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Pensacola, Florida is a friendly town that is both active and relaxing, with plenty of festivals and white sand beaches, and it allows you to choose whatever lifestyle suits you at every stage in life. D.R. Horton offers a range of new homes in Pensacola that allow you to create a life you love and develop a community you enjoy, no matter if you’re buying your first home or your forever home. All of our new construction houses offer spacious, open floorplans and smart home technology, creating flexibility for you to make the home your own.

Why choose Pensacola, Florida

Known by a variety of names, including “Cradle of Aviation” and “the Festival City of the South,” Pensacola offers fun, history, relaxation, and plenty of employment opportunities. As both a coastal town and home to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola is a friendly community with a mix of cultures that contributes to the area’s wide range of activities and experiences. Pensacola has an active, walkable downtown full of historic architecture and home to the bustling Palafox Street, where you’ll find numerous local businesses and Pensacola’s popular farmers market.

Pensacola has plenty to do, making it easy to meet others and connect with the community. You can also take advantage of Pensacola’s location near the state’s border and head into Alabama for a change of scenery, with Mobile, AL just an hour away, or take a weekend trip to Tallahassee or Panama City. The Pensacola International Airport also makes out-of-state travel convenient.

Community life in Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola lives up to its name of “the Festival City of the South,” as well as its “City of Five Flags” nickname, representing the five different countries that governed the land in its history, with loads of fun events and a variety of cultural celebrations throughout the year.

Mardi Gras is one of the most popular events in the area. Pensacola was among the first to hold Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States, and the Pensacola area continues to honor that legacy with celebrations to remember. With the traditional beads and moonpies, the organizers plan impressive, family-friendly events with awesome parades and music through downtown Pensacola and on Pensacola Beach.

Another major event is the Pensacola Seafood Festival, which is one of the largest festivals in the Florida panhandle. Featuring a variety of great seafood, live music, and an extensive arts and crafts area, this free event attracts locals and tourists alike. The event is held in the historic downtown area, adding charm and a small-town community feel. This is just one of several seafood-related events in the area, like Pensacola’s Crawfish Festival, featuring a crawfish boil to remember, and the Interstate Mullet Toss, an interstate fish-throwing competition in which people throw mullets over the Florida-Alabama border. If you’re not so much into fish, remember this is “the Festival City of the South.” There are tons of other festivals throughout the year to attend, like the Grand Fiesta Parade with high school bands and awesome floats; the Greek Festival with Greek food and children’s dance performances; Pensacon, the Gulf Coast’s three-day pop culture convention; and so much more.

You can also find plenty of seasonal celebrations in Pensacola, like Beach-o-ween, an annual, free, family-friendly Halloween fest that brings bounce houses, games, activities, face painting, and plenty of candy to the Pensacola Beach Boardwalk for some spooky coastal fun. In the winter, downtown Pensacola decorates with over half a million Christmas lights and welcomes the season with the Pensacola Christmas Parade and Winterfest, which begins the day after Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas Eve. The Winterfest calendar is busy with an Elf Parade, a variety of fun performances, and visits from Santa and holiday characters. There are themed trolley tours, where you can take a ride through Who-ville, hop on the Polar Express, or journey through Christmases Past, Present, and Future. The trolley rides feature an opening performance before embarking on their adventures. If you don’t want to purchase a ticket for the whole tour, you can enjoy the introductory performances for free.

If events and festivals aren’t quite your style, Pensacola still offers a wide variety of fun activities and experiences. One of the points of pride for the greater Pensacola area, and a reason the city is called the “Cradle of Aviation,” is the Blue Angels, the U.S Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron based out of Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Blue Angels are recognized nationally for their skill and impressive air shows, and they host two major, annual air shows in Pensacola that are free and open to the public. The Homecoming Show in November is a particularly big deal. Locals and tourists alike come to see the impressive display, though locals sometimes catch a preview when the Blue Angels practice. You can also check out the National Aviation Museum, which features more than 150 restored aircraft and is considered one of the largest aviation museums in the world. In addition to its exhibits, visitors can pay to enjoy a flight simulation or hop into a cockpit simulator, and on select days, the Blue Angels come by the museum and sign autographs.

Pensacola has plenty to offer arts enthusiasts as well. The Historic Clark Family Cultural Center, also known as the Pensacola Cultural Center or The Center, is home to numerous performing arts groups in Pensacola, like the Pensacola Little Theatre, a community theatre group that has been producing performances since 1936, and Ballet Pensacola, a professional ballet company that offers ballet training and produces multiple major productions a year. Ballet Pensacola also partners with schools and local events to give back to the community. Similarly, the Pensacola Opera contributes more than their beautiful voices and performances. The group provides lectures, free performances at local libraries, and camps and programs for all ages. They have also partnered with local schools, including the Escambia and Santa Rosa County Schools, to provide education and programming for the area’s youth.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Pensacola without arts-related festivals, as well, with events like the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival that showcases artists and designers from across the nation; the Pensacola Beach Art and Wine Festival, where you can stroll down the beach with a glass of wine and admire beautiful art; Gallery Night Pensacola, a themed monthly event featuring local artists, music, and food; or Bands on the Beach, a weekly oceanside performance of local bands from April through October.

Pensacola is much more than a beach town. Whether you’d like to partake in one of the many festivals in town, learn about the area’s military or see an epic pilot display, celebrate holidays with the community, visit Palafox Market–one of the best farmers markets in Florida, or just hang out in the walkable downtown area full of shops and restaurants, Pensacola, Florida is full of fun and adventure for all ages and lifestyles.

Outdoor fun in Pensacola, Florida

Florida is known for its beaches, and Pensacola is no different. There’s plenty to do outside away from the sand, but the biggest outdoor attraction in Pensacola is the more than 50 miles of coastline and gorgeous, white-sand beaches. You can choose between crystal-clear bay waters or the emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico, all with multiple public access spaces for whatever ocean day you desire. You can jet ski, paddleboard, kayak, rent a boat, snorkel, scuba dive, go fishing, walk, bike, swim, or just relax and work on your tan. The two most popular stretches of beach in Pensacola, Florida are Perdido Key and Pensacola Beach, both of which are located on Pensacola’s islands and feature gorgeous, clear waters. Apart from the ocean, you can enjoy multiple water activities, like floating the Escambia River. Whether you opt for an inner tube, canoe, or kayak, the river is often relatively quiet and peaceful. The river is also a popular fishing destination as it is home to 85 native freshwater species, including a variety of bass, bluegill, and redear sunfish.

Pensacola’s waters also provide a diverse ecosystem to enjoy, and there are several parks and wildlife watching opportunities on the beaches. The Big Lagoon State Park, for instance, offers stunning views of the shoreline, nature trails, saltwater marshes, and pine flatwoods that attract a variety of birds during their migrations. Many also enjoy crabbing in the shallow areas of the lagoon, swimming, fishing, and camping in the area. Nearby at the Perdido Key State Park, you can observe a natural barrier island environment with undisturbed marshes and dunes. The park is viewed as an important conservation area along the Gulf, and visitors can enjoy watching the nesting shorebirds and sea turtles that make their home in the area. The Gulf Islands National Seashore has similar scenery and wildlife, with marshes, wooded areas, and many species of plants and animals, such as sea turtles, blue herons, and osprey. The Gulf Islands National Seashore also has ranger-led programs for guided outings, as well as multiple historic fort structures you can learn about and explore. If it’s plant observation you seek, the Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park is home to a variety of rare and endangered plants, like the carnivorous white-topped pitcher plant or the insect-eating Chapman’s butterwort wildflower. You may also see some endangered animals at the park, like the alligator snapping turtle. The park offers a boardwalk and nature trails to observe the natural beauty and wildlife in the area.

You can also explore the beauty of wildlife below sea level, as snorkeling and scuba diving are popular activities off the coast. One of the area’s popular diving locations is the USS Oriskany, a large naval warship intentionally sunk near Pensacola Pass to a depth of 212 feet. Now serving as the largest artificial reef ever to be intentionally sunk off the United States coast, the “Great Carrier Reef,” as it’s sometimes called, has become the home of a wide variety of marine life, making the dive exciting for both wildlife observation and the dive site itself.

If you prefer to stay on land when enjoying the outdoors, there are several bike routes through the area, and you can choose what kind of scenery you’d like on your ride. Looking for a ride that lets you enjoy the city? The Experience Pensacola Trails include a variety of loops through the city. Some of these trails take you through historic areas or lead to museums or local parks. Prefer something a little more secluded through a forest? You can choose one of the Muscogee Mountain Bike Trails or explore the surprising network of trails at the University of West Florida. There are about 40 miles of trails between these two trail systems. One popular route is Red Rock Road to Juniper Creek, which includes moderate climbs, the beauty of the pine forest, and culminates in a scenic view of the creek. Hoping to ride with the ocean breeze and gorgeous waters in view? The Pensacola Beach Bike Routes offer views of the ocean and the area’s natural beauty at various trail distances. For a longer route, you can ride the 15.3-mile trail through Fort Pickens, or you can choose portions of the trail to enjoy.

Pensacola also offers a range of outdoor activities beyond these scenic bike rides, beaches, and interesting natural experiences. The town is home to over 90 parks, the largest tennis facility in Northwest Florida, a city pool, and the LEAP trail, an inclusive activity space for residents. With so many outdoor recreation offerings, there is something that can appeal to all ages and interests.

Businesses and economics in Pensacola, Florida

While Pensacola offers a wide variety of relaxation and entertainment options, it is also home to a thriving economy. Tourism is a major industry in the area, and both tourists and locals support Pensacola’s many local businesses. Several major corporations call Pensacola home as well. Navy Federal Credit Union and Baptist Hospital are both headquartered in town, and they are each one of the largest corporate employers in the area. The University of West Florida and Pensacola Christian College also provide a number of employment options and help bolster the economy, with thousands of out-of-town residents in attendance.

The area also has a strong military presence. The Naval Air Station is located in Pensacola, and Eglin Air Force base is only an hour away. The military and support of the area’s bases provide additional employment opportunities, including for civilians.

What makes Pensacola, Florida a great place to live

Pensacola offers a wide range of events and activities to enjoy as the “Festival City of the South,” offering activities for many different interests. You can also find plenty of relaxing settings, with pristine beaches, numerous state parks, and nearly 100 city-managed parks. This range of options makes it easy to create the lifestyle you want for yourself. Whether you want to adventure down a mountain bike trail, attend a fun festival, or relax in a beach chair watching the waves roll in, you can always find something to do in Pensacola. On top of it all, the friendly, connected community makes it simple to settle in and make Pensacola home.

New construction homes in Pensacola, Florida

D.R. Horton’s new build homes in Pensacola, Florida offer something for every lifestyle and every stage of life. With plenty of festivals, beautiful vistas, and a great community, Pensacola, Florida is a great place to call home. With open floorplans and smart home technology, D.R. Horton’s new construction homes are an ideal way to become a member of the Pensacola community. Browse our listings of new Pensacola homes for sale, visit a model home, or reach out to us for more information today.