OT: Considering moving to the coast...

I would be working in Gulfport, but wondering if anyone has an information on school districts, housing and neighborhoods, places where you do not want to live. We have two elementary age kids so looking for good neighborhoods with lots of kids and good schools. Bayou View seems to be high on the list. I have been down there a few times so I am somewhat familiar with Ocean Springs area. I just figured that would be pretty pricey. I am also curious about the commute times and difficulty from areas east and west of Gulfport. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have heard from several people that live on the coast that Long Beach is one of the best places to live down there. They also say that Long Beach is one of the top schools in the state. It was some kind of rating they were telling me about and Long Beach was one of the highest.

I have two friends at school that went to ocean springs and they have nothing but good things to say about it and they both make very good grades. That's all I know about the coast though. Hope it helped a little.

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Originally Posted by TimberBeast

I would be working in Gulfport, but wondering if anyone has an information on school districts, housing and neighborhoods, places where you do not want to live. We have two elementary age kids so looking for good neighborhoods with lots of kids and good schools. Bayou View seems to be high on the list. I have been down there a few times so I am somewhat familiar with Ocean Springs area. I just figured that would be pretty pricey. I am also curious about the commute times and difficulty from areas east and west of Gulfport. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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i don't know jack about school districts, but i've been down here for the last 6 years and i would buy in Diamondhead before Gport everyday all day. Ocean Springs is not a place to buy to commute to Gport, ideally, but could be worse. most likely you'd wind up in east Ocean Sprigns, and might as well be in D'head. some ok areas North of Ocean Springs. some good spots north of Gport too.

North G'port has some nice neighborhoods, but those are intermingled with bad neighborhoods. it's hard to judge. i'm a NE Jackson guy, and there's just not the easy differentiation down here like i'm used to. it's all pretty much blended together. IMO, i wouldn't want to buy in that situation.

Long Beach. Great schools and it is just "different" than most of the coast.

Bay St Louis
Diamondhead
Ocean Springs
North of the bridge in Biloxi
Long Beach

those are decent places to live. I'd double check on school districts. Biloxi, OS, & LB all have pretty good reputations if I remember correctly.

Biggest piece of advise you'll get: drive to Gulfport to work.

2nd for Diamondhead. Lived there as a kid. Hancock isn't the best school but it's not bad. If you're working in Gulfport, I'd give Long Beach strong consideration. Ocean Springs is very cool as well. I also like Pass Christian and Bay St Louis.

Ocean Springs hands down! Great community, great school district and families.

OS would be my first choice. Depending on where u work in GPT it could be a 30 plus minute commute one way. Bayou View schools r great and so is Popps Ferry in BLX. Long Beach is nice but I've heard the taxes r high so check that out. The real estate market is very soft so u might have a lot of options. Watch out for insurance. There r a lot of excellent Catholic Schools. Good luck.

Ocean Springs if you can afford living in the downtown are . Also if you buy a house, do not buy a house with high insurance. Me and my wife bought a house after Katrina and the insurance cost were limiting us financially. In 7 years, I paid something like 42k in insurance for a 119k house. The coast is an interesting place with great food and neighborhoods. I understand the appeal. Here is my list of neighborhoods
1. Diamondhead
2. Downtown Bay St. Louis
3. Downtown Ocean Springs
4. Long Beach
5. Taylor Oaks in Biloxi

But for Gulfport I would live in Traditions or Florence Gardens. Both neighborhoods will hold their value better than other parts of the coast due to the home owner associations and design standards. Plus they are at a higher sea level elevation so the insurance rates are lower. If you mess up and buy a house with high insurance rates with wind and flood, you will cut your buying power and lessen your investment potential drastically.

I live in gulfport now, you definitely dont wanna live in north gulfport lol. My sister lives in florence gardens its a very nice neighborhood, but with a very high price range lol

Ocean Springs is the best city on the coast, but would be a 30+ minute commute to GP. Pass Christian is a nice place and has the #1 schools in the state (or did recently). Unfortunately, there is not much affordable real estate there due to FEMA requirements. The Oaks is a nice subdivision and is not in the Pass city limits, but is within their school district. My wife has been trying to get me to move there from Gautier for a couple of years now, but I like my "Goula River access. As others have mentioned, Long Beach is a nice city and also has good schools and is closer to GP than the Pass.

Make sure you're in Bayou View schools. Avoid Central and especially Gaston Point. A small, strong community with good schools is Pass Christian. It's great down here, but I do miss the changing of the seasons and the beautiful woods and pastures in North Mississippi.
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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

i don't know jack about school districts, but i've been down here for the last 6 years and i would buy in Diamondhead before Gport everyday all day. Ocean Springs is not a place to buy to commute to Gport, ideally, but could be worse. most likely you'd wind up in east Ocean Sprigns, and might as well be in D'head. some ok areas North of Ocean Springs. some good spots north of Gport too.

North G'port has some nice neighborhoods, but those are intermingled with bad neighborhoods. it's hard to judge. i'm a NE Jackson guy, and there's just not the easy differentiation down here like i'm used to. it's all pretty much blended together. IMO, i wouldn't want to buy in that situation.

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n. Gport is ghetto

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Originally Posted by TimberBeast

I would be working in Gulfport, but wondering if anyone has an information on school districts, housing and neighborhoods, places where you do not want to live. We have two elementary age kids so looking for good neighborhoods with lots of kids and good schools. Bayou View seems to be high on the list. I have been down there a few times so I am somewhat familiar with Ocean Springs area. I just figured that would be pretty pricey. I am also curious about the commute times and difficulty from areas east and west of Gulfport. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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Where are you moving from? That frame of reference could help people advising you.

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Originally Posted by coastratdog

OS would be my first choice. Depending on where u work in GPT it could be a 30 plus minute commute one way.

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That's a good point and exactly why I would strongly suggest looking at LB. Next door to Gulfport with a cool downtown that's growing. LB was named the best city in MS to live in recently. I like the pace of life and vibe of LB, PC, and BSL more than the "east coast". That said, I really like OC too.

I appreciate all the information guys. We have been doing research on the area and y'all have given me a lot more info to look into, especially regarding Long Beach. Something I didn't mention initially because it isn't a major deciding factor, but would be great, is that we would be looking for something near a golf course and tennis courts, maybe a country club. My daughter plays a lot of golf and tennis and it's important for us to be able to keep that going as close to home as possible. I know there is Treasure Oak in Ocean Springs and Bayou Bluff in Gulfport for tennis but looking for something with golf also if possible. Again, thanks for the all info.

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Originally Posted by TimberBeast

I appreciate all the information guys. We have been doing research on the area and y'all have given me a lot more info to look into, especially regarding Long Beach. Something I didn't mention initially because it isn't a major deciding factor, but would be great, is that we would be looking for something near a golf course and tennis courts, maybe a country club. My daughter plays a lot of golf and tennis and it's important for us to be able to keep that going as close to home as possible. I know there is Treasure Oak in Ocean Springs and Bayou Bluff in Gulfport for tennis but looking for something with golf also if possible. Again, thanks for the all info.

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How much you looking to spend? Could make a pretty big difference in where you want to live.

The coast is nice bc every city from the pass to ocean springs has one or more good public schools and it offers a better lifestyle than anywhere else in ms if you like outdoor stuff or social stuff. It's tough bc of insurance and it can also be hard to get used to the fact that there is very little separation between neighborhoods. Unsafe areas are separate, but pretty much every nice neighborhood has trashy stuff nearby and anything without restrictive covenants (and sometimes with them) will have a trashy house or two or even a trashy street. Getting golf and tennis together with a good public school district will also be tough.

If you're going to work in Gulfport, I'd probably just live there. O.S. is cool, but not worth the commute to me, especially if you're in the kid raising stage. Plenty of easy commutes from Biloxi or long beach. I'd do my research on. Long beach though bc while it was very nice before the storm, it's always had high taxes and now it's having to rebuild its infrastructure without a tax base. May be fine, but if I were going to buy in a place with high taxes and high insurance, I'd want to be in for well below the cost to build.

If you're in Gulfport, bayou view and Anniston are good for elementary. Bayou view middle is I think the only middle school, but anywhere in bayou view or Anniston elementary zones will also send your kids to bayou view middle. I would not do north Gulfport unless it was Florence gardens. That is county schools but there is apparently a deal that let's you go to school in the city for a small fee. If you do bayou view or Anniston, yo uh ave bayou bluff for tennis and then great southern for golf. Not as convenient as being in one place, but together the fees would probably be comparable to most country clubs.

Personal preference, but in would avoid places like diamond head and wind dance. Nice enough places, but way the hell out from anything you want to do.

Regardless, if it's a good professional opportunity, I'd take it in a heartbeat. I'd happily move down there if I had the right opportunity.

Diamondhead has 2, 18 hole golf courses that I grew up playing. Haven't played them in years though

long beach is well above sea level so most of the houses north of the tracks don't require NFIP coverage and are still very affordable.

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Originally Posted by Johnson85

Personal preference, but in would avoid places like diamond head and wind dance. Nice enough places, but way the hell out from anything you want to do.

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that's pretty much the rub on the Coast. if you want to be close to shopping and entertainment, then you'll be close to a bad element or three. For Dhead, you can do most any shopping you'd need in Gport on the way home, and there's also Slidell only 20 minutes away. if 20 minutes is too much, then look at Long Beach and Gport.

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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

that's pretty much the rub on the Coast. if you want to be close to shopping and entertainment, then you'll be close to a bad element or three. For Dhead, you can do most any shopping you'd need in Gport on the way home, and there's also Slidell only 20 minutes away. if 20 minutes is too much, then look at Long Beach and Gport.

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Just to be clear, a bad element on the coast typically is going to mean a trashy looking street. Just thought I'd point that out since normally somebody from NE Jackson talking about a bad element means "place where people get shot." Certainly crime everywhere, but you can go much cheaper in Gulfport (Bayou View for example) than NE Jackson and end up with virtually no crime, not even petty crime.

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Originally Posted by Johnson85

Just to be clear, a bad element on the coast typically is going to mean a trashy looking street. Just thought I'd point that out since normally somebody from NE Jackson talking about a bad element means "place where people get shot." Certainly crime everywhere, but you can go much cheaper in Gulfport (Bayou View for example) than NE Jackson and end up with virtually no crime, not even petty crime.

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I'm from NE Jackson, actually. crime is lower here, but i've never understood why, plenty of areas sure look as bad as Jackson. but when i said 'bad element' i meant areas that i would be nervous to live near, let alone buy. yeah, you're unlikely to get shot on these streets, for whatever reason crime is lower down here, but you'll still feel like you're about to get shot. if buying 5 or 10 blocks from these areas makes you nervous, then Gport or Biloxi or out. of course Dhead has it's bad areas too, just meth instead of crack.

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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

I'm from NE Jackson, actually. crime is lower here, but i've never understood why, plenty of areas sure look as bad as Jackson. but when i said 'bad element' i meant areas that i would be nervous to live near, let alone buy. yeah, you're unlikely to get shot on these streets, for whatever reason crime is lower down here, but you'll still feel like you're about to get shot. if buying 5 or 10 blocks from these areas makes you nervous, then Gport or Biloxi or out. of course Dhead has it's bad areas too, just meth instead of crack.

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I knew what you meant I just figured that guy might not. Buying on the Coast is definitely different than anywhere else in Mississippi to my knowledge. There are neighborhoods that would have gone downhill long ago anywhere else in the state because the trashy looking stuff near them would have made people too scared to buy, turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy I guess. We looked but never bought and that is the major reason why. By the time we figured out it was actually ok to buy in those neighborhoods, we were changing jobs. Gulfport and Biloxi are for the most part nothing but pockets of good neighborhoods surrounded by neighborhoods that are safe but look like crap. There are actually dangerous places that ruin the property values around them too, but I feel like anywhere else in the state, once an area starts to look bad nobody sticks around to see if they actually become unsafe.

Thanks again for all the info. I'm sure it's a long shot but if anyone that sees this thread lives in Diamondhead could you PM me? I have some questions about the neighborhoods and golf rates.