Advance or Mocksville? (Winston-Salem, Salisbury, Statesville: squatters, houses, find a job)

[roxxy]

I am looking for a safe, somewhat rural area with decent schools to raise my children. We cannot spend too much on a home since I am a stay at home mom right now. We saw some properties in Advance and in Mocksville that would work for us. Which is considered a better area, more convenient to shopping, and family friendly activities? I really appreciate any advice and words of wisdom from those knowledgeable about these areas.

[SunnyKayak]

Both are cute sleepy towns and good for raising little ones less than the age of 12.
I like Mocksville but Advance is closer to Clemmons and Winston for more extracuricular activities

[gsoboi]

Mocksville has a nice historic looking downtown. Its really more of a town than Advance. Mocksville has more restaurants and is also closer to I-40 where there is a Walmart on the northwest part of Mocksville. The town also has a good bakery called Ketchie Creek They make delicious cakes.

http://ketchiecreekbakery.com/

There is a little history in Mocksville. The person that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 was a Mocksville native named Tom Ferebee. He was hand-picked for a highly secret mission by pilot Paul Tibbets Jr., to be part of the Enola Gay's 12-man crew.

[silverwing]

Advance is more a wide spot in the road. It’s a growing residential area, but there’s not much there except the post office, a big church, gas stations and a small restaurant. As gsoboi stated, Mocksville is more a town – and really the only ‘town’ in the county. Adding to the history is that Daniel Boone’s family lived in the area for a number of years. His parents are buried in a cemetery on 601 (unfortunately a strip mall and some other businesses grew up around it ).

Both areas have their advantages. Advance is a good pick to be near both an elementary and middle school, the only high school is in Mocksville. You can find information about the county schools on this site Welcome to Davie County Schools Information about DavieCounty services can be found here Welcome to Davie County The county also has GIS where, if you have enough information about property you are interested in, you can view its plat and the plats of adjoining properties. It takes a bit of jiggery-pokery to figure out, and requires Internet Explorer Davie County, North Carolina GIS Online Viewer (http://maps.co.davie.nc.us/website/mapviewer/GISviewerhome.htm - broken link)

Around Mocksville you’ll find a diverse range of houses; Advance abuts a more upscale residential area. If you choose the Advance area, you might want to take into account the influence of the nearby communities. As more development spreads out from the Bermuda Run area, restrictions and plans may be imposed. There’s already a squabble about that community’s idea to implement what they call “Walkable Bermuda Run”. Here’s what’s noted in the local rag.

By Jackie Seabolt -BERMUDA RUN - A revised plan for building sidewalks was presented at the town board’s monthly meeting last week.
The plan for sidewalks, bike lanes, and shared use paths is being called a “Walkable Bermuda Run.”
During the public comments portion of the meeting former resident Bill Burnette told council members that he opposes the plan. “I oppose council that is voted on inside the fence who can impose requirements on people outside the fence that can cause them financial hurt.”
More than a dozen residents who live outside the gates of BR in the ETJ were present to show their opposition to the plan.
ETJ (extra territorial jurisdiction) is the one mile area beyond Bermuda Run’s corporate limits in which it may enforce land use regulations including zoning, subdivision regulation, and building inspections.
Realtor Marcia Barney told the council that residents in the ETJ should be able to give more input on the plan. “My concerns are the effect to ETJ residents and developers who may want to develop. Before this plan is presented it needs to go to a committee for further study.”
Some of Barney’s concerns were the large size of the sidewalks and the pre-requirement of the sidewalks, buffer areas, and bike zones prior to any site plans for future development of the ETJ area; decreased land values due to increased regulations that would incur additional costs for developers; and the fact that it is a public walkable plan which still allows a major portion of the community to be an exclusionary fenced-in area not accessible to the public.

The Enterprise Record


I’ve noted (as well as admire and side with) the natives of Davie county as an independent bunch. They don’t care much for outsiders coming in and telling them what to do with their lives or property. It’s a trait you don’t see much in other areas with growing transplant populations.

I checked your other posts; are you still looking for a country area where you can have critters? I’d stay away from the crossroads of 158/801 (Hillsdale/Bermuda Run/Kinderton region). That’s where land will be more expensive and you might run into zoning issues. The rest of the county has quite a bit of open land, just stay away from Cooleemee. It’s a dead mill town and, while it does have some nice houses and land, the area is just generally run down.

There are several realtors in Mocksville, ERA Realty and Century 21 are represented as well as a home realtor: Howard Realty. realtor dot com is a good search engine for a general scan of the area. Be aware that, outside the Hillsdale/Bermuda Run/Kinderton region and the Mocksville town limits, zoning and control over property is limited. What you will probably find is pockets of developments where HOAs have been established by whoever bought a large tract and built a bunch of houses. So, you might see a really nice piece of property only to find that down the road is a dumpy tract. We live on a 5 acre home site surrounded by generally nice houses, yet there is also a habitant on our road who is the subject of some chuckles. We keep track of the amount of scrap wood he is collecting, figuring that he’s going to put another addition on his house when the pile is sufficient. The attitude is “hey, he doesn’t bother anyone; it’s none of our business what he does with his shack.” That independent, mind-your-own d* business attitude.

Either Mocksville or Advance will give you close access to Winston-Salem, and I've heard little complaint about Davie County schools. I think the criteria that might be a deciding factor will be finding a home or land where you can have animals.

[Jan Teeter]

To quote you: "Davie county as an independent bunch. They don’t care much for outsiders coming in and telling them what to do with their lives or property. It’s a trait you don’t see much in other areas with growing transplant populations."


It's is a trait that's seen all over this fair land, not just Davie County. IMHO, it's wrong, wrong, wrong!
I am a born and bred American of good standing. I am a citizen of the USA! What is the USA?
These are the UNITED states, aren't they? How dare one American call another American a 'transplant'?
If I move to Davie County or anywhere else in this country that I choose to hang my hat, you can bet you will hear my voice! I will have every right tell you what to do as much as the generational squatters.
If I live there, I enjoy the blessings or share the burdens of the county and will vote in all it's elections.
What misplaced pride these 'natives' have! We are all heirs to the good our fore fathers have done.
None of us personally 'own' our birthplace.

[silverwing]

[quote=Jan Teeter;7147076]

Well, that sure gave me a "WTF?" reaction

All that [/font] and bold print made for a messy post. Clean it up and the reader might be able to parse what you said

[Jan Teeter]

To Silverwing:

I admit I did not read the 'book' you left for us to read. (I quoted you in blue above)
I saw that and saw RED and that's why I responded as I did.
I never posted before and don't know why all those fonts, etc. show on my comments.
However they are clean as opposed to your profane response to my post.
Just because one uses abbreviations, does not make unacceptable language acceptable, IMHO!
Jan

[ncnewbe]

Here's my two cents worth. We just moved to Mocksville from CT and so far we love it. Where we are is pretty rural but its a quick trip into town. Mocksville has 2 Food Lion grocery stores, a Walmart, lots of places to eat, several banks, drugstores and a hospital. It also has a community college, and unemployment office, and a library. You can also get your license and license plates right in town. It has pretty much everything you need in a town. It is also a reasonably quick trip to Salisbury, Statesville, and Winston Salem.

Now if I can just find a job!

Overall people seem pretty friendly. I've got a few yankee comments here and there but I guess that just goes with the territory.

[evolution3]

Originally Posted by ncnewbe

Here's my two cents worth. We just moved to Mocksville from CT and so far we love it. Where we are is pretty rural but its a quick trip into town. Mocksville has 2 Food Lion grocery stores, a Walmart, lots of places to eat, several banks, drugstores and a hospital. It also has a community college, and unemployment office, and a library. You can also get your license and license plates right in town. It has pretty much everything you need in a town. It is also a reasonably quick trip to Salisbury, Statesville, and Winston Salem.

Now if I can just find a job!

Overall people seem pretty friendly. I've got a few yankee comments here and there but I guess that just goes with the territory.

I just bought a house out in the rual area of Mocksville. I should be moved in by the end of June. There are a few banks in town so I will be looking for a banks any suggestions?

I did do a review of the banks there online. It seems a pick of the lesser of two evils. Most of the complaints though were from people that can't seem to keep a + balance and complained about the charges.

I can relate to the "Damn Yankee" comments. Mostly in jest from people I knew. I lived in MS for 10 yrs.

[ncnewbe]

I probably should check here more often so I can answer questions in a more timely fashion. Sun Trust has several branches in town so is probably the most convenient. We have some money in there and so far they have not lost any of it... yet...