Relocating to Jacksonville and very confused! (Wilmington, Piney Green: leases, hotel, houses)

[hays]

My name is Hayley and my hubby is in the Navy. We will be relocating to Jacksonville, NC in the 4 months with our 3 year old little boy. We were stationed in Cherry Point from 2004 to 2006 and we just didn't make it to JAX that often. We are looking for a nice area to live but are very confused. We are currently up in Maine so we can't just drive down for a few days to look around. My hubby will be planning a trip to come down for 4 days but there are so many nice areas that we really need to know where to hit when he is down there for that short amount of time. We are interested in Hubert/Swansboro area because they are out the back gate of Lejeune...we hear the front gate is horrible as far as traffic goes. Are there nice subdivisions in JAX outside the backgates? He will be with the 2nd Medical Battalion which are located in that area as well. Any tips and advice about the nice areas to live in would be great. Our price range is up to $210,000. I think the Highlands in Hubert sound nice. What are your thoughts on Hubert? Are there nice beaches in that area? Thank you.

Hays

[macjr82]

I don't know about Hubert specifically, you can't see much of it from hwy 24 or the road that leads to the back gate, if there is much to see. In Onslow County, the best beach, well, just about the whole beach, is on the base. That's Onslow Beach. I don't think there is even water access in Hubert. I think base property covers the shore there. If you don't want to live in jacksonville and don't mind a small commute, I'd suggest Swansboro or Sneads Ferry on the other side of town.

[mkat321]

My brother in law transferred to LeJune this summer after 2 years at Cherry Point. He and his wife spent the better part of the spring looking and recently bought a house in the National Forest area near Peletier. From what he's shared with my husband and the inlaws, the short commute is well worth the quality of life, and many of their friends in the Corps have houses in the same & nearby subdivisions.

[hays]

We currently commute over 30 minutes and we are so tired of it. I sure appreciate you all telling me about the area. It means alot. Are any of you familiar with Richlands? Thanks.

[goi_cuon]

I live three miles from the Lejeune main gate and I try to allow 40 minutes for my commute. It's going to be a drive.

If your husband is working near the Snead's Ferry gate, then Snead's Ferry is a logical choice.

I've done the whole house hunting thing on orders, and it's awful. I'd get a short term lease and live out of a box for a couple of months before I'd pick a place to live in a hurry again. No short term leases were available when I got here, so I am where I am.

Personally, I like Swansboro, Cedar Point and Emerald Isle. I'll be looking out there when my lease here expires.

[hays]

goi_cuon,

It takes 40 minutes to commute 3 miles??????????????????????? Is that because the traffice is that bad??? Oh my...we don't want that! Well I think he will be working close to the gate that is near Hubert? He will be with the 2nd Med Battalion. Well it looks like we need to rent a few months then, I definately want to make sure we make the right choice! From what I've researched, Swansboro/Hubert area has some excellent schools...and actually, Jacksonville sounds like it has excellent schools as well.

[macjr82]

As far as I can tell, there is nothing in Hubert. Youll either have to go into Jacksonville or go to swansboro/cape carteret for pretty much everything and it doesn't even have the benefit of the ocean or sound like sneads ferry or Swansboro. Thee's nothing wrong with Hubert, as far as I know. I know they use dto have a popular mud bog track out there.

It seems to me like you're looking more for validation of a place you're already interested in, being hubert, than honest opinions/suggestions on the area. I may be off base, and apologize in advance if so.

BTW, your husband rates 10 days house hunting, in addition to reimbursement of storage and hotel stay while he's looking for a residence. Lastly as far as Richlands, I've only driven through it, but seems pleasant enough. Being a coastal guy, I'd still go with one of the coastal communities outside of Jacksonville.

[Steven McCurdy]

Cape Careteret, Cedar Point numbr one because of schools and queitness...

Swansboro number two because of schools and nice area...

Hubert good schools....more an area than town, rural spread out...shopping will be done in Jville or Swansboro...

Richlands in ok....Camino Real is the best Mexican Restuarant in area..IMO...

Need housing help, let me know...

[goi_cuon]

Originally Posted by hays

goi_cuon,

It takes 40 minutes to commute 3 miles??????????????????????? Is that because the traffice is that bad??? Oh my...we don't want that! Well I think he will be working close to the gate that is near Hubert? He will be with the 2nd Med Battalion. Well it looks like we need to rent a few months then, I definately want to make sure we make the right choice! From what I've researched, Swansboro/Hubert area has some excellent schools...and actually, Jacksonville sounds like it has excellent schools as well.

I'm 3 miles to the gate and 7 to my office. The time to get there varies wildly. Sometimes I can get there in ten minutes, but I can't count on that. If traffic stops at the gate for any reason, for any length of time, a bottleneck occurs. If there is a fender-bender on either side of the gate, it might halt traffic movement for a while. I've had it take me 1:20 to get home, but those are rare.

This is a town of about 70,000 people. There are 43,000 Marines at Lejeune. We are all going to work at the same place and mostly at the same time.

The Piney Green gate or the gate at Hubert or Snead's Ferry have less traffic but I haven't used them much. Those are all two lane roads, so an accident or traffic stop might be worse. I think that the area around the Hubert gate is pretty - wild and green, country living. It's not a subdivision kind of place. Swansboro and Snead's Ferry are both pleasant little towns. The drive from Snead's Ferry is nice because the base is beautiful - lots of wild, wooded areas.

I hope that you like it here!

[jfgruner]

Sneads Ferry is an area worth considering. Not much traffic through the back gate, small town, North Topsail Beach is less than 5 minutes away from just about any neighborhood in the area. Jacksonville is 20 minutes away and you're much closer to Wilmington(35 min), which is the largest city on the North Carolina coast and has a lot more to offer in terms of dining, stuff to do, etc than Jax.