Business View Civil & Municipal - May 2023

71 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 5 MOREHEAD C I TY , NC development provides crucial high-speed connectivity for corporate and regional headquarters, insurance underwriters, and other commercial businesses. Either remove “the” before surrounding or add “community” after Carteret County Another significant infrastructure project is the I-42 highway, a federally designated national highway system, which aims to provide a fast route between the state capital and Morehead City without any stop lights. Turner believes this new highway will drive commercial and residential traffic and boost the tourism industry. In addition to these large-scale projects, Morehead City is also focused on fostering public-private partnerships and offering a world-class planning and development system. This approach ensures that new and existing businesses can access the necessary resources, including zoning, infrastructure, and utilities. Turner says Morehead City is “ready and willing” to accommodate businesses in this new environment. One industry that has found success in Morehead City is insurance underwriting. Several insurance underwriting associations and groups, including Burns and Wilcox, AmRisc, and Southern Insurance, have established their regional headquarters in the city. Turner attributes this success to Morehead City’s high quality of life, high average median income, and robust network infrastructure. Despite such an appealing narrative, Turner acknowledges Morehead City’s challenges in residential development, particularly given the city’s tourism-driven economy. Morehead City currently has 5,296 housing units, with half being renter-occupied and the other half owner-occupied, as well as 737 seasonal housing units.