Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I work for MetLife and will be relocating to NC as part of the move.
Surprisingly everyone at the office was very enthusiastic about the news and I hate to sound like a snot but it really isn't that surprising. People were looking forward to the lower cost of living and more manageable tax bill. NC is also talking about eliminating the state income tax something CT would never think of. Taxes are a big reason why Met Life chose to exit the north east in favor of NC.
With Malloy increasing the budget 10% over 2 years, increasing taxes has destroyed any competetiveness CT once had. More companies will move out and the state will be like an empty shell that collapses under its own weight of taxes and government regulations.
In my opinion this path to liberal destruction was solidified the last election when democrats won every single seat up for a vote.
Well its been fun CT! I will remember the good times we've had over the years. Unfortunately your future doesn't look too bright and that's a little sad.
Moved to Charlotte for 5 years..I ended up back here. Better of 2 evils is the best way to sum it up. You WILL sweat in the summer down there... and I don't care how much you like the heat..
Cost of Living is definitely better down there though.That nobody can deny. Hope you don't have lots of feel for quaint New England living, if you do say good-bye to it, you'll never see it again down there. If you have kids expect either an inferior public school system or take the cash you saved in taxes and put them in a private school. Hope you like bugs, if you do you will be very pleased.
Don't worry. Continued white collar relocation to North Carolina will drive up cost of living there just fine. And enjoy your enormous HoA fees.
Right you are -- relocating Northerners will be stunned by how badly schools, parks, libraries, trash collection, food costs, etc. compare to those back home. HOA dues replace what you get from your towns.
In the South, instead of better schools, etc., your tax dollars go for corporate welfare.
I lived in NC for a few years when I was in the military. Not a bad place, just lacking in any sort of culture.
Seriously? You were in the military? In Fayetteville or Jacksonville? North Carolina is 10 million people covering an area bigger than CT, MA, RI, VT and NH combined. Clearly you didn't get out of your military bubble much.
And taxes are dirt cheap, there is lots of land and housing will continue to be cheap as well. The city grew at about 25% over the last decade.
Not all houses have HOA dues either, just the ones that offer some kind of amenities.
I'll definitely enjoy the low taxes and cost of living, you can stick with the dictator Malloy's planned economy of buses to nowhere 2 billion dollar engineering campus and ever increasing state spending.
You talk like you've never lived in North Carolina at all. The state has been "controlled" by Republicans for two months. Before this, NC was "controlled" by Democrats for over 100 years. The MetLife deal was negotiated by North Carolina's Democratic governor.
Government needs to start using "zero based budgeting", not budgets based on last year plus X percent. Rejustify EVERY department, task, expenditure, and if you cannot justify it right now, the fact the department existed for decades should not change your path from abolishing it immediately.
[quote=Beeker2211;28586476: Metlife is doing this for essentially free money ($100M is still a nice sized sum), so what is Connecticut supposed to do? Match it? [/quote]
Relo offers from gov't are Standard Operating Procedure now. So realistically all states have 2 options: (1) Get in the game, or (2) Wave bye-bye to corps as they accept tremendous offers.
States in essence pay for them a few ways: (1) Spending/taxes of relocated emps, newly employed, (2) Taxes w/o subsidies of all the supplier jobs that come along for the ride. And, of course, the new corp still pays substantial taxes; most often the bulk of incentives is not cash-it is reduced property taxes for 5-10 years or free, unused land, or utility hookups.
After living in Raleigh for 17 yrs., I would trade places with anyone in New England in a heartbeat.
There are lots of reasons for my opinion, and others would surely disagree with me.
New England has character and culture that has a quality unlike the south. Plus, I hope you are not grossed out by poisonous snakes in your yard, or around lakes, or cockroaches that you will find in your house every year (even though people say they've never seen one, they just weren't in the room at the time one was there).
There are major things you've got to get used to here, especially the relentless heat and humidity. I'm one of those who would be happier with a long, colder winter. And with A/C set on 72 degrees at night while you're trying to sleep, it's kind of a stuffy, closed-up, can't get any fresh air, type of feeling all summer long till late fall.
And then, winter brings a breath of fresh air that only lasts a short time.
The sprawl, rising taxes, surprising high cost of living for expenses like groceries, road traffic is a pain, especially on I-40, almost uncontrolled development of land...on and on.
Moving back North, but that's just me.
best,
toodie
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
