Selma... icky or just rural? (Raleigh, Smithfield: debt, income, jobs)

[rieboots]

We are contemplating about buying a farmette in Selma. It's really right outside Clayton when looking at the map. Is Selma just rural (lots of land and farms) or is it more like lots of trailer parks? Are there any decent grocery stores in Selma itself? We are thinking we would likely go to Lowes in Clayton for major shopping, but are wondering if there are any run-for-milk type stores closer by.

Thanks so much!

[ChipL]

Honestly, parts of Selma are rural and parts are icky. Once the 70 Bypass around Clayton opens up and creates quick access to Raleigh-Triangle area, the Smithfield - Selma area should start improving.

[lamishra]

I agree with ChipL. Some parts are just rural, some are sort of icky, but I fully expect to see Selma improve over the next few years due to high growth in the Clayton area.

[jello212]

Selma is a wierd place. A few years ago, the mayor realized that the town was going to die if something wasn't done and called a meeting of the business owners and basically sold them on the idea of becoming an antique mecca. The vast majority of stores in the downtown area switched to selling antiques and the town has survived/thrived. The "uptown" area is very nice and very quaint. There are a couple of nice restaurants downtown, Edelweiss (a German sandwich shop) and Sweetwater (a decent restaurant with excellent cheesecakes), an old-fashioned drug store, a short order diner, a high end soap shop, and a ton of antique shops.

On the downside, the only grocery store in town is the IGA which is little more than a glorified convenient mart. The owner just can't buy/store enough quantity to get any type of pricing/selection advantage over Walmart, Food Lion, etc. The larger stores are in the area between Smithfield and Selma on Hwy 301.

Also on the negative side of things, there is something going on that I can't put my finger on. There is one very nice neighborhood in Selma with 3-700K houses and most of the long time residents of this neighborhood are looking to sell and move out to the country between Clayton and Selma. I don't know the reason for the exodus. I know some of the owners want to buy more land. But, there are just too many fleeing this neighborhood at the same time to not think there's something going on in this town.

Bottom line, if I had a choice between Smithfield and Selma and were going to live in town, I would choose Smithfield. If you're going to live in the country with lots of land, then there's nothing wrong with Selma - just check out the area around where you're considering purchasing to see if there are any trailor parks or lower income residences, which you should do no matter where you are looking.

[rieboots]

Thanks Jello for all that great info! The town part actually sounds kind of nice... not what I was expecting.

We would be purchasing 20 acres, so there would be no neighborhood involved. Although, the surrounding areas around the farm would be important to us.

Thanks again everyone.

[kmflan]

We stayed in Smithfield last month for a week while we scoped out the triangle. If it were closer to RTP, I would seriously consider living there. The people were so friendly and hospitable and the downtown is very quaint, much of it renovated. Nice size library, Deli restaurant with folks sitting out on the sidewalk eating, oh, and of course, the Ava Gardner Museum. DOn't know about farms though.

You aren't by any chance going to be dairy farmers are you? I would love to get raw milk...

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by rieboots

We are contemplating about buying a farmette in Selma. It's really right outside Clayton when looking at the map. Is Selma just rural (lots of land and farms) or is it more like lots of trailer parks? Are there any decent grocery stores in Selma itself? We are thinking we would likely go to Lowes in Clayton for major shopping, but are wondering if there are any run-for-milk type stores closer by.

Thanks so much!

"Icky"
Have you physically looked at the area yet or do you plan to buy this acreage "sight unseen"? You might be near the county landfill

[MattinSelma]

To be bluntly honest, Selma is more than icky. It is the armpit of Johnston County. It has gotten so bad here that the town has filed a lawsuit to force the closure of two convenience stores. The growth has been flat for at least two years, perhaps since the new Mayor got into office. The little growth that has occurred over the last 5-10 years has been predominantly Hispanic. Unfortunately, for every two Hispanics that move in, one “local” moves out.

At one time it looked like the town might get better with the arrival of Sysco Food Distribution but the town went so deep into debt to buy them into the city that they had to fire half the town employees and went up on taxes. With the high crime and high electric bills, the town owns the electric grid, now the only industry that seems interested in Selma is an ETHANOL plant, to be built about a mile outside of town limits.

The town had little to be proud of to start with, this may be its final blow, especially since the elementary school got zapped by the “No Child Left Behind” law. The exodus is just beginning.

[newmom5497]

I have heard that the Selma-Smithfield high school is really bad.

[blood_habit]

Originally Posted by rieboots

We are contemplating about buying a farmette in Selma. It's really right outside Clayton when looking at the map. Is Selma just rural (lots of land and farms) or is it more like lots of trailer parks? Are there any decent grocery stores in Selma itself? We are thinking we would likely go to Lowes in Clayton for major shopping, but are wondering if there are any run-for-milk type stores closer by.

Thanks so much!

Honestly Selma is horrible, there's barely any rural area, there is a lot of icky area. I've been here a year, the schools are bad, and most jobs around here only accept people that are bi-langual. There's also a lot of crime, and being a student, there's so many kids that have been held back more than 3 times. There's a lot of bad education. I live in the middle of the town, and in a 50 mile radias of my house there is 50 sex offenders. Its not a good place to live. Oh and about groceries, Wal-Marts near by and theres an IGA in the middle of Selma so thats pretty good I guess. All the shops are also Antiques so shopping elsewhere is better.