such as yoga and Pilates, as well as annual events like the Crawfish Festival, take place on the lawn. The park also boasts the Blue Wahoos Stadium, home to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball team, and a playground with a rubberized surface and no walls or hiding places so parents can keep an eye on their kids. Seville Square hosts other local events, such as the annual three-day Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, inviting over 200 artists every fall. The festival’s Heritage Arts Area features demonstrations of weaving, spinning, blacksmithing and other traditional art forms. Bartram Park, connected to Seville Square, hosts the Children’s Arts Festival on the same weekend. Kids can get their faces painted and create their own masterpieces at the free event. Downtown is also home to several museums, including the Pensacola Museum of Art and the Pensacola Museum of History. Students in Downtown Pensacola may attend the Escambia County School District. Nearby O.J. Semmes Elementary School and J.H. Workman Middle School both earned a C-minuses from Niche. Older students attend the B-plus-rated Pensacola High School, established in 1901 and recognized as the oldest secondary school in Pensacola. Pensacola High is the only school in Escambia County to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, and is named among the top 100 high schools in the United States by Newsweek. Downtown Pensacola is also home to numerous private schools, including Pensacola Private School of Liberal Arts and Lighthouse Private Christian Academy. Downtown Pensacola is a quick, 8-mile drive from the clear waters of Pensacola Beach. The downtown area is also just 5 miles from Pensacola International Airport and Pensacola State College. Locals can drive 60 miles west to Mobile or 200 miles east to Tallahassee on Interstate 10.

Anchored by views of the bay, Southeast Pensacola may be just above downtown, but it feels breezy and easygoing. Realtor Levi Fortner, who heads up a team of Panhandle experts called The Fortner Team, says this area is sometimes called East Hill. “It’s one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in Pensacola just because of the community aspect,” he says. With no HOA, eclectic styles bloom, from renovated historic homes to modern construction. Numerous parks, and public boat ramps keep people out and about, or you can find residents enjoying the multiple commercial amenities populating Southeast Pensacola, from the Publix grocery store to locally owned restaurants and cafes. Homes in the area are a tidy mix of bungalows, cottages, contemporary coastal styles and midcentury modern homes with sloping roofs. There are plenty of custom-built residences throughout the area too. Being downtown-adjacent results in smaller, well-kept yards. Brick and stucco often make up the facades of homes here, which can be admired from the abundant sidewalks. Fortner points out that many homes will be in the $400,000 range, but homebuyers can expect to see the million-dollar price point come into view when considering waterfront properties. Further east towards Pensacola Bay, along a sliver of land across Bayou Texar often referred to as The Bluffs, homebuyers will encounter a suburban landscape with Cordova Mall, Pensacola International Airport and Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital as desirable northern neighbors. For groceries, residents can visit the local Publix Super Markets or any of the smaller stores in the area. There’s no lack of flavor living in Southeast Pensacola. Dining choices are plentiful, and places like Bonelli’s have become landmarks by offering a relaxing, comfortable environment and generous portions of their homemade food, like freshly made pastas. Opened in 1977, McGuire’s Irish Pub takes customers back to turn of the century New York with an Irish saloon-themed restaurant. Placed in a former firehouse, it features daily lunch specials and a happy hour. Live music events include traditional Irish singers and instrumentalists. Although graffiti is illegal in Pensacola, one of the area’s most popular attractions is The Graffiti Bridge. The art changes almost daily and is chronicled by several local photographers. In fact, this iconic landmark is a favorite photography and selfies spot for locals and tourists alike. The bridge was once a railroad overpass and has always been popular with taggers. The first recorded graffiti here was in 1935. For more interactive art experiences, the First City Art Center aims to build a strong community through workshops, classes, exhibitions, field trips and more. Each October, it sponsors the Pumpkin Patch event to feature more than 50 local artists, who make and sell thousands of unique pumpkins. Classes at the institute include glass blowing, drawing, sculpture and pottery. The neighborhood is home to several schools, including A. K. Suter Elementary School, which opened in 1921. The school scores high across a range of categories on Niche, including an A-minus overall. Workman Middle gets an A in diversity, and Booker T. Washington High gets a B-minus overall. The school has a robust athletic program: in 2023 alone, the girls’ volleyball team went to district finals and a senior swim team member qualified for the 2024 Olympic Trials. Fortner says the neighborhood’s Bayview Park is arguably one of the best parks in Pensacola. There’s a playground, pavilion, boat launch and two dog parks. Tennis courts offer athletic fun, but visitors can also stay active along the trails dotted with mature shade trees. Historic homes fronted by sidewalk surround the park, giving the feel of a cozy neighborhood institution where the community can gather. Interstate 110 runs along the west end, and is one way to reach Pensacola International Airport. Cervantes Street, also known as Route 90, runs east-west through the neighborhood, and is a key commercial spot for grabbing groceries or some fast casual food. Chase Street and Highway 98 are more east-west corridors further south in the neighborhood, and these parallel thoroughfares are trafficked by public buses. Locally owned restaurants are concentrated here, including McGuire’s Irish Pub and Another Broken Egg Café.