Just a vacation or a home??

[scooterbug44]

There are permanent residents everywhere along 30A, just not as heavily concentrated as in the other areas mentioned. You will miss some of the big city conveniences when shopping or looking for evening activities, but the area is constantly growing, bringing in new stores and talent, and the great restaurants, beaches, parks, and small town feel more than make up for it. It is an area w/ a large transient tourist population at certain times of the year, but a deeply rooted core group of locals - I call it 6 degrees of separation and 2 degrees of 30A. After being here a year or 2 you will not be able to go into a restaurant, grocery store, or bar w/o knowing someone there.

 

[TreeFrog]

Just a few points...

On my street south of 30A near Eastern Lake there are 18 houses, of which 9 have full-time residents, 3 are private vacation houses, and the remainder are rentals. My impression is that most of the streets immediately west of the lake other than Ryan (Lake Dr, Gulf Dr, Dalton, Williams, Brown) are pretty similar mixes. So there are some concentrated pockets of locals south of 30A, but the percentage is surely lower than north of 98.

I think if you don't live in the car-intense suburbs, we Americans tend toward communities. When I lived in Midtown in Memphis (population maybe 25,000 out of the city's 800K), I saw folks I know every time I went to the local movie theater, grocery, or liqour store. It works the same here.

For me, the things to adjust to here were the difficulty of access to specialized urban services (the man who re-coned my stereo speakers, for example), flying out of commuter airports, cost of living, annual concern over hurricanes, and the constant driving to Destin/FWB/PC just to go to the driugstore or Home Depot. But I'm not complaining.

The weather is beautiful, I live at the beach, both full-time residents and visitors are generally happy and friendly, access to outdoor activies is great, and we have a thriving, if low-key cultural life right on 30A.

 

[joho]

We moved to SoWal in 1979 (year round) raising three children.
They grew up, went to colleges in numorous areas, and all three have moved back to SoWal very succesful. Now we're raising grandchildren at the beach.

It's a wonderful wholesome area for families to live, play, and experience.
Once you've got the sand between your toes you'll never leave much less look back.............

 

[30A Skunkape]

Okay, I have a sort of crazy question for all of you locals of South Walton. We've been coming down here for a couple of years and have spent all of our time on the west side. But we took a drive to the east side of south walton yesterday and fell in love all over again. We've never thought about this area as more than a vacation but it got us thinking!!

We live in the northern suburbs of Atlanta where people seem to move in and out every two to three years. It gets old - having your kids make friends then seeing their hearts break when they see their friends moving away - always seems so transient. So my question is this.... is South Walton transient? Do people with young families come here to live and stay awhile? Or is it as transient as Atlanta? Is it more of a place for retirees to come and live? If people do stay awhile, where do they call home? (I assume south of 30A is mostly rentals/investment properties and second homes).

Just curious....

Please see countdown timer.

 

[Camp Creek Kid]

Please see countdown timer.

I've been meaning to ask you--does this mean we are getting a new pediatrician in SoWal?

 

[NotnKansas]

It's a great place to live. I'm never going to leave.

 

[30A Skunkape]

I've been meaning to ask you--does this mean we are getting a new pediatrician in SoWal?

 

[Camp Creek Kid]

Please spill the beans--where are you going to set up shop?

 

[WLD]

Cooleydog,
We have a vacation home in SoWal, love it, and spend as much time as we can there. But, we also love our home in Atlanta. That's because 12 years ago we left the 'burbs and moved intown. We have a real neighborhood and I rarely go anywhere, but don't I run into somebody I know. We have three generations of several families living in our 'subdivision' which was built in the 1920s. There's a public pool and 3 parks within 5 blocks. My kids were able can walk and bike to friends, stores and school. We don't have the sprawl and bad traffic of the suburbs. I can usually be anywhere I want to be in 10-20 minutes without getting on the interstate.

So, if you can't make it as far south as SoWal (which is a little slice of heaven) try looking a little further south into Atlanta for permanence and neighborliness .

 

[BambooBay]

hi cooleydog-- We moved our 4 children here last Fall, from a much larger city.... 2 are in grade school, 2 are in high school... we didn't know a SOUL here--we literally just moved here because we've always wanted to live near the water.... although the first 2-3 months were a little bit of a culture shock (frankly, moreso for us than for our children), we absolutely LOVE it here... now, you couldn't force us to go back (we unanimously agree that it was a positive move for our whole family)... we've spent more quality time together in the last 6 months (boating, kayaking, biking, beaching, etc) than we have in the last 6 YEARS.... don't be afraid of taking that plunge! =)