Relocating to Pope AFB (Fayetteville, Goldsboro: real estate, houses, transfer)

[wicpjuan]

Afternoon Everyone!

I'm transferring up to Pope AFB at the end of the month and I'm looking for some advice on the area. I've got two kids girl (7), boy (4) and the wife. Finding relo info on the area is a bit difficult. I haven't found too many pictures, and keep hearing the complaint about Fayetteville being too congested and catering to the single Army soldier. I'm wanting to purchase a home in a nice area, with good schools and some amenities around (shopping, movies, parks, etc). I've seen Sanford and Eastover mentioned, but what is the drive time? Also, some folks have said Hope Mills, but others have said that is a no go. I'm not rich, looking for homes in the $200K and below range.

Also, what is there for things to do around the area? I've got to get the kiddos out of the house to burn energy. My girl is big into dance, gym and cheerleading and my son is a budding soccer player (ok, he kicks the ball in the right direction most of the time anyway). How are the local Parks and Rec sports opoortunity or private clubs? Any theaters, museums, art districts nearby?

[faabala]

There is plenty to do in Fayetteille for families. The average commute time is 15-30 minutes no matter if you live north south east or west of Fort Bragg. You have to go though Bragg to get to Pope except one back gate. You will find some very nice houses in that price range between 2,000-3,000 Sq ft. I was stationed at Pope for four years before I retired and went into real estate with my wife. I drove from Hope Mills and it was never a problem. There are several dance/gymnastics/cheerleading schools in town. My 4 yoa Daughter attends Cumberland Dance academy in Hope Mills for ballet/tap. There is also dance/gymnastics/cheerleading school on Legion road a couple miles away. You will find plenty of sports opportunities on Bragg and in the community. There is a childrens museum downtown and art museum and an active theater scene too. There is also the 82nd Airborne Museum (I'm a volunteer there), The Museum of the Cape Fear and the excellent Airborne and Special Operations museum. The downtown had made great strides in becoming a nice destination.

Here are some links to check out.

NC School Report Cards
NC School Report Cards

Cumberland Dance Academy
Cumberland Dance Academy - Fayetteville, Hope Mills, NC

Fayetteville Museum of Art
Fayetteville Museum of Art - Home page

Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks & Recreation
Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation



There will be a few folks who will be posting about how bad Fayetteville is and you better live an hour or more away; but Fayetteville and the surrounding area has a lot to recommend it. Give it a good look before deciding.

I moved back here to retire after being stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro. I never realized how nice Fayetteville was till I lived in Goldsboro.

[joanchris2000]

As posted above, there is a lot to do in Fayetteville, my daughter also attended Cumberland Dance Academy the year we lived there. The park and rec dept had a lot going on, though we didn't do much during our short time there, but the fees were very low, compared to what I was used to!
There are many nice areas that are not congested, and that cater to families.
From the school links, you'll see the better high schools are Jack Britt, and Terry Sanford. Sanford is in the middle of Fayetteville and it would be difficult to find good housing there in your price range. I know you said your children's ages, but it helps to look at the best high schools and work backward to the lower schools that feed into them. Pretty much all of the schools that feed into Britt are good, with (2 yrs ago when I lived there) Stoney Point being the highest scoring--we lived in that area, and it was very nice, totally family friendly and there are subdivisions that would fit nicely in your price range. Our subdivision was filled with families, and most of them were Army. Our next door neighbors just moved in before we left with the husband working at Pope. I will send a good link to find homes on separately (I am not a realtor, just found a great site and want to share).
Hope Mills is a nice town, a lot of older homes there and we looked there, but there wasn't much for us there for what we were looking for. BTW, our price range was similar to yours.
We also looked in Eastover, but it felt out of the way, but the schools there were good. Other good High Schools are Cape Fear, Grays Creek and Southview.

[LRoyal10900]

Eastover is about 10-15 minutes to town. It's in the Cape Fear School district--Cape Fear was actually listed as a top high school in the US in the US News & World Report. The Cape Fear district has 3 of the top 5 elementary schools in the county (based on test scores). Not congested, easy living, but close enough to town to be convienent. Take I-295 to Ramsey St. and you're at Ft. Bragg/Pope AFB in no time.

Housing is more affordable out this way as well (I live about 20 minutes out---it's 15 miles to Cape Fear High for my kids...have one at Beaver Dam Elem. & one at Mac Williams Middle). There are lots of new subdivisions starting to pop up in this area as well.

Stedman & Eastover have huge soccer leagues through the Rec. Dept. There is a dance studio in Eastover (Kerry's Dance Beat).

There are plenty of gyms (gymnastics & cheerleading) in Fayetteville. There's also a very nice children's museum, and the art museum has children's activities.

[wicpjuan]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the tips. Are there any places that I do not want to live or travel through?

[joanchris2000]

In my experience if you stick with the good schools, good neighborhoods will be there. Not to say there are not good neighborhoods elsewhere, but that's an easy way of looking at it. During my year there I didn't really encounter any really "bad" or scary neighborhoods during my driving around, errands, etc. Sure some less desireable areas, maybe I wouldn't drive through to at night, but nothing really horrible.

[Dnicoalyev]

Have you looked into Harnett County?