We are thinking of relocating/retiring to the Elizabeth City, North Carolina area. Any thoughts on this?

I would make sure I had flood insurance for my house. That area sometimes gets drenched with rain from hurricanes.
The roof might be fine, but the water comes up from below!!

You might prefer Norfolk. It's close by, and you would have better services like medical care, stores, and an airport.

Before you move, visit in July for a month. Do not stay at the beach, try to find a location in town (assuming you will buy a home intown). You will learn all about the weather, and if the community activities meet your needs. Better a month trial before packing up and moving to the wrong spot.

If you decide to move to Elizabeth City (or the surrounding areas) you do need to be concerned about flooding, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. I think the most snowfall in the state of NC east of the mountains was in Elizabeth City.

We visited Elizabeth City while looking for a town to retire to in NC. Frankly, we didn't see much to get excited about. Have you looked at New Bern, NC? We moved here a year ago from Naples, FL and love it. Population almost 25,000, lots of activities for active retirees. Excellent medical care, my husband had heart surgery a few months ago and we were very impressed with the medical services. Do a search (google.com is good) and you'll find some New Bern sites. Good luck in your search.

Elizabeth City is Great, so is New Bern, Charlotte, etc. in fact any place is nice for you to retire in EXCEPT!!! The Western Mountains (Where the Heavens Kiss the Peakes) What ever you do don't even bother looking around the Hendersonville or Asheville area - You will hate it.

Terry,

Sounds like you've had too many people already move to the Ashville area and that is why you are discouraging others. We tried that with Naples, FL when we lived there, but they kept coming. That's why we moved to NC. I will follow your lead and keep quiet about New Bern from now on. Thanks.

They're called "halfbacks" Retired from north to Florida, then re-retired to NC, so they are half-way back home.

As long as you don't start with "well, we did it like this back there" you should be ok. If you like it so much back there, go back. We don't need your unsolicited advice on how to do things.

I'm originally from Asheville but haven't lived there in more than twenty years. I'm thinking about returning to the mountains, but have heard that it's very expensive to live there now; that it's difficult to find a job, that it's mostly for retirees and that there is a huge population of New Agers. Is this true? Thanks for any input.

OK, so Elizebeth city is not everyone's favorite place. New Bern sounds nice and Ashville sounds very expensive. We are Middle class people who are not wealthy but would like to leave Maine eventually. Can average income people live somewhat comfortably in New Bern? Can we afford a modest home?

>>Can average income people live somewhat comfortably in New Bern? Can we afford a modest home? <<

Yes, you can.

You really should VISIT first. As I said in an earlier post: stay for the month of July. Heat and humidity are horrible, and yes, hurricanes are possible. Coming from Maine you understand winter conditions we don't have in NC (or if winter does invade we can't handle it and don't plan on learning how). It might be hard to adjust to the weather extremes.

If you do end up in eastern NC, make sure you are away from creeks or are high up because of flooding. Very flat land here and with development (your new home maybe?) and parking lots taking up land that should soak up the water.

New Bern is a lovely town with history because it was the colonial capital of NC. Tryon Palace was the governor's mansion. You're not at the beach but can get there within a couple of hours depending on which beach you go to. Golf course are plenty. Betty says health care is good (though major medical centers are not nearby; they are in Greenville, Chapel Hill, and Durham). Chapel Hill/Durham/Raleigh EXTREMELY expensive (makes Asheville look cheap). Greenville (home to East Carolina University which has a medical school) is also affordable, yet floodable.

NC has become some type of retirement mecca. I can understand your move to the old north state if you have family here. But to just pick a retirement place out of a book or magazine advertisement (or heck, even our recommendations here) without thoroughly checking the community out to meet your needs is not enough.

Try Wilmington, NC. A little bigger than New Bern, a little more protected, lots more going on. A very pretty, historical city. New Bern and Elizabeth City are very small or at least feel that way. Remember with any coastal NC city, however, that you will have a summer influx of beach people that will jam up your traffic and make getting around difficult. If I had to put up with all that, I'd choose Wilmington.