39 Roads

In a posting from last week I talked about a recent trip to the Myrtle Beach-Wilmington area.  I would like to continue along those lines in this article.  I ended by referencing up-and-coming communities in northern Brunswick County, just outside Wilmington.

One such community which has received significant attention in the past few years is Waterford of the Carolinas.  Waterford is best known for its finger lakes which run behind many of the homes.  Mere steps from the doors of many residents are these waterways and the rowing, kayaking, and other activities accommodated by this unique community feature.  The scene calls to mind Florida living- without the excessive heat and cost.  One can easily envision a relaxing lifestyle in this kind of setting- whether it’s taking the grandchildren fishing, enjoying a picnic by scenic Osprey Lake, or taking walks on the community’s trails.  Waterford offers tennis and swimming at its clubhouse.  The community is adjacent to a 27-hole golf course with a 4 1/2 star rating and is within a 60-minute drive of over 50 public courses.  Accessibility to shops and restaurants are key as well as many are located within just a few minutes drive of Waterford. Lastly, Property Owners’ Association fees are quite reasonable.

An article from a March 2006 edition of the [Wilmington, N.C.] Star-News talked about Brunswick County becoming one of the fastest growing counties in the country (29th), with the county’s population increasing 5.4 percent from July 2004 to July 2005.  As chairman of the county commissioners, David Sandifer attributed the growth to the variety of the neighborhoods- with beach towns and golf course communities among the offerings- and the slower-paced lifestyle that’s available.  Brunswick County is one of the largest counties in North Carolina in terms of land mass, and with plenty of room left to develop, Sandifer speculated that new residents will continue to find the county a place to call home.

An article from a Grand Strand New Home Guide publication entitled “Ten Reasons to Build or Buy a Home in Brunswick County” highlighted among other things new roads and bridges coming to the area.  The Cape Fear Skyway when completed will link Wilmington’s Independence Boulevard with Highway 17 in Brunswick County.  This bridge will be the tallest in the Carolinas and will make northern Brunswick County much more accessible.  Another bridge to Oak Island scheduled to be completed in 2008 will enable the new and established communities along Highway 211 to have easier access to the beaches.  Property values in the county will reflect this new accessibility for area residents in coming years.

Recent travels took me to the coastal Carolina areas around Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. 

The first stop was Myrtle Beach, land of outlet malls and golf courses and, of course, the beaches of the Grand Strand.  There’s much to do for the 14 million visitors who come to the area each year, from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans minor league baseball games to the shopping and entertainment of Broadway on the Beach to the many restaurants.  While current housing prices in the region are reasonable, the Myrtle Beach area continues to grow in size and popularity.  The world’s first Hard Rock Park is slated to open there in the spring of 2008 and will create approximately 3,000 jobs.  The almost $400 million 140-acre theme park will feature 40 attractions and is projected to host more 30,000 guests each day during the peak season.  The endeavor is being hailed as “the largest single investment in tourism infrastructure” in the history of South Carolina.  Needless to say, this will have a dramatic effect on the region in many ways.

Harmony Township, located in Georgetown, S.C., is conveniently situated halfway between Myrtle Beach and Charleston.  Georgetown has been named among Newsweek Showcase’s “Ten Small Towns that Make Great Places to Retire” and CNN Money’s “Best Places to Live Along the Coast”; the town is also currently being featured in a Nikon television ad.  With its riverfront, lake, marsh, and Town Center homesites and approach to neo-urbanism, one can enjoy a South Carolina Lowcountry lifestyle to the fullest in Harmony Township.  Within easy walking distance of the homes is Harmony’s deep-water marina on the Sampit River; from there one can access Georgetown, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Atlantic Ocean.  In recreating the feel of a small Southern town, the community also will offer a swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, fitness center, and community center for events of all types.  When completed, the Town Center will feature shops, businesses, and restaurants where the owners may live just above their establishments.  If you’re planning to visit Harmony Township, you’ll want to ask for Missy Toemmes for thorough insight and guidance on what the community has to offer those looking for property in the area.

Coming along Highway 17 into North Carolina’s Brunswick County, it’s remarkable how many communities in a variety of price ranges there are to choose from in this relatively small geographic area.  Again, golf seems to be a major draw, but beach clubs are popular as well.  The area markets itself based on easy access to the activities of Myrtle Beach and the resources of Wilmington.  Towns like Calabash, proclaimed to be the seafood capital of the world, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and Southport have much to offer, and some of the amenity communities provide enough seclusion to escape from even the activity of the smaller towns.  What seems to really be fueling what is now one of the fastest growing counties in the country is what is happening in northern Brunswick County.  Leland, just west of the Cape Fear River and downtown Wilmington, is booming.  Again, there are a number of unique housing possibilities in the area, and shopping and dining options are sprouting up to support the new residents flocking to these communities.  While I’m sure that many jobs are still linked to Wilmington, the area is coming into its own both economically and with its own identity.  Some of the neighborhoods will essentially become their own towns and are projected to be developed over the next twenty years.

Clearly, this entire coastal region is experiencing pronounced changes which will greatly alter the literal and proverbial landscape of this area.  I believe the extent and speed of these changes is as dramatic as you will find anywhere in the country.  I for one look forward to seeing how this stretch of the Mid-Atlantic develops over the next five to ten years.     

In reading over references to John Villani’s books on art towns in America, an article in USA Today from 2005 on “10 great places for big-city art, small-town feel” (John Villani also contributed to this piece), a “Best Art Towns” list from America’s 100 Best Places to Retire, and my own travel experiences, here is my list of best art towns for retirement (in alphabetical order):

• Beaufort and Hilton Head, SC
• Charleston, SC
• Charlottesville, VA
• Hot Springs, AR
• Lewisburg, WV
• Santa Fe, NM
• Scottsdale, AZ
• Wilmington, NC

Honorable mentions go to Abingdon, VA; New Orleans, LA; Ojai, CA; and Sedona, AZ.

I love the low country art of Betty Anglin Smith in Charleston. I remember being at a wonderful art show in Scottsdale a number of years ago. But for my number one choice, I am convinced that if I had to buy a piece of art of a certain size or price range within the next three days (let’s say an inheritance in the fashion of Brewster’s Millions depended on it), I would immediately get on a plane and head toward Santa Fe for its wide-ranging selection for a variety of tastes. A recent visit [2005] to Santa Fe’s Canyon Road and other areas of the city left me greatly impressed with the art scene there. Generally speaking, I found the sales professionals in the various galleries to be knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and unpretentious.

Well, readers, recent travels took me to Southern Virginia and into West Virginia, with the first stop being Homestead Preserve in Hot Springs, Va.  There’s much to speak to with how special this place is and will become.  First it has a close relationship with the Homestead resort which traces its history to 1766.  This grand hotel not only serves as the “clubhouse” for the Homestead Preserve but was the original owner of the nearly 12,000 acres purchased for the development of this community.  The developers are tremendous stewards of this beautiful land and immediately sold 9,250 acres to The Nature Conservancy and placed another 935 acres into a conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.  They have created only 450 home sites on 3% of the original property which even then could have supported over 2,700 homes according to existing county zoning regulations.  Homestead Preserve offers home sites with views of mountains and beautiful meadows.  Touring the tranquil property called to mind what life must have been like in a simpler time.  Homestead Preserve taps into the rich history of the area and wants it to be a community where families gather for generations to come.  Lastly, in 2006 the Homestead Preserve was selected as the site for the 2007 Southern Accents Showhouse, and the 7,000 square foot Virginia Highlands Classical style home will be featured in the November/December 2007 issue of the magazine.

Lewisburg, West Virginia, about an hour’s drive southwest of Hot Springs, is the next destination on our tour.  Lewisburg is known for its Civil War history and antique shops and has a thriving downtown area.  In addition to its quaint shops and restaurants the town features live theatre and also has one of four Carnegie Halls still in use.  An article in a June 2006 edition of The New York Times highlighted the town as a vacation haven and referred to Lewisburg as “a country town with a cosmopolitan edge” and said that “it’s a place where you can start the day kayaking down the Greenbrier River and end it listening to a jazz concert.”  National Geographic called it one of its “Best Small Town Escapes” and Lewisburg has also received distinction as “One of the 100 Best Small Art Towns in America”.  An easy ten minute drive from downtown is The Retreat on White Rock Mountain, a gated community on 900 acres.  One is immediately greeted by a waterfall and trout pond at the entrance.  The Retreat has spectacular long range views of peaks and ridgelines, and most home sites are on the edge of the forest.  The Lodge which will soon be completed will have a steam room, sauna, and spa.  This gathering place for the community also will feature a heated infinity-edge pool where the water seems to go right into the mountains.  The grotto-style Jacuzzi also provides the same breath-taking views of the Allegheny Mountains.

I also visited the Four Seasons Charlottesville which is an active adult community from K. Hovnanian.  Located in Ruckersville, about 15 miles north of the city, Four Seasons Charlottesville launched in 2006 and currently has a number of model homes up for touring.  The community will have a 21,000 square foot clubhouse that will have a full-time lifestyle director and both indoor and outdoor pools and lighted tennis courts; it is slated to be completed in December 2007.  This gated, resort-style community features homes with base prices in the $300,000s and will have approximately 540 homesites.  As you know, this area is one of my favorites with the history, culture, and entertainment of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia and Monticello nearby.  Four Seasons Charlottesville will be having a Grand Opening on April 21st and 22nd.  All model homes will be open, and food will be catered.  They will also be having drawings for giveaways.

If you are interested in getting more information on these communities or registering for the Grand Opening of Four Seasons Charlottesville, please contact the Retirement Relocation office at 703-430-6411 or 877-55-RETIRE (877-557-3847) or by e-mail at info@RetireRelocateRelax.com.

I’ve been asked recently a few times about college towns.  Auditing courses or earning a degree, cultural arts, sporting events, and other campus activities are a big draw- especially it seems for those who currently have positions in school systems or libraries or for those who grew up in a similar environment.  Before making a decision along these lines you may want to make an inquiry into how senior-friendly the students are as well as how inviting or inclusive the institution’s policies are.  One thing to be aware of is that part-time jobs may not be as readily available in a college town as many of these are snagged up by undergraduate students.

Some colleges have created special programs or classes for seniors while others include them in undergraduate classes.  You may want to ask about costs of taking or auditing classes or about discounts for seniors.  Because developers have used nearby colleges as amenities for their communities, many campuses have seen an increase in senior students and have had to limit the numbers who can audit a given course.  Colleges benefit from this relationship both directly from increased revenue and donations to indirectly with positive public relations with alumni or community members as they become ambassadors for the college, particularly in promoting the school’s offerings to grandchildren. 

An article on Back Roads, Charming Towns (http://www.backroadscharmingtowns.com/admin/trackback/13509) talks about alumni buying into condominium and townhouse communities near their alma mater as a weekend retreat for sporting events or other activities.  Many of these individuals use them as rental units as the number of students needing off-campus housing remains relatively steady.  Many of these graduates may make it back as full-time residents to enjoy the college town lifestyle year-round.  

In America’s 100 Best Places to Retire, 9 of the 10 “Best College Towns” are in the Southeast, with Virginia (Charlottesville and Williamsburg), North Carolina (Asheville and Chapel Hill) and Florida (Gainesville and Tallahassee) leading the way.  In fact the University of North Carolina at Asheville has the distinction of being the home of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement (http://www.unca.edu/ncccr/) which “has the threefold purpose of promoting lifelong learning, leadership, and community service opportunities for retirement-aged individuals” and offers a number of programs for retirees.  At Clemson University in Clemson, SC, seniors can audit classes at no charge. 

One of my favorites is Charlottesville, Va. which is consistently rated as one of the best places to live on the planet.  The University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, is easily one of the top five public universities in the country.  Again, those over 60 who have resided in the state for a year or more can audit courses for free when space is available.  The city boasts a downtown walking mall, good climate, a lower cost of living than many areas, and an abundance of historical areas nearby.  One of my favorite restaurants anywhere is The Shebeen (http://www.shebeenpub.com/) which offers delicious South African fare.  I highly recommend it if you’re visiting the area.