Relocating to the Coastal N or S Carolina's! Need your expertise please! (Wilmington: home)

[Brandiwantstomove!]

Hi all! I am hoping you can give me some guidance. I have been viewing many posts on this page and have narrowed down my search based on all your feedback...

So my family and I (younger couple, early 30's, two younger kids under 5 are wanting to relocate). We live in Phx, AZ and frankly am tired of the overpopulation, the big city life, and the extreme heat.

We are looking for a coastal community, family orientated, not a large city but a city where you have all your anemities (grocery story, movies, restaurants etc), warmer weather (no snow), clean ocean for water acitivites, 5 to 10 minutes from the beach. My hubby is a pharmacist and I am a HR consultant. I am not certain how the job market is out there (but I assume that will be our greatest hurdle prior to coming).

I have seen posts on people suggesting Emerald Isle, Outer Banks Region, Cape Caternet.. Any other thoughts? Will it be difficult to find a job close to this region, are they close to major cities?? Thanks so much for your guidance. I went to NC once before and loved it. We will plan to go again prior to the move to further research, but am hoping for more suggestions/guidance.

Also, any thoughts on a SC coastal community if you know, would be great!

[Benji Taylor]

Have you given any thought to the Wilmington area? You mentioned wanting to avoid snow, well, all of eastern NC got some snow this past winter. I'm not sure if there is anywhere in North or South Carolina that you can move to avoid all snow.

Jobs-wise, Wilmington or some areas relatively close to Wilmington would be your best bet if you want the beach. Your husband can likely get a job most anywhere, but I would think a HR job would be more difficult to find, especially in smaller metropolitan areas.

I live about 1 hour 15 minutes from Atlantic Beach, however, access to the Intercoastal Waterway is less than 20 minutes away. It really depends on what you are looking for in regards to the coast. Do you want to be on the beach, or do you just want water/boating access.

I live in Greenville, and there are lots of opportunities here because this area is growing so fast. New Bern or Washington would also be a few other possibilities.

Hope I've helped some. Good luck on your decision.

[Francois]

There are no "major cities" in NC close to beaches (have you by chance looked at a map? You would see that...). Wilmington is a "small city" but it depends on just how "major" you want. Bigger cities near NC would be Virginia Beach/Norfolk Virginia (on the NC line) or Myrtle Beach or Charleston, SC. It also depends on how near to "major cities" you want. You could be in the Outer Banks and be not too far from Norfolk.

You may want to investigate Wilmington and see if it's what you're looking for, but it will be a far cry from Phoenix as far as "city" amenities.

[macjr82]

The largest employers on the coast are the military bases followed by the hospitals. Onslow county had 8% unemployment for July 2010. Carteret had 7.1%.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/page/4879060/

[dsobotta]

Originally Posted by Brandiwantstomove!

I have seen posts on people suggesting Emerald Isle, Outer Banks Region, Cape Caternet.. Any other thoughts? Will it be difficult to find a job close to this region, are they close to major cities?? Thanks so much for your guidance. I went to NC once before and loved it. We will plan to go again prior to the move to further research, but am hoping for more suggestions/guidance.

Also, any thoughts on a SC coastal community if you know, would be great!

You are right about the jobs, but we have gotten three or four new pharmacies in the Cape Carteret-Morehead City area in last couple of years.

The pharmacist in our new Walgreen's in Cape Carteret goes to our church, and I know he has been exceptionally busy helping new stores open

Living in the Cape Carteret area, you can commute to Camp Lejeune, New River Air Station, Jacksonville (population 80,000), New Bern (population 29,000), Havelock-Cherry Point Air Station, or find a job in Carteret County which has around 65,000 year round residents.

You can search for jobs on the Marine bases at this link.

A good jobs search engine is available if you join LinkedIn.

Almost everyone loves living on the Carolina Coast, it is just a matter of finding jobs or starting a small business.

I think the area is a great place to raise a family especially if you love the out of doors, boating, beaches, and living close to the water in a small town environment.

One of the other coastal cities you should probably check is Charleston, SC. A number of young adults from around our other home, Roanoke, Va. have chosen Charleston as a home base.

Good luck.