Need Help.. Where to Live?? (Hickory, New Bern: low crime, schools, living in)

[xbbxjrx]

Hello everyone!! I just registered here, hoping to get some helpful ideas on places for me and my family to relocate to in NC.. We are currently living in a suburb of Cleveland, OH and looking to get away from the cold snowy winters and Cleveland in general.. My family and I absolutely love boating and would like to be able to use our boats more then 5 months out of the year, so living near the water is a must (or at least within a 20-30 minute drive)!! We would like to live in a community that has a low crime rate, has great schools, as well as being near medical offices or a hospital..

With all that being said, what places should we check out??

We are planning on coming down in January to see what "winter" is like, just the other day we had 2-4 inches of snow here!!

Thanks in advance for your help!!

[garth]

Uh, you might want to restate one of your qualifications just to get more constructive responses. I understand what you might be saying, but it could also lead to responses that don't address your question. I'll let you decide which qualification I am referencing.

With that said, you didn't way if you wanted fresh water or salt water environments. In the case of fresh water, you're limited in the western mountains. There's only a few lakes with enough water for extensive activities like water skiing. There's a few, like Lake Lure, but they're also very expensive for lake-front property. Otherwise, it seems like there's many ponds that are referred to as lakes.

You can live in many areas within a 20-30 minute drive of something like Lake Lure. It would open up places like souther Buncombe County, all of Henderson County, Rutherford County, and maybe some others, but that's just one western lake.

Of course, Western NC also has a 4 season environment. It's certainly not as severe as Ohio's season, but it will keep many from boating in the winter.

The coastal areas will probably be more to your liking. The downside is the summer environment, at least from the type of weather that I enjoy. Hot and steamy summers just don't float my boat, so to speak. That's why I decided to settle in the western mountains.

There's also the central state region, aka Piedmont area. I'm not too knowledgable about it in terms of the boating environment, so I hope others can give you the info you need.

As for crime, just do your research on sites like this one. When you run the numbers, don't just take them on their face value. You might find a certain crime rate in a particular city or town, but the rate will be much much much lower the the suburbs, rural areas, or smaller towns surrounding the city that you queried.

I'm sure you'll get some other good responses and certainly others that will be more knowledgable than me. Good luck with your search.

[Pixie Dust]

I would agree with Garth about part of your question. WIth that said try city-data, click the state than the town and it will give you demographics of race, nationalities and what not, in percentages. Hope this helps.

[hapaleeretired]

Check out threads below about Hickory and Granite Falls.

[xbbxjrx]

Thanks for your replies, however I should have mentioned this earlier.. It needs to be in the coastal region of NC.. Somewhere that can accomodate a 40' sailboat and 33' powerboat.. Inland lakes won't cut it.. Also any boaters here that know of any safe harbors for when a hurricane comes through??

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by xbbxjrx

Thanks for your replies, however I should have mentioned this earlier.. It needs to be in the coastal region of NC.. Somewhere that can accomodate a 40' sailboat and 33' powerboat.. Inland lakes won't cut it.. Also any boaters here that know of any safe harbors for when a hurricane comes through??

In that case, check out the old threads about New Bern, I think from what I've read that may be just what you are looking for