Cities in North Carolina Please Help (Charlotte, Raleigh: apartment, rent, how much) - City-Data Forum

ATLater · 10-11-2011, 07:59 PM

My partner actually has some extended family in Charlotte but my job is specific about the areas I can live in. We're used to large areas so we didn't want to live in a small city/town. Our choices are Fayetteville, Greenville, Jacksonville, Kinston, Asheboro, Wake Forest, New Bern, Hickory, Wilson or Rocky Mount; none of which we are familiar with.

I was trying to look at a map to see if any of these were close to a large metro like Charlotte or Raliegh/Durham but I figured it'd be more productive just to ask on the forum. Then maybe someone can point me in a direction & I can do some more indepth research.

I copied & pasted this from another thread but I'll be glad to answer any additional questions.

When are you moving? Most likely next summer when kids are out of school so June 2012
Where are you coming from? Franklin, NJ before that Atlanta, GA
Why are you moving? We just can't afford to keep living here. We want to buy a house eventually and with housing costs and taxes we don't think NJ is a owning option. Also the winters are a little much. We do want to live in an area that has seasons but not blizzards.
Where will you be working? I work from home, my partner is a high school teacher, who also tutors. She hasn't worked as a teacher since we left ATL.
Have you been here yet? In NC but not Fayetteville (or any of the other areas)

Will you buy or rent? Rent first until we get familiar with the areas & then buy within 2 - 3 years.
If renting, are you looking for an apartment or a townhouse? How much can you spend? We will need a 2 or 3 bedroom; if possible around $1000. Not too big on the amenities, as long as its in a safe neighborhood and a decent size.

Are you married or single? Do you have children? In a long-term relationship. Our daughter will be moving with us; she'll be in 3rd grade at that time and has a learning disability but does well in her public school here. We also have a son who lives with us part of the year.
Do you prefer a certain public or private schools? Good public schools
Do you have pets? No
Do you want or need a yard? would want a yard but near a park will work too
Are you keeping a car? yes we will have two cars
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? a mixture of both. I like a busy community that has lots to offer if I wanna go out but when I wanna stay in is not totally crowded and loud.

What do you want to be closest to?
Good schools/active community

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Diverse neighborhood would be great. We're a liberal, African-American, same sex couple.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke!

We'd like to live in an area that has an active community with lots of activities for kids. My daughter plays in a city basketball league and is also on the challenger baseball team.

Any & ALL feedback will be appreciated. Thanks so much!

florida8996 · 10-11-2011, 08:28 PM

Hey! As many of us say around here! I live in Randleman which is right between Asheboro and Greensboro. R-man is a small town and Asheboro, bigger. But A-boro is only about 25 minutes commute to Greensboro which is a not to bad, straight up 220, easy drive. I've done it for about 7 years. A-boro is in process of rekindling downtown area, but may not have all of the opportunities that you are desiring. A-boro city limits would be Asheboro city school district and surrounding schools would be Randolph County schools (which my sons have attended) , as far as specific info to look at when researching area. Greensboro would be Guilford County schools. As with any larger schools and towns, there is good and bad. I think Guilford co. would have more of the specifics that you are looking for. Both counties are almost right in center of the state, so you can get to other metro areas in between 1 to 2 hours, a little longer to beaches and mountains. DM me for perhaps more specific info that you might want to know about. I'll be glad to share my experiences with you. Welcome to the state!! I've enjoyed it for 44 years, although we happen to be moving to Florida shortly due to my husband's promotion.

rnc2mbfl · 10-11-2011, 09:50 PM

Wake Forest is a suburb of Raleigh within the same county. It's the closest of your list (by far) to a major NC city. Working in Wake Forest will allow you to live in Raleigh if you prefer to be in a larger city.

MrRational · 10-12-2011, 05:06 AM

ATlater: You say you don't want to live in a small city/town...
but your choices are almost all a bunch of (older or issue laden) small towns.
This is going to be a problem for you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Wake Forest is a suburb (almost twenty miles north) of Raleigh within the same county.
It's the closest of your list (by far) to a major NC city.

Working in Wake Forest will allow you to live in (or at least sorta regularly visit) Raleigh
if you prefer to be in (or near) a larger city.

^^(almost) what they said

hth

box_of_zip_disks · 10-12-2011, 01:48 PM

If you're limited to only the places you listed that's unfortunate because Durham and Greensboro fit your criteria more than any of the places you mentioned.

Francois · 10-12-2011, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATLater

.

I was trying to look at a map to see if any of these were close to a large metro like Charlotte or Raliegh/Durham but I figured it'd be more productive just to ask on the forum. Then maybe someone can point me in a direction & I can do some more indepth research.

Hmmm, it takes about 5 seconds to pull up a map and look for cities on GoogleMaps.

You can also use City-Data's individual city pages to read a little about each because asking specifics.

Asking a large number of question on many topics about a long list of cities is going to get you a bunch of jumble. You would be better served reading a little bit yourself on each one, narrowing the list, then searching the forum for topics on those, and asking qualifying questions for more specific, individual responses. It's a large, diverse state, and you've listed a lot of cities that are quite different from each other. At the least, you should ask in one of the 5 sub-fora fr different regions, where the folks who know the most about each area tend to hang out.

Sadly, that would involve looking at a map!

southbound_295 · 10-12-2011, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATLater

My partner actually has some extended family in Charlotte but my job is specific about the areas I can live in. We're used to large areas so we didn't want to live in a small city/town. Our choices are Fayetteville, Greenville, Jacksonville, Kinston, Asheboro, Wake Forest, New Bern, Hickory, Wilson or Rocky Mount; none of which we are familiar with.

I was trying to look at a map to see if any of these were close to a large metro like Charlotte or Raliegh/Durham but I figured it'd be more productive just to ask on the forum. Then maybe someone can point me in a direction & I can do some more indepth research.

I copied & pasted this from another thread but I'll be glad to answer any additional questions.

When are you moving? Most likely next summer when kids are out of school so June 2012
Where are you coming from? Franklin, NJ before that Atlanta, GA
Why are you moving? We just can't afford to keep living here. We want to buy a house eventually and with housing costs and taxes we don't think NJ is a owning option. Also the winters are a little much. We do want to live in an area that has seasons but not blizzards.
Where will you be working? I work from home, my partner is a high school teacher, who also tutors. She hasn't worked as a teacher since we left ATL.
Have you been here yet? In NC but not Fayetteville (or any of the other areas)

Will you buy or rent? Rent first until we get familiar with the areas & then buy within 2 - 3 years.
If renting, are you looking for an apartment or a townhouse? How much can you spend? We will need a 2 or 3 bedroom; if possible around $1000. Not too big on the amenities, as long as its in a safe neighborhood and a decent size.

Are you married or single? Do you have children? In a long-term relationship. Our daughter will be moving with us; she'll be in 3rd grade at that time and has a learning disability but does well in her public school here. We also have a son who lives with us part of the year.
Do you prefer a certain public or private schools? Good public schools
Do you have pets? No
Do you want or need a yard? would want a yard but near a park will work too
Are you keeping a car? yes we will have two cars
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? a mixture of both. I like a busy community that has lots to offer if I wanna go out but when I wanna stay in is not totally crowded and loud.

What do you want to be closest to?
Good schools/active community

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Diverse neighborhood would be great. We're a liberal, African-American, same sex couple.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke!

We'd like to live in an area that has an active community with lots of activities for kids. My daughter plays in a city basketball league and is also on the challenger baseball team.

Any & ALL feedback will be appreciated. Thanks so much!

Franklin Twp in Gloucester County?

BiggDaddyDroid · 10-13-2011, 10:27 PM

Wake forrest is close 2 raleigh which has 400k+ ppl in city limits. Greensboro is a small city but is the biggest on your list and also a fine town.

rnc2mbfl · 10-13-2011, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrRational

ATlater: You say you don't want to live in a small city/town...
but your choices are almost all a bunch of (older or issue laden) small towns.
This is going to be a problem for you.

^^(almost) what they said

hth

Going from center of W.F to center of Raleigh is 17 miles. However, the southern side of Wake Forest actually touches the northern city limits of Raleigh.