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We are from New Jersey and we are debating whether to relocate to Raleigh or suburban Atlanta. We have two small children, our oldest will start kindergarden. We like that Raleigh is growing a lot and will present a lot of opportunities, but we feel that it is boring. Atlanta has more things to do. We want a place that is good to raise kids, but also have some big city ammenities. We wouldn't want to live in Atlanta, because it is too busy there, but we would like to live near a city.
We want a place that is also not too religious, and our perception was that Raleigh is a little more religious than Atlanta. We don't care about peoples beliefs, we just don't want to feel weird because we don't frequent a church or because our children are half jewish.
If anybody has any opinion about either place or relocated to one of those places, please let us know. We have being to both places, but a tourist view is always different than a resident view.
I did relocate from Conn many years ago and love it here. It was a great place to raise a family. I also find alot to do in this area, and it continues to grow everyday. I get alot of NJ and New England clients relocating. They are moving here for a reason. Don't worry about the religion thing. There are so many people here that practice differently and some not at all. It doesn't really matter and I've never seen a problem with that. I am private messaging you my website that might help you navigate the area. Best of luck to you.
We are from New Jersey and we are debating whether to relocate to Raleigh or suburban Atlanta. We have two small children, our oldest will start kindergarden. We like that Raleigh is growing a lot and will present a lot of opportunities, but we feel that it is boring. Atlanta has more things to do. We want a place that is good to raise kids, but also have some big city ammenities. We wouldn't want to live in Atlanta, because it is too busy there, but we would like to live near a city.
We want a place that is also not too religious, and our perception was that Raleigh is a little more religious than Atlanta. We don't care about peoples beliefs, we just don't want to feel weird because we don't frequent a church or because our children are half jewish.
If anybody has any opinion about either place or relocated to one of those places, please let us know. We have being to both places, but a tourist view is always different than a resident view.
Have you considered the Charlotte area? It is bigger with more to do than Raleigh, but still smaller than Atlanta.
Hey there! These decisions are so important they can cause a lot of anxiety. I'm going through a similar dilemma myself. What I have found invaluable was the zip code search on removed. You plug in the zip code of the area in which you are interested and it gives you more information than you can imagine.
Statistically, Southerners attend church more than other Americans. Inviting you to church is just being polite and 99% of us won't push you. All you have to do is decline graciously, simple as that, and consider it a compliment.
The nice thing about both cities is that, due to their brisk commerce and major employers, they have a lot of transplants. That will make you feel more at home than an area where everyone's native born.
this forum is giving me heartburn. I'm "churched" out by all you apprehensive future transplants by your fear of church goers. I am so offended I can't even begin to speak articulately about it. It really shows how uninformed you are about the south.
I found this forum by chance, at first found it interesting but as the days have gone on I have realized that many of you....many! are reinforcing the stereotypical intolerant "tolerant" liberal behavior.
The more I read the more I realize that a lot of you will not fit in here. Yes. we are a more church going region of the country. (I'm not one of them but am a strong christian). That's something you will have to get used to if you move here. I'm beginning to hope that we southerners start living up to our "converting" reputation and you'll get enough of it and leave us to our "backward" selves. You all seem to be afraid of your proverbial own shadow...spooked easily, obviously.
It's so obvious that many of you need to visit the south before you jump in with both feet and move here. What ever else you do while you are here, please try to assimilate.
If I weren't so offended, I'd be laughing at how absurd your vew of us actually is. So WHY do you want to live amongst us?
I promise you, southern christians do not have 3 eyes and hypnotic powers to convert you to something you do not want any part of. Most of us, MOST, couldn't care less about your religion or lack thereof.
I have to move on to less offensive pastures now, so good luck with your move.
It blows me away that you don't even realize how offensive your comments are.
Hope my questions & comments did nto offend you. Weare in a place where Practicing Christians are in a minority. It has been difficult for us. Our kids go to Christian schools. My biggest fear about moving to NC was about putting them in public school, away from the Christian atmosphere we have struggled to find here.
My second fear was that our brand of Christianity would be frowned upon.
My husband is there in NC & found 2 great churches & was invited to several others. He is really happy about it all & says it is not overbearing, it is more like the little social circle we have up here from school & church.
You need to understand that up north Christians are seen in a negative light unless they are totally silent about their faith. Saying "Merry Christmas" is seen as offensive in most public settlings unless you are sure of the person with whom you are speaking. When I was younger I found this area tolerant ofall, but clearly majority Christian. It is still majority Christian, but most have internalized the idea that being openly so is a BIG No No.
The media reinforces the idea that the South is full of proselytizing people who are somewhat dumb. Teh show the smiling people at Christian rock concerts & watching NASCAR.
Some people laugh, others (like my family) look & say, hey, that looks nice, everyone looks so much... calmer. We would be more comfortable there than here. So we come & look... & if we like it we try to get there, not to Change it but to Join it...the big houses are just a bonus...
On the other hand, gisturala, there are a small minority of Christ followers who realize that you ask these questions because they're based upon an unfortunate reality: not every Christian acts like one.
Like my family, we are also strongly considering the Atlanta metro area because many of the suburban areas have gotten past their growing pains; have dealt with the insecurity and resentment of newcomers, and have gotten on with life. Some areas have gone in an admirable direction, and some have entrenched themselves firmly in times past.
It's not a Carolina thing or a Georgia thing; just a human nature thing. My advice--though you didn't ask for it--is to continue asking relevant questions. You'll usually get your answer.
I really didn't mean to offend anyone. If you read my quote with open mind you would see that my big worry is about things to do and how good a place is to raise my kids. You can't deny that people in the south are more church going than here. I didn't imply whatsoever that they would try to convert us, it wasn't in my quote, that you picked up from somebody else and lashed out on me for what somebody might have said in another forum. The only thing about religion that I asked was if my kids would feel a little weird by being half jewish, because I know that there isn't a lot of jewish association there as here. I didn't imply that they would hurt us by it. I never thought about religion before when I started thinking about relocating but since I read this forum a lot of people are talking about religion and made me aprehensive, so I decided to ask. Also think that a lot of people from the south also have worry about moving to the north. I have being to both places but a tourist view is different from a citizens view, that is why I decided to ask this question, so some resident could shed the light in my worries. I'm sad that some of you instead of try to explain what those cities are really about decided to lash out on me. There are a lot of misconceptions about NJ and Ny and if somebody needed my opinion I would try to help them instead of being offended about it. My husband is jewish but I'm christian, and some of the responses I got from here was very little christian.
Last edited by gisturala; 05-02-2006 at 12:06 PM..
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Religion
