Anyone on this board moved to NC? (Miami, Miami Beach: crime, chapel)

[Jerseymiami]

We have been thinking of moving up to NC, and have concentrated on the Triangle area. It seems as though people from Miami have moved to the Charlotte area. Does anyone care to share their opinion?

[DCkid]

I moved FROM Charlotte. The triangle area is nice although Durham has some parts that are pretty "gutter". But so does every area in the US so its no big deal. I'm more familiar with Charlotte though so I don't have too much to say about other parts.

[305guy]

Lived in Raleigh for 3 years old when I graduated college in Miami and moved back to South Florida. Raleigh is very nice, it's family oriented and it is suburbia without a downtown center to the city.

I would say it is ideal for families who want a back yard, 3 bedroom, affordable house. Everything is very spread out so you may drive alot but there isn't much traffic to worry about. A lot of strip malls, department big-box style stores like Supertarget and Best Buy. Raleigh is a nice city to live in but personally that's all it was to me and as a 22 year old single guy from Miami I found it to be to slow and bland for my liking. Of course this is a matter of personal opinion. But I wouldn't mind living there if I had a couple of kids or something. But I do think it's kind of a soccer-mom area and I don't mean that to be derogatory, just my perception. I'd pick Raleigh or Chapel Hill over Durham however...hope my .02 cents helped...

[nitokenshi]

nc is where all the floridians go

[kevinkagy]

NC is so boring! Just horribly-planned expanses of cookie cutter suburbia with cheap homes, strip malls, no urbanism, driving, driving, driving and more driving. It's good for families that want a cheap home, but for everything else, Charlotte and Raleigh are horrible.

[himain]

I beg to differ on that Kevin..NC has lots of stuff to do..Nascar, tons of events, festivals..Everything that Miami has but cheaper and nicer..To the OP, I just moved to Charlotte from Miami.

[miamiblue]

Hey Jerseymiami. You already know about me, but I also sometimes post back on my hometown board to hopefully contribute some of my knowledge of the area even though I have left.

Obviously, you're going to hear a wide variety of things on this and the other forum because everyone is going to toot their own horn. But what it boils down to is what YOU personally are looking for in a place to live.

I've already seen some generalizations stated on this thread that are based on stereotypes, so maybe you need to ask more specific questions about specific areas that you are interested in. Raleigh and Charlotte are different between each other, and together they are extremely different than say Fayetteville or Tarboro.

Originally Posted by kevinkagy

NC is so boring! Just horribly-planned expanses of cookie cutter suburbia with cheap homes, strip malls, no urbanism, driving, driving, driving and more driving. It's good for families that want a cheap home, but for everything else, Charlotte and Raleigh are horrible.

kevinkagy, how many years have you lived in Charlotte or Raleigh? You could say the exact same thing about Miami (except the inexpensive home part) and add in horrible traffic since most people in Miami do not live in the downtown, Brickell or Miami Beach areas and even less use the 'urban' public transportation to get around. Even if you do use it, it won't get you everywhere you need to go, so you still need to drive in Miami. The majority of Miami residents arguably live in planned cookie cutter suburbs serviced by many, many strip malls - not too much "urbanism" in that, either.

I haven't spent any time in Charlotte that would give me enough info to pass on to you, but I've lived in Raleigh for two years, one of those downtown. It does have a downtown that is metropolitan and growing. It also does have a huge suburbia component. There are some great neighborhoods that are "Inside the Beltline" that offer nice houses with yards while still being very close in to all the culture of downtown. And there is plenty of sprawled out new construction that offers the bigger home/yard with a smaller price tag. It has a lot of entertainment and events if you like things besides just going clubbing, and believe it or not they are very affordable considering the variety and quality. Not to mention, Durham and Chapel Hill are close enough that you can also participate in events in those cities as well. For example, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival was going on this past weekend in Durham, which I attended.

As far as Charlotte and Raleigh go, the main differences I keep hearing are that Charlotte is bigger, and their downtown is farther along than Raleigh's. The types of industry are very different, with Charlotte heavier on the banking while the entire Triangle tends more toward government (Raleigh is the state capitol), tech, education and research. I have heard from others that Charlotte is a more conservative city, but I cannot verify that myself since I don't have enough experience to say.

I think if you present specific "wants" or expectations for what you want in a place to live, you might get more constructive feedback. I hope that some of what I have said is helpful to you. Feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions you think I might be able to answer.

[compelled to reply]

If you are moving from Charlotte to escape the crime, here are some statistics to use as a comparison guide. My suggestion would be to avoid the major cities if you are looking for a safer place.

Unfortunately they do not have 2007 stats yet, so I can not compare those, but I would assume that the increase in crime there is similar, considering all of the new people moving in, and from reading news websites.

Mecklenburg County, NC (Charlotte)-7,663.6 crimes per 100k (WOW!)
Durham County, NC (Durham)- 6,640.5 (it's likely that Durham has decreased however)
Forsyth county, NC (Winston-Salem)- 6,072.4
Miami-Dade County, FL- 5,964.1
Guilford Couny, NC (Greensboro)- 5,754.7
Gaston County, NC (outside of Charlotte)- 5,301.2
Palm Beach county, FL- 4,953.3
Catawba County, NC (outside of Charlotte)- 4,642.4
Broward County, FL- 4,295.9
Orange County, NC (Chapel Hill)- 4,103.3
Better Choices
Buncombe County, NC (Asheville)- 3,715.5
Union County, NC (outside of Charlotte)- 3,692.5
Wake County, NC (Raleigh)- 3,326.5
And SOME smaller counties far from major metro areas(some of the small counties near metro areas were bad)
North Carolina Crime Statistics
Total Index Crime by County, 2006

Consider the population sizes and economic positions of all of these places compared to the principal South FL counties

[StoneOne]

Yeah, the myth that NC is some paradise with a low cost of living and no crime seems rampant on these forums.

Read the newspapers for the Triangle area and Charlotte, and you'll see that there's plenty of crime here. Maybe not the bizarre sorts of crimes that take place in S. Florida, but plenty of crime nonetheless (violent and otherwise).

As for boring, I wouldn't necessarily say that about NC. "Boring" is a highly subjective term that depends on a person's own interests and motivation, as well as financial resources available to take advantage of opportunities around him. For someone with limited means or someone who gets a kick out of wide open spaces, Miami could be incredibly boring. A rich person who likes the beach and the nightclubs everyday of the week might indeed find NC boring.

I, for one, like what both NC and Miami have to offer. As soon as my own resources permit, I'll likely be spending more time in Miami.

[InNCandlovingit]

Originally Posted by Jerseymiami

We have been thinking of moving up to NC, and have concentrated on the Triangle area. It seems as though people from Miami have moved to the Charlotte area. Does anyone care to share their opinion?

JerseyMiami,

My husband and I moved almost a year ago from Miami to the Triangle and love it! Even though we had a few financial struggles in the begining (job hunting) we have never regretted the move. The people here are great too. Rush hour really lasts an hour and drivers are pretty conciderate(sp?) as well.
As an example, went to the DMV to get my NC license and between registering, taking the test, getting my picture taken and being hande my DL, I was in and out in an hour! Got my car registed here and was in and out in 20 minutes. I remember making an appointment in Miami to do that and it taking half a day just to be called!
The scenery here is breath taking and the change of seasons are great. It gets cold in the winter (by FLA. standards) but not too cold.

If there is anything else you want to know, just ask!