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I am moving out of the San Diego Beach area in CA and selling my house, to relocate somewhere on the beach out east. I was thinking about Kitty Hawk as a possible destination and wanted a locals opinion about things such as the following, thanks in advance to anyone responding, your opinions and experiences are much appreciated as its hard to know a place without having lived there:
What do you like about it?
What annoys you about it and why?
Are there different parts of Kitty Hawk you prefer or recommend against living?
Type of local people it attracts?
Type of tourists and how much volume of tourists? (San Diego beaches are overun with a party scene)
Good food and people?
Overall Vibe?
Better place then Kitty Hawk and why you think so? (I considered wilmington but not sure on that)
Things that I am not concerned about:
Jobs
Schools
Going out / partying
For me I am 36 and single but basically looking for a chill place to work from home year round and will be relaxing.. Good local food, nice local people.. All I really do is travel and train martial arts, gymnastics etc around the world.. But most of that stuff I can do from home or when on travel and I do teach martial arts as well and may decide to also if there is a need for it in the area and i have spare time again..
[*]What do you like about it?[*]What annoys you about it and why?
You will get pretty much the same answers as in the thread below. Kitty Hawk and Nags Head are right next to each other. If you are used to a year-round beach in San Diego, you should be very sure you can deal with the winter cold and isolation, as well as hurricanes.
I am fine with the cold, NC is nothing compared to winters I am use to growing up 30 years in the north east with like 4 foot drops of snow and negative temperatures for months on end.. (The Reason I moved to SD)..
Isolation not a big deal I am a hacker so I like the quiet, I assume your just talking about like no tourists but lower traffic times with just locals and small town life? I grew up in central ny where there is one stop light and a gas station.. so nothing that exciting going on there, I assume it would be similar.. I do have friends up in VA beach and down in wilmington i can visit.
Hurricains, not sure about, I have never had to deal with those before... I have dealt with bad thunderstorms but not hurricanes.. so that's new to me.. Any suggestions on what to expect? How often, how bad.. like do i have to leave the area or just hunker down?
Oh also.. is there good high speed internet providers out that way? All of my work is done online.
I just read that nagshead post.. it really didn't answer to many of my questions, it mostly talked about lack of jobs and some stuff about schools and isolation There were a few insights in there though.. Thanks for posting it!
Hurricains, not sure about, I have never had to deal with those before... I have dealt with bad thunderstorms but not hurricanes.. so that's new to me.. Any suggestions on what to expect? How often, how bad.. like do i have to leave the area or just hunker down?
Oh also.. is there good high speed internet providers out that way? All of my work is done online.
I think you should research the Internet for yourself, as I have only experienced it in a rental cottage. It may be decent in Kitty Hawk, but I don't know what you are expecting.
I think you should expect some hurricane activity every year as the OBX sticks out into the Atlantic. Some years they have ordered evacuations, but most years you should board up the glass and hunker down. For perspective, check this article on Fran in 1996:
Hey thanks for the reply...
Yea I really have no clue what to expect hurricane wise.. I think the closest I have gotten to that is 100mph winds one time in new york that blew down a bunch of trees and took out power.. but it was over in minutes and no big deal... and then rain storms all the time with lightening but nothing like a hurricane I am sure.. I will check out that link and read up as much as I can.. Thanks for linking it!!!
I have awhile to decide what I want to do since I have a place to stay when i sell my CA house.. so I am going to look around at a bunch of areas but for some reason outerbanks catches my eye for being a layed back quiet beach town I was looking for in SD.. so i am trying to just figure out the locals feelings on things rather then a tourists perspective. since they are there for other reasons.
Oh no I dont need to travel for work, these days I only accept remote contracts which is why I asked about the internet connection speeds.. I usually only travel if i am going to go overseas or to NYC to train martial arts. I do that maybe every few months or so.. An airport close by is nice but not a necessity by any means..
Yea I really have no clue what to expect hurricane wise.. I think the closest I have gotten to that is 100mph winds one time in new york that blew down a bunch of trees and took out power..
BTW, you probably won't get a response on this forum from locals as most of the active participants live off the Outer Banks. You might try the OBXConnection.
BTW, you probably won't get a response on this forum from locals as most of the active participants live off the Outer Banks. You might try the OBXConnection.
Thanks, I didn't realize that.. figured people would peruse around the boards in locations they live.. hahaha But any help from anyone is welcome...
Oh wow didnt realize there was a storm going on right now, I dont watch the news LOL.. thanks for the link Hurricanes are not really something I am super worried about but if people say I should be worried about them there I am going to research it for sure! Out in CA we just get earthquakes I have felt a few of those around the world they tend to follow me for some reason.. they are a little UN-nerving..
Oh wow didnt realize there was a storm going on right now, I dont watch the news LOL.. thanks for the link
Any locals on the OBX were out protecting their property last night or running their businesses. Also, about 1000 people near Wilmington lost electrical power. Hermine is headed off the coast of Maryland now, leaving us with rain. (BTW, I would consider the checking the local news to be an essential part of researching a place to live, but to each his own.)
Another place on the NC coast you might look into is the Beaufort and Morehead City area. Another place I like is Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, which is closer to major cities like Philadelphia and Washington DC.
Last edited by goldenage1; 09-03-2016 at 07:52 AM..
You might also look at Southern Shores, the next "town" north. It's a little more upscale, mostly residential and pricier but you also have generally higher elevation. That may keep you away from the worst effects of the storm, which is often due to flooding as much as wind.
Kitty Hawk in general is more affordable but often a little bit run down nearest to the ocean. West of the highway is generally nicer, higher and more residential and a bit more sheltered from hurricanes' flooding.
You might also look at Southern Shores, the next "town" north. It's a little more upscale, mostly residential and pricier but you also have generally higher elevation. That may keep you away from the worst effects of the storm, which is often due to flooding as much as wind.
Kitty Hawk in general is more affordable but often a little bit run down nearest to the ocean. West of the highway is generally nicer, higher and more residential and a bit more sheltered from hurricanes' flooding.
walessp
Hey thanks for the excellent info!!! I will keep that in mind as I look!!! Selling my house right now and going down to look at places next month I will look up that town for places to have a realtor take me..
Also what are your thoughts on way south from there like Topsail or North Topsail.. any feedback on those areas? My sister vacations there and seems to like it..
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I will look up that town for places to have a realtor take me.. 
