****edited to add Arizona to the list of places******
I need some help researching areas in Arizona, North Carolina and Florida. Hubby is looking at jobs in Flagstaff, Jacksonville and Wilmington. I've perused city-data, but it has too MUCH info on everything, so it's confusing.
I specifically need to know if the schools in these areas are good or if there are areas around them that have good schools. I also need to know about the options for family neighborhoods and crime, etc. Also, for Flagstaff -- is it really old/chilly there all the time? Looking at the temp averages, it seems on par w/ Boston (which I hate all winter). Is it a different kind of cold????
Any info or leads in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!
Well - I wrote all this stuff about colleges. I forgot that you're asking about K-12. Oh well...
UNCW is there. They run a fine college as far as I know. They're known for their marine biology program. They have a great Career Services staff! http://www.uncw.edu/chancellor/
Cape Fear Community College is there too. I don't know much about that school. http://cfcc.edu/aboutCFCC.html It is a relatively large community college. The community college system in NC is pretty cool in some aspects. Tuition at our community college (CPCC in Charlotte) was $42.00/credit last academic year.
Nearby Brunswick and Pender counties (Wilm is in New Hanover). Brunswick Community College http://www.brunswick.cc.nc.us/ > I know nothing about that CC. Probably quite small.
I just did a "New Hanover County Schools" search on the Star News Online website to look for stories.
Check for forums on which people who know Wilmington really well provide answers to people who want to move there. TripAdvisor.com can be a good start even though it is centered around vacations.
Private-message me if you have any questions.
---Recreation--- Bald Head Island is an unbelievable place to take a vacation. There are no cars there, only golf carts and bicycles. No cars allowed. you can rent homes on the island, join the club(s), beautiful beaches. www.bhi.com
The ferry that you can take to BHI is in Southport, which is a cute little beach town. about 25-30 minutes away from Wilmington
Ya- I agree with what AllieGurl said- The only thing I would add is that in comparison with the rest of AZ- Flagstaff is one of the more expensive places to live. Housing for a 1 bedroom apartment runs around to $800 a month, and gas is the most expensive there. I am not sure if you are used to living in a small town. I am from Phoenix, so Flagstaff feels too small for me. You can't beat the scenery though, and the summers there are actually very nice. HTH
AllieGurl wrote:
Flagstaff ---
My sister went to college there at NAU , so I feel like I have spent quite a bit of time visiting there since she lived there for 5 years.
The area is BEAUTIFUL. It feels more like a town you would find in colorado vs. AZ, because of the stunning scenery.
I dont know anything about schools for kids, I do know that NAU college is a great school, and the campus is awesome.
Housing seemed medium priced, the area does seem somewhat spread out.
The winter time is COLD. Lots of snow. Summer time is beautiful, but never really gets hot.
Tons of places to eat, lots of small owned restaurants, downtown has cute bars and shops.
Shopping overall is really crappy - the mall is a total joke.
Right now we are looking at the Raleigh area and the Wilmington area. I'm trying to do research on all these areas, but it's hard to know where to start!
Right now we are looking at the Raleigh area and the Wilmington area. I'm trying to do research on all these areas, but it's hard to know where to start!
Cool! I live in Raleigh, so I'll tell you what I know about Raleigh and Wilmington.
Raleigh's a pretty good spot. It isn't the most exciting city in the world, but it has a lot going for it: it's a growing city and there's always new stuff popping up, the job market here is better than the rest of the country, housing is affordable, and the schools are good.
There are a few places in Raleigh where I wouldn't consider moving: east and southeast of town. They're just not very nice. Other than that, I don't think you can go wrong. North Raleigh is affordable, growing, and has some good schools. Inside the beltline is a lot of old money, with very traditional (and expensive) homes, but also very good schools, plus being closer to downtown, there's more to do in a short distance.
There are also a number of smaller towns surrounding Raleigh that are quite nice: Cary, Apex, Holly Springs are all to the southwest of Raleigh and are areas that hardly existed 5-10 years ago and are growing at an incredible pace. Wake Forest is north of Raleigh and is also growing hugely. My only problems with those towns are that it's hard to get into and out of Raleigh from there. Other than that though, they're great places to live: very little crime (if any at all) and great schools.
The other thing about Raleigh and the surrounding areas: very few people that life here are actually from here, so I find that it doesn't feel very "Southern" to me, which in turn helped because I didn't feel crazy culture shock when I moved here. A lot of people are from up north, the midwest, and the west coast. And in Cary you have a large international population with PhD's that came here to work in the Research Triangle Park.
For things to do, there are plenty of malls, museums, etc., and there's a lot within a 5 hour radius--DC is 5 hours away, Atlanta is 5 hours away, Charlotte is 2.5 hours, the beach is about 2 hours, and the mountains are about 4 hours away.
As far as Wilmington goes, I know substantially less about it. It's a good beach town and it's really pretty. My only issue with Wilmington is that it's not as centrally located as Raleigh and because of that, I don't think it has quite the growth or potential for growth.