Island or inland (Norfolk, Onancock, Accomac: neighborhoods, school, contractor)

[Momto5&5]

My parents currently live in NH and are retiring shortly. They are looking in the Accomack County area or possibly Smith Island MD.
Has anyone lived in these areas?
How easy for shopping?
Pet friendly? They have 3 dogs.
They aren't very active as far as hiking, biking, etc. More like books and tv's. They do want to be able to facetime their grandkids, so wifi is important.

Your thoughts?

[choff5]

Not familiar with either of those but when you are talking elderly and retirement with rural living, along with internet strength also think distance to good medical providers, groceries, stores in general. How close by are emergency services if needed? With internet there’s always Viasat, DirectTV, etc but it’s more costly, and speeds may not be as good, plus I use to call it fair weather internet because if you have a storm come through the satellite is out.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by Momto5&5

My parents currently live in NH and are retiring shortly. They are looking in the Accomack County area or possibly Smith Island MD.
Has anyone lived in these areas?
How easy for shopping?
Pet friendly? They have 3 dogs.
They aren't very active as far as hiking, biking, etc. More like books and tv's. They do want to be able to facetime their grandkids, so wifi is important.

Your thoughts?

Smith Island is remote. Only accessible by boat, no shopping, no idea on Internet but I wouldn't expect much there.

[Momto5&5]

Thank you both. I actually didn't think about medical, both are fairly healthy now but....

[VA Yankee]

Avoid Smith Island for seniors, little shopping, little medical and a boat ride for everything and they are slowly sinking. Look at Accomack County where Salisbury Maryland will be the nearest urban center for medical and more shopping options.

[cj2010]

Hi been living in Accomac County for a while now. There is a new hospital in Onley/Onancock area. Small but generally seems equipped for emergencies ( actually has a wonderful heart doctor that we are lucky to have). But a lot of procedures are referred to Maryland (Salisbury) or Norfolk Sentara. Trauma patients are stabilized and flown out.
Shopping can be difficult if you are accustomed to a lot of choices but we do have a Walmart now. And there are a mix of smaller stores in strip malls and interesting finds in the small shops off the highway. Although the only food shopping choices are Food Lion and Walmart. And a small independent grocery and meat market.
As far as the dogs if you are hoping for dog parks no but anytime I am up in town I see plenty of dog walkers and some of the small stores put out water bowls this is in Onancock.
Now internet has been a challenge out in the county although Spectrum has been working on bringing in fiber optic so maybe one day but I do think there are more choices in town. We are currently in the dark ages of a failing broadband system. There is also a 5G wireless system in certain neighborhoods but I have heard mixed reviews.

[slowlane3]

Goodness, I never heard of anyone retiring on Smith Island. The society from what I understand, is insular and inbred, and based on fishing, and island is sinking. There's a general store, post office, a tiny school, and one church. Taking your car on the ferryboat to Crisfield, MD is necessary to reach any other conveniences. The island gets daily arrivals of tour boats during warm season. You can watch short videos of the island on YouTube.

[emmmcubed]

Originally Posted by slowlane3

Taking your car on the ferryboat to Crisfield, MD is necessary to reach any other conveniences.

There are no car ferries running between Smith Island and the mainland (so far as I know.) There are very few motor vehicles on Smith Island; most people (there are only about 250 people total on the island) get around in golf carts, on bicycles, or on foot.

[Shabba Snacks]

Originally Posted by Momto5&5

My parents currently live in NH and are retiring shortly. They are looking in the Accomack County area or possibly Smith Island MD.
Has anyone lived in these areas?
How easy for shopping?
Pet friendly? They have 3 dogs.
They aren't very active as far as hiking, biking, etc. More like books and tv's. They do want to be able to facetime their grandkids, so wifi is important.

Your thoughts?

Accomack County is possibly THE poorest county in Virginia. Very few services or shopping opportunity. At my old job we were invited to see if we could help social services out as a sub-contractor. We had to turn it down because of the lack of infrastructure, and lack of accessible roads.

[Momto5&5]

I have shown them these posts. I think they are now going to be searching in a different area. Thank you all for your input.