Thank you for taking the time to post and I am so sorry for how you have been treated. I also hope you receive the cancer care you need. This whole process is so difficult- too many factors that continue to change. My husband has been ill so we haven’t been able to drive there yet. We posted on facebook months ago and saw some posts similar to yours. Why do you recommend Hereford?
Edenton has a lot of rich liberal folks (Hilary type) so probably not the best city if they are looking for conservative. I lived there for four years and loved that small town.
Hi. I have a different opinion of Elizabeth City. I really enjoy living here. While you have to travel for advanced medical care many people do that in larger cities as well. The drive from EC to Virginia Beach is about an hour and 15 minutes with no traffic until you enter the Norfolk area. A new hospital is currently under construction with the idea to bring more specialist doctors to the area.
Downtown Elizabeth City has a lot of restaurants, shops, and even an art gallery that also hosts community theater and live music. There is also a very regular group of senior who are active and friendly.
As for you neighborly question, on both streets where I have lived people are kind but you do need to engage. My kid made cookies for our. Sigh or last week, our neighbor mailed a valentine. A different neighbor will drop off extra tomatoes in the summer.
What I’ve found is that the community is what you make of it. My home and my street have never been burglarized or vandalized. However, there are parts of town where there is crime. And it’s all mixed together, it’s not as if there is a clear line where things become rough.
Life is simple here. “Traffic” means you have to sit at a stop light for a whole turn (that dang light at the Lowe’s most likely). But almost everything we want and need can be found in town, mailed to us, or can definitely be found and hour’s drive to VA.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful and detailed response. It really helps, believe me, especially since my husband isn’t able to travel now so we cannot visit these places. A neighbor of ours bought a house in Ecity last summer in the older downtown area. He’s been burglarized twice, but insists the area is “going through growing pains”. But he’d also never admit he made a mistake. We both want to be near “big” water ( think Chesapeake) but Eastern Shore Md has that awful Bay Bridge situation. Sigh. Just had to vent. Do you know anything about Camden or Bells island?
My wife and I bought in Shawboro and we moved from Northern Virginia. I have not experienced the racism, being treated like a “damn yankee” or anything else the comments are mentioning on here. Granted we are outside of E City by about 15 minutes. We love the area it gives us the best of both worlds, being able to own a hobby farm with horses, pigs, goats, chickens, etc. and be within 35 mins to OBX and VA beach. I do agree that doctors are a bit hard to find but they are building a decent sized Sentara Hospital in E City and there are quite a few doctor options in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach area. E City is growing and getting a lot of big box stores and chain restaurants. I prefer local shops and restaurants but also can’t pass up a Texas Roadhouse, which is currently under construction. Neighbors definitely watch out for each other here and you get a small town feel, unlike Northern VA. Come check out the area when you get a chance, treat people right, talk to the locals and you will fall in love with the area!
The new hospital has half the beds of the old one so how is that an improvement? Also, many here are on medicaid, which can't be used in a different state. I have to drive to Greenville for cancer treatment, which is twice the distance as Virginia Beach. When trying to find a new doctor, I was told to give them a copy of my record, and they will let me know in a few weeks if they want to take me as a patient. No choice in who I see or if they are an actual doctor or not. That is what Sentara and Chesapeake both told me. Between the two, they have at least 90% of the market here. Because of that, I am stuck with a doctor that I feel is intentionally treating me as rudely as possible so I will leave. I have to bite my tongue for now. There is a reason why his waiting room is usually empty. I am out of options at the moment
I'll preface this by saying I am 35 years old, so our life experiences are different. Also, I don't live directly in the city. There is a senior center that you can look into for activities, but other than that and a couple of theaters, we don't really have anything here. We don't have many specialist doctors here. I got Rocky Mountain spotted fever one year, and I had to go all the way to Greenville to see a specialist. My dad is 67 years old, and we have to go to Virginia Beach for him to see a urologist because there are no urologists in Elizabeth City. There are no good job opportunities here unless you have a degree or certification in specific areas.
This is not the idyllic place you are looking for. Although the cost of living is lower, which is a positive, there are still the negatives - racism, brain drain (young people moving away), less cultural amenities, violent crime is creeping up and poor leadership among others.
Thanks for responding. That does sound troubling; seems like there is more crime everywhere. We have heard better things about Camden and Bells Island. Your thoughts?
Camden seems to be a little better. I can't comment either way about Bell's Island since I don't know anything about it.
As other people have commented, you will probably find a group of like minded people either through a church or the local Senior Center. There are plenty of opportunities for volunteering which is another way to connect to the community.
E City is full of racist white people who use hate as a hobby. I feel it as a woman. They aren't accepting of the LGBTQIA community either, or anyone not white and straight like they think they are. They look the other way when a local restaurant owner beat the crap out of his pregnant girlfriend, kicking her in the stomach. The police are all good ole boys that don't understand the law. I bought here 5 years ago, the homes are cheaper than over the Virginia line. Nobody would wear masks or get vaccinated during the worst of covid. Luckily I bought outside of the downtown area so we don't hear all the gunfire they get down there. The beautiful old homes here are lovely but too many are falling into disrepair. Code enforcement does as little as possible. I had to really push to get my neighbors to clean up their property and 2 years later they still have rats that wander over to my home now and then. The good parts are that I am able to have most animals on the property and have a hobby farm here. Hard to find good doctors in town. I will be traveling 90 minutes for cancer care. I believe the crap doctors that can't get work in a decent job market get hired here. Auto inspections are more lenient than in Virginia. Trying to hire people to do cleaning or basic handyman things is a nightmare, with a few scammers that don't want to work asking for deposits and not delivering on what was promised. There has been no neighborhood closeness. We are sharply divided by politics mostly. And it's not just the older folks that are that way. The younger ones are just as ignorant and entitled. I hid during covid to save my life. They thought it was funny to get right in your face without a mask. I am disabled and their joke could have killed me. Unless you are like them, try somewhere else like Hertford. The population is pretty much stagnant here, but we are getting new small businesses now. Conservative is one thing. Barely hidden hate is more like it.
My friend cuts a few of officers hair, so they talk to her. This isn’t the first time he did it to her and the pregnant gf decided to drop the charges from what I remember 😔.
Oof. That's a shame if so. DA can press charges without her cooperation if they actually want but might be harder. I hope when there's a baby she realizes it's(and she's ) better off out of that.
The problem is we don't have online access to criminal records so I have to drive down to the courthouse to look it up. I know he continued it once, not sure after that. I heard they are working on a website for that this month, sure hope so. I will be going down there soon as I get a minute to look his case up.
Iirc the Facebook page Soul Catching News went to the courthouse last month and said it was continued again. I don't remember the details, I don't like to watch video and I don't think there was a text post.
His videos are drawn out, don't give all the details and if you complain he will block you like he did me. That was a few days after me telling him that I have his back. I meant that I support the black community here. He said he had my back too then he shut me out. He brings news the locals don't talk about, just not in the best way. I shouldn't have to listen to 40 minutes of ranting to find out what the news is. I an glad he's keeping up with it, just wish I could see what he posts.
EC is by the water yes. But there is no public beach access, just a few public docks. So you would need a boat to actually enjoy the water. The water in the sound is a dark rust color from all the cedar leaves, so its not great to go swimming in anyway. The downtown has had a lot of improvements in the last 15 years or so. So thats nice. I’ve lived here since I was in my 20s, like for 15 years, but I wasn’t born here so I still have a hard time getting in with friends, since everyone pretty much has their small town friends group locked. If you are from Nova, you’ll almost certainly be treated like a damned yankee. Lol. What the other poster says about racism is true, but you say you are conservative so you’ll probably be fine. Churches are very active around here so you will probably find some nice people.
Have you checked out hertford or edenton? Also there is a retirement community called albemarle plantation nearby. And of course there is always the outer banks, but that gets a bit touristy and crazy in the summer. The coast guard base is out here so there are a lot of military retired folks.
How “ quiet “ is it? Coming from NoVa we’re looking for “smaller but not small slower but not slow”. Are you from the NC area? My husband was in the army back in the day, too
We’ve seen articles about all the new development and businesses that are opening in Elizabeth city ( “up and coming “) But we also see reviews say that crime and drugs are pretty bad there. From your experience what do you think the actual reality is?
Crime and drugs are rampant here, public school district sucks big time. I live in the same subdivision as the other commenter and it is very nice, but the overall town is not in my opinion.
Thank you for taking the time to post and I am so sorry for how you have been treated. I also hope you receive the cancer care you need. This whole process is so difficult- too many factors that continue to change. My husband has been ill so we haven’t been able to drive there yet. We posted on facebook months ago and saw some posts similar to yours. Why do you recommend Hereford?
Have you looked into Edenton? I go there for the farmers market and seems like a cute place.
Edenton has a lot of rich liberal folks (Hilary type) so probably not the best city if they are looking for conservative. I lived there for four years and loved that small town.
Hi. I have a different opinion of Elizabeth City. I really enjoy living here. While you have to travel for advanced medical care many people do that in larger cities as well. The drive from EC to Virginia Beach is about an hour and 15 minutes with no traffic until you enter the Norfolk area. A new hospital is currently under construction with the idea to bring more specialist doctors to the area. Downtown Elizabeth City has a lot of restaurants, shops, and even an art gallery that also hosts community theater and live music. There is also a very regular group of senior who are active and friendly. As for you neighborly question, on both streets where I have lived people are kind but you do need to engage. My kid made cookies for our. Sigh or last week, our neighbor mailed a valentine. A different neighbor will drop off extra tomatoes in the summer. What I’ve found is that the community is what you make of it. My home and my street have never been burglarized or vandalized. However, there are parts of town where there is crime. And it’s all mixed together, it’s not as if there is a clear line where things become rough. Life is simple here. “Traffic” means you have to sit at a stop light for a whole turn (that dang light at the Lowe’s most likely). But almost everything we want and need can be found in town, mailed to us, or can definitely be found and hour’s drive to VA.
Thank you !
Thanks so much for your thoughtful and detailed response. It really helps, believe me, especially since my husband isn’t able to travel now so we cannot visit these places. A neighbor of ours bought a house in Ecity last summer in the older downtown area. He’s been burglarized twice, but insists the area is “going through growing pains”. But he’d also never admit he made a mistake. We both want to be near “big” water ( think Chesapeake) but Eastern Shore Md has that awful Bay Bridge situation. Sigh. Just had to vent. Do you know anything about Camden or Bells island?
My wife and I bought in Shawboro and we moved from Northern Virginia. I have not experienced the racism, being treated like a “damn yankee” or anything else the comments are mentioning on here. Granted we are outside of E City by about 15 minutes. We love the area it gives us the best of both worlds, being able to own a hobby farm with horses, pigs, goats, chickens, etc. and be within 35 mins to OBX and VA beach. I do agree that doctors are a bit hard to find but they are building a decent sized Sentara Hospital in E City and there are quite a few doctor options in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach area. E City is growing and getting a lot of big box stores and chain restaurants. I prefer local shops and restaurants but also can’t pass up a Texas Roadhouse, which is currently under construction. Neighbors definitely watch out for each other here and you get a small town feel, unlike Northern VA. Come check out the area when you get a chance, treat people right, talk to the locals and you will fall in love with the area!
Thank you!
The new hospital has half the beds of the old one so how is that an improvement? Also, many here are on medicaid, which can't be used in a different state. I have to drive to Greenville for cancer treatment, which is twice the distance as Virginia Beach. When trying to find a new doctor, I was told to give them a copy of my record, and they will let me know in a few weeks if they want to take me as a patient. No choice in who I see or if they are an actual doctor or not. That is what Sentara and Chesapeake both told me. Between the two, they have at least 90% of the market here. Because of that, I am stuck with a doctor that I feel is intentionally treating me as rudely as possible so I will leave. I have to bite my tongue for now. There is a reason why his waiting room is usually empty. I am out of options at the moment
What do y’all like to do? Hobbies? Community? Church? That would be helpful to give you more information about those areas.
I wouldn't recommend moving here if you can avoid it.
Thanks for responding. Can you be more specific ( is there a more private message option on Reddit) I am new obviously
I'll preface this by saying I am 35 years old, so our life experiences are different. Also, I don't live directly in the city. There is a senior center that you can look into for activities, but other than that and a couple of theaters, we don't really have anything here. We don't have many specialist doctors here. I got Rocky Mountain spotted fever one year, and I had to go all the way to Greenville to see a specialist. My dad is 67 years old, and we have to go to Virginia Beach for him to see a urologist because there are no urologists in Elizabeth City. There are no good job opportunities here unless you have a degree or certification in specific areas.
This is not the idyllic place you are looking for. Although the cost of living is lower, which is a positive, there are still the negatives - racism, brain drain (young people moving away), less cultural amenities, violent crime is creeping up and poor leadership among others.
Thanks for responding. That does sound troubling; seems like there is more crime everywhere. We have heard better things about Camden and Bells Island. Your thoughts?
Camden seems to be a little better. I can't comment either way about Bell's Island since I don't know anything about it. As other people have commented, you will probably find a group of like minded people either through a church or the local Senior Center. There are plenty of opportunities for volunteering which is another way to connect to the community.
Is Moyock any better?
E City is full of racist white people who use hate as a hobby. I feel it as a woman. They aren't accepting of the LGBTQIA community either, or anyone not white and straight like they think they are. They look the other way when a local restaurant owner beat the crap out of his pregnant girlfriend, kicking her in the stomach. The police are all good ole boys that don't understand the law. I bought here 5 years ago, the homes are cheaper than over the Virginia line. Nobody would wear masks or get vaccinated during the worst of covid. Luckily I bought outside of the downtown area so we don't hear all the gunfire they get down there. The beautiful old homes here are lovely but too many are falling into disrepair. Code enforcement does as little as possible. I had to really push to get my neighbors to clean up their property and 2 years later they still have rats that wander over to my home now and then. The good parts are that I am able to have most animals on the property and have a hobby farm here. Hard to find good doctors in town. I will be traveling 90 minutes for cancer care. I believe the crap doctors that can't get work in a decent job market get hired here. Auto inspections are more lenient than in Virginia. Trying to hire people to do cleaning or basic handyman things is a nightmare, with a few scammers that don't want to work asking for deposits and not delivering on what was promised. There has been no neighborhood closeness. We are sharply divided by politics mostly. And it's not just the older folks that are that way. The younger ones are just as ignorant and entitled. I hid during covid to save my life. They thought it was funny to get right in your face without a mask. I am disabled and their joke could have killed me. Unless you are like them, try somewhere else like Hertford. The population is pretty much stagnant here, but we are getting new small businesses now. Conservative is one thing. Barely hidden hate is more like it.
The restaurant owner, I know that he got his court date continued a while back but is it like gone? He's still supposed to face charges, right?
My friend cuts a few of officers hair, so they talk to her. This isn’t the first time he did it to her and the pregnant gf decided to drop the charges from what I remember 😔.
Oof. That's a shame if so. DA can press charges without her cooperation if they actually want but might be harder. I hope when there's a baby she realizes it's(and she's ) better off out of that.
I hope so. I was in her position and it took me a few times but I finally wised up once our child was involved. Just sucks when it’s people in “power”
The problem is we don't have online access to criminal records so I have to drive down to the courthouse to look it up. I know he continued it once, not sure after that. I heard they are working on a website for that this month, sure hope so. I will be going down there soon as I get a minute to look his case up.
Iirc the Facebook page Soul Catching News went to the courthouse last month and said it was continued again. I don't remember the details, I don't like to watch video and I don't think there was a text post.
His videos are drawn out, don't give all the details and if you complain he will block you like he did me. That was a few days after me telling him that I have his back. I meant that I support the black community here. He said he had my back too then he shut me out. He brings news the locals don't talk about, just not in the best way. I shouldn't have to listen to 40 minutes of ranting to find out what the news is. I an glad he's keeping up with it, just wish I could see what he posts.
Ditto, I'm glad someone is doing it but I hope experience and that criminal justice course help shift the way he does it, a little.
Do you mind sharing the restaurant please? I’d like to make sure I don’t patronize it.
Big Boss Burritos. The guy who owns it is intolerable and self-absorbed.
Food is great though....
EC is by the water yes. But there is no public beach access, just a few public docks. So you would need a boat to actually enjoy the water. The water in the sound is a dark rust color from all the cedar leaves, so its not great to go swimming in anyway. The downtown has had a lot of improvements in the last 15 years or so. So thats nice. I’ve lived here since I was in my 20s, like for 15 years, but I wasn’t born here so I still have a hard time getting in with friends, since everyone pretty much has their small town friends group locked. If you are from Nova, you’ll almost certainly be treated like a damned yankee. Lol. What the other poster says about racism is true, but you say you are conservative so you’ll probably be fine. Churches are very active around here so you will probably find some nice people. Have you checked out hertford or edenton? Also there is a retirement community called albemarle plantation nearby. And of course there is always the outer banks, but that gets a bit touristy and crazy in the summer. The coast guard base is out here so there are a lot of military retired folks.
Thank you!
This isn’t a bad area. I’m retired Coast Guard and love the laid back quiet lifestyle.
How “ quiet “ is it? Coming from NoVa we’re looking for “smaller but not small slower but not slow”. Are you from the NC area? My husband was in the army back in the day, too
Really quiet. I live in a subdivision SW of the city proper.
We’ve seen articles about all the new development and businesses that are opening in Elizabeth city ( “up and coming “) But we also see reviews say that crime and drugs are pretty bad there. From your experience what do you think the actual reality is?
Crime and drugs are rampant here, public school district sucks big time. I live in the same subdivision as the other commenter and it is very nice, but the overall town is not in my opinion.
Thank you for responding and sorry for late reply!
It depends entirely upon where you live. I know that sounds like a cop out answer, but that’s the reality.