Review of Pensacola, Florida

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Please stay away!

- 12/24/2018
Pensacola has some of the most beautiful beaches in the country, and downtown is a pretty nice place to be. Those are the only things this place has going for it. The weather is awful, hot and extremely humid most of the year. I know that everyone says that their city has bad drivers, but this place is terrible. I worked for a local government entity so I have much better knowledge than most who live here about things. Car accidents are far to commonplace for a city/county of this size. At least twice a day there is a pedestrian or bicyclist that is run over, on top of the other crashes here. The reason? Pensacola PD and the Escambia Sheriff's office do not enforce traffic laws. They simply do not have the manpower after dealing with all the crime. There have been many times people have had to wait over two hours for an officer to arrive at the scene due to the volume of nonsense they have to deal with. Different police tv shows film in this county year round. Speed limits and turn signals do not exist here. Put on your seat belt and pray, Godspeed.

The people here are disgusting for the most part. There are some nice upstanding residents here but they are far outnumbered by trash. Homelessness is a major issue here and in far greater numbers than most big cities I have been to, at least it is more visible here. Almost every intersection you come to on the south side of town has someone with a sign asking for money, sometimes 2 or 3 at the same intersection. It's bizarre. There are tent cities all over the county. They are hidden from view from your average person, but they exist and they are disgusting. I have had the displeasure of being sent to almost all of them (Worked for the county remember?). For those of you that don't know, we have a rescue mission that exists to help these people, and they do a great job. The problem is they have a rules that do not allow alcohol or drug use. The people you see on the corners asking for money are the ones that don't want to abide by those rules. They would rather live on the streets and do dope and drink with your money. The statistical poverty rate in in Pensacola is 25%, that's high but nowhere near the actual number. People don't work here. Government assistance is the lifeblood of this community. Hoarder houses are a much to common thing here as well. Another thing I need to mention is the level of mental health issues around here. It is not uncommon to see someone yelling at the sky as they walk down the street. I'm talking full conversations at full volume, just screaming for whatever reason.

I know that most people who read this won't listen or will convince themselves that it can't be that bad. People who don't really know what they are talking about or know of no other lifestyle will say I'm wrong. From their point of view living around Scenic Highway it's not all that bad. But if you don't have a lot of money when you move here, you will soon see how correct I am. This is an awful place to call home.

Robbie | Myrtle Grove, FL