Fort Walton Beach — Fiscal Year 2020-21 Adopted_Budget — reading text

like Paradise Village, highway commercial uses like the restaurants, hotel/motels and new car dealerships, light industrial uses like the United Parcel Service and Keego Brick; and utilities like Gulf Power Company. There is an abundance of public and quasi-public land uses such as schools (Edwins Elementary and Fort Walton Beach High) and churches (St. Mary’s Catholic, First Church of Christian Science, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Nazarene Church, and the Seventh Day Adventists). St. Mary’s also has a parochial school for First through Eighth grades. Public parks include Liza Jackson Park and the Memorial Park/Senior Citizens Center. SOUTH BAYOU CHARACTERISTICS: Residential, Waterfront BOUNDARIES: The South Bayou Neighborhood's southern boundary is the major arterial road Beal Parkway NW. The eastern boundary is where the City limits abut those of the Town of Cinco Bayou. To the west lies unincorporated Okaloosa County near where Mary Esther Cutoff (SR 393) intersects Beal Parkway. ATTRIBUTES AND QUALITIES: The South Bayou Neighborhood is one of the most prestigious in the City. Many fine homes are located along the waterfront on large lots at the end of the numerous cul-de-sacs. Most of the streets begin at Beal Parkway and wind toward the waterfront. This area also has a nice tree canopy along many of the streets. There are several passive parks located throughout the neighborhood, Briarwood Park, Mimosa Park and Ewing Park. The neighborhood is almost entirely composed of single family detached residential subdivisions. The lone exception is a small commercial area located at Howell Drive/Beal Parkway comprising an office for a cellular phone company and a medical office. W.E. COMBS CHARACTERISTICS: Primarily Commercial BOUNDARIES: The Combs-New Heights Neighborhood is comprised largely of the City’s Commerce and Technology Park. It is bounded on the north by unincorporated Okaloosa County, on the east by the Sylvania Heights area of Okaloosa County and Mary Esther Cut-Off, on the south by the City of Mary Esther and to the west by Hurlburt Field, which is part of the Eglin Air Force Base Complex. ATTRIBUTES AND QUALITIES: The Combs-New Heights Neighborhood includes Combs-New Heights elementary school, which gives the neighborhood its name, and dates to the 1950’s and 1960’s when most of the residential areas were platted. These subdivisions were annexed to the City by special election for large areas and by individual voluntary requests during the early 1960’s. The residential area is a quiet area which lies between Gap Creek and Lovejoy Road and until the early 1990’s had no sanitary sewer or paved roads. The residential area’s proximity to the industrial and heavy business area to the south and west as well as the very rundown unincorporated area, Sylvania Heights, located to the east, provides a myriad of incompatible land uses. Hurlburt Arms, a multifamily subdivision/apartment complex, is an enclave that lies between Mary Esther on the south, east and west, and the City’s Industrial Park on its north, near Anchors Street. A large portion of this neighborhood is industrial, warehousing and wholesaling enterprises, which were developed on land owned and strictly controlled by the City from the1960’s until 1994. Most of the industrially zoned lands are developed although there are still several tracts that have never been sold. City of Fort Walton Beach, FL 197 Statistical Information LOCATION Jacksonville Fort Walton Beach Tallahassee Orlando Tampa Miami WEATHER Summer Temp. 83°F Winter Temp. 61°F Annual Rainfall 62” LOCAL AREA ECONOMY Top 10 Employers Employer Product/Service Employees * USAF – Eglin Air Force Development Test Center 17,040 ** USAF – Hurlburt Air Force Special Ops Command 12,957 Okaloosa County School District Education Services 3,449 Fort Walton Beach Medical Center Medical Services 1,429 Walmart (combined) Consumer Services 1,400 Publix Retail Services 972 Okaloosa County*** Local Government Services 936 Lockheed Martin Defense Contractor 875 Northwest Florida State College Education 734 Reliance Test & Technology Education 697 *Includes military, civilian, and contractor personnel **Includes military and civilian personnel ***Includes County Commission, Clerk of Court, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections, and Tax Collector Non-Agricultural Employment by Industry Leisure & Hospitality, 11.8% Other Services, 7.3% Government, 2.1% Education & Health Services, 10.7% Mining, Logging, & Construction, 0.3% Construction, 12.3% Manufacturing, 2.3% Professional & Business Services, 21.1% Trade, Transportation, & Utilities, 17.9% Financial Activities, 11.9% Information, 1.1% City of Fort Walton Beach, FL 198  Statistical Information DEMOGRAPHICS FWB Population by Race FWB Age Distribution 100% Two or More Races 6000 90% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 5000 American Indian or Alaka 80% Native Asian 70% 4000 Hispanic or Latino 60% People Black 3000 50% White 40% 2000 30% 1000 20% 10% 0 Under 5 5-17 18-24 25-34 35-54 55-64 65+ 0% FWB Population Housing Units 24000 22000 20000 18000 16000 14000 Owner Occupied, People 11496, 50% Renter Occupied, 12000 9444, 41% 10000 8000 6000 4000 Vacant,