Winston-Salem (Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro: transplants, insurance, lofts)

[Jamerican]

Capostone ....... Abby ..... I thank you both for your positive input, and believe me when I tell you it does help, and help a lot. I just asked a friend of mine who currently lives in Raleigh and works as a Realtor, and this is what she had to say when I asked her about Winston Salem, and I quote "Winston Salem and that Piedmont area is nice too. (There is almost NO part of North Carolina that you wouldn't like) My Uncle used to live in Clemmons..just south of Winston Salem and loved it." I have never heard of the Piedmont and Clemmons areas before so I am hoping that one of you folks could somehow elaborate on these areas. Are they suburbs of WS or are they town/communities near WS? Also, would you guys happen to know of any really safe neighborhoods that you would feel comfortable living in with your wife, 3yr old and 5yr old girls? I would more likely rent for a few months before buying, so I would like to start looking at apartments/town houses for rent. Just trying to get as much feedback and information possible to aid me in my decision. I will be doing some more interviewing for that job tomorrow, so say a prayer for me folks. If all goes well, I shall be Winston-Salem bound in a matter of weeks Thanks for all your efforts and feedbacks.

[Abby]

Originally Posted by Jamerican

Capostone ....... Abby ..... I thank you both for your positive input, and believe me when I tell you it does help, and help a lot. I just asked a friend of mine who currently lives in Raleigh and works as a Realtor, and this is what she had to say when I asked her about Winston Salem, and I quote "Winston Salem and that Piedmont area is nice too. (There is almost NO part of North Carolina that you wouldn't like) My Uncle used to live in Clemmons..just south of Winston Salem and loved it." I have never heard of the Piedmont and Clemmons areas before so I am hoping that one of you folks could somehow elaborate on these areas. Are they suburbs of WS or are they town/communities near WS? Also, would you guys happen to know of any really safe neighborhoods that you would feel comfortable living in with your wife, 3yr old and 5yr old girls? I would more likely rent for a few months before buying, so I would like to start looking at apartments/town houses for rent. Just trying to get as much feedback and information possible to aid me in my decision. I will be doing some more interviewing for that job tomorrow, so say a prayer for me folks. If all goes well, I shall be Winston-Salem bound in a matter of weeks Thanks for all your efforts and feedbacks.

The Piedmont refers to the region in which Greensboro, High Point and WS are in.

I happen to live in Clemmons. Clemmons is considered a Village and it is a suburb of WS about 10-12 miles from downtown. The tricky part is Clemmons is located south of WS (this part is actually part of Davidson County) and west of WS (this part is still in Forsyth county) both areas are terrific, however the western side is a bit more affluent. Both areas have wonderful new and established neighborhoods in various price ranges. I don't know in what range you are looking, but the Clemmons zip code of 27012 is the wealthest zip code in Forsyth County (thus the better schools). But by NY/NJ standards it's nothing! Generally, larger(2200+ sq ft) homes start at about 250k and go beyond 1MM

As far as rentals, again it varies on how much you want to spend, but there are only a handful of areas which I would avoid. If you are looking to rent a house, there is a very nice rental community (I don't recall the name) on Peacehaven Rd and Hwy421N that is on the cusp of Clemmons and WS. If you can provide me with a price range, I can possibly recommend some areas/communities.

Good luck on your interview! Please keep us posted!

[Capstone]

Suburbs of W-S that I see as ideal to live in are Lewisville and Clemmons. I am a real estate broker and prefer these areas when my clients have school age children. The best elementary schools (Meadowlark Elementary and Lewisville Elementary) support most areas of Lewisville and Clemmons and parts of W-S. You can look at MyCapstoneProperties.com and click on NC Schools Report Card to see how these 2 schools are rated. They are excellent and the kids move on to Meadowlark Middle School and either Reagan High or West High, all excellent schools. Let me know if I can be of help. You will thoroughly love living here.

[Tarheelhombre]

It depends upon your personal taste, but many will find Winston-Salem rather boring and too conservative. Also, the reliance on cars for transportation and the lack of a dense urban core populated by artists, students, gays, and hipsters makes the city rather dull. Greensboro is not any better. The culture in the Triad just is not very progressive or exciting. That being said, Winston-Salem is not as bleak as some have portrayed it here. It does have a cool arts scene and hosts the North Carolina School of the Arts. It also has a resurging downtown, with a number of new condo, restaurant and entertainment projects announced or under construction. Also, a new downtown ball park will add to the vibrancy of the center city.

[lbaillio]

Please, if you have grown up in the winston salem area all your life I am desperatly seeking the where abouts of a man named richard calloway. I think that i know, that he served in the army for a period of time in the late 70's or early 80's.Sometime in the early to mid 80's he served in the u.s. navy.-served on the mannitawok (sp). Met a girl named LISA who workrd at sir anthony's in Newport News ,Va. He was here while ship was under maintenance at the Newport News Dry Dock & Shipbuilding. Please if you know of RICK CALLOWAY(sp) or was aquainted with him during his military service please contact me.

[the 7 oh 4]

A larger town does not mean there is more to do. Winston-Salem is a GREAT city and is home to the highly acclaimed Wake Forest Univeristy Baptist Medical Center...one of the best hospitals in the Southeast...not just NC. Also home to 2 other hospitals...and 1 additional in Kernersville and 1 planned for Clemmons...so that would make 5 hospitals in Forsyth County (Winston-Salem area).

Plus W-S has a good arts scene and is fairly fiverse too. As long as you live in the city near a bus route you could get by...will not be as easy as NY...but doable. I would suggest the Nissen Apartments downtown...nice and very convenient.

Good Luck & GOD BLESS!

[jmthomas]

Winston good place to live in and work. Good Universities around here.
Welcome to NC.

[Dorijune]

Welcome to all considering a move to W-S! It's a lovely town, beautiful and affordable. WFU and the medical community have been strong, positive influences in attracting the best and brightest.
As far as public schools I urge newcomers to see what high schools such as Mt. Tabor and Reynolds have to offer. These schools have populations much more representative of the town and of the U.S., while offering strong academics. The more competitive students take a number of AP courses at the Career Center, anyway, making the case for Mt. Tabor and Reynolds, which are nearer the Career Center, very strong. One of the good things about W-S is that it is possible to live in a beautiful in-town neighborhood, commute less, walk more, and see your children get a good education.

[Kootr]

I was born in Winston-Salem and lived there for 57 years. Winston-Salem is a nice small to mid-size city with four seasons, which is close [enough] to the mountains and coast. The surrounding area has lots of golf courses if you like to play golf. It's a really good place to raise children from a parent's perspective, but probably not necessarily from an older child's perspective...or a young adult's perspective. Also, a couple of the high schools (Mt. Tabor & Reynolds) are ranked somewhat high on the list.

Downtown Winston-Salem is one of the many cities in the country that just can't seem to revitalize itself. Winston-Salem was once a manufacturing town with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Hanes being the two major industries. Over the years it became a little more service oriented with banking (Wachovia Bank) and insurance companies. However, over the past decade Wachovia was acquired by First Union Bank and the headquarters was moved to Charlotte, which eliminated thousands of jobs. And other companies seemed to migrate elsewhere also.

There's not much activity in downtown during the day, and it's dead at night. In fact it's pretty dead most everywhere in the entire city. Winston-Salem doesn't offer very much in terms of what young adults are looking for, and therefore a large percentage of the children that go off to college do not return. Once they learn that other cities have a night-life, pro sports, a younger population, and much better employment opportunities, they usually make their home elsewhere. Hence, the average age of the population has increased. Also, for decades the city has catered to the older citizens so much so that almost anything popular with the young people is looked down upon. For example, the police enjoy parking next to any bar type restaurant and pulling over people that leave in hopes they have been drinking too much. You would never find that happening in larger cities, and thus it puts a damper on any night-life scene. Hence, the sidewalks throughout the city roll up when it gets dark. Also, the police are very strict and enjoy writing tickets for almost anything and everything, much like a small city or town does. Something you would never see in a city that wants to prosper, grow, and bring in major corporations and educated young adults. (Sadly, the city's leaders have never figured out what the problem is!)

Winston-Salem has two great hospitals (Baptist and Forsyth). It is also home to Wake Forest University, which is a small private school with a reasonably high ranking. Many locals enjoy following Wake Forest sports, especially basketball and football.

You will likely hear many people familiar with Winston-Salem call it bucolic, and I would definitely agree with that description. But many people find Winston-Salem is the perfect place for them, and there's nothing wrong with that. It has a much slower pace than Raleigh or Charlotte, and cannot be compared to those two [other] NC cities...and in particular it cannot be compared to any major city. Winston-Salem is one of the cities that make up the Piedmont Triad, along with Greensboro and High Point. Even though the Piedmont Triad [area] has a fairly good size population, it has no resemblance to major metro areas that are recognized as major cities. You'll often find people from out-of-state have never heard of Winston-Salem before.

Winston-Salem is known as the "tree city" with tall oak trees and beautiful Dogwood trees that bloom in the spring. It has rolling terrain and a striking beauty to it. All-in-all the city is a gem that has lost its way due to (in my opinion) many poor decisons by politicians and city hall. A few suburbs around Winston-Salem (e.g. Clemmons and Lewisville) are nice little communities, but they also are much like Winston-Salem except on an even smaller scale.

I hope that helps coming from someone who was born, grew up, lived and worked (for over five and half decades), and raised a child in Winston-Salem. It's definitely not a bad place, but it's definitely not for everyone...

[NewDad]

Originally Posted by Kooter

....There's not much activity in downtown during the day, and it's dead at night. In fact it's pretty dead most everywhere in the entire city. Winston-Salem doesn't offer very much in terms of what young adults are looking for, and therefore a large percentage of the children that go off to college do not return. Once they learn that other cities have a night-life, pro sports, a younger population, and much better employment opportunities, they usually make their home elsewhere. Hence, the average age of the population has increased. Also, for decades the city has catered to the older citizens so much so that almost anything popular with the young people is looked down upon. For example, the police enjoy parking next to any bar type restaurant and pulling over people that leave in hopes they have been drinking too much. You would never find that happening in larger cities, and thus it puts a damper on any night-life scene. Hence, the sidewalks throughout the city roll up when it gets dark. Also, the police are very strict and enjoy writing tickets for almost anything and everything, much like a small city or town does. Something you would never see in a city that wants to prosper, grow, and bring in major corporations and educated young adults. (Sadly, the city's leaders have never figured out what the problem is!) ...

Hi Kooter, I would agree with you about the above up until ten years ago. I'm not sure when you left but DT winston has changed dramatically in the past ten years. There are a lot of nice restaurants that have opened up and a few bars. During the warmer months there are public events thursday, friday and saturday nights downtown. We even have our own brewery DT that opened up four years ago.

Just wanted to clear this up for those looking to move here.