What is the best place to live in NC near a beach without hurricane destruction? (Wilmington: tornadoes, earthquakes)

[newbernian]

New Bern, NC is the place for you. New Bern sits between two large rivers that open into a beautiful bay. We are 40 minutes from some of the most beautiful beaches in NC, but we are also more protected from hurricanes for that reason. Trent Woods has homes in your price range, a decent elementary school that kids can bike or walk to and tons of trees to keep the A/C bill at a minimum. Also, a plus for your wife. There are many German families with young children here that work for Bosch. We have quite a few military families here as well since we are 15 miles to Cherry Point AFB and 35 miles to Le Jeune.

We are a true outdoor fun kind of town. Boating, fishing, hunting, live outdoor music and fireworks on the water, great seafood a wonderful YMCA and tons of biking and jogging in the area. We are also very proud of our 300th year anniversary next year. Tons of live events are planned and a $60 million dollar museum is currently under construction. Hope that helps.

[melbern]

I recommend New Bern too! And as for hurricanes, I grew up in Winston-Salem (near the mountains!), and in the late 80's (can't remember exactly when), we got the edge of a hurricane that pulled down a massive amount of trees and caused lots of home damage from wind and debris. Regardless, if you want to live on the coast, it's a risk you take. Everywhere has it's natural disaster issues though - flood, earthquake, tornado, etc. IMHO, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Have fun choosing your future home!

[luv2goboating]

I'd have to agree that New Bern is a great town. I've been here for four years and can't imagine going back to traffic, urban sprawl and getting lost in the crowd.

A couple things that I would like to add are all the great golf courses, the historic nature of the town (reminds me of a smaller more relaxed Salem, Mass or Alexandria, VA) and all of the great volunteer activities that are available. There is always something going on downtown, art walk, theatre, shopping, restaurants,convention center and waterfront not to mention the Tryon Palace activities all year round.

As far as the hurricanes - we've had a generator since we moved here that has never been used. Our neighbors tell us that the City/Crystal coast area beaches sometimes have some flooding and power outages.

Homes come in a variety of price ranges and crime does exist but just in a certain pocket of town. The local police do a great job of keeping crime rather confined to that area. Compared to an urban or suburban area it is really quite nothing.

Trent Woods is a nice area for newcomers to get acclimated to the area. It is a 5 min. drive to Target, Walmart, Bookstores, the mall and the downtown historic district. My kids can ride their bikes to school and go to the local park. The fire station has picnics for the community and also rides on the fire truck for kids and families. My kids also walk to school and the country club and I never worry about their safety. Bangert Elementary has a great reputation in New Bern and is continuing to improve under the guidance of the new Principal. The Epiphany school (started by Nicholas Sparks) is popular for the upper grades and is very inexpensive (5,000yr) compared to suburban private schools. If your looking for more of an athletic program for students the Jr. High and High School are the way to go.

There are also nice neighborhoods like River Bend, Greenbriar in this area. They also have some of the same activities as well as a country club with a pool, clubhouse, tennis and golf.

[Richard Martin]

Nevermind. Wrong post.

[Dusty Rhodes]

What is the best place to live in NC near a beach without hurricane destruction?


I suspect, that, what you are asking is, "where hasn't a hurricane hit yet?" If you are on the Atlantic Coast, a Hurricane is always (seasonal thing, that "always", don't get many at all in winter) a real possibility.

[LLN]

I would steer clear of New Bern. I wish I had.

Crime is out of control, and while it is generally restricted to a small area, anything can happen anytime.

Today, for example, the paper reported that two bicyclists got into a fight and one was shot. A 20 year old shooter with a 44 mag, I think.

Late last week a women was cut and left for dead. It just goes on and on and on. Don't believe me...check the Sun Journal.

The city government is not so much corrupt as incompetent. The focus on the 300 year anniversary has led to the utter destruction of the two main routes into town. Both supposedly will be fixed by November. We will see. I just went through a set of tires at 12K from riding over the potholed and deeply rutted streets of New Bern. They cut a four lane street down to a two lane street, just to show you how the morons that govern this berg think.

Additionally, those in power have done away with term limits, and we vote for city government next month..an off month, off year election. Why? to reduce votes in an attempt to keep the current governing body in.

Take a look at the New Bern waterfront. It should be a jewel, but instead, we have a "history center", condos, hotel, convention center, and another hotel which dominate about 90% of all available waterfront. Don't believe me, just take a look when you travel on 70. A priceless attraction for tourist and local alike, a charming waterfront, has been sold out lord knows to whom. There is NO COMPARISON between the waterfronts of either Washington or Beaufort and New Bern. Visit all of them, judge for yourself.

And then there is electricty and water rates. Astonomical. Again thanks to poor planning and one must assume, some very lucrative deals with developers.

I moved here three years ago. It seemed perfect. It could be, but the governing folks have it so screwed up, with crime rampant, that New Bern has turned out to be very disappointing.

Oh yeah, did I mention the guy dealing meth a couple of blocks over. Cars stop there all night, and we had retired NJ cop across the street cataloging license plates, but the Police state the dealer is not big enough to go after. The guy has been involved in two drive by shootings (shooter and shootee), but again, just a small fry in New Bern.

I am sure some New Bern zealot (like my posts of 1 1/2 or 2 years ago) will dispute what I have posted. I wish I was lying, but I am not. Remember, I live here, too!

I won't mention the $4 million pool. Another example of the leadership of New Bern's priorities.

lln

[OakIslandGirl38]

Earthquakes (no advanced notice), Tornadoes, (no advanced notice), Tsunami (no advanced notice), Snow Blizzards (yea some advanced notice but more often it just a plain snow before you get buried royaly), Thunderstorms (advanced notice) Hurricane (Lots of advanced notice with TWC coverage < --- they can get a bit over the top though) I dunno a person has to pick their poison and just be happy.

[VickiR]

I have a 2nd home in Southport and I love it there!

Yes, it is a small town, with little shopping but as a place to "getaway", I love it.

There are many folks in my neighborhood that live there full time and love it.

There are so many choices of where you can live so if shopping is a major issue for you, find another place! We like to keep Southport to ourselves!!!

Vicki

[seashellbelle]

Originally Posted by VickiR

I have a 2nd home in Southport and I love it there!

Yes, it is a small town, with little shopping but as a place to "getaway", I love it.

There are many folks in my neighborhood that live there full time and love it.

There are so many choices of where you can live so if shopping is a major issue for you, find another place! We like to keep Southport to ourselves!!!

Vicki

DITTO, Ms. Vicki!!!!

[Francois]

Nobody can possibly say that a certain area is more "hurricane-free" than another! The hurricanes don't exactly "seek out" certain areas! Everywhere on the NC coast is "potential" hurricane fodder, though it is pretty rare that we get them. And of course the farther from the coast you are, the less damage there will generally be if one DOES hit (though not always true--Hurricane Floyd, 10 years ago next week, devastated an area quite a ways inland, and didn't really do anything much to the coast).

If you are truly basing your entire search on a place you can guarantee won't get hit by a hurricane, you need to avoid NC altogether, since the geography of the state, "sticking out" as it does, puts us more prone to east coast hurricanes than any state besides Florida. But I really am puzzled that you thought there would be a way to tell which places are "less likely" to have hurricanes than others--the storms go where the storms go, and they have no memory of previous storms, so while you could look at previous hurricane paths and see where has been safer in the past, it doesn't meant the next one won't go exactly there.