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We recently moved from Atlanta to Charlotte and are having a number of regrets. We are a couple in our early thirties with no children, so do not feel tied down to any particular area (outside of the fact that we purchased a home here for $380k). I am beginning the process of seeking a new area to look into after we hit the 2 year mark on our home (to avoid a capital gains tax when we sell). In discussions with my wife, we have determined that if we are going to move again, what we really want more than anything else is to be on the shore - thus my post in this board.
The primary difficulty I am facing is finding a coastal area in North Carolina that has a decent economy. We are both in mid-level IT positions, and did not have any difficulty finding work in Charlotte or Atlanta. From my brief amount of research, however, I am thinking that finding IT jobs is not going to be so easy on the coast. I would love for somebody to prove me wrong here.
In addition, one of my primary regrets in moving to Charlotte has been the crime. I knew that there was going to be crime in any metropolitan area, but even coming from Atlanta, the crime here in Charlotte is just out of control. A number of posts on this board seemed to indicate that crime in Wilmington is pretty bad, but for anyone who may have familiarity with Charlotte, is it even comparable?
Outside of the economy and crime, I suppose it is necessary to mention that our budget for a new home would be around $400k. Given the current housing market, and the fact that we are a year and a half away from moving, I am not really sure that should be factored in at the moment.
So to sum it up and present this as a question that can actually be answered, is there any particular area on the coast of NC that has at least a mid-sized economy and low crime?
We recently moved from Atlanta to Charlotte and are having a number of regrets. We are a couple in our early thirties with no children, so do not feel tied down to any particular area (outside of the fact that we purchased a home here for $380k). I am beginning the process of seeking a new area to look into after we hit the 2 year mark on our home (to avoid a capital gains tax when we sell). In discussions with my wife, we have determined that if we are going to move again, what we really want more than anything else is to be on the shore - thus my post in this board.
The primary difficulty I am facing is finding a coastal area in North Carolina that has a decent economy. We are both in mid-level IT positions, and did not have any difficulty finding work in Charlotte or Atlanta. From my brief amount of research, however, I am thinking that finding IT jobs is not going to be so easy on the coast. I would love for somebody to prove me wrong here.
In addition, one of my primary regrets in moving to Charlotte has been the crime. I knew that there was going to be crime in any metropolitan area, but even coming from Atlanta, the crime here in Charlotte is just out of control. A number of posts on this board seemed to indicate that crime in Wilmington is pretty bad, but for anyone who may have familiarity with Charlotte, is it even comparable?
Outside of the economy and crime, I suppose it is necessary to mention that our budget for a new home would be around $400k. Given the current housing market, and the fact that we are a year and a half away from moving, I am not really sure that should be factored in at the moment.
So to sum it up and present this as a question that can actually be answered, is there any particular area on the coast of NC that has at least a mid-sized economy and low crime?
Any tips provided would be much appreciated!
That was quick, sorry Charlotte isn't working out for you! Finding employment in the coastal areas is much more of a challenge than in Raleigh or Charlotte I'm afraid. If it were easy, more people would probably live there. There is a regular poster here, DSOBOTTA, who always offers excellent advice about coastal living. I suggest you send him a private message and solicit his help - I bet he'll have some ideas. Good luck!
We recently moved from Atlanta to Charlotte and are having a number of regrets. We are a couple in our early thirties with no children, so do not feel tied down to any particular area (outside of the fact that we purchased a home here for $380k). I am beginning the process of seeking a new area to look into after we hit the 2 year mark on our home (to avoid a capital gains tax when we sell). In discussions with my wife, we have determined that if we are going to move again, what we really want more than anything else is to be on the shore - thus my post in this board.
The primary difficulty I am facing is finding a coastal area in North Carolina that has a decent economy. We are both in mid-level IT positions, and did not have any difficulty finding work in Charlotte or Atlanta. From my brief amount of research, however, I am thinking that finding IT jobs is not going to be so easy on the coast. I would love for somebody to prove me wrong here.
In addition, one of my primary regrets in moving to Charlotte has been the crime. I knew that there was going to be crime in any metropolitan area, but even coming from Atlanta, the crime here in Charlotte is just out of control. A number of posts on this board seemed to indicate that crime in Wilmington is pretty bad, but for anyone who may have familiarity with Charlotte, is it even comparable?
Outside of the economy and crime, I suppose it is necessary to mention that our budget for a new home would be around $400k. Given the current housing market, and the fact that we are a year and a half away from moving, I am not really sure that should be factored in at the moment.
So to sum it up and present this as a question that can actually be answered, is there any particular area on the coast of NC that has at least a mid-sized economy and low crime?
Any tips provided would be much appreciated!
I don't think it is impossible to find an IT job in coastal NC. It is just a challenge and of course two is a bigger challenge.
I am up in the mountains of Virginia right so I don't have my local telephone book with me, but a new company just opened a computer shop in Cedar Point. They are a Raleigh based outfit and do a lot of IT work at the military bases and some of the larger companies.
If you want to send me a private message or just an email to dsobotta@coastalnc.org I will look up their email address and put you in touch with them. They might have a better handle on IT jobs than I do.
There are also a couple of federal contractors in the area and some of the big shops have contracts for the bases. I'll ask my daughter who works for one of the bigger IT contractors to do a search and see if there are any posted jobs for IT folks in eastern Carolina.
I also know several technical folks and IT people who have jobs with companies based in Raleigh but live on the coast. Raleigh is about two and one half hours from us in Cape Carteret.
I worked for Apple Computer for twenty years, for a federal contractor for a year, another year at an email services company and recently have been doing web site consulting and real estate.
I can suggest making a few visits to the area, but I would inviting you to fall in love with an area where it might take you a while to find jobs or you might end up doing something which you haven't done before.
As for the rest of your equation, we are it. Low crime, great place to live, good schools, and lots of outdoor things to help you fall in love with the area.
This is Moderator cut: link removed which is one of the cluster of small towns where we live. Morehead City is the largest of the small towns and Jacksonville is the nearby city where many work but few want to live.
You can find lots of slides shows of the area at my homepage.
I think you are going about the process correctly and given some time you might just surprise yourself and find a couple of good jobs. It is not a big area and I think networking works pretty well. I will be glad to plug you into the people I know and talk with you by telephone to see if there is anything out there that fits what you are doing. There is at least one software company in New Bern, but that's not exactly a coastal silicon valley.
Two of my kids live up in the Reston, VA area and they are both in high tech.
I keep hoping to convince a high tech company to move to the coast so they can move here. What a great way to retain employees. Take your company to the coast where people can get homes near the water for less than an arm and a leg.
Of course I know you need more than one company or you don't have the mobility that makes for happy employees.
Still a high tech company on the Carolina coast is a winning formula in my book.
Last edited by Yac; 11-02-2007 at 06:38 AM..
Reason: left out word
I was actually browsing through your sites yesterday, without even knowing who you are! I loved the Aqua-like interface and was a bit envious that you worked for Apple at one point, as I am a long time Mac fanatic, and do all of my development on Macs as well as serve as an OS X Server admin for my own company (which is not even close to being at a point where I can quit my day job, or we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place!).
I truly appreciate your response, and will be in contact with you further. You are an excellent advocate for your area, although viewing images on your site leads me to believe the area doesn't need much advocacy.
I think we will take a ride out to the Cape Carteret area this weekend and start the process of familiarizing ourselves with some of the coastal towns. I have spent the past ten years deciding where I am going to live based on where I work. I think it is time to start deciding where I am going to work based on where I want to live.
im from Wilmington and have friends with IT jobs and they had to move from Wilmington to Charlotte to finally get a decent paying IT job. If you do find an IT job on the coast be prepared to take a pay cut. wish i had better news for ya! good luck!
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A couple of thoughts on Coastal IT jobs
