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Just stumbled upon this forum, and it looks llike there's a lot of good info here.
My wife & I are nearing retirement (5 or so years), and are considering retirement to New Bern, or Pinehurst-Southern Pines Areas, and would like to hear from folks in those areas on pros and cons. That said, we haven't ruled our the Calabash area, or Palm Coast FL areas yet, although FL is at the bottom of the list.
I was stationed at Cherry Point in the mid-70's and really loved the area. We took a camping vacation in NC about 5 years ago, and camped outside of Pinehurst and Jacksonville, so my wife got to see the surrounding areas.
While the New Bern area is nice, I hear that Swansboro and Hubert are nice too?
The Pinehurst-Southern Pines area was really nice, but we have lived close to the beaches all our lives, she would prefer to be withing range of the beaches in NC, so the New Bern area is a prospect. I actually liked the Pinehurst-Southern Pines area better than the New Bern area.
Our neighbors have vacationed in the Calabash area for several years, and they really like that area.
We are somewhat worried about the hurricanes on the coast? And, are there more tornadoes in the pinehurst area VRS New Bern Area?
We would prefer to own a few acres rather than being in a planned community with covenants, etc.
Also, which areas offer good-great medical care, as we are in our 50's, and good medical care is a necessity in retirement.
Your insight will be greatly appreciated. Thank you,....marc & joan
What do you like to do, Golf, Fish? Pinehurst to golf very upscale NC town. New Bern has a very high retirement population downside the Neuse River and lower Pamilico have history of fish kills and Phisteria outbreaks caused by the Hog and turkey farms upstream as well as other towns releasing Nitrogen into the river. It can stink. also on positive a sailing community. Holdens Beach, pine knoll shores are all nice. Hurricanes we are do for some, have been lucky the last few years, NC barrier islands were formed by them. some good info on the nsu net about the risky developments on the coast. Also The Carolina coast went nuts about 5 years ago and anything on water is mega expensive. Have you thought about lake Hartwell in Georgia, or Gaston on NC Va border. Norman (the dead sea) in Charlotte .less weather risks.
My grandparents retired to Whispering Pines (near Pinehurst) in the early 1970's and my father and stepmom moved their house in the late 1980's when my grandparents moved into an assisted living community. The area has grown a lot over the years. The healthcare seems very good there. With all the retirees, there are plenty of medical services and Moore Regional Hospital. My stepmom serious medical problems and went to Duke medical center for more specialized treatment. My father has diabetes and seems well taken of there, medically. Many of the retirement communities were built around man-made lakes. For example, Whispering Pines has 4 lakes. They add a nice ambiance and we enjoy swimming in them when we visit. There is rural land in the county, so I think a few acres would be available. For instance, my dad's 90 year old neighbor plays horse polo and owns a small farm in the county for his horses. I like the area but it's rather hot in the summer.
Hi! I'm sorry I'm a little late posting this reply. I was born and raised in New Bern. My husband and I own a cafe' & deli downtown and I'm a broker with Keller Williams Realty. We moved back 10 years ago and love being home. Actually, he is from Michigan. The beauty of New Bern is the water. Two rivers and close to the beach.
I'm a little biased, but I've talked to a lot of people retiring here when they come to the cafe' and they love the area and the people.
Have a great day!
Martha
Last edited by SunnyKayak; 10-19-2007 at 03:14 AM..
Reason: advertising
Martha,
Thank you for your wonderful website. My husband and I plan on moving to NC in just over a year. Our daughter and husband have moved from Hawaii to Raleigh. I had originally wanted to move to that area to be close, work at Duke, I am a nurse. But after looking at this site, we may consider something like this. We went to the wilmington area last month, but New Bern will be on our list at our next visit. I have bookmarked this site. We love the marshy, inland areas near the ocean. Lived on St. Simons in the 70's.
We visited there about 8-9 years or so ago, and the area appeared to be a nice quiet area.
With the cost of home insurance in NB due to hurricanes, we are beginning to relook other areas. We are torn between the New Bern and Pinehurst areas, but are not ruling out the Asheville surronding areas either (however, we are not crazy about cold weather).
So looking for some more info from you folks who live/have lived in these areas.
Pinehurst/Southern Pines/Aberdeen is still a quiet area. Since you've visited (8 or 9 years ago) the area has grown. Not like Raleigh/Cary/Asheville. Quietly/slowly. Yes, we have more stores (even a Starbucks) more homes, a larger population, more traffic.
The difference is, the area has not lost its charm, gentility, or graciousness.
marc515,
Wow-You have chosen a wonderful list in which to select a retirement home!
I am ver prejudiced in that I chose to live in Carteret County 25 years ago and have loved every moment of it! My business has me all over Carteret, Craven, Onslow and Pamlico Counties. In my opinion-Each county is very unique in of itself.
I do have to comment on NC Man's statement, "Pamilico have history of fish kills and Phisteria outbreaks caused by the Hog and turkey farms upstream as well as other towns releasing Nitrogen into the river"
If you track the fish kills in the Neuse/Pamlico area you will see that most occurr during August and September. The reason why is that water temperatures are the highest then. The higher the water temperature the lower the disolved oxygen in the water. Delicate fish such as menhadden can not tolerate these conditions. They become susceptible to disease (This is what creates most of the "Phisteria Hysteria") and usually the fish just suffocate.
It is not uncommon to see schools of menhadden at the surface of the water-especially in the mornings-simply trying to believe. Another phenom that happens when disolved oxygen is low is thing called a "flounder walk". This when flounders, come up off the bottom and swim just under the surface to breath.
The fish that die are usually juvenille. So when you here reports of 5,000 or 10,000 fish kills-You probably could put the entire lot of them on your desk top.
Fish kills due to lack of disolved oxygen in the water is an annual event, a natural event. Phisteria related kills are extremely rare. So rare that I can't remember when the last time a fish kill was attributed to it.
Bill
Oops-A correction! The sentence above that reads: "It is not uncommon to see schools of menhadden at the surface of the water-especially in the mornings-simply trying to believe"The last word should not be believe but rather breathe!!
I apologize for all of the grammatical errors in the post!!
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Retiring to New Bern
