The Florida Panhandle's westernmost city is Pensacola. It's a seaport on Pensacola Bay that connects to the Gulf of Mexico, is only 13 miles from Alabama's border, 59 miles east of Mobile, Alabama, and 196 miles west of Tallahassee, Florida's capital.
Nicknames
Among the many nicknames are Western Gate to the Sunshine State, America's First Settlement (Pensacola was the first Spanish settlement within the continental United States in 1559), World's Whitest Beaches, Red Snapper Capital of the World, Emerald Coast, and more.
Pensacola also has the nickname The City of Five Flags because five governments ruled it during its history: Spain, France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederate States of America. The city was resettled in 1667 and incorporated in 1821.
Population
As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 51,923, and the 2018 estimate was 52,713. The Pensacola metropolitan area had an estimate in 2018 of 494,883 residents.
Real Estate
The total area is 40.7 square miles, which is 22.5 square miles of land and 18.1 square miles of water. According to Zillow's data through September 30, 2019, housing in this “Very Hot” area consists of many two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes, and the remaining properties are mostly small apartment buildings.
The median home value is $151,300, having increased 10.3% this past year and predicted to rise 5.7% this coming year. The median rental is $1,125, lower than the Metro median of $1,250.
Education
The GreatSchools rating of “8” is given to Brown Barge Middle School (Grades 3-8) and N. B. Cook Elementary School (Grades K-5),
The main campus of Pensacola State College is in this city. The University of West Florida is the area's largest post-secondary institution with a campus in downtown. Its main campus has the largest library in the region.
Festivals
The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, held annually in November, draws over 200 regional and international artists The Crawfish Festival and the Seafood Festival have featured live music for almost 30 years.
The Children's Art Festival displays art by local schoolchildren, and the Pensacon comic convention every February brings close to 25,000 attendees from throughout the world.
Naval Air Station Pensacola
"The Cradle of Naval Aviation" is a United States Navy base southwest of Pensacola and the primary training base for officers of the U.S.Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. It's also the home base for the Blue Angels.
The National Museum of Naval Aviation is free to the public and exhibits hundreds of vintage Naval Aviation aircraft and preserves the history through tours, displays, IMAX movies, and symposiums.
Blue Angels
This aerobatic precision-flying team is the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. The F/A-18 Hornets "1–4" of the Blue Angels fly in a tight and unique diamond formation that maintains an 18-inch canopy to wingtip separation. They have been continually active since April 24, 1946.
They perform aerial displays each year in a minimum of 60 shows at 30 U.S. locations and two shows in Canada. It's estimated that there are 11 million spectators from March through November. The team also visits over 50,000 people in hospitals, schools, and community functions.
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Cover photo courtesy of Flickr, James Willamor
