Rockingham, NC?

[hendersonville]

How about Rockingham? This baby is between CLT and ILM and is surrounded by the "Ring of Fire" (NC's biggest cities). What and how about R-ham?

[Jerseyman4]

I do know that Rockingham is planned to get new highways such as I-73/74 and the US 1 bypass. So far, the town has received a US 220 relocation towards US 1 (US 220 was once Ellerbe Road) and the US 74 bypass. The problem with Rockingham is that the people do not want progression and change yet it is the crossroads to Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Columbia, Florence, Wilmington. This is why Rockingham to this day is seeing stagnent growth with its economy and population. One of the towns best attributes is downtown and for the longest time, the NC motor speedway aka "the rock".

[hendersonville]

I do know that Rockingham is planned to get new highways such as I-73/74 and the US 1 bypass. So far, the town has received a US 220 relocation towards US 1 (US 220 was once Ellerbe Road) and the US 74 bypass. The problem with Rockingham is that the people do not want progression and change yet it is the crossroads to Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Columbia, Florence, Wilmington. This is why Rockingham to this day is seeing stagnent growth with its economy and population. One of the towns best attributes is downtown and for the longest time, the NC motor speedway aka "the rock".

I know... R-ham is a backward (as it can be) blue collar town, but it does interest us as the real estate prices are very low over=>. Must be high unemployment and the heat.

Does R-ham get flooding (regular or from a hurricane)?

[Jerseyman4]

Does R-ham get flooding (regular or from a hurricane)?

Its situated along the fall line and is part of the Sandhills. I do not think the area is prone to flooding but perhaps the closer you are to the pee dee river basin, the more likely of a chance of flooding to occur in general. The area is mainly sandy soil so the sand munches up the rain that falls to the ground. Rarely ive ever heard of flooding in the sandhills if your not near a river basin, lake or pond. Temperatures tend to be the warmest in the Carolinas because of the sand that radiates the ground. Its hotter than the beach! A lot of instability occurs weather wise and the area gets a lot of rain but when its a clear sunny day, you cant beat the dark blue skies!

Im sure real estate prices are cheap because its not a desirable area to live, in another words, theres no high demand to live there. Have you checked out the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area yet? Its 30 miles northeast to Rockingham along US 1. You are more likely to find better paying jobs up there too plus its an hour from Raleigh, 1.20 minutes to Greensboro, 40 minutes to Fayetteville, Charlotte is 2 hours and the beach is also 2 hours and the SW VA mountains are about 3/3.5 hours away. Believe it or not, its closer to get to the SW VA mountains than the NWNC & SWNC mountains.

Nothing against Rockingham but why are you expressing interest of it? The best thing that ever happend for me personally in Rockingham was getting a car much cheaper than in the Pinehurst area.

[hendersonville]

Let me write between your lines:

>Its situated along the fall line and is part of the Sandhills.

That's what I like about it - sand hills and lots of pine trees and no swamp land.

>I do not think the area is prone to flooding but perhaps the closer you are to the pee dee river basin, the more likely of a chance of flooding to occur in general.

I love living close to a river. I think Pee Dee river is damed a lot, so it should not flood even near the river

unless you go across to SC. Am I right or not?

>The area is mainly sandy soil so the sand munches up the rain that falls to the ground. Rarely ive ever heard of flooding in the sandhills if your not near a river basin, lake or pond.

Has it been flooding near Pee Dee say in Lilesville or Cordova?

>Temperatures tend to be the warmest in the Carolinas because of the sand that radiates the ground.

If it's to hot for to long then I hate it especially if it gets into mid to upper 90s and 100+.

>Its hotter than the beach!

They "lie" about Florida weather being 80s and low 90s. I've lived there and it gets like 105F and 100% humidity in sumer and still the beach is full of people, while I can't stand it for more than 2 minutes outside during such "weather".

>A lot of instability occurs weather wise and the area gets a lot of rain but when its a clear sunny day, you cant beat the dark blue skies!

Instability? Are you talking tornadoes?

>Im sure real estate prices are cheap because its not a desirable area to live, in another words, theres no high demand to live there.

It doesn't have to be. Why would I want to pay $100K more just to see someone shoot a ball? I rather take a bike for 25 miles and shoot it myself. I think R-ham will becomes a more desirable area once the I-74 is completed all the way from CLT to ILM. Also once R-1 gets that long waited railway that goes from DC to Columbia (and beyond)... I think they already built or building the fast rail lines from DC to Raleigh (110 miles average speed). So one of the lines will go from Raleigh to Hamlet to Cheraw and Columbia. If not already. Then those $60K 4000 sq. ft. (ghost)houses in D-Town H-let will go up in price significantly.

>Have you checked out the Pinehurst/Southern Pines area yet?

I did. Many times. I don't want to pay that much money for a property up there. R-ham has plenty of house for little money. For most people R-ham is a slum. For me it's ok or may even be a nice place to live as long as I can commute long distance to other cities and save on a purchase of a property.

>Its 30 miles northeast to Rockingham along US 1. You are more likely to find better paying jobs up there too plus its an hour from Raleigh, 1.20 minutes to Greensboro, 40 minutes to Fayetteville, Charlotte is 2 hours and the beach is also 2 hours and the SW VA mountains are about 3/3.5 hours away. Believe it or not, its closer to get to the SW VA mountains than the NWNC & SWNC mountains.

Isn't "-Pine-" mainly a retirement area? What you can get for $300K in "Pines" you can get for under $100K in R-ham.

>Nothing against Rockingham but why are you expressing interest of it? The best thing that ever happend for me personally in Rockingham was getting a car much cheaper than in the Pinehurst area.

Cause I don't want to pay to much for a house. I may as well buy a cheap house for cash and eliminate all monthly payments. It feels better that way once you own the place. Also Charlotte is basically 45 miles away from R-ham. Talking about shopping in Monroe. And it's warmer the more South you go. I am considering Florence, SC along with a few more destinations such as Greenville, SC and Macon, GA.

Finally .... why Rockingham.... I don't know. I must be crazy if I move there....

[ILoveCallingNCHome]

I dont think you are crazy for wanting to move there-but if the heat bothers you at all...then you might want to take a drive through the area and get out of your car a time or two on a normal July day before you make your final decision.

Good luck finding your new home.

[hendersonville]

Basically I have no choice, but to downgrade. Sell my current home, pay off my car and buy a cheap house for cash. In this economy the best and safest thing to do is to get rid of all debt, if that is possible. Imagine owning a small house on some acres and your car is paid off and all your bills including taxes, food etc. fits into $500-$700 a month or maybe less! That's where you can start saving for a better home etc. I've read that many people are deserting SFO and other CA areas and moving into affordable houses that they can buy for cash. I found many quite decent (neighborhood ok or rural) homes in Richmond, Anson counties NC and numerous areas in SC for $25K to $75K with acreage or without (can you believe this). I'm not talking slums or trailers/doublewides. I'm talking real brick homes, or vinyls etc. Some need some TLC, but once you fix it it's yours and not the bank's. Since US corporations sent many jobs to India, China etc. I think many Americans instead of complaining should tighten their belts for the next 10-20 years and get "more excercise" both for brain and body. Before it's to late. It's better to own a triny brick home on an acre or two than a spacious doublewide.

[hendersonville]

The whole thing did not fit into one piece! Continued:

As for the heat part I used to live in hot places and I surevived, but the one that made me sick was central Florida. After Florida even driving in the middle off SC in summer made me plunge into a panic attack while driving in an a/c'd car. I had to stop and spend 30 min. in a drugstore. When it's to hot the A/C does not seem to help! I'll make sure to get a good upgrade for an existing A/C system in the home.

As for flooding in R-ham area I checked out all kinds of flooding maps and marked areas where it has low risk of flooding to purchase a home in those areas. Flooding can be somehow predicted, but tornadoes....

[Jerseyman4]

Id say go for Rockingham, looks like its the right place for you! THe heat could be a problem in the summer but thats about it.

[ILoveCallingNCHome]

Sounds like a good fit for you if you can make sure your air conditioner is in tip top shape. I have lots of aunts, uncles and cousins spread between the Seagrove-Rockingham areas.

Are you looking to retire there or just relocating to cut expenses?

[lma1973]

Sounds like you pretty much answered all your own questions Hendersonville. There is nothing wrong with roc if you dont mind a stagnant economy, no growth, little high tech industry for educated folks to work, and being landlocked with little recreation very close by. Other than that, i say go for it!! =)

[DCMetroRaleigh]

I would go for Anson and eastern Union County, which still have very cheap real estate prices, but is within an hour of Charlotte and just as close to the Triad. Places like Marshville, Wingate, Polkton, and Wadesboro are similar to Rockingham, but being just 40 or 50 minutes to Charlotte is a major advantage over R'ham.

The "heat" in Rockingham is greatly overexaggerated here. Sure, the Sandhills have the warmest temps in North Carolina, but trust me it is far from being like Texas or Phoenix.

[Jerseyman4]

The "heat" in Rockingham is greatly overexaggerated here. Sure, the Sandhills have the warmest temps in North Carolina, but trust me it is far from being like Texas or Phoenix.

It is not unusual for the Sandhills to be 100-105 degrees WITH humidity during the summer. The duration of these heat spells are not as long as the Southwestern United States but temperatures that hot plus the humidity, the Southwest only knows what dry heat is. By east coast standards, that is very hot weather but most natives of the Sandhills are able to handle it.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Not to get into a meteorological pissing match, but I think actual metereological statistics are appropriate here. Rockingham doesn't have specific climatological data available, but nearby Lumberton and Southern Pines should suffice. Mid July is usually the hottest part of the year in North Carolina. On July 20, Lumberton's average high is 89, Southern Pine's 86, and Pope Air Force Base's 92. All these locations are in the sandhills, deeper into the Sandhills than Rockingham which is on the western edge of the Sandhills. Of course temperatues exceed the averages sometimes, but the average gives you an idea of what is normal, not the extreme or rare event.

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airpor...eq_statename=NA

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airpor...eq_statename=NA

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airpor...ilyHistory.html

[monsoon]

Average temp is just that, average. It does not tell you how many days exceed the average nor by how much. The confort of an area during the summer is much more than looking at that number. That part of NC is particularly miserable during late July early August.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

I grew up in Wadesboro, just 19 miles from Rockingham. I can tell you from 18 years of experience that while summers were pretty hot, they weren't particularly hotter than the summers I have experienced in DC. Temperatures above 100 were rare and noteworthy, as they are throughout the state. I think the all-time temperature record in Wadesboro is 103 or 104 degrees. Yeah, the humidity makes it feel worse than the temperature would indicate, but that could be said about virtually anywhere in the Mid Atlantic and Southeast.

[QC704]

If you are looking for cheap real estate/cheap taxes, look into Cleveland county or even Western Lincoln. I'd suggest East Lincoln but it's nearly been swallowed whole by sprawl.

[UrbanLifter]

Lumberton is well east of the Sandhills and definetly on the Coastal Plain. I grew up in Laurinburg, 20 miles east of Rockingham. I can vouch that the entire Sandhills area feels hotter in the Summer. The ambient temperatures radiate from the sand. However, I agree that overall, the ambient temperatures are not that much different thn you will find in most any part of the Carolinas but for the mountains.

As far as areas go, both Richmond County (Rockingham/Hamlet) and Scotland County (Laurinburg) have very little going for them in terms of cultural, shopping or employment venues. I have witnessed the slow decline of my hometown over the past 20 years. Scotland County was very succesful in recruiting industries from the North, landing a plant every year from 1958 to 1981. Many of those industries have now closed, been sold or relocated to Latin America or overseas. The largest industry in Scotland is the LOF Glass Plant which has supplied a great deal of "float glass" for the skyscrapers in Charlotte.

Rockingham appears to be a larger city. This is a result of Hwy 74 originaly being four-laned through the city rather than bypassed. (Eventaully a bypass was built in the late nineties.) The original highway was stripped and sprawled much like hwy 74 in Monroe.

Laurinburg, mostly controlled by two families, did not have a much retail as the two families sought to keep spending dollars in Scotland County and flowing into their retiall ventures. That, of course, faltered in the 70's, and eventually, one by one, retail ventures entered the county, near the exits of the 74 Bypass. Now Laurinburg has disjointed and poorly planned shopping centers, many in decline as Winn-Dixie, K-Mart, roses and JC Penney experienced difficult times and closed poorly performing locations.

If what you are seeking is inexpensive housing, then you may have found the right area. If you need employment to support those decisions, you may at best, find minimum wage retail and restaurant opportunities. And the fact is, there is just nothing to do down recreationally and socially.