Where to live in NC (Charlotte, Raleigh: houses, neighborhoods, good schools)

[CampingMom]

Good morning!

We are thinking of making a move to my Mother's home state-my family is all still there. Of course we're coming from the dreaded NY, lol-course my parents came to NY in 1951 from NC and Virginia for work. Her home town is Eden(Leaksville).

Not sure where we want to look. Family is still in the Eden, Smithfield, Wake Forest, Roanoke areas. I prefer more mountains and lake areas(closer to what I grew up with). Hubby likes the idea of a few hour drive to the coast for salt water fishing. He's been in the concrete/quarry business for 20+ years. I have a degree in hospitality and tourism(although I drive a school bus to work around my kids schedule). We are looking for decent schools, but prefer a more rural area. Any suggestions on where would be a good starting point to look for jobs and a home? What areas have good senior living/health care-my Mom may get convinced yet to come along with us-she's 83.

I've been partial to the Boone area, Lake Lure, Lake Norman. Hubby likes New Bern the best. Any suggestions? Advice? We go to see family yearly, but it's different than actually living there-we are doing nothing but relaxing and having fun when we do.

Thanks!

[Bethanytedder]

Originally Posted by CampingMom

Good morning!

We are thinking of making a move to my Mother's home state-my family is all still there. Of course we're coming from the dreaded NY, lol-course my parents came to NY in 1951 from NC and Virginia for work. Her home town is Eden(Leaksville).

Not sure where we want to look. Family is still in the Eden, Smithfield, Wake Forest, Roanoke areas. I prefer more mountains and lake areas(closer to what I grew up with). Hubby likes the idea of a few hour drive to the coast for salt water fishing. He's been in the concrete/quarry business for 20+ years. I have a degree in hospitality and tourism(although I drive a school bus to work around my kids schedule). We are looking for decent schools, but prefer a more rural area. Any suggestions on where would be a good starting point to look for jobs and a home? What areas have good senior living/health care-my Mom may get convinced yet to come along with us-she's 83.

I've been partial to the Boone area, Lake Lure, Lake Norman. Hubby likes New Bern the best. Any suggestions? Advice? We go to see family yearly, but it's different than actually living there-we are doing nothing but relaxing and having fun when we do.

Thanks!

Gosh, North Carolina is such a long state it is hard to get somewhere that won't be a long drive from either the beaches or the mountains. I can't believe I am actually going to say this but think about Clayton, NC in Johnston County. That will put you about 2 hours and 15 minutes from the coast and I am not entirely sure how far the mountains are from there but it wouldn't be much further than the coastal drive. This seems to be the middle ground for what you are looking for. Also Clayton is only about 15 minutes from Raleigh so the commute there is not too bad unless you are doing it at 8 AM and 5 PM. Johnston County has a lot of outlet stores in Smithfield-Selma area which Clayton is about 10 miles to the west of that. The houses costs in Clayton would be less than those of the Wake County (where Raleigh is) area. Good luck and welcome to North Carolina.

[friendnc]

You mentioned Lake Norman and Lake Lure.

The Lake Norman area would be nice for the water recreation, it's near very good medical facilities, near Charlotte and its recreational assets, 2 hours to the mountains/3.5 to the coast, and still not too far from your other family members.

Lake Lure would be nice because of its mountain beauty. It's also close to Asheville and what it has to offer. It's a retirement area and has excellent medical facilities. It's also a tourist area and your degree may come in handy there.

Good luck on wherever you land!!!

[annerose]

It seems funny but you and your husband seem like us , she likes the mountains and he likes the water .
Well , maybe i will be one day a schoolbus driver , my husband is a jet mechanic and still working overseas .
Our sons are teenagers and quite a job for a 50 year young mom , but all this pays out when we go on camping trips or culture trips around germany , but soon we will move away from europe .
My hubby bought a house in clayton , nc . and we are getting ready to move .
I have to leave germany but i know it will be ok , since we were living already from 1993-1997 in williamsburg , va.
This post i am answering to is already a while back but maybe camping mom will still see it . Thanks

Originally Posted by CampingMom

Good morning

We are thinking of making a move to my Mother's home state-my family is all still there. Of course we're coming from the dreaded NY, lol-course my parents came to NY in 1951 from NC and Virginia for work. Her home town is Eden(Leaksville).

Not sure where we want to look. Family is still in the Eden, Smithfield, Wake Forest, Roanoke areas. I prefer more mountains and lake areas(closer to what I grew up with). Hubby likes the idea of a few hour drive to the coast for salt water fishing. He's been in the concrete/quarry business for 20+ years. I have a degree in hospitality and tourism(although I drive a school bus to work around my kids schedule). We are looking for decent schools, but prefer a more rural area. Any suggestions on where would be a good starting point to look for jobs and a home? What areas have good senior living/health care-my Mom may get convinced yet to come along with us-she's 83.

I've been partial to the Boone area, Lake Lure, Lake Norman. Hubby likes New Bern the best. Any suggestions? Advice? We go to see family yearly, but it's different than actually living there-we are doing nothing but relaxing and having fun when we do.

Thanks!

[coffeebean330]

Originally Posted by CampingMom

Good morning!

We are thinking of making a move to my Mother's home state-my family is all still there. Of course we're coming from the dreaded NY, lol-course my parents came to NY in 1951 from NC and Virginia for work. Her home town is Eden(Leaksville).

Not sure where we want to look. Family is still in the Eden, Smithfield, Wake Forest, Roanoke areas. I prefer more mountains and lake areas(closer to what I grew up with). Hubby likes the idea of a few hour drive to the coast for salt water fishing. He's been in the concrete/quarry business for 20+ years. I have a degree in hospitality and tourism(although I drive a school bus to work around my kids schedule). We are looking for decent schools, but prefer a more rural area. Any suggestions on where would be a good starting point to look for jobs and a home? What areas have good senior living/health care-my Mom may get convinced yet to come along with us-she's 83.

I've been partial to the Boone area, Lake Lure, Lake Norman. Hubby likes New Bern the best. Any suggestions? Advice? We go to see family yearly, but it's different than actually living there-we are doing nothing but relaxing and having fun when we do.

Thanks!

I'm also looking into moving down to NC from New York. I'm guessing you're from the Adirondacks based on the mountains and lake. It'll be so nice to escape the cold.

[DaleA52]

I think you would love living in Union County. It's just a short drive to Charlotte, and only a couple hours drive to the beaches or mountains. Charlotte has just about everything you could ever want and has NFL Football, NBA Basketball, NASCAR racing, great shopping and is only about 20 minutes away. Union County is the fastest growing county in NC, and still has a lot of wide open spaces and many new neighborhoods with large lot sizes. Many of it's residents are people like yourself who are new to the area. Jobs are still good in the Charlotte area, and home prices are still appreciating there, unlike most of the nation. It's a great place to live!

[LLN]

New Bern is great. Fished for striped bass, sea trout and red drum, in shirt sleeves the day before ThanksGiving and Christmas Eve. A fair number of boat ramps, I am 4 minutes from my normal one, 6 minutes from the second!

Very rural down here, you get 5 miles from New Bern and you could be anywhere.

We are about 45 minutes to an hour from beach, my girls go over all summer on day trips.

We have some pretty good schools in Craven County, too.

Good Luck.

lln