OT: Considering retirement in North Carolina
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A relative of mine lives in Wake Forest and loves it. They'd been in Cary (NC), got a transfer out-of-state, then eventually moved back to North Carolina.
Cary is really nice, but their real estate prices have gotten steep; they did some investigating and found that Wake Forest suited them, and it was more affordable and somewhat more laid back, too.
Cary is really nice, but their real estate prices have gotten steep; they did some investigating and found that Wake Forest suited them, and it was more affordable and somewhat more laid back, too.
Get a beautiful mountain lake home in Asheville area and then something in Kiawha Island SC for warmth and ocean. I am thinking total cost around 3 million. All of your friends and relatives will want to visit you
I lived in Winston-Salem for two years in the late 80s.
It's a nice enough area, but I wouldn't want to move from Raleigh to go back.
It's an old money town, so it hasn't progressed at nearly the pace of it's neighbor, Greensboro. In 30 years, Greensboro is almost unrecognizable; Winston, not so much.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, aka, Bowman Grey Hospital to me, is a very good hospital. Much better than is usually found in towns of that size.
From what I know, housing is pretty reasonable. You will find just about any type of neighborhood you could want.
I still know some folks there, and they moved to the Clemmons / Bermuda Run area years ago (south west of the city proper).
It's not too far from Charlotte, which is a very vibrant city with a lot to do.
Like anywhere, it all depends on what one is looking for. W-S is WAY nicer that the Sandhills area (Pinehurst, Fayetteville, etc...), IMHO. Or, for that matter the coastal areas. Ashville is a popular retirement location, but it's not for me. I don't care that much for snow, and winter weather in general.
Winston-Salem is a little cooler that where I am in Raleigh. Spring starts a few weeks behind us, and their fall starts before ours. The leaves are already fully green here, and I'd wager that in W-S they are just starting to green up.
Do you know anyone in the area? What is the draw for you to Winston-Salem?
It's a nice enough area, but I wouldn't want to move from Raleigh to go back.
It's an old money town, so it hasn't progressed at nearly the pace of it's neighbor, Greensboro. In 30 years, Greensboro is almost unrecognizable; Winston, not so much.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, aka, Bowman Grey Hospital to me, is a very good hospital. Much better than is usually found in towns of that size.
From what I know, housing is pretty reasonable. You will find just about any type of neighborhood you could want.
I still know some folks there, and they moved to the Clemmons / Bermuda Run area years ago (south west of the city proper).
It's not too far from Charlotte, which is a very vibrant city with a lot to do.
Like anywhere, it all depends on what one is looking for. W-S is WAY nicer that the Sandhills area (Pinehurst, Fayetteville, etc...), IMHO. Or, for that matter the coastal areas. Ashville is a popular retirement location, but it's not for me. I don't care that much for snow, and winter weather in general.
Winston-Salem is a little cooler that where I am in Raleigh. Spring starts a few weeks behind us, and their fall starts before ours. The leaves are already fully green here, and I'd wager that in W-S they are just starting to green up.
Do you know anyone in the area? What is the draw for you to Winston-Salem?
Moved to Charlotte in '12 and we love it here. Have spent a fair amount of Time in the Chapel HIll/Raleigh/Durham area and its very nice as well but prefer Charlotte.
Other very nice places in the region (Greenville SC,,,little known gem.......they've done amazing things with the City area (used to be a dump Im told) and its a great small town). By the way Durham used to be a dump as well and they've really done a nice job of cleaning that up too. And of course you cant beat Charleston if you want to go a little further south.
Great thing about Charlotte/Greenville is that you have the great winter weather,and can still get to the mountains.
Other very nice places in the region (Greenville SC,,,little known gem.......they've done amazing things with the City area (used to be a dump Im told) and its a great small town). By the way Durham used to be a dump as well and they've really done a nice job of cleaning that up too. And of course you cant beat Charleston if you want to go a little further south.
Great thing about Charlotte/Greenville is that you have the great winter weather,and can still get to the mountains.
I lived in North Carolina for 11 years. I lived in both Cary and Charlotte in that time span. I absolutely loved it.
However.... I believe it's now the highest taxed state in the Southeast. It may not be the ideal situation if you retire on a tight budget.
You may want to consider Tennessee as an option as well. No state income tax and the climate is pretty mild as well. In addition, I LOVE Nashville.
Just my two cents. Good Luck!
However.... I believe it's now the highest taxed state in the Southeast. It may not be the ideal situation if you retire on a tight budget.
You may want to consider Tennessee as an option as well. No state income tax and the climate is pretty mild as well. In addition, I LOVE Nashville.
Just my two cents. Good Luck!
Nah
The mountains say Asheville , Raleigh - Chapel Hill or of course the beaches. Anywhere around Wilmington
Depends on your likes but that’s my 2cents.
I second the mention of Greenville, even though it's a half hour away from NC. Easy access to Atlanta and Charlotte, in the foothills of the mountains, Clemson nearby, and a pretty amazing downtown for a small city. Cost of living is low, too.
I like NC as a whole, too, though I only have experience with Asheville and Charlotte.
I like NC as a whole, too, though I only have experience with Asheville and Charlotte.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. My wife and I have no family of friends in the area and I have a medical condition that would make it prudent to be close to a major medical center, which I think Wake Forest Baptist fills the bill. We are contemplating moving from New Jersey, so virtually anyplace south is going to be more affordable re: housing, cost of living, and taxes. Still, it represents a potentially radical move for us which is why I am trying to get some insight into the area.
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts.
Chapel hill and Durham.
Get 2 major academic medical systems plus a handful of other hospitals.
It's a nice area. Just make sure you look for homes on a windy day. I recall that they have some slaughter houses down there that aren't that nice to be near.
First off, you have to roll up a fattie and put on some Sweet Baby James before embarking on this decision...
I too was blown away by Greenville when I went there for the first time in September. One of the cooler downtown settings I’ve seen.
Love the Raleigh area. That’s my retirement dream area.
You mention you have no family or friends in North Carolina. That would raise a red flag for me. When I was getting ready to retire, I attended a couple of pre-retirement seminars. I was amazed to learn how many retirees who move to warmer climates for retirement ultimately return North because of the absence of family/friends. It was a huge percentage--maybe even 50% or more. This also explains the "snowbird" phenomenon (i.e., live in the South during the winter and return North for spring thorough early fall). Doing that requires either owning two homes or having a travel trailer. IMHO, you ought to consider carefully whether you will be able to (economically or otherwise) make sufficiently frequent travel to visit family members and friends or whether you will be isolating yourselves.
Assuming you do move, a non-North Carolina option could be what a colleague of mine did. He retired to a South Carolina suburb of the city of Charlotte (Fort Mill, SC) and seems happy with that decision after several years (has the benefits of Charlotte with lower South Carolina costs). As someone mentioned above, NC may be the highest taxed state in the Southeast. That trend is likely to continue as retirees and others continue to move south from states in the Northeast and bring with them their high level of public services expectations which result in higher state taxes. South Carolina probably has an advantage over North Carolina in that the rate those changes are happening probably lags the pace in North Carolina.
I’d like to relocate to Charlotte in a couple years. We drove through in Early March and spring already touched it. Wife is a Nurse I’m in sales so me finding a job will be tougher than her.
I go to Asheville every year for work. Beautiful town, people are a bit much for me lol. Cool vibe though.
Wilmington is beautiful as well.
I moved to Charlotte about two years ago and haven't looked back. Awesome, transient town with terrific weather (if you still like a change in seasons) and a surprisingly good food and local beer scene. I think I golfed all but 3 weeks last year, although this winter was rough (relatively speaking) across the entire country, it seems. I was in the uptown area until recently when I moved to the lake area. Once they finish I77 construction, I expect this area to boom quickly. Home prices in the desirable areas of Charlotte (south) are exorbitant.
As others have mentioned, Asheville and Greenville are near by and are terrific long weekend spots, and the Atlantic is a pretty easy, straight shot without the insane traffic you get in NJ/DE/MD.
You also avoid all of the tropical weather stuff in the western part of the state and have longer days. I can't tell you how many times friends have asked me when they see the national news if "that big storm is going to hit you?". People don't realize that Charlotte is farther west than Pittsburgh and almost as far inland.
Good luck.
As others have mentioned, Asheville and Greenville are near by and are terrific long weekend spots, and the Atlantic is a pretty easy, straight shot without the insane traffic you get in NJ/DE/MD.
You also avoid all of the tropical weather stuff in the western part of the state and have longer days. I can't tell you how many times friends have asked me when they see the national news if "that big storm is going to hit you?". People don't realize that Charlotte is farther west than Pittsburgh and almost as far inland.
Good luck.
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Step Daughter and family relocated to Hickory NC I was pleasantly surprised how nice the area was. Your an hour or so from charlotte and a hour or so to Ashville. Formerly lived in South Carolina in the Columbia area great place to live wife prefers Charleston for retirement I'm not a fan but I would prefer Pawley's Island
You're right, that may end up being a big consideration. It has gotten me thinking about my best friend from high school who moved to The Villages in Florida after retirement. He loved the golf, but after a few years he moved back to New Jersey because his sons and grandchildren were all back there. My son is in New Jersey, as is a good part of my extended family, but my daughter and son-in-law and grandsons are in the UK. The grandsons have grown up thinking that New Jersey is home away from home. Serious points to ponder.
From The Cheap Seats; if you son is in the southern part of NJ, you might want to look into Delaware. DC had some good points in his post. Been retired six years myself (lived in NJ just outside of Philly since 76) and can say retirement is very personal. I live in a nice, active over 55 community (not the Villages) close to major airports and seaports. I do spend three months during the summer at my camp in upstate NY where I have relatives. Choose wisely.
Camps in upstate NY. I haven't heard that term in a while. I lived and worked in Schenectady, NY for over a decade, and everyone there had a summer camp in the Adirondacks or the Berkshires, or they went to Cape Cod.
yeah if you like the San Fran vibe, ashville peeps are great.........LOL.......not my cup of tea. Beautiful area to visit but not my cup of tea.........also from a beer perspective, if you dont like IPA's you'll be very disappointed in the micro brewery scene.....LOLZ
If you ever decide to move to Charlotte, let me know and I can give you the low down on places to live. Lots of options. Also Charlotte Airport is one of the easiest to get in and out of if your in sales.
If you dont mind me asking what part of Charlotte do you live in? We live in the Palisades near Lake Wylie. Sucks paying MC taxes living so close to SC but we love it there.
Near Trump National on Lake Norman. I was in the Fourth Ward in Uptown prior to recently. Wylie is nice too, but you're right about the taxes. There is just not enough to do in the Fort Mill area for my liking, so staying on the NC-side was probably a good choice. You can definitely save a ton across the border, for sure.
I find it better than Asheville in many ways... less hipster, more of a bigger city feel. I would move there in a heartbeat but I'm the only one in my family that would be willing to leave Pittsburgh for warmer climes.
I have spent some time in Grenville SC and find it to be a really nice place to live.
Also have spent a lot of time in Charleston area. Charleston is a great city with first class medical center as well as some of the best resturants anywhere. Alegiant Air now flies there fron Pittsburgh for $49. It is very drivable from Pittsburgh in 91/2 hours of driving.
Also have spent a lot of time in Charleston area. Charleston is a great city with first class medical center as well as some of the best resturants anywhere. Alegiant Air now flies there fron Pittsburgh for $49. It is very drivable from Pittsburgh in 91/2 hours of driving.
Thanks to all of you for your input. Plenty of food for thought. Thanks again.
I would recommend a mid-summer "whirlwind" tour of the areas you are considering, to see if you like the weather. Leaving the cold and snow of New Jersey might sound very appealing, but for some, the heat and humidity of a southeast summer more than cancels that out.
I have a cousin who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and took a great job offer in Columbia, SC, only to head back to Columbus three years later because he and his wife couldn't get accumulated to, as he put it, hell on earth.
We've had really nice summers the last three years in Raleigh, but I can remember plenty where from June 1 through early September the humidity is considerable.
Good point. I remember vacationing on the Outer Banks in July a number of years ago and it was hot as hell. Going to the beach was only doable early or late, not in the heat of the day.
I live right outside of greenville, NC which is a fast growing city in eastern NC. Housing and taxes are dirt cheap, less traffic, about an hour from raleigh and the beaches. It is a college town with ECU being there and they have close to 30K students but lows 20s on campus, rest are online. It depends on what you want, you can buy a beautiful house on the sound or at some historical water towns like washington, NC. Its a very growing area because of the low cost of living, lots of retirees there and is rated as a good retirement area. Great healthcare in town with a major hospital.The downtown has been revitalized with breweries leading the way. The metro area has about 175K people. You are about 5 hours from the western mountains and an hour from multiple beaches, 3 1/2 to myrtle beach and 2 hours to wilmington. I went to school here from NJ and never left. You can live really well as compared to up north because of cost.
If only it weren’t the projected landing spot for so many hurricanes....
Ugh. Why there? A great place to retire is like Johnstown. I swear the average age there is 83.
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