Best coastal southern town to live (primary residence)

[Anonymous]

Pawleys Island, SC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just look at flood zone maps, storm surge maps, etc. Don't buy where a hurricane will flood you.

This. Being in a different neighborhood of the same town can make all the difference.

As an example, some low lying parts of Norfolk or VB flood in every noreaster or hurricane. Other parts (e.g., anywhere on the Pungo ridge) never ever flood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would move to Wilmington. I love it there. But don't kid yourself. It's segregated and had the Wilmington massacre in 1898. If you're moving to the South you have to accept what it is and was.

Funny to have people from Virginia talk about this issue

I'm that poster and I grew up in North Carolina. I don't live in Virginia. I love Wilmington. I have family members who live there, but the segregation is obvious. And the OP asked about it.

[Anonymous]

Wrightsville Beach is nice but very crowded. Wilmington is gross.

Pawleys Island? I think you'd want private school in most of these areas.
Cape Charles was an interesting suggestion. Very (very) small but charming. That tunnel to get anywhere is a big consideration but I heard they're building a second one in case of closures so maybe better then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charleston is wonderful. I went to college there - amazing food, walkable etc. but you wouldn’t likely live in the walkable downtown. To get schools you’d likely live in the suburbs and it might be a little too southern for you (was for me) and definitely isn’t walkable. But you could try west Ashley/folly beach side for more chill. Plenty of racism any of these places were talking unfortunately but they have become more and more blue dots.

If it were me I would personally consider 30a in the panhandle. It’s walkable, my understanding is schools are decent. Right on the beach. The blogger Young House love moved there from Richmond and seems to have such a tight knit community. I just looked on her Instagram and it doesn’t look like she has anything saved in her highlights on it unfortunately so you could get a sense but friends within walking distance, pool parties, holiday get togethers, lots of community events. Seems pretty idyllic but hey it’s the internet. When I’ve visited there though it also was pretty idyllic. And a little less southern belle feeling.

30a is very pretty but undercurrents are very maga / gulf of America. Upscaling of what used to be the redneck riviera, although many new transplants. I’d be curious about how segregated it ends up being.

[Anonymous]

We looked into this, and it's extremely difficult to find a beach town with good schools. St. John's County in FL and Mount Pleasant, SC are supposed to have good schools.

Another option is to move a little inland to get better schools. Look at Seminole County and Orange County in FL. You can get nice houses and good schools 30-50 minutes from the beach. You can enjoy your pool every day and do easy day trips to the beach on weekends. Plus lots of lakes if you want to live on the water.

Lots of areas in NC have good schools, but you'll likely have to be a bit more inland there too.

You'll have less of a problem with segregation in good school districts in the South than in DC. I've lived in both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you care about gnats, look up the “gnat line” - Savannah falls below it. It cannot be overstate how annoying gnats can get in the south.

Just put fabric softener dryer sheets in your pockets. Wear white in the evening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St John’s County is between Jacksonville and St Augustine and is beautiful. Check out a community called Nocatee. The schools are considered “the best in FL” but private or Catholic schools are great options. It’s very family oriented but lacks diversity and, well, it’s FL. The lifestyle is healthy and with people moving there from around the country you will find your tribe. Unfortunately there are too many people looking for exactly the same thing. Best of luck.

Florida people are leaving in droves
Jaxsonville is disgusting .
Schools suck
Catholic schools sure if you want your kid abused and they are not great for education very little over sight of religious privates .

The lifestyle is not healthy smoking is common , fried foods crappy grocery stores with bad produce.

You’re talking about downtown Jacksonville. Agree it’s gross. But the rest of your comments are way off base. You rarely find a FL native in Ponte Vedra. The only negative we found was too many people are moving here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked into this, and it's extremely difficult to find a beach town with good schools. St. John's County in FL and Mount Pleasant, SC are supposed to have good schools.

Another option is to move a little inland to get better schools. Look at Seminole County and Orange County in FL. You can get nice houses and good schools 30-50 minutes from the beach. You can enjoy your pool every day and do easy day trips to the beach on weekends. Plus lots of lakes if you want to live on the water.

Lots of areas in NC have good schools, but you'll likely have to be a bit more inland there too.

You'll have less of a problem with segregation in good school districts in the South than in DC. I've lived in both.

Agree. You need to move somewhere with a good school district if you're moving to NC. The beach is much easier to get to if you live there than if you live here in the DC region. Maybe move to Cary and then the beach (Wrightsville Beach) is just two hours away. So are the mountains for that matter. It's a great location.

[Anonymous]

My vote is Mount Pleasant.

[Anonymous]

Charleston is lovely but a lot more built-up, expensive and touristy than even 10 years ago.
Wilmington area is still affordable.

Did you consider mid-Atlantic states? Delaware is getting too built-up but friends who live near the beach with kids are very happy with their lifestyle.

Virginia Beach and coastline areas are also nice and offer work opportunities and plenty of family-friendly things to do.

We considered moving to a coastal area but now that our very athletic kids are very involved with travel sports, finding good teams and traveling to away-tournaments is becoming a primary consideration in moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St John’s County is between Jacksonville and St Augustine and is beautiful. Check out a community called Nocatee. The schools are considered “the best in FL” but private or Catholic schools are great options. It’s very family oriented but lacks diversity and, well, it’s FL. The lifestyle is healthy and with people moving there from around the country you will find your tribe. Unfortunately there are too many people looking for exactly the same thing. Best of luck.

Florida people are leaving in droves
Jaxsonville is disgusting .
Schools suck
Catholic schools sure if you want your kid abused and they are not great for education very little over sight of religious privates .

The lifestyle is not healthy smoking is common , fried foods crappy grocery stores with bad produce.

You’re talking about downtown Jacksonville. Agree it’s gross. But the rest of your comments are way off base. You rarely find a FL native in Ponte Vedra. The only negative we found was too many people are moving here.

I thought Jacksonville proper was much nicer than people describe it.

I thought the early 20th century homes in San Marco and Avondale were quite nice and very unexpected.

Supposedly the city has an expansive network of application public schools that are quite good and essentially everyone is able to get accepted into one. Maybe a pain that your neighborhood comprehensive school isn’t that great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I’m looking for may be a unicorn, but here goes.

DH and I are 40ish with three kids ten and younger. Both of us work from home. I despise our current locale, where DH’s job took us (he went fully remote with Covid).

I’m looking for a coastal town (Carolinas/Georgia) that isn’t overly touristy/has a sense of community. Walkable, at least in parts. Good schools. Not completely segregated (I’ve lived in North Carolina so looking to avoid those more vicious aspects of the south - maybe it’s unavoidable). Some sense of culture/intellectualism. More than anything, though, is that we’re excited for access to the outdoors/the beach, and the temperate weather. (Our current locale has very long, hard winters.)

Any suggestions? We’re thinking Charleston, Savannah, maybe Wilmington.

I've lived in several places in the South. When I moved to DC, I was struck by the self-imposed segregation. I told a guy (DC native) that and he was so offended. The South must be worse about racial sorting than liberal DC, right? No. It really wasn't. When I took the metro home from work in NW each night, all the white people got off at Capitol Hill and I was usually the only Caucasian left on the metro.

Is this in 2005 or 2025? DC is one of the most racially diverse cities in the US even at the neighborhood level, especially east of Rock Creek Park - Petworth, Columbia Heights, U Street, Brookland, Shaw, 16th St Heights, Shepherd Park, Takoma DC, Fort Totten, etc.

[Anonymous]

Would you do St. Petersburg? Schools aren’t terrific, but it’s got a lot of charm and you’re right on the beach.