Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 03-02-2007, 05:19 PM
 
Location: Woodlynne NJ
219 posts, read 850,820 times
Reputation: 128

Advertisements

Hope someone reads this.
Tried once before and didn't get any hits.
We are moving in a couple of months.
Our hearts are set on Calabash/Shallotte area.
Second choice is Smithfield / Selma.
It seems like there is more home for your dollar in the Smithfield/Selma area.
Anyone who can tell us ANYTHING about the Smithfield and Selma area?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-03-2007, 05:35 AM
 
Location: Snow Hill, NC
787 posts, read 3,575,422 times
Reputation: 311
You might be getting more home for you money in Smithfield-Selma but let me tell you that I lived there from 1985-1992 and absolutely hated it. My husband is from a smaller Johnston County town called Kenly and that is how I ended up there. The crime rate, particularly DWI's is really high, there was a lot of drug traffic up there, and I didn't see anything about the schools that impressed me although they have built some newer ones since I was there. There was this really old school when I was there near the western part of the county that looked like termites holding hands to keep it together. Hopefully this one is gone now but I am not sure. Do what you wish but I sure wouldn't move back to Johnston County if someone paid me. Good luck. One other thought, if you just have your heart set on Johnston County because of housing costs, go to Clayton, just as far out of Clayton to the west you can get and still be in Johnston County. That will put you within about 15 miles of Raleigh, the state capital. They tell me the Clayton is looking pretty good and it did seem to have something going that the other areas of the county didn't. Like I said, this is in the extreme western part of the county. You can get outside of town heading to Raleigh and find some right decent places.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2007, 11:30 AM
 
Location: Secure Bunker
5,462 posts, read 3,214,935 times
Reputation: 5268
Default Lived here for 2 years.

My wife and I have lived in Smithfield for 2 years. We moved here from nearby Knightdale and it was a smart move to make.

Smithfiled is a 20-25 minute drive from downtown Raleigh. I-95 is 2 minutes from downtown Smithfield. The beach is only a little over an hour away.

Downtown Smithfield is very Mayberry-like. Traditional mixed with some new, but clean and well kept. But there is excellent shopping just outside of downtown (2 minutes away). Downtown consists on 1 main street, but its pleasant. Clean. Much better than Knightdale! The city council here is mostly conservative and very concientious. Not much in the way of scandals.

There are some poorer areas around downtown but there are also wonderful (and huge) historic homes. But revitalization is occuring rapidly.

The main attraction downtown is the Ava Gardner Museum (she grew up here). She's buried just down the road. I also recommend the old Howell Theater. Ava went there as a child and it still operates. TWO DOLLARS to see a movie. Great place, great people. Lots of fairs, etc... in the summer. Nice (permanent, indoor) stage theater as well. Quite a few historic buildings around town.

Crime is fairly low (almost everyone here is armed). There are quite a few illegals here but that is due almost entirely to the booming housing growth here.

Housing is plentiful and most lots are fairly large. You get a lot for your money here. Jobs in this area are plentiful.

Selma is 5 minutes from Smithfield. Less developed, a bit poorer, but they have a nice antique district downtown and a great music theater.

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions!

Tyster
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-03-2007, 02:51 PM
 
Location: Snow Hill, NC
787 posts, read 3,575,422 times
Reputation: 311
I forgot to mention the pottery outlet and other outlet stores which seem to attract a lot of people that are into shopping which I'm not. But there are a lot of outlet stores there that were just getting started good when I moved away in 1992. My husband says that Smithfield has literally exploded with growth over the past 10 years. But I still stand by my earlier statements. I wouldn't want to live there. If he insists on going back home, we will be moving further west to Clayton.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top