Military Families

PCS to Ft. Bragg. Where to live?

We found out this morning that we may be headed to Fort Bragg this summer (surprising as we weren't due to PCS for another year). Anyhow, after researching things a bit, I'm hearing a lot of negative things about Fayetville. I've also noticed that most towns are quite a drive from Bragg. I'd prefer to live as close to post as possible to cut down on my husband's commute.

 We're looking for a family friendly neighborhood since we have four children. We homeschool, so the school district doesn't matter to us. Please recommend where to live!

Thanks. :-)

My blog! Our kids: Natalie 6 Colton 4 Adelyn 1 1/2 Easton Si Hu (in Korea) 1 Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Re: PCS to Ft. Bragg. Where to live?

  • There's a few ladies on the Military Nesties board at Bragg. You may have more luck there. It's an awesome base(I've visited) and beautiful area!

    image

    CJ 05/29/2013

  • My friend's DH is stationed at Fort Bragg and they live in Sanford.  It looks like a really nice area.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Loading the player...
  • Anything out towards Spout Springs is nice.
    Pregnancy Ticker Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • We're headed there this spring, but we're opting to live further out in a safer area.  I've heard good things about Raeford and Sanford, I think Raeford is closer though.  

    GL! 

    Lilypie Second Birthday tickers
  • We lived in Hope Mills for 3 years while at Bragg. I liked it! Spring lake, sanford and Raeford are nice areas. If we ever go back we will try and get a house in Anderson Creek, its a family friendly gated community on the north side near spring lake.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker Pregnancy Ticker
  • My husband and I live in a nice area in Spring Lake. Real close to 3 schools none the less. It's about a 15 min drive for us to get to the base. Really it all depends on what part of base your husband will be working at. It's a really large base. Sanford & Raeford are the nicer areas to look at (avoid Fayetteville), but they're both a drive, at least 30mins just to get to base and then how ever much long to where he'll be working at. Try finding out what part of base he'll be at most and look at map to figure out distance, which would be closer.

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Thank you all so much for the tips about desirable areas to live. I appreciate it so much. I will be scouring AHRN for homes in those areas. :-)
    My blog! Our kids: Natalie 6 Colton 4 Adelyn 1 1/2 Easton Si Hu (in Korea) 1 Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • We lived there for a few years not long ago. We lived in Hope Mills and liked it. It's one of the closer areas to post. Sadly Fayetteville doesn't have much to offer in the way of nice neighborhoods. It does have a decent mall, lots of restaurants, and they have done a lot of work to their downtown area which has some nice local shops and restaurants. Like pp have said Raeford, Sanford, and Spring Lake are nice. I just heard that there are a lot of new homes going up in Raeford. It seems to be really growing.

    One thing we loved while we lived there was visiting the beach. Wilmington is beautiful and a neat city to explore. Our favorite beach was Freeman Park in Carolina Beach. At Freeman Park you can pay a seasonal fee and the drive on the beach (if you have 4x4). You are allowed to BBQ on this beach, camp, and dogs are allowed. It's really hard to find beaches where you can bring your dog. All of this is about an hour and a half from Ft. Bragg. We overall enjoyed our time at Ft. Bragg and I hope you do too!

    image
    Baby Birthday Ticker TickerBabyFruit Ticker
  • We rented for 6 months in Fayetteville to get to know the area and give ourselves some time to buy a home. In that amount of time we both decided we severely dislike Fayetteville. Most of our current friends who bought homes in Fayetteville without researching it very much regret their decision, and at least one of them are planning on selling their home as soon as they can and moving closer to us. We moved pretty far away (45 minutes) and we did it on purpose, we like being so far out. 

    We looked in Raeford and have friends there that love it. It's a nice area. And a quick commute to the back gates. We looked for homes there a lot and it was our #1 area choice until we decided to expand our search out further to look for larger properties.

    We also have friends in Sanford that love it. There's a highway that goes through there that makes the commute to post a bit quicker, but (and I'm not 100% sure since it's not MY commute) I think it's still quite a ways, 30-45 minutes at least?

    We also know people in Hope Mills. It's a little pricier there than the other two mentioned places, and when we were looking at homes there it still felt like we were in Fayetteville. But, the people we know there say they like it.

    We looked in Spring Lake and know a couple that live on the outside edge of it. They don't like all the traffic lights that they deal with, but that's the only complaint I've heard from them. That's super close to post, but again it feels like Fayetteville to me, although I've never lived there so maybe my complaints about Fayetteville wouldn't be true there.

     

    Lilypie First Birthday tickers Daisypath Anniversary tickers
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • I have friends stationed there and I visit, we're stationed at Seymour Johnson (about an hour and a half away).

    There are some really pretty parts of Fayetteville, but definitely take time to look around before picking any place to live. My friends that were stationed there rented a house, a week later their house got broken into and a car stolen.

    There are parts of town that are really nice, but parts that are not so nice.

    I know a few girls out there though, and they are all really sweet! Good luck! :) North Carolina is lovely (it's going to be in the 70s tomorrow). 

  • My husband and I live in Spring Lake, we're right up against the base, and it's a pretty nice area. From what I've been told and from what I can tell, it has a much lower crime rate then Fayetteville, but close enough to easily get to anywhere in Fayetteville.
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic Image and video hosting by TinyPic Image and video hosting by TinyPic
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • We live on post and we love it! There are a lot of nice neighborhoods to choose from and your hubby will be close to work... There are playgrounds in all the housing areas plus every neighborhood has a super nice neighborhood center with a fabulous pool! Our neighborhood is right across from the commissary and the PX so it is super convienent. I highly recommend living on post.
    Lilypie First Birthday tickers Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • imagemollyxcate:

    There are parts of town that are really nice, but parts that are not so nice.

    This. We live in Fayetteville and it's fine. When we first moved here our shed was broken into twice, but since we got a security system and better locks on the shed, we've been fine. We've been here four years and haven't had an incident since those first few months.

    Our street is amazing. There are a few AD families on our street and our neighbor is a vet so they know what we're going through and are very helpful, especially if K is gone for something. We have block parties, share things from our gardens, they even helped us tear a tree down.

    I agree with pp. Find a place to rent short term, let your DH figure out where he'll be working on base and then find a neighborhood you like near that. There are definitely places to avoid, we stay far away from Bragg Bvld. and Murchison Dr., but there are plenty of nice places.

  • imagemichaela724:
    We live on post and we love it! There are a lot of nice neighborhoods to choose from and your hubby will be close to work... There are playgrounds in all the housing areas plus every neighborhood has a super nice neighborhood center with a fabulous pool! Our neighborhood is right across from the commissary and the PX so it is super convienent. I highly recommend living on post.

     I would love to live on post, but the wait for a Captain with dependents is just too long. :-( Since everywhere off post seems to require a bit of a drive, it would be awesome to just be on post. If only!

    My blog! Our kids: Natalie 6 Colton 4 Adelyn 1 1/2 Easton Si Hu (in Korea) 1 Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • I've lived in Fayetteville for 6.5 years now, its not bad.  We live off of Ramsey st just north of Methodist univ.  15 mins to the gate and little traffic on the ride home.

     If you live in Sanford, expect an hour commute at days end.  45 mins for Raeford.. My friend lived far away because people told her Fayetteville was bad.  She lived in Raeford and hated it, too far away from post for her.

    imageimageBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I am not sure what Picerne told you about the wait but when we moved we were told the wait list was 4 months for the neighborhood we wanted and the called us the very next week with a place to live. Almost everyone I talk to says they had the same experience.... the wait list says one thing but it is really much shorter. Also just FYI Linden Oaks neighborhood is technically on post housing but it is about 15 mins away from main post...it is a nice neighborhood with brand new schools but it is basically like living off post.
    Lilypie First Birthday tickers Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • imagemichaela724:
    I am not sure what Picerne told you about the wait but when we moved we were told the wait list was 4 months for the neighborhood we wanted and the called us the very next week with a place to live. Almost everyone I talk to says they had the same experience.... the wait list says one thing but it is really much shorter. Also just FYI Linden Oaks neighborhood is technically on post housing but it is about 15 mins away from main post...it is a nice neighborhood with brand new schools but it is basically like living off post.

    We had the opposite experience. They told us 4-6 months and didn't call us with an opening for nearly 10 months. 

    The traffic around base really is terrible and they're planning major road construction over the next few years so it's only going to get worse. Just be aware that picking a neighboring town can mean a much longer drive than you think.


  • imagePumpkin701:

    imagemichaela724:
    I am not sure what Picerne told you about the wait but when we moved we were told the wait list was 4 months for the neighborhood we wanted and the called us the very next week with a place to live. Almost everyone I talk to says they had the same experience.... the wait list says one thing but it is really much shorter. Also just FYI Linden Oaks neighborhood is technically on post housing but it is about 15 mins away from main post...it is a nice neighborhood with brand new schools but it is basically like living off post.

    We had the opposite experience. They told us 4-6 months and didn't call us with an opening for nearly 10 months. 

    The traffic around base really is terrible and they're planning major road construction over the next few years so it's only going to get worse. Just be aware that picking a neighboring town can mean a much longer drive than you think.


     In light of the planned construction, where would you recommend living? Is there one area in particular that's going to have a lot of construction going on? The more I look around, I'm thinking Carolina Lakes, Anderson Community Creek, and the Fayetteville area near Pope AFB look pretty decent. As much as I would prefer to live on post, I don't think it's really a feasible option for us. We have 3 young children and don't really want to mess with temporary lodging while we wait for an undisclosed period of time for something to open up. Plus, we're in the adoption process right now and changing adresses is a BIG deal .

    My blog! Our kids: Natalie 6 Colton 4 Adelyn 1 1/2 Easton Si Hu (in Korea) 1 Image and video hosting by TinyPic
  • I have lived in Fayetteville and Raleigh for a total of 8 years. My husband and I are both from Chicago and knew that we would be uncomfortable living out in the country (Hope Mills / Raeford).  I have noticed that some people on this post have mentioned Spring lake and Sanford, there are a few nice areas in the Sanford area, but be very careful picking out a neighborhood ( I have had two friends who have been forced to sell their homes, which were in the "nice" neighborhoods, due to high crime rates). Spring Lake seems to be working very hard at trying to clean up their city and I have heard that Anderson Creek is nice and safe. Vass is located about 40 mins from base and there is a lovely gated community called Wood Lake, that has a community pool, lake, and golf course, however it is relatively expensive to live there and it is kind of removed from the ammenties of the larger cities.

         As for living in Fayetteville, there are a lot of people who don't like Fayetteville (especially those who favor country living). As with any city, there are parts to avoid (Murchison Rd, Bragg Blvd, the FSU area...). My husband and I live out by Kings Grant, and we love the neighborhood and the convenience of having I-295 right down the street. If you are looking to buy a home, there is a lot of new construction throughout Fayetteville and Hope Mills. Admittedly the traffic in Fayetteville can be very frustrating, but hopefully the new construction the city is doing will help alleviate some of the congestion.

         As for family friendly neighborhoods in Fayetteville, I have had some very positive experiences with the 28311 zip code. Good Luck and I hope you and your family find a place you are happy to call home! :)

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"