Pensacola Arts and Culture

Yes Pensacola is a small town, but don’t tell that to the performing arts community or the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra.
From Broadway shows, community theater productions, art exhibits, musical productions and festivals, the options rival that of larger cities

Arts & Culture
Pensacola’s arts and entertainment scene combines the best of world-class events with the hearty, community spirit of do-it-yourself art.

Pensacola has its own professional symphony, ballet and opera companies; theaters prepared to wow you with old favorites or ground-breaking new drama; dance companies and vocal ensembles producing events year-round. Art museums and galleries galore please the eye with so many enticing shapes and colors.

By the time spring rolls around, Pensacola is awash in arts festivals incorporating music, food, the great outdoors and all facets of the arts.

No matter how long you've lived in Pensacola, there's always something new to do. For newcomers, it's never too soon to start tasting that generous helping of Pensacola unique arts & culture scene.

The Pensacola Little Theatre (PLT) is the oldest continually producing community theatre in the Southeastern United States. PLT produces twelve plays a year for adults and children and are located inside the Pensacola Cultural Center, which was built in 1911 and originally housed the Escambia County Jail and Court of Records offices.

Located in historic Pensacola in the Old City Jail Building, the Pensacola Museum of Art operates as a public, non-profit educational institution encouraging awareness of and creativity in the visual arts through diverse programs including 18 annual exhibitions, workshops, lectures and films.

The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra is classical music at it's best. Choose from Pensacola POPS, Masterworks Series or Gateway Sunday Matinees. This professional symphony orchestra allows you to enjoy the dazzling virtuosity of some of the worlds most accomplished soloists.

The Pensacola Opera's reputation is based on high quality productions that feature some of America's finest singing actors, and the performances are said by many to be as excellent as those seen in New York and other large cities.

Ballet Pensacola is Pensacola’s largest resident dance company. During its performing season, Ballet Pensacola presents four major productions to the community, including its publicly lauded Arts-In-Education production, Pensacola’s Nutcracker, Celebration of Dance- a repertory production, and the storybook spring ballet.

The Pensacola Children's Chorus choirs perform at a variety of community functions throughout the year, and annual summer tours have taken the various choirs to performance sites throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

The Saenger Theatre, located in the heart of downtown Pensacola, opened in 1926 to Vaudeville road shows and is now host to plays, traveling Broadway shows, concerts, dance recitals, symphony and the opera.

Located in the historic Belmont-Devillers district, the Belmont Arts & Cultural Center provides a venue for artistic exchange, with an arts market and demonstrations on the second Saturday of the month.

Venues: Music

Center for Fine and Performing Arts, University of West Florida
The Pensacola Opera
The Pensacola Symphony
Music Festivals

Beach Goes On
Blues on the Beach
Cajun Creole Fiesta
Evenings in Old Seville Square
Frank Brown International Songwriter's Festival -- Each Thursday during the summer, Seville Square hosts thousands for free concerts where they can stretch out on the grass, enjoy a picnic, and listen to everything from rock and roll and Broadway show tunes to a military brass band
GRACE Christian Music Festival
Open Mike Nights
Pensacola JazzFest
Reggae Fest
SoulFest celebrates soul, gospel, and jazz music each spring at West Pensacola Ball Park, 850 438-4882
Theater

Center for Fine and Performing Arts, University of West Florida
Pensacola Little Theatre
Pensacola Junior College Planetarium and Theater
Saenger Theatre
Northwest Florida Ballet
For more options see http://www.pensacolachamber.com/relocation/arts.htm
Art Galleries/ Visual Arts

Adams street artists
Seventh heaven galleries·
Belmont Arts Center,
Center for Fine and Performing Arts, University of West Florida
Pensacola Junior College Art Museum
Pensacola Museum of Art
Quayside Gallery
·Arts Council of North West Florida
Festivals

Fiesta of Five Flags
Pensacola Seafood Festival
Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival
Pensacola Bay International Film and Television Festival
See Arts and Council Grants awarded to Local organizations
http://www.artsnwfl.org/grants/

In conclusion, Pensacola has lots to offer if you like the arts and or you're a musician, writer, photographer, actor or painter..

Cost of Living

The cost of living index is based on the composite price of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, clothing and entertainment.

Cost of living indexes will generally be higher in areas that offer access to beaches, culture, arts and recreation. In addition areas, that offer a wider variety of services such as health and education will run higher due to higher wages, and increased quality of living.

Cost of living indexing explanation
A figure of 100 points is used as an average both for the USA and Florida. For example:
Boise Idaho is ranked at a 99
Boston Mass is rated at 240
San Francisco at 217
Statewide, Florida cities come in from a low of 90 and up.
One way to compare Florida areas to salary requirements

For example-If you were relocating from Portland Oregon (whose rate 1s 94.0) to Orlando, and you currently make $50,000 per year, the formula is as follows
Take the destination index, in this case Orlando-94.0 and divide by Portland’s index-120, then multiply by a salary of $50,000. This will give you a figure of $39,166 which would be required to make in Orlando to have the same quality of life.
See comparable Florida statewide
* Re cost of living--in some areas Real Estate has went up dramatically however costs that factor in such as food, transportation, rents etc have not increased at the same rate-so in some areas, even though housing is expensive, the overall rating may still be low
2007 stats per Sperlings best Places http://www.bestplaces.net/

Boca Raton-154.74
Bradenton-114
Cape Coral-Ft Myers-108.0
Ft Lauderdale-132.0
Fort Walton-Destin-120
Jacksonville metro-94.0
Big Pine Key fl-132.46
Key Largo-146.0
Key West-168.0
Marathon fl-162.06
Miami metro-138.0
Melbourne-92.72
Naples Fl-250.59
Orlando metro-94.0
Palm Bay-84.56
Palm Coast-Flagler-125.01
Panama City-86.35
Pensacola metro-82.0
Sarasota-108.75
Tampa 94.60
St Pete-Clearwater-91.58
Vero-Beach Indian River-122.87
West Palm Beach metro-112.05
(Population Weighted-State Average=100
See national comparisons
Cost of living (100 = nationwide average)

* New York, NY -164.50
* Long Beach, CA -135.71
* Palo Alto, CA -234.42
* Boston, MA -127.60
* Malibu, CA -492.80
* San Francisco, -187.23
* Greenwich, CT 215
* Chicago, IL -126.45
* Dallas Tx -92,94
* Atlanta Ga -112.21
For more information about cost of living go to either
Sperlings best Places http://www.bestplaces.net/
or Accra's site at http://www.coli.org

The cost of living across the four metro areas in Florida's Great Northwest averaged only 97% of the national average With low housing prices substantially below that national average,
Pensacola and Escambia County is a great place to live, work and play
As of the 4th quarter 2005, Pensacola comes in with a CGI of 82.0

Pensacola Housing. Minimum two bedroom single family homes in Escambia County.
As of August 2005, the median sold price is $175,500.
Utilities. For Utility charges water and sewer go to
http://www.ecua.org/
For electric and gas go to
Gulf Power Co.
Natural Gas Companies:
Energy Services of Pensacola
Telephone Companies:
BellSouth
KMC Telecom
Network Telephone
Gulf Coast Communication
In conclusion, with the recreational and job opportunities Pensacola offers, mixed in with low housing costs, this could very well be your most affordable chance at paradise.

Health

Healthcare Facilities:

Hospitals, 4
Memorial Health Systems Escambia County
Baptist Health Care Escambia County, Pensacola
Baptist Hospital Escambia County, Pensacola
Sacred Heart Health System Escambia County, Pensacola
# West Florida Medical Center Escambia County, Pensacola
Assisted living, 22
Adult Day care, 1
Health Care clinics, 13
Skilled Nursing facility, 11
For more information (other facilities and their address) see http://facilitylocator.floridahealthstat.com/
http://dmoz.org/Health/Medicine/Facilities/Hospitals/North_America/United_States/Alabama

Pensacola is serious about their Health. See the health department Web site
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/chdEscambia/index1.ht

Escambia County Health Department : a message from the Directo
Our quest for excelence in public health depends on improving the health of all Escambia County citizens. Please take some time to look through this Web site to learn more about our programs and what the Escambia County Health Department has to offer. Your comments and suggestions on how we can be more helpful are greatly appreciated

The history of public health in Escambia County began in 1821 when Florida became a possession of the United States. The present Escambia County Health Department (ECHD) was organized on March 1, 1932, and in 1933, a TB sanitarium for all races was founded in Pensacola

In 1953, the Escambia Board of County Commissioners posed an ordinance establishing the ECHD as a continuing county function. Subsequently, the ECHD has grown and expanded it’s services from Pensacola to Century. At 184 years old, the Escambia County Health Department is one of the oldest in the world. We will endeavor to continue leading the State of Florida in public health services to our citizens. VISIT OUR OFFICE – 1295 West Fairfield Drive - Pensacola, FL 32501

Service hours are from 8:00 am until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. We are closed on State holidays.For more information, call 850 595-6500.

Our Mission – Our mission is to protect the public’s health by partnering with the community to: prevent disease, promoting wellness, and prepare for disaster.

For hospital and medical facility names and addresses in the Panhandle areas go to: http://facilitylocator.floridahealthstat.com/

Schools

The Pensacola area offers a first class educational system to all its residents. Schools in the sub areas will be listed on their home pages-example Panama City-Ft Walton, Tallahassee.

Pensacola Area School Information
Type Number

Primary 55
Middle 12
High Schools 14
Vocational/Technical 2
Adult School 1
Pre-K Center 4
Private/Parochial39
28 other schools
Universities (Metro)

University of West Florida
University of Florida
Troy State University
Pensacola Christian College
Community Colleges
Pensacola Junior College
Okaloosa-Walton Community College
Locklin Technical Center
Additional Information Regarding Pensacola Area Education Opportunities

The University of West Florida (UWF)
http://www.uwf.edu/uwfMain

Adult education

Virginia College at Pensacola - 0.6 miles S - 19 W Garden St, Pensacola, 32502 - 850 436-844
Escambia County School District: Career Education Specialist - 1.7 miles N - 30 E Texar Dr, Pensacola, 32503 - 850 469-5309
Escambia County School District: Child Care Programs - 1.7 miles N - 30 E Texar Dr, Pensacola, 32503 - 850 469-5357

Weather

Pensacola’s climate offers year-round sports and recreational opportunities. Winter, spring and fall are filled with lots of sunshine. As compared to Miami, Northeastern Florida does have seasons of sorts.

The hottest month is July, with an average high of 82° F and an average low of 74° F. In January the average high temperature is 52° F and the average low is 42° F.

Normal annual precipitation is 62 plus inches, with the largest monthly totals accumulating from July through September.

Pensacola Temperature Annual
Month Air r
January 54
February 56
March 61
April 68
May 76
June 81
July 82
August 82
September 78
October 70
November 60
December 54
Other Pensacola Weather Indicators ---Annual

Average Wind Speed 8.4
Clear Days 106
Partly Cloudy Days 123
Cloudy Days 137
Percent of Possible Sunshine 60.0
Avg. Relative Humidity 73.5. To see stats by the month, go to http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/united-states/florida/pensacola/
Hurricanes.

Hurricanes
Pensacola and its wider area have tended over the past 30 years to be hit more frequently than the rest of Florida by major hurricanes, but in the 30-40 years prior to that the situation was exactly reversed: Pensacola was less frequently hit than peninsular Florida. Or to put it a different way, the area has been “hit” by just 6 storms Category 3 or higher since 1940, and peninsular Florida suffered 10 such storms during that same period

Furthr information:
Despite four devastating hurricanes in 2004, the number of Florida visitors rose 7% to an all-time high of 79.8 million last year and is on target to hit 80 million this year. Florida tourism generates about $57 billion annually and employs 912,700.
If you live on the coast you stand the greatest chance of having one affect you. Some areas of Florida have gone fifty years plus without one but you never know.
As a resident having lived in the Keys and now in central Florida I’ve been through them.
In my opinion, the best thing you can do is buy a home that was built after Andrew-August 92 that was built to stricter building codes. Have window protection and a backup generator and make sure your insurance is up to date. If they ask you to leave, do it
Realize-If you live in an older home that was not built up to the stricter building codes (After Hurricane Andrew-August 1992) or you live in a mobile home you stand the best chance of having major structural damage
Living on the beach in a mobile home is asking for it. Although, you may never have a problem, you’re still definitely taking your chances. Barrier islands and open-water beaches are the most prone to damage.
Having lived in California, I prefer the threat of a hurricane however as opposed to an earthquake. At least you have a warning.
For current information about hurricanes go to http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
For 2005 climate info by areas go to http://www.coaps.fsu.edu/climate_center/LCD/2005LCD.html
For current weather forecasts by cities go to http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/fl/fl.html
*Living in a waterfront home typically means that you will pay a higher Insurance premium. The insurance is higher due to flood and wind concerns.
Part of this is also because the pricing on these homes is higher so there is more value to insure against.
Having said all this, I can’t imagine living elsewhere. It is really great to wake up and it’s sunny out.
We spend over half our lives indoors…so when you do go outside, wouldn’t it be nice if it was warm and sunny?