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I was looking at Wilmington NC and thinking what an idillic, pretty place it looked. Then I checked out neighbourhood scout for the crime stats and saw that on a scale of 0-100 (100 being the safest), it had a rating of...5! Which got me thinking, is there ANYWHERE that's as near to perfect in the US that you can get to perfect?
What are people's thoughts? The boxes that I would like checked off would be:
* Crime. Needs to be safe. Very low gun crime, low property crime. No murders or at least hardly any.
* A town that is safe and pretty, surrounded by other safe and pretty towns.
* Good schools.
* Within 30 minutes of a city but not the most major US cities (NYC, Boston, LA...)
* Near a lake, on the coast or at least near mountains.
* Good for families with lots to do for children.
Does such a place exist in the US? I have found somewhere that SEEMS to have all the above but I want to see if anyone else suggests it first.
Would love to hear people's thoughts on their towns or towns they've lived.
no crime, check
safe and pretty, check
schools, well, they have K-2 in town, a great school with about 12 students; older students are bused to another town
within 30 minutes of a city, check
on the coast, check
good for families with lots for children, check
Point Roberts, Washington, safest town in the U.S.
This board is only for the discussion of coastal North Carolina, so discussions of of other areas is off topic and will probably be deleted.
For me, its where I live now, Southport, NC. Beautiful, quaint small town, very safe, 30 minutes from Wilmington. But, my children are grown. Schools here are slightly above average, and whether there is a lot for children to do depends on what the children like to do.
I wouldn't discount Wilmington based solely on crime stats. They are inflated by drunk tourists, immature college kids, and drug issues in very localized areas that are easy enough to avoid.
Your housing budget obviously will impact any answers to your question. If its $200,000, the answer is probably "nowhere". If its $3 million the answer is probably "lots of places".
I didn't even realize I'd posted it under NC But we can compare NC to other places to bring it back on topic and then hopefully it won't be deleted!
I was looking at Maine myself. Just outside Portland. Yeah sure it's a bit cold in the winter and I know unemployment is a bit higher but if you have a stable job then I thought it was quite an ideal location. Low crime, coastal, near Portland and not too far from Boston. You've got skiing and kayaking in abundance. I know Maine isn't for everyone but it looked as good as it could get for a family I thought. Excluding the weather!
What are anyone's thoughts on Raleigh and also the Research Triangle area? Just to bring it back on topic.
I didn't even realize I'd posted it under NC But we can compare NC to other places to bring it back on topic and then hopefully it won't be deleted!
I was looking at Maine myself. Just outside Portland. Yeah sure it's a bit cold in the winter and I know unemployment is a bit higher but if you have a stable job then I thought it was quite an ideal location. Low crime, coastal, near Portland and not too far from Boston. You've got skiing and kayaking in abundance. I know Maine isn't for everyone but it looked as good as it could get for a family I thought. Excluding the weather!
What are anyone's thoughts on Raleigh and also the Research Triangle area? Just to bring it back on topic.
Maine is more than a "bit cold". And Portland's crime index is 16, meaning its only safer than 16% of other cities. Thats marginally better than Wilmington, but not dramatically.
Maine is more than a "bit cold". And Portland's crime index is 16, meaning its only safer than 16% of other cities. Thats marginally better than Wilmington, but not dramatically.
I only spent one winter there and although I do remember once thinking "this is how people die" on a particularly cold night, I don't remember being too cold the rest of the winter. Maine has skiing though! Can't ski in NC
I only spent one winter there and although I do remember once thinking "this is how people die" on a particularly cold night, I don't remember being too cold the rest of the winter. Maine has skiing though! Can't ski in NC
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