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Where in North Carolina?

Debbie0329

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Hi All,

We are considering a move to North Carolina - not sure where but preferably somewhere near the coast and to the northern part of the state. The problem is that we're not sure if we want an active adult sort of community with pool, tennis, etc. or do we just want to pick out a house in a town somewhere...the only prerequisite is that it be near at Home Depot - hubby still works part time even though he's retired and really loves it! Any thoughts on where?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Deb
 

YeongWoo

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First choice for me is Raleigh metro. There are some active adult communities that come to mind. Beach is about 2 to 3 hours and same for the mountains. It's not far off I-95 either.

Wilmington and southeast NC is probably a more popular choice though. It's obviously not the northern part of the state but that area has a lot of things going for it. You won't need to look for an active adult community because practically every new community has majority retirees.

Going North up the coast are a variety of smaller towns with more limited city amenities and transportation options. What you may find is that it takes you longer to get out to I-95N from these northern towns. Wilmington may be further south but it has the interstate. If you want to check out some of the towns then I'd consider New Bern or Morehead City. I like that whole area and there are timeshares there so you can check it out. Oh, BTW, if you like boating then there's Oriental and some other towns that cater to that.
 

NKN

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Check out Edenton..but don't know abt home depot
 

Bucky

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NC Outer Banks. There's a HD in Kitty Hawk.
 

amycurl

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Yes, it looks like either Raleigh, the OBX, or Wilmington if you want the eastern part of the state near a Home Depot.

Edenton is a beautiful town; too bad it's probably too far away from a Home Depot for you.
 

ScubaKat

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We love the triangle! SW Durham is nice with how convenient the location is and great restaurants. We moved to Chapel Hill for the school system.. Love Chapel Hill but property taxes are crazy compared to the surrounding areas. Have friends who live in Wilmington who really like it there.
 

talkamotta

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I fell in love with Wilmington. I would love to live there.
 

LUVourMarriotts

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Consider the hurricane season when thinking about the coast, and how close you want to be. Insurance, etc. If you live in the RTP (Raleigh/Durham) area, you are still only a few hours drive to get out to the coast on day or long weekend trips. We were very close to moving to the Raleigh area last year, but didn't end up doing it. We really liked Wake Forest, which is just north of Raleigh.
 

Bxian

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How far is Wilmington from RDU airport (or another airport that has airline competition and a good selection for flights)? How strong are the hospitals in the Wilmington area? We are starting to think about places to retire-both the Raleigh/Durham and Wilmington have nearby colleges/universities (important to us), and R/D is strong in health care. We want to be near a decent airport so we can travel.
 

cyntravel

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North Carolina

Hi

There are a lot of beautiful places to live with adult communities or homes in the Cary/Apex area. You can live outside town and feel like your are in the woods and the Home Depot is 5-10 minutes away. The beaches and mountains are gorgeous! They are anywhere from 1 1/2 hrs to 3hrs. Or you can get to the Outer Banks in 5-6 hrs. You can get to the SC beaches like Hilton Head area in 5 1/2 hrs and to the Blue Ridge Mountains in 4-4 1/2. Lots to do and see in this area. You are in the RTP area where there are lots of industries in Technology, Bio and Health etc. There are lots of museums and arts in this area also.

I love it here it is home.

Cyn
 

JPD

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RDU is about 3 hours from Wilmington. I-40 starts in Wilmington and takes you straight to Raleigh. Wilmington has a small airport that mainly flies into Atlanta, they also have direct flights to other cities, but they are limited. Someone mentioned hurricanes, this area is known as hurricane alley. We have been hit pretty hard in years past, Some years ago, hurricane Floyd came ashore and did most of the damage in the Raleigh area, It flooded real bad with all those small rivers not able to handle the all that rain. There are two Interstates in the Raleigh area, I-95 (N/S) and I-40 (E/W). Taxes vary, so if that is a concern be sure to check it out. We have tons of northern transplants, they say they sold their house up there and paid cash for the one here. I live on the coast, I stayed here when I retired from the military, and I have not regretted my decision.
 

Bucky

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How far is Wilmington from RDU airport (or another airport that has airline competition and a good selection for flights)? How strong are the hospitals in the Wilmington area? We are starting to think about places to retire-both the Raleigh/Durham and Wilmington have nearby colleges/universities (important to us), and R/D is strong in health care. We want to be near a decent airport so we can travel.

My original response tried to match the OP's desire for a northern location, close to the coast with an HD. Since the predominant responses are towards the RDU area I thought I'd chime in again.

RDU airport is about 2.5hrs from Wilmington on a straight shot across I-40.

The Raleigh/Durham area is indeed very strong in the health care field. We have UNC Health Care network which includes 10 separate hospitals, the Duke Univ Med Center which I'm partial to since I'm on their heart transplant list and Wake Med which is the preeminent heart center in the area. They have different locations throughout the triangle area and the main complex is in Raleigh.

We also have a plethora of sports teams, both college and pro. We have UNC Chapel Hill, NC State Univ, Duke Univ and numerous other smaller division colleges within about a 30 mile radius. We have the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team and a couple of minor league baseball teams.

There are just a ton of things that make the triangle area a great place to live. Oh, I almost forgot! We have lots of great golf courses for those interested plus the Sandhills (I.e., Pinehurst) is only an hour drive away.

Last but not least is Raleigh was just rated the number 2 boom town in the US! Here's what Forbes said about Raleigh in their release.

"Raleigh has experienced the second-highest overall population increase and the third-highest job growth over the past two decades in the U.S. It also ranked among those regions seeing the biggest jump in new immigrants and is the No. 1 city for families with young children. The area is a magnet for technology companies fleeing the more expensive, congested and highly regulated northeast corridor. Affordable housing and short commute times are no doubt highly attractive to recent college graduates and millennials looking to start families."
 
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amycurl

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I will also say that RDU has the rush hour traffic that goes with a "boom" town in a state that invests very, very little in public transportation. As long as you can avoid being on the interstates/major highways from 7:30-8:30 am, and 3:30-6:30 pm week days, you'll be okay.

All that's to say---the Triangle is at least better than Charlotte. ;)
 

Laurie

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Hillsborough NC is a charming and historic town, in the Triangle Area and convenient to everything - has a Home Depot, and I think they're building a hospital.

Durham was recently voted #1 tastiest foodie town by Southern Living magazine:
http://www.southernliving.com/travel/tastiest-town-durham-north-carolina-00417000082305/

and has a beautiful Performing Arts Center which regularly gets major touring stuff such as Broadway musicals (they built it to house Lion King, so I heard).

You can choose rural, small town, suburban or city living and still have it all. No need to ever get bored around here. We live in a cottage on a lake with blue herons, kayaks and gorgeous views, and it's sometimes hard to decide whether we should drive into any one of several close-by towns and cities for activities ... or travel and vacation ... or stay home and enjoy our little paradise.

Both beach and mountains are within a 3 hour drive, as stated by many.

I'm a northeasterner but made my way here almost 40 years ago. We often read or hear about others trying to choose a retirement location, but other than Hawaii, which has its downsides, I honestly don't think we can do better than where we are.
 
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momeason

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RDU is about 3 hours from Wilmington. I-40 starts in Wilmington and takes you straight to Raleigh. Wilmington has a small airport that mainly flies into Atlanta, they also have direct flights to other cities, but they are limited. Someone mentioned hurricanes, this area is known as hurricane alley. We have been hit pretty hard in years past, Some years ago, hurricane Floyd came ashore and did most of the damage in the Raleigh area, It flooded real bad with all those small rivers not able to handle the all that rain. There are two Interstates in the Raleigh area, I-95 (N/S) and I-40 (E/W). Taxes vary, so if that is a concern be sure to check it out. We have tons of northern transplants, they say they sold their house up there and paid cash for the one here. I live on the coast, I stayed here when I retired from the military, and I have not regretted my decision.

We live near you JPD. We have only had two direct hits with major damage in our neighborhood since the 1960's. e had 2 in 1996..Bertha and Fran. in our neighborhood, several homes had to be rebuilt, including ours. Winds severely damaged homes in Bertha and winds and flooding occurred during Fran 6 weeks later. Other damage during other storms has been minimal. We have to keep our garages clear. Since 1997 all new homes are elevated.
Our views are fabulous. We have a state park within site of our home..
Hammocks Beach State Park.
I will email pics for anyone who wants them. We are also 3 hours from RDU, but local healthcare is not great.
We try to stay healthy..doing well so far.
We have family near Raleigh and I grew up near there.

We also have a Home Depot 30 minutes from our home. Swansboro, NC is lovely. HD is in Jacksonville, NC
 

momeason

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I think if you love beaches, Wilmington is a good choice. Asheville is great for the mountains. Raleigh is central and good if you want some of both. We did not go to Wilmington because we could not afford waterfront in that area.
I love Wilmington.
 

SDKath

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Chapel Hill/Carrboro

My sister lives in Carrboro and she loves it. It's gorgeous and away from it all yet is close to Raleigh for all the night life, shopping, etc.

She said to mention that most of the hurricanes hit the coastal towns. She would NOT advise you to live there unless you have a stomach for that kinda thing (and evacuating at least 2x a year). They moved in from the coast to Carrboro and are ever grateful they did!

Kath
 

momeason

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My sister lives in Carrboro and she loves it. It's gorgeous and away from it all yet is close to Raleigh for all the night life, shopping, etc.

She said to mention that most of the hurricanes hit the coastal towns. She would NOT advise you to live there unless you have a stomach for that kinda thing (and evacuating at least 2x a year). They moved in from the coast to Carrboro and are ever grateful they did!

Kath

I have lived on the coast for 6 years and have not evacuated yet. We live on the mainland in view of the ocean. If you do not live on a barrier island, evacuation is very rare and so are direct hits.
 

elaine

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check out St. James Plantation in Southport, NC about 30 miles S of Wilmington. There is either a HD or Lowes down the street. IMHO, excellent planned community, beach cabana access with pool, golf courses, tons of clubs, both social and service, onsite marina. We have visited 3X and DH just got back from a golf weekend there--loved it. There is a variety of housing from condos to million $+. Many single family homes in the $300-$500K range. We plan to retire here when kids are out a school. You can call and rent a condo for a few nights to get a feel for the place. That's what we did and talked to everyone we saw about how they liked it.
 

rosebud5

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Lake Gaston

I'm in the process of buying a house on Lake Gaston, NC. Gaston is a 34 mile long, man made lake on the Virginia/NC border, mostly in NC. We thought about the Outer Banks because we like the ocean and finally said no due to hurricanes, insurance, crowds, etc. Figured you can do just as much, if not more on a lake than you can the ocean, plus its more peaceful.

An added attraction to moving to NC is that if you are a retired federal employee (and some other public sector employees) , your retirement income is tax free if you were in the system prior to 1989. Lots to see in NC, you have the mountains on one side, the ocean of the other, and lakes in between. I also like it because you never see traffic jams or state police on the highways!

Oh yeah, there is a HD 18 miles away.
 
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