Best areas to live near water in Elizabeth City (Charlotte: relocation, for sale)

[kisimone]

Hello,
It's great to be back on City-Data, it's been a while. I am seriously considering relocation to Elizabeth City, I am originally from Queens, relocated to Virginia and now I want to get to EC. I have always lived near water and I have to be near it. I was considering Charlotte for a while, I love it but it's just to far inland for me. I keep seeing these homes on the MLS for like 20k-50k for fixer uppers, and these homes are 5-6 bedrooms, WHAT!! I am sure that they aren't in the best areas but I was reading a post earlier that said that the areas near water are no the best. You see I grew up in a HOOD area back when crack first hit the streets of NY and that, my friends was rough enough and although I am not trying to live in a bad area, I can live in an area that is up and coming. Any information on rent to own homes, bad areas, fun things to do in EC, anything will help. If you grew up there or currently reside there, please tell me whats good and bad about EC. I have a salon here in Virginia and I will continue to make the commute, I will be taking a trip there before the summer is out as I need to move before school is out. If you know of someone looking to do a rent to own deal, please let me know. I have two ten year boys and a Chihuahua, whats good?

[Ann in Oriental]

Hi, I noticed that no one had responed to your post and I thought that was so sad. I don't know anything about Elizabeth City, and I think perhaps most of the others on this site don't either as I rarely hear it mentioned. Mostly people talk about New Bern and south on down towards Willmington. So... I just wanted to say hi and to let you know that most of us just don't know the answer to your questions.

[Katie1]

I am planning a move to EC next yr. But I will be renting not buying...
Have you contacted any Realtors in that area to help you?

[gigimac]

The whole town is on the Pasquotank River, but of course some houses are closer than others. You can pretty much walk or bike down there from almost anywhere in town, except the suburbs.

I haven't lived there in many years, but there are two neighborhoods closest to the river. Riverside (the name of the street, too) is a nice place to live, a few blocks from town and over one of the bridges. Behind the nicer river homes is a neighborhood of older craftsman type homes and simple cottages. Then a few blocks just north of town, right on the water, are some very old houses in rough shape, but basic Victorian two-story, with the blocks of that neighborhood leading away from the river.

That commute is going to be tough, though, to and from Virginia, unless you just commute once a week. When you come down to visit, be sure to time it out and give it some thought. There are plenty of towns in Virginia on rivers and such.

[BinNC]

Originally Posted by kisimone

Hello,
It's great to be back on City-Data, it's been a while. I am seriously considering relocation to Elizabeth City, I am originally from Queens, relocated to Virginia and now I want to get to EC. I have always lived near water and I have to be near it. I was considering Charlotte for a while, I love it but it's just to far inland for me. I keep seeing these homes on the MLS for like 20k-50k for fixer uppers, and these homes are 5-6 bedrooms, WHAT!! I am sure that they aren't in the best areas but I was reading a post earlier that said that the areas near water are no the best. You see I grew up in a HOOD area back when crack first hit the streets of NY and that, my friends was rough enough and although I am not trying to live in a bad area, I can live in an area that is up and coming. Any information on rent to own homes, bad areas, fun things to do in EC, anything will help. If you grew up there or currently reside there, please tell me whats good and bad about EC. I have a salon here in Virginia and I will continue to make the commute, I will be taking a trip there before the summer is out as I need to move before school is out. If you know of someone looking to do a rent to own deal, please let me know. I have two ten year boys and a Chihuahua, whats good?

kisimone,

I have read the forums for a while.. Stopping reading, and have now rejoined. I am now just reading your post. What part of Elizabeth City exactly are you looking to reside? I currently live in Elizabeth City and have been here for the past 5 years. I can tell you much of what you need to know.


B in NC

[Ces1]

White Lake is very close and until two weeks ago I had never been there, but friends of ours bought a get away house at Camp Clearwater and we were there for the weekend. I loved it.

[Ebediel]

Hey Kisimone, sorry for not seeing your post but I've not been on in a while. I live in Moyock but I go over to E.C. on occasion and even tried to buy a home over there once but was out bid. If you are seeing large homes that are cheap and designated fixer-uppers then you are probably finding homes around the historic part of EC which is for the most part in walking distance of the waterfront. These are mostly older southern style homes that have been let go sometimes way too long. These sections of town are nice but many of the homes are in dis-repair. Many of the people who live around here think of these areas as being rough neighborhoods, but if you are from Queens you will probably think they're crazy. There is a bit of a crime problem in these areas and there have been some gang problems. Though EC is one of the bigger towns in the area to someone who has been in cities like Philadelphia, NYC, Richmond, and Norfolk--EC is pretty small potatoes. If you look into some of those homes you may want to be careful as some of them are considered to be in the historical district and though they may need extensive work may be hindered severely by city ordinances and codes. All in all there are some nice homes there and some worth the work to fix them up. EC has a tremendous nostalgic quality to it and is a neat town. It has some of the signs of a growing community and some of the signs of a dying small city.
I've never been in a town that has so many homes up for sale like EC has all the time. It is rather near a Coast Guard base and it seems that many of the homes turn over rather quickly.

[delirium]

I have an Elizabeth City address ... but technically I live in Weeksville. Just a few miles past the Coast Guard Base. I live on Symond's creek in a small community ... the area I live in has few houses ... but small communities dotted along the river.

[url=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=symond's+creek+nc&sll=20 .797201,-63.896484&sspn=53.954235,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=36.16937 3,-76.222372&spn=0.023524,0.038452&t=h&z=15]symond's creek nc - Google Maps[/url]

Not sure about the whole rental thing ... but I recommend you drive around to see signs in the yards. this is not a high tech community and still functions like a small town in many ways.

p.s. I make the commut to Chesapeake 5 days a week. It's not that bad now that gas prices have gone down. You might want to consider relocating your salon ... Even kuntry folk like to get their hair done.

~M