Gonna be stationed at Cherry Point in about a year. Don't really want to live in Havelock.

On or near water is a plus (if I can afford it). Likely to appreciate well is a requirement.

I've thought about Morehead City. New Bern is also an option. Both are kinda far away from base, though.

Also thought about that little area where 70 and 24 intersect to the west of Morehead, as well as some of the areas off of 101 to the north of Beaufort (ideally on or near the intracoastal, but I don't know if I can afford it).


I see a town called Harlowe on the map. Looks like it would be a good location for me. Don't know whether or not it sucks, though.

Then, of course, there is the whole stretch along 70 between Cherry Point and New Bern, along the sound.


I never spent a tremendous amount of time around these areas, and it's been years since I've been at all. Anyone with more detailed and up-to-date knowledge, please feel free to drop it on me.

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 12:13 PM. Reason : Newport is an option, too.]

5/18/2007 12:12:42 PM

So they never sent you out to Pendleton?

5/18/2007 12:13:52 PM

thought you just moved to Washington state or Oregon or something?

5/18/2007 12:19:16 PM

^^i've been there...nice place. never stationed there, though. they don't have any jets out there...they're all at Miramar (and they're all Hornets, which I unfortunately kinda got screwed out of)

^getting ready to move to Whidbey Island, WA for about a year

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 12:19 PM. Reason : ^]

5/18/2007 12:19:32 PM

let me vouch for JACKSONVILLE

5/18/2007 12:20:55 PM

KINSTON!

jk

5/18/2007 12:21:19 PM

^^haha, no thanks

even if it wasn't waaay too far of a commute to cherry point

5/18/2007 12:22:45 PM

Wilimington

5/18/2007 12:25:54 PM

alright, alright, let's not just name every damn town in the eastern 1/3 of the state. This isn't a chit chat thread--I'm seriously looking for where I'm gonna live down there.

5/18/2007 12:28:28 PM

hell i tried

5/18/2007 12:31:23 PM

newport, north/west side of beaufort, cape carteret, west morehead, there are also a few decent looking neighborhoods between the MCAS and morehead city

5/18/2007 12:35:02 PM

How far is Trenton from there?

5/18/2007 12:36:27 PM

Trenton is south west of New Bern.

5/18/2007 12:40:54 PM

yeah, looks to be about 30 miles away

i thought about something north of the MCAS, like around Arapahoe or Oriental, but it looks like I'd have to take a ferry to work every day. Screw that.

5/18/2007 12:49:07 PM

other than geography--will your daughter be playing any part of where you relocate and live? school wise and all.

5/18/2007 12:56:03 PM

probably not, although that's prob something at least worth thinking about. first of all, it's not really a guaranteed thing that she (and her mother) will be moving up there, although that's the plan for right now. second, she's only 7 months old...it'll be a while before she's in "real" school, and by that time, I'll probably be getting stationed somewhere else (or about to be).

5/18/2007 1:01:25 PM

when i was in the states for christmas, I visited my cousin and her husband in their new house on the outskirts of beaufort. They live in a new neighborhood near Beaufort Elementary school and have access to their neighborhood boat ramp and waterway access. They seem really pleased with it. As I recall, it wasnt more than 10-15 minutes to the entrance of the air station.

5/18/2007 1:16:48 PM

Morehead isn't bad. We got a house down there smack dab in the middle of town. I was planning on moving there if I had gotten an offer from NADEP (Navair).

But I didn't, dammit.

If Dad hasn't sold it by then, maybe he would rent it. I dunno, but I could ask.

5/18/2007 1:17:36 PM

I grew up in MHC, and Harlowe fucking sucks dude. DOn't move there. (just read you had a kid... do not move to beaufort... seriously).

70 and 24 intersection is nice... you can go down country club road or more on the newport side of 24 if you wanted to be closer to base. My dad just bought some land off of there for $90,000. Appraised 2 years later at $300,000.

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 1:19 PM. Reason : .]

5/18/2007 1:18:19 PM

^He's right about Harlowe. Not a goddamn thing there at all. We are talking about right off of NC 111, right?

5/18/2007 1:19:03 PM

^^ well, my daughter will only be maybe 18 months old when i get there

have the property values already blown up around there, or are there still lots of good buying opportunities?

^ according to my map (of the google variety), it's 101, not 111. and yeah, i kinda figured it might be either BFE or some little shithole town like Chadbourne or something.

and Dan, if your dad is looking at selling it, I might consider it. I don't plan on renting when I get there unless the market is inflated.

5/18/2007 1:36:02 PM

Josh...you might wanna start looking around now if you want to buy. Real estate is blowing up like gangbusters now.

There's a house down the street that's fixed up a little more than ours that just went for 220k.

Ours is only two bedroom, about 1200 SF or so. Small, older, but cozy. Got a separate garage out back too.

5/18/2007 1:38:58 PM

I'VE BEEN AROUND THAT AREA....YOU ARE BETTER OFF LIVING IN EITHER MOREHEAD CITY OR NEW BERN.....NEW BERN IS PROBABLY A LITTLE CHEAPER....

5/18/2007 2:01:13 PM

No, prices haven't gone completely crazy yet... but it's coming. It's still a blue collar town... unless you're a doctor or a lawyer, pretty much you're manual labor. But the northeners are invading... so you can probably still find a good deal. Look at the sound on Hwy 24... there are a lot of small neighborhoods with no real exceptional homes RIGHT ON THE WATER... affordable and that land value will only go up.

5/18/2007 2:14:07 PM

^Speaking of doctors, you wouldn't know a dentist named Westbrook, would you?

5/18/2007 2:25:15 PM

i absolutely love beaufort. my friends just bought a 3 bedroom place 3 blocks from everything on the water for very reasonable.

5/18/2007 2:31:53 PM

http://maps.google.com

i would vouch for atlantic beach or nearby

5/18/2007 4:23:54 PM

I live on the Havelock side of New Bern (I've lived in NB my whole life save for the last 3 school years) and commute to Cherry Pt every day. Its about a 25 minute drive and its not bad at all. Plus New Bern real estate is getting ready to take off, so if you're looking for your property value to appreciate, this is where its at. Apparently Yankees like the rivers, easy access to the beach, etc. etc. Just don't expect a lot in the way of night life. NBC's Today Show called us one of the 5 best places to retire a couple of years ago.

5/18/2007 5:25:26 PM

Quote :

"On or near water is a plus (if I can afford it)."

I'm sure with O-2 BAH you'll be ok

5/18/2007 5:26:27 PM

^ even on the O-3 dollar, I'm not sure I'll be able to get approved for more than about $180-185k. the $1007/month worth of child support wreaks havoc with my debt/income ratio, because they consider it a debt payment.

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 5:43 PM. Reason : and it could easily be 6 months or so after I get there before I make Capt.]

5/18/2007 5:43:09 PM

My dad used to work at Cherry Point. We lived in Newport. I like Beaufort, but I'm sure it's going to be costly, along with Atlantic Beach, they are both turning into tourist locations. Morehead City is almost there.

Havelock....more like HaveNOT! Floods all the times. New Bern, it's nice, but just far enough from the beach that it will seem like a hassel to spend a day out there.

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 6:26 PM. Reason : ]

5/18/2007 6:22:56 PM

If I were you I would consider buying some land in bettie, nc you can actually find some affordable land near the water and there is tons of undeveloped land just look at a google map of the area
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=Bettie,+North+Carolina&daddr=&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=34.806474,-76.749115&spn=0.412132,0.6427&z=11&iwloc=addr

the best thing about the area (east of beaufort) is that pablo, jose, jamal, and shaniqua don't exist once you cross the ward's creek bridge and tons of people commute from this area to the air force base. its the main employer in the region

also if i were you i would consider buying some land on adams creek thats where my family is from and its about a 20 minute commute to cherrypoint afb. (yeah you would have to drive through ghetto ass harlowe to get to the nice area but it would worth it for the low real estate prices)

its beautiful down there in both places

there just isnt a grocery store within 20 minutes of you in either place
but i did hear they are building a grocery store right beside bettie in otway which is a 5 minute commute east and it should make the area alot better to live in

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 6:56 PM. Reason : ]

5/18/2007 6:27:43 PM

i live in New Bern when im not working/traveling

its 45 min from Greenville(North), Jacksonville(south), Morehead City/Atlantic Beach(East) and about 30 min from Kinston(to the West)

Brice's Creek, Holla

5/18/2007 6:30:22 PM

PM sent

[Edited on May 19, 2007 at 12:40 AM. Reason : ...]

5/19/2007 12:39:12 AM

Morehead isnt bad, between there and cape carteret would be alright. I dont know how much money you are working with, but Morada Bay is fairly nice and new with only one house built (pretty good size house, small lot $529,000 I think). I have some land in there. Also, Bogue Watch is a little cheaper than Cannonsgate and there are some really nice lots in there. A little closer to MCAS is....a few subdivisons off 9 mile road, one in particular that I cant think of that is not too bad.

5/21/2007 9:41:48 PM

Only good thing about Harlowe is the Links golf course when you are broke and want to play golf. There are some nice houses around the course, but Harlowe is shit in general.

5/21/2007 9:42:51 PM

Quote :

"I dont know how much money you are working with"

prob 185k or so.

5/24/2007 10:33:04 AM

Oriental or Arapahoe are nice, but there is the Ferry ride.

Kind of annoying, but it is fun everytime I have gotten on it. And it adds about 20 minutes to travel time. Oriental is about 10 miles from the Ferry, and Arapahoe is basically where the Ferry is located.

New Bern is gonna have some mad traffic going down into Cherry Point, I would probably look more into Jacksonville or Morehead. Beaufort is fucking beautiful though, but I definitely don't think housing is cheap there.

5/24/2007 11:29:10 AM

I'll plug arapahoe, oriental and new bern again

5/24/2007 12:14:49 PM

Yea, with that amount I would say maybe a house in Cape Carteret or off nine mile road

5/24/2007 12:31:26 PM

traffic from new bern to cherry point is still gonna get to you on base / to work quicker than a ferry ride from oriental / arapahoe OR a drive from jacksonville

check out brice's creek

schools are gonna be better in craven county too

5/24/2007 12:43:46 PM

^^ is that gonna actually be enough to get something fairly nice down there?

^ yeah, no way I'm taking a ferry to work every day. to hell with that...and I wouldn't live in Jacksonville for any reason, even if it wasn't way far away from Cherry Point.

I'll check out Brice's Creek. where is it, roughly?

5/24/2007 7:55:51 PM

if you dont really care how new the house is, check out carolina pines. its closer to the base but the homes are older. 10 minutes from main gate.

a little farther out, newer homes can be had in the Taberna community, very nice homes there. but youll probably get less house for your money. 15 minutes from main gate.

closest to the water is brices creek. youll get more for your money around new bern / brices creek area. larger yard, etc.. will give you like a 20 minute drive to the base, it's just off the south side of new bern, kind of follows the trent/neuse river split. lots of room for jet skiing.
its maybe 2 miles from Craven Regional Airport (EWN).

i'd skip out on nine mile road, lots of jackasses driving really fast down that road all the time. not really kool if you got kids playing outside. too close to havelock for me, too.

5/24/2007 11:25:37 PM

Eh, 185 is pushing it to get something in the Cape C. area I would think. Check the local realty sites. From experience, I just got a contract on a doublewide with around .7 acres in morehead-newport fo $127,750.

5/24/2007 11:46:58 PM

Don't do New Bern. Its a nice town and all but since its a great retirement place, it seems like 75% of people are over 60 yrs old.

But maybe I just keep seeing all the old people every time I go down there.

5/25/2007 1:13:50 AM

Quote :

"the best thing about the area (east of beaufort) is that pablo, jose, jamal, and shaniqua don't exist once you cross the ward's creek bridge and tons of people commute from this area to the air force base. its the main employer in the region also if i were you i would consider buying some land on adams creek thats where my family is from and its about a 20 minute commute to cherrypoint afb. (yeah you would have to drive through ghetto ass harlowe to get to the nice area but it would worth it for the low real estate prices) "

It's the North River Bridge, and Cherry Point is a Marine Corp Air Station (MCAS)
I grew up in Marshallberg and if you come east of the North River brisge we won't like you either.
Stick with your original plan, Harlowe is beautiful this time of year!


[Edited on May 25, 2007 at 6:36 PM. Reason : .]

5/25/2007 6:34:46 PM

Quote :

"the best thing about the area (east of beaufort) is that pablo, jose, jamal, and shaniqua don't exist once you cross the ward's creek bridge "

cultural isolation: a great basis for choosing a place to live

5/25/2007 9:22:34 PM

bttt

1/25/2009 3:08:01 PM

My dad's been stationed at Cherry Point almost my entire life, and we live in Newport. Cheaper than Morehead City, but still close to the base and normal civilization. Some parts of Newport aren't so bad.

Stay away from Harlowe, please. It is a cesspool.

I'd say your best bets are Newport or Morehead City. I've never been a fan of New Bern, and I wouldn't want to live in Havelock either.

1/25/2009 4:35:00 PM

my dad lived in new bern when he worked at cherry point, idk if i´d want to drive that far every morning



but otherwise it was ftw!

1/25/2009 4:41:53 PM