Renting in the Gulfport / Biloxi area
October 21, 2011 11:15 AM Subscribe
Looking for information about renting in Gulfport / Biloxi area.
Asking for a friend who is looking to work in the Gulfport / Biloxi area, but doesn't know which neighborhoods would fit her criteria for finding a place to rent: she will be working near Keesler AFB, and is willing to travel 20-30 minutes if needed.
She would prefer not to live anywhere to dangerous or noisy (college was fun, but now she's older and the quiet life is a nice life,) and willing to pay base rent $500-900 depending upon location and condition, etc. Ideally looking for a private apartment.
Bonus: walking distance to grocery store(s) and restaurant(s).
Please feel free to share any insight or thoughts on living in the Gulfport / Biloxi area in general, too.
Asking for a friend who is looking to work in the Gulfport / Biloxi area, but doesn't know which neighborhoods would fit her criteria for finding a place to rent: she will be working near Keesler AFB, and is willing to travel 20-30 minutes if needed.
She would prefer not to live anywhere to dangerous or noisy (college was fun, but now she's older and the quiet life is a nice life,) and willing to pay base rent $500-900 depending upon location and condition, etc. Ideally looking for a private apartment.
Bonus: walking distance to grocery store(s) and restaurant(s).
Please feel free to share any insight or thoughts on living in the Gulfport / Biloxi area in general, too.
The Ocean Springs area sounds like what she is looking for. When I was thinking about moving to the Gulf Coast area, I fell in love with Ocean Springs. It had the old beautiful oaks, historic buildings, and neat restaurants. It reminded me of the French Quarter in New Orleans.
The whole gulf coast area was beat up pretty bad by Hurricane Katrina. So keep this in mind, all of the smaller cities are still in recovery mode
posted by JujuB at 4:33 PM on October 21, 2011
The whole gulf coast area was beat up pretty bad by Hurricane Katrina. So keep this in mind, all of the smaller cities are still in recovery mode
posted by JujuB at 4:33 PM on October 21, 2011
Ocean Springs is my hometown! I moved away in '96 and haven't visited since 2007, but even though they were still recovering from Katrina, and the oil spill hadn't happened yet, it still had that same artsy small town vibe. If your friend can find a rental property there, her biggest problem would be that the time to drive to Keesler is highly dependent on the timing of the lights on the casino strip, and the bridge, those are the two main bottlenecks on Hwy 90; but she might have luck looping up to I-10 and back down.
In Biloxi itself, I can't help much on neighborhoods except to say that a) parts of Back Bay are quite nice, and b) "dangerous" areas on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are still not terribly scary compared to big cities. A quiet neighborhood near the base, maybe off of Pass Rd., shouldn't be tough to find - there are neighborhoods full of renting Air Force families.
General thoughts: because of the barrier islands, there are no waves to speak of on the beach, so it is a great place to go fishing and sunning, but for swimming you'd do better to stick to a pool. Explore the smaller communities on either side: Ocean Springs to the east, Pass Christian/Bay St. Louis to the west. (Gulfport and Long Beach are pretty forgettable.) Eat at McElroy's if they're still standing, get the mullet ("Biloxi bacon"). Eat at Mary Mahoney's, get the au jus, then beignets for dessert. Take a ferry to Ship Island. Get donuts at TatoNut, they make them from potato flour and they are divine.
And of course, there's always New Orleans for a weekend trip.
posted by solotoro at 3:28 AM on October 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
In Biloxi itself, I can't help much on neighborhoods except to say that a) parts of Back Bay are quite nice, and b) "dangerous" areas on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are still not terribly scary compared to big cities. A quiet neighborhood near the base, maybe off of Pass Rd., shouldn't be tough to find - there are neighborhoods full of renting Air Force families.
General thoughts: because of the barrier islands, there are no waves to speak of on the beach, so it is a great place to go fishing and sunning, but for swimming you'd do better to stick to a pool. Explore the smaller communities on either side: Ocean Springs to the east, Pass Christian/Bay St. Louis to the west. (Gulfport and Long Beach are pretty forgettable.) Eat at McElroy's if they're still standing, get the mullet ("Biloxi bacon"). Eat at Mary Mahoney's, get the au jus, then beignets for dessert. Take a ferry to Ship Island. Get donuts at TatoNut, they make them from potato flour and they are divine.
And of course, there's always New Orleans for a weekend trip.
posted by solotoro at 3:28 AM on October 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by RolandOfEld at 11:42 AM on October 21, 2011