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Wife and I are getting ready to retire from NJ in a couple of years, and are looking at St. Augustine and the New Bern area of NC. We happen to like both areas, and like that FL is basically warm throughout the winter. However, I think HO taxes and insurance are higher.
Just wondering if any of you guys have lived in and moved from/to these areas, and what your experience is and why you relocated?
I see where FL has experienced a loss in population, whereas NC is gaining. Basically, I'm looking to find the pro's and con's of these areas, and all +/- comments are welcome, i.e. heat, insurance, bugs, medical care, and taxes, etc.
As someone who likes both, I'd consider these points:
That part of Florida is much more urbanized than the area around New Bern. Florida has probably reached its saturation point, at least for the time being, so what you see is what you get. New Bern will continue to grow but as it is fairly far off the beaten track the growth will probably be more retirees and second home owners than growth in the community as such.
Personally I don't think the climate is so different as to warrant that much weight. Both are in the southeast and while you are certainly more likely to get snow in New Bern the reality is that you can have 70F degree days in both places in January and that boating is pretty much year round in both places. (It's not until you get south of Palm Beach that you get to a tropical climate in Florida).
So I would pick on whether you want a rural-small town environment or a more suburban way of living.
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