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Thanks! We had thought about Wilmington, or Leland, but I wasn't sure about the political climate. We don't care in general about conservative versus liberal so much, but we'd have a hard time living in a place with a lot of Trump flags waving. Also worries about hurricane season there. But sounds like it's worth spending time there to get a better feel.
I think selling the condo would break my husband's heart. We have dolphins in our back yard there. Seriously, dolphins off our deck! That's way cooler than the deer we currently have.
How is the shoreline at your condo? Parts of NTB have always eroded, and the long-term prospects are not good. I would get out now while prices are high.
BTW, Wilmington itself does not have a lot of Trump flag-wavers. It is the more rural, military-influenced places like Holly Ridge and Sneads Ferry where you see the Trump/Jesus/Guns flags and signs. You must have seen them on the way to North Topsail Beach along Hwy 17 and 210.
I encourage you to check out Wilmington, even if you want to keep the condo.
Hi all-
I have been skimming through the posts here and have found some information that has been helpful. I was hoping to find some people who may have moved to this area from around Ithaca NY, because we're hoping to find a place with a similar vibe. We love Ithaca, we hate the winters, we're ready for a change but don't want to lose the aspects we love.
We have a condo in North Topsail Beach, so are hoping to stay within 2.5-3 hours from there.
I'm a social worker with socially liberal views, which informs much of what I love about Ithaca.
We're hoping to cut back on work and start slowing down, so a lower cost of living is important. We also need a place where we have access to reliable high-speed internet since we'll be working from home and using a lot of bandwidth for teleconferencing.
We're hoping to find something with a small suburban feel.
Some of what we love about Ithaca:
Cultural diversity
Natural beauty of the lake
Multiple parks/paths/trails for walking or biking
Arts and culture in the community- thriving live theater scene, community festivals, Shakespeare in the Park
Walkable downtown area with restaurants and local/artisan shops
Convenient and close shopping areas- large supermarkets, big-box stores- with good parking
Awesome county library
College-town vibe
High-quality hospitals and medical centers within 1-2 hours
The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area appeals to us. We don't necessarily need to live in a more metro area but we'd like close enough access to take advantage of the entertainment, shopping, services, etc.
We've been looking at places like Goldsboro, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Spring Lake.
Open to any information, suggestions, places to look or avoid..... We're hoping to make the move to our condo this summer to stage an eventual move to a new house, so will be able to spend some time checking out areas.
Thanks for any advice!
We have friends here in the Triangle who are from the Ithaca area. Durham has a decent vibe for them . In addition to Carrboro/Chapel Hill, I'd recommend you look in the Trinity or Trinity Park areas of Durham just northwest of downtown. Those areas have a vibe you might vibe with. They are *expensive areas of near-north Durham though, so depending on budget, might not be too easy to find something. The old Durham Bulls ballpark area just north of downtown Durm is also pretty hip and I think new apartments/condos are rising around there. Lots of housing construction downtown. The East campus area of Duke University - west of downtown and northeast of Duke's (West) main campus is also funky. This area is basically the southern edge of the Trinity area. Again, expensive maybe in part because students live near there with mom and dad paying the freight. I'm guessing taxes are higher in Carrboro (Orange County) than in Durham, but again, parts of Durham (near downtown and near the Duke campus) have gotten expensive too. You might look out Pittsboro way too.
I am from Geneva, NY and live in Holly Springs now. Raleigh/Cary/Holly Springs,etc is nothing like Ithaca at all. The landscape in that part of NY is not found in this part of NC, which I miss a lot. I would head towards Durham/Chapel Hill area maybe and check them out if you want the liberal college town. I am not liberal at all so take my advise with pinch of salt. I would say Raleigh is akin to Monroe county and Rochester as far as a city with donuts of suburbs and development.
We're hoping to cut back on work and start slowing down, so a lower cost of living is important. We also need a place where we have access to reliable high-speed internet since we'll be working from home and using a lot of bandwidth for teleconferencing.
We're hoping to find something with a small suburban feel.
!
Think a lot of people missed this part. Social workers are already not known for their high salaries....this is not an inexpensive place to live.
Scenically nothing is going to compare to Ithaca so you'll have to let that go. Chapel Hill IS the most obvious answer but if too expensive maybe Hillsborough.
Chapel Hill isn't the obvious answer as everyone keeps saying. I live in the area and it doesn't hold a candle to Ithaca in any of the categories mentioned by OP. The only thing it has in common is it's a college town. Ithaca is one of my favorite towns anywhere in America. Chapel Hill has no natural beauty to speak of in comparison. You won't find anywhere nearby to hike like you can at the various parks in the Ithaca area. No waterfront either. The downtown consists of two streets with mostly pizza joints and college bars. There is very little to walk to that would be attractive to an older couple that is retiring or slowing down. It is also very expensive and has by far the highest property tax rate in North Carolina, which many people say is comparable to New York level pricing ( outside of the city, of course).
There is nothing in Chapel Hill remotely comparable to the Ithaca Commons. You will be sorely disappointed. It is indeed liberal, but every college town in America is liberal. There are no big box stores with plentiful parking anywhere in Chapel Hill proper, you will have to drive to Durham for all shopping outside of groceries.
I think you would probably like Charlottesville, VA if it were more proximate to your place in topsail. Asheville would also be a good fit but you'd have to drive a good bit. I've traveled quite a bit throughout New York State and love to visit small towns. Ithaca is a uniquely beautiful place with cultural amenities not common to most moderate sized towns. It will be difficult to replicate.
Thank you for the suggestion. Greensboro has come up on the list, but was a little farther away from our beach place than my husband was willing to go. I'll share this with him though and see if he's open to a little longer drive.
Chapel Hill is expensive and I worry that you are looking for a lower cost of living area. The lower cost of living areas in NC are going to be like the areas on the way to Topsail. They are just not that nice, IMO. The nicest places between Raleigh and the beach are going to be the places that are closest to the beach and the water. And usually the more rural the more red politically with plenty of Trump flags waving. I would look more toward Chapel Hill and west/north/south. Raleigh is a super hot real estate market now, so east of Chapel Hill is all very hot. Places like Hillsborough, Mebane, tiny Saxapahaw, and Pittsboro (though be aware there is a massive 60K person development in progress there).
Do you have a budget? If so, please share it and that can help us help you.
I would suggest using Google Images or another image search to get impressions of these places. It can give you a basic idea and then if it is intriguing you can dive a little deeper with Google Streetview and one of the realtor sites. (BTW, sometimes the Trumpers come into Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Pittsboro to harass the liberals because we didn't want the confederate statues anymore, so you might see a few photos of flags with the protests.)
And for comparison so you can see how Google Images represents the area you know Ithaca
Quote:
Originally Posted by codygreen
Chapel Hill isn't the obvious answer as everyone keeps saying. I live in the area and it doesn't hold a candle to Ithaca in any of the categories mentioned by OP. The only thing it has in common is it's a college town. Ithaca is one of my favorite towns anywhere in America. Chapel Hill has no natural beauty to speak of in comparison. You won't find anywhere nearby to hike like you can at the various parks in the Ithaca area. No waterfront either. The downtown consists of two streets with mostly pizza joints and college bars. There is very little to walk to that would be attractive to an older couple that is retiring or slowing down. It is also very expensive and has by far the highest property tax rate in North Carolina, which many people say is comparable to New York level pricing ( outside of the city, of course).
There is nothing in Chapel Hill remotely comparable to the Ithaca Commons. You will be sorely disappointed. It is indeed liberal, but every college town in America is liberal. There are no big box stores with plentiful parking anywhere in Chapel Hill proper, you will have to drive to Durham for all shopping outside of groceries.
I think you would probably like Charlottesville, VA if it were more proximate to your place in topsail. Asheville would also be a good fit but you'd have to drive a good bit. I've traveled quite a bit throughout New York State and love to visit small towns. Ithaca is a uniquely beautiful place with cultural amenities not common to most moderate sized towns. It will be difficult to replicate.
This is a bit of hyperbole. There sure are college towns that are conservative. Chapel Hill is exceptionally attractive to retirees. We have droves of them coming in all the time. I am in my 50s and I love living here and walking to things downtown. I am downtown several times a week. Chapel Hill is very beautiful, but in a less spectacular way than Ithaca. You can hike all over the place. Carolina North Forest is a fave of some friends. I usually hit the greenway. Other folks love Duke Forest or Occoneechee.
Not sure about your point about big box stores? I mean there's Lowe's in Chapel Hill. There's a baby Target downtown. Walmart is literally right over the city limits, but I would not step foot in Walmart if I could help it. I don't find that I need a big box store. Who needs that regularly? I prefer to shop locally.
If you want to look outside of NC, I'd recommend Staunton VA. I love that little town.
But if you are going to live that far from Topsail then you might as well live in the NC mountains. I agree that Greensboro has some cool areas, too, and lots of colleges. It is a bigger city, though.
Ithaca and Chapel Hill are definitely peer cities. I don't think you are going to find another place with a university of that caliber in a small town in NC. Duke is excellent, but Durham is a good bit bigger than Ithaca and a bit grittier, too, though gentrifying by the minute. Asheville is very beautiful and has some smaller colleges in the area, but the economy is very tourism dependent. Boone is another mountain college town, but App State is not a peer to Cornell. It is a beautiful area, though.
This is a bit of hyperbole. There sure are college towns that are conservative. Chapel Hill is exceptionally attractive to retirees. We have droves of them coming in all the time. I am in my 50s and I love living here and walking to things downtown. I am downtown several times a week. Chapel Hill is very beautiful, but in a less spectacular way than Ithaca. You can hike all over the place. Carolina North Forest is a fave of some friends. I usually hit the greenway. Other folks love Duke Forest or Occoneechee.
Not sure about your point about big box stores? I mean there's Lowe's in Chapel Hill. There's a baby Target downtown. Walmart is literally right over the city limits, but I would not step foot in Walmart if I could help it. I don't find that I need a big box store. Who needs that regularly? I prefer to shop locally.
If you want to look outside of NC, I'd recommend Staunton VA. I love that little town.
But if you are going to live that far from Topsail then you might as well live in the NC mountains. I agree that Greensboro has some cool areas, too, and lots of colleges. It is a bigger city, though.
Ithaca and Chapel Hill are definitely peer cities. I don't think you are going to find another place with a university of that caliber in a small town in NC. Duke is excellent, but Durham is a good bit bigger than Ithaca and a bit grittier, too, though gentrifying by the minute. Asheville is very beautiful and has some smaller colleges in the area, but the economy is very tourism dependent. Boone is another mountain college town, but App State is not a peer to Cornell. It is a beautiful area, though.
Please enlighten me on which ones are conservative I would love to know. Any college town with a decent size public University is going to lean liberal towards very liberal. Even Lynchburg VA with Liberty University, a Christian college, voted for Joe Biden. In past elections it has slightly tilted red. More moderate than anything else.
Chapel Hill is exceptionally attractive to wealthy retirees. That said if you've noticed, the overwhelming majority of retirement oriented communities are NOT in Orange County or Chapel Hill proper. Governors Club is a stones throw over the Chatham County line. Fearrington advertises as being in the Chapel Hill area, but it is in Chatham County as well. The 55+ community built off of 54 near Falconbridge? Just over the Durham County line. An area that is "exceptionally attractive to retirees" would be Moore County near Southern Pines/Pinehurst or Brunswick County.
My point about Big Box stores? The OP said she liked that Ithaca has them and the easy parking they provide. Ithaca is the largest municipality in a wide geographic area and it has them, within city limits. Chapel Hill has fought them tirelessly and loaded them off on Durham County, necessitating driving 15-20 minutes minimum to get to any store. The Target only carries goods that would go in a college dorm. No lawn and garden, no hardware, minimal groceries, etc. Have to go to Durham for that, too. Walmart is also not in Chapel Hill. Both of them are located literally on the county line, again because Chapel Hill fought them. Chapel Hillians still shop there anyway, but the town doesn't receive the tax revenue.
It's disrespectful to Ithaca and the greater finger lakes region to compare a small patch of forest to the hikes and parks in that area. There is nothing like Buttermilk Falls, Treman State Park, Cayuga Lake, Watkins Glen, the Botanic Gardens at Cornell, Ithaca Commons, etc. Carolina North Forest is nondescript woods, no elevation changes, nothing of note other than a respite from the concrete. It also could be developed by the University at any time as they have no land left to develop on the main campus. Occoneeche "Mountain" is the only park with some decent views, but it takes maybe 20 minutes to get to the top and has power lines and a former rock quarry marring the vista. A decent hike or park is a full hour away at Uwharrie, but then again you're halfway to the real mountains, might as well keep on driving.
The caliber of the college likely doesn't matter to the OP since they are nearing retirement and probably don't have children in school. I don't think anything similar really exists within 3 hours of Topsail. Charlottesville has much in common and is 5 hours from Topsail. Like Ithaca, it has a beautiful natural setting and is the largest city/town within a large geographic area. It has all the amenities one would need located within its city limits and is not a part of a rapidly growing metro area with a corresponding growth in price. If the distance is manageable, I think it would be a much better fit. UVA is also a better school than UNC, FWIW.
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