North Carolina and environs.... anyone familiar?

[Astroblue]

Hi all
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Been busy! Done some lurking and that's it.
Friends of mine are moving to North Carolina, and they suggested I look into it. I know it's a nice area, and a different pace of life and all that, and housing is much more affordable, which holds a lot of attraction of course. Mainly though I'm looking for a change, and now that my mom & dad are gone, I have few ties here, aside from Pashnit and some friends, who I usually communicate with electronically! Besides, I have more family on the East Coast than out here now, so I'd be closer to them.
So, for anybody who's lived in the area, travelled there or what have you, I'd appreciate any advice or insight!

[nodaclu]

It's been a while now (1992), but I lived briefly in the Raleigh-Durham area and loved it!!

Only family issues brought me back out west.

+1 to everything Gypsy said, especially the part about North Carolina being geographically similar to CA (more then other other place on the east coast anyway). Friendly people, slower pace, cheaper to live.

It's not perfect (NC was once a border state, and at least in the early 90's, some of that still bled through in the way certain groups of people were treated, and SC was worse then NC in that regard - again due to historical factors).

Hopefully that sort of thing has continued to improve in the past 16 years. I also know that NC has been "discovered" to an extent, and some of what I loved about the area back then has been watered down a bit (especially in Asheville - which is developing some of the same traits as Vail, Colorado and Park City, Utah).

But I'd go back again in a heartbeat if I could. The good far outweighs the bad.

[Astroblue]

Thanks so far!
That area reminds me of southern England to an extent, but more hills. I'd go back to the UK if the dollar were strong against the pound, because in that case money would be about all I'd be taking! But NC looks pretty good to me. I might take a short vacation there this year to get a better feel for the area. I've checked out real estate Websites of the Asheville and I was shocked. Houses that would sell for 750-1.5k here go for 200-220k there!

[yonder]

Except for a couple of years after the dot-com burst, I've been living in NC since 1997. I've moved around a bit and have lived in Orange, Durham, Person, and Wake counties.

I've done a bit of traveling around the state, mostly up into the mountains, down to the Outer Banks and also to the Greenville area.

Racism in NC is remarkably less pronounced than what I experienced growing up in the Philadelphia area. Where I grew up we had (and they still have) the concept of white neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, Italian neighborhoods, Irish neighborhoods, etc. In the south, everyone is pretty much mixed together except for in some of the "relocated yankee" neighborhoods where I think they bring with them too much of what they should have left behind.

Your home buying dollars will go far here. $150K will get you a decent 3 bedroom house on 1/3 acre in a safe neighborhood in north Raleigh. The same $$ will get you multiple acres if you live outside of city limits. In Philadelphia it will get you a crack house.

Was there anything in particular you wanted to know?

[Astroblue]

Originally Posted by yonder

Except for a couple of years after the dot-com burst, I've been living in NC since 1997. I've moved around a bit and have lived in Orange, Durham, Person, and Wake counties.

Your home buying dollars will go far here. $150K will get you a decent 3 bedroom house on 1/3 acre in a safe neighborhood in north Raleigh. The same $$ will get you multiple acres if you live outside of city limits. In Philadelphia it will get you a crack house.

Was there anything in particular you wanted to know?

That avatar of yours.....
Thanks for the reply! I'm finding out on my own about real estate values, but mainly climate, property taxes, average income of residents, etc., which I could find out online, but I'd rather know from people from there directly, and their personal experiences, which cold research could not illustrate!
Thanks again!

[Ally House]

Ross,
I've only visited there, so I don't have any REAL input. I would highly reccommend going there on a short trip, checking some of the situations out first hand. I think it sounds like a spectacular adventure. I know you've been mulling some changes for quite some time, and of all the things you've mentioned, NC sounds like the one that will fit your needs.

I have friends living in Wilmington who visit out here, and they comment about how much more their $$ buys "back home".

Ally

[yonder]

Originally Posted by Astroblue

but mainly climate, property taxes, average income of residents, etc., which I could find out online, but I'd rather know from people from there directly, and their personal experiences, which cold research could not illustrate!

Well there are three main metropolitan areas if you want to be close to a city. Charlotte, which is down in the southwest corner of the state. Good if you want to live near mountains, and have somewhat cooler weather.

The Triad area is in the piedmont, includes Greensboro, Winston-Salem... I don't know much about that area as I usually drive through it. Seems more industrial to me but that might just be what I see. Lots of outlet stores if the wife is into that kind of thing.

Then the Triangle area includes the cities of Durham and Raleigh, as well as smaller towns like Chapel Hill, Cary, and Hillsborough. This is the region that I live in. Lots of high-tech jobs here, as well as pharmaceuticals. As far as metropolitan areas go, this is the warmest one in NC (well, unless you count Fayetteville, anyway). If you get east or south of Raleigh you start seeing critters that you would normally associate with southern florida like anole lizards and, if you go a little farther out down to the southeastern part of the state, alligators.

One of the great things about being here is you can ride 10-15 minutes away from town and you're out in the middle of nowhere with some fantastic country roads. I mentioned Person County in my previous post. Person County is due north of Durham. And I think it is still largely undiscovered by motorcyclists.

If you want to live in the Triangle and still have the feel of a small southern town, Hillsborough is hard to beat. It's not quite Mayberry but perhaps as close as you will get this close to a big southern city.

If you want to live in a small but affluent college town, check out Chapel Hill.

If you're into urban decay, you can always check out Durham (sorry... I lived there, and it reminds me of the aspects of Philadelphia that I would rather have forgotten). I only ever see the 1%'ers in Durham.

Raleigh has more of a flavor of a successful and rapidly growing southern city. I've lived in Raleigh for about a year now. So far, I really like it. The climate tends to be a liiiittle warmer than Hillsborough, which is two counties over, which means that we get rain sometimes when Hillsborough gets snow. Snow isn't something you'll get much of this far south & east.

Also in Wake County is the town of Cary, which is the butt of many jokes here but for what it is it is an orderly town. You don't hear about violent crime or meth heads in Cary. But many would say along with a lack of crime is a lack of any real character. I like to call Cary (or C.A.R.Y.) the "Concentration Area for Relocated Yankees" because it carries more of the flavor of a town from northern New Jersey that is heavily regulated through ordinances and HOA's.

There are some charming towns outside of these more metropolitan areas if you're looking for small town life. What kind of city or town do you think you'd want to live in? And do you favor cooler moutainous living or warmer coastal living? Or something smack in the middle of the two?

[yonder]

Originally Posted by Ally House

Ross,
I have friends living in Wilmington who visit out here, and they comment about how much more their $$ buys "back home".

Wilmington is a cool coastal town. Some movies and TV shows have been filmed there. Dawsons Creek, ummm I think also I Know What You Did Last Summer, and some others. Very nice. If hurricanes scare the crap out of you, though, keep in mind that Wilmington is often right in the path of the hurricanes making landfall on the Carolinas. For that matter, the eastern 1/3 of the state takes a beating every few years.

In the middle 1/3 we get tornados but the damage is often very concentrated to a small area and certainly not something that keeps the locals up at night. I would say most people can live their whole lives in the middle 1/3 without ever actually seeing a tornado.

[R5_350]

Most of what everyone says is true. I've traveled NC extensively. The mountains around Asheville are beautiful. Asheville is a bit pricier than other areas. Charlotte is in my perspective much like a "little" Atlanta. It has issues with urban sprawl etc. The area around Greensboro is very nice as well. The research triangle is an up and coming place to be. I would pick Raleigh or Chapel Hill over Durham in my opinion. There's plenty of high tech stuff going on around Cary, NC. I don't have much to say about Fayetteville, not too impressed, very military town with strip malls, etc. Wilmington is nice. Greenville is ok. My two cents worth.

[Astroblue]

Originally Posted by yonder

There are some charming towns outside of these more metropolitan areas if you're looking for small town life. What kind of city or town do you think you'd want to live in? And do you favor cooler moutainous living or warmer coastal living? Or something smack in the middle of the two?

I'm not sure yet, but like Ally House suggested, I'll be taking a trip out there to get the lay of the land. Friends are moving there, and I'll be tagging along when they go. Currently I live on the Central Coast near Morro Bay, so I'd be biased in favor of a coastal town or city.