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We have been reading very useful posts for the past several days and appreciate the advice you give.
My family intends to move to North Carolina pretty soon, because of a job relocation (a faculty member of UNCP). Currently we are living in Northern Virginia (Washington, DC suburban area) and we have one daughter who is a 7th grader.
We are considering three different places - Laurinburg, Pinehurst, and Lumberton. As for the best place in conjunction with qualtiy eduction for my kid to live in, we are seeking valuable information. Would you help us with information about public & private schools and living condition of Laurinburg, Pinehurs, and Lumberton? Thank you a lot in advance.
I had a long reply typed out and did something and it disappeared. Shorter version, (info from psk12.com) Personally test scores in Robeson county (lumberton) were not impressive. Moore County where pinehurst is has some good middle schools (going by test scores only here), West Pine, Highfalls, New Century and Elise.
Scotland county (laurinburg) has 2 good middle schools, Spring Hill and Sycamore Lane. Carver looks ok too, worth looking into.
The areas you listed are very different from each other, Lumberton specifically is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Pinehurst is pretty nice, I've been there a few times, but it's over an hour to UNCP from there. Never been to Laurinburg, but have heard not much to to there either! We just moved to Fayetteville last summer and I used the website above to find good schools, then that led to me finding a nice area to live in. Just curious why you aren't considering Fayetteville or Hope Mills? (edit: given a choice, Pinehurst would be my pick but it would be quite a far commute! Fayettevilleand Hope Mills are nothing to write home about, but still better than Lumberton or Laruinburg, at least there's stuff to do, people, restaurants, and if you choose carefully, some very good schools)
Joan
Last edited by joanchris2000; 05-13-2007 at 08:04 PM..
Reason: addition
Hands down for livability, I would choose the Southern Pines/Pinehurst area. Laurinburg, and especially Lumberton have always seemed somewhat depressed to me with very limited shopping, restaurants and other necessities of day-to-day living. I've also heard the schools in both towns are nothing to write home about. SoPines and Pinehurst are thriving communities, adjacent to one another,as is Aberdeen. All are in Moore County. Pinehurst is the most upscale of the 3, huge golf and resort area with a large number of retirees. SoPines would be my top pick, with more families with children of all ages. Moore County has some very nice parks and recreational facilities throughout, and S.P. and Pinehurst are just beautiful towns to live in.
The public schools in Moore County are good overall, with some preferred over others. The O'Neal School in SoPines is a well-regarded public school (K-12) that attracts students from several surrounding counties, including a fair number from Laurinburg. There are also religious schools.
SoPines/Pinehurst would mean a longer commute to Pembroke (at least further than living in Lumberton), but in terms of quality of life it is by far the nicest area.
I grew up in Robeson County and I would choose Lumberton. It is quick and easy commute to UNCP, plus I95 runs right through town so you can go to Fayetteville in about 20 to 30 mins. The beach is only an hour and half away. Lumberton is the best place to live in Robeson County I think, schools are nice there. Living conditions you might be in for a treat. DC is fast paced always something to do, down in L'town it is slower paced, that might take some getting use to for ya. Southern Pines and Lauringburg are just too far out of the way and nothing there but a golf course and st. andrews.
Thank you Joan, Mari, and Andrews for sharing good information with me. So far, Pinehurst seems to be the best place out of three (Joan and Mari for Pinehurst, and Andrews for Lumberton), but it will take over an hour to commute to UNCP...wow. back and forth...two hours. Except that, Pinehurst looks a good pick. How about home prices in Pinehurst?
Also can you tell me more about Laurinburg? Nobody recommended so far ^_^ Distance-wise, this city looks okay, but what else (attractions and merits)?
I heard of Fayetteville, but I am not sure why this city has bad responses from users of this site. By the way, Joan mentioned "Hopes Mill". Where is it?
I live in West End, NC. (Southern Pines, Pinehurst, Aberdeen) It takes me 45minutes to reach I-95 via 211, if that is any help. A short visit to Lumberton, Laurinburg, Pinehurst, Aberdeen, or Southern Pines will help you decide what is the best area for living. Visit each downtown and it's surrounding environs. It will soon become evident which of these towns are best for you. Check taxes, crime, unemployment.
Coming from N. Virginia, you'll find NC less expensive, but to match the quality of life or better it, I think you'll be happier in the Southern Pines area.
Let me know if I can help.
I live in West End, NC. (Southern Pines, Pinehurst, Aberdeen) It takes me 45minutes to reach I-95 via 211, if that is any help. A short visit to Lumberton, Laurinburg, Pinehurst, Aberdeen, or Southern Pines will help you decide what is the best area for living. Visit each downtown and it's surrounding environs. It will soon become evident which of these towns are best for you. Check taxes, crime, unemployment.
Coming from N. Virginia, you'll find NC less expensive, but to match the quality of life or better it, I think you'll be happier in the Southern Pines area.
Let me know if I can help.
Thank you for the reply. As you suggested, we are thinking about visiting some towns soon.
Hope Mills is a small town surrounded by Fayetteville. Fayetteville gets a bad rap here for several reasons, not all completely valid in my only-lived-here-8-mos opinion. It is a military town, so there will be lots of military folks. In my experience, this has been a non-issue. There are many military families in my subdivision, but they're all nice pleasant folks. This is actually a bonus for my kids, since many of the kids they go to school with move a lot they're accepting of new kids, used to new kids, and have been there themselves.
There are a lot of rundown areas in Fayetteville, but you don't need to live there, even if you can't afford a lot for a house there are houses priced as low as the 150s in the subdivision next to mine (a bit older than mine), and they're nice, in a good neighborhood and are in the best schools in Cumberland county (top ranked HS for test scores, middle and elem 2nd). There are plenty of newer subdivisions in good areas where I think it's perfectly nice. My daughters elem school is great, better than the schools they went to in Fairfield County CT.
There's not a big mall for shopping....well there's not a mall in the other towns you're looking in either, but we have a mall, and according to my daughter it's great 'cause there's Limited Too.
Crime, I heard about crime before I came here, was concerned, but have seen none, left the garage door opened one night, woke up, everything was there. Have never had a burgulary or break in in my neighborhood in the 8 mos I've been here (at least that I heard about), neither have any of my neighbors is neighboring subdivisons. I did hear the Gated community nearby had some things stolen out of unlocked cars. That's all.
Fayetteville is not fabulous, but if you're working at UNCP it's a very good commute without being too much in the "sticks", if that's what you're looking for.
I did a quick realtor.com search for Pinehurst 3 bed 2 bath and homes went from just under 200K to over 1 mil.
Moderator cut: Advertise personal residence in Classified Ads forum only, please we're moving to Charlotte, a job change) .
I agree with JoanChris about not overlooking Fayetteville or HopeMills. Fayetteville takes a beating on this forum, but having lived in NC for 20+ plus years and knowing the Fayetteville area quite well, I can only say that overall it's nowhere near as bad as you'd be led to think. Parts of it are very nice, and there are certainly far worse towns to live in throughout the state. Either Fay or H.M. will put you closer to UNCP. As far as schools go, Joan has given you alot of suggestions about the public ones, and I'll add that there are a number of private ones to choose from. Fayetteville Academy is an established and well regarded private school, and there are good religious-affiliated ones also. As Joan mentioned, many of the military kids have lived all over the world, and in addition, many teachers are military and have also taught all over the world, so they bring an extra dimension to the classroom.
Yes, Southern Pines is still the nicest of ALL the areas mentioned, but check out all the towns before you make a decision.
I believe Fayetteville also has several charter schools.
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