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This is somewhat a long read, but would appreciate any feedback from any locals...
Let me first give a brief background..
Our family is looking to relocate, And by family I'm referring to myself (age 32) with wife (teacher), newborn, & dog - My inlaws (both retired with pensions) - my two (real estate agent, administrator) bro-in-laws with their wives (lawyer, sales) and kids & dogs.... We currently reside in suburban Long Island and Albany,NY respectively, and we're all tired of the hustle-n-bustle that is "NY"...We're all in agreement that we're looking for "quality of life" over the "work til you drop" lifestyle we're all too familiar with...
I am fully aware of the "southern lifestyle" and customs as I have family in Louisiana, Florida, and Arkansas... My bro-in-laws/father-in-law are extremely into fishing and the water, so the coastal areas are definitely a big attraction.. I myself can fancy myself a beach-bum as I always enjoy the occasional vacation to Bermuda for the snorkeling and beach activity alone.. I can also see myself relaxing, fishing/jet-skiing in a lake or river...
In doing my research, the obvious downside about living on the coastal area is the flooding and hurricanes (which we've somewhat dodged in NY). Our ideal situation is to find a cul-de-sac type layout where we'd all be able to have our own homes enjoying the privacy being somewhat segregated. A couple areas I've personally looked into have been Wilmington & Asheville... In reading the multitude of posts on these 2 area's alone, I get mixed feelings.. From afar, they both look like our ideal areas - leaving the crappy job-market out of it... But i do see some negatives which seem similar to what we have in Long Island. I'd love to hear from some NY/NJ transplants also if possible..
Are there any other areas that anyone could suggest for me to do some research on?
I really appreciate any comments/suggestions.. Thanks for reading.
Are you intending to relocate that whole "kit & caboodle" of people all to the same area? It's very unlikely that everyone would be looking for the same amenities that one place would have.
As the above poster asks, why NC? I hope your answer is not "because that's where everybody in NY is moving to". Is there a specific reason you think NC is best for your specific needs (and those of your clan)?
If you'll be working, you need to check the job markets in your specific area(s) of employment. And by all means, do LOTS of research by visiting the areas (same goes for every person who's coming along). You can't really pick a new city using the Internet alone.
Thanks for the initial responses..
We're in the preliminary stages of deciding where we'd like to go... Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida just never did it for me..
My family in Louisiana are in the northern part, which is mainly dedicated to the elderly. The highlight of everyone's day there is visiting the local Walmart. Not my scene Arkansas is pretty much the same deal from my family experience... Florida, I was never a fan... I enjoy visiting Disney, and seeing my dad, but other then that, I really haven't enjoyed my stays there..
The North Carolina/South Carolina discussion initially came up thru my father-in-law... He's done alot of traveling with his work, and mentioned he always enjoyed his time there.. Obviously, we'd all have to be on the same page and we all have our own needs and wants.. The main point of this relocation is to bring the family together in a close proximity for the kids sake..
Believe me, this overhaul will not be done on a whim..The job situation will be a major determination if this is even feasible for us all. There is a possibility for me to keep my current job by telecommuting being in the software field... The wife is a teacher, so we're thinking she'd be able to find a job. Again, before we'd commit to anything. We've already decided we don't want our children to go to school in our current district in NY, so if we dont go out of state, we're definitely going to move to a better town on the island.
The initial attraction to North Carolina for me personally is the Coastal area and landscape.. I've honestly never been there myself, but plan on heading there this summer to check it out... I'm thinking the laid back culture along with the water/beach access is a great combo for me personally.. My wife is in the same boat as me with those feelings. She enjoyed the southern hospitality she receives when she comes with me to Louisiana, but was bored out of her mind with the lack of possible activity. I have a few friends who moved to Myrtle Beach, SC and tell me I have to get my butt down there... But, I know that Myrtle Beach is the new "go-to" moving area for NYers.. I'd personally rather not move from NY into NY Part 2, if you know what I mean..
Being locals, would there be any other area's you think would be good areas to perhaps check out? Like I said, we're pretty much in the research phase.. Nothing set in stone.
When my wife and I were looking for a new city to move to after marriage, we narrowed down to 4 cities to check out, based on our criteria, Louisville, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh, and took a road trip to get a feel for all of them. we settled on NC due to proximity to her sister and parents near Roanoke, VA. Charlotte took the cake, as we would have been looking at more back roads to visit them. What I would personally do, is create a list of what you want in a city where you like (i.e. sports teams, lots of golfing, types of festivals, ect), and try to pick several cities that would meet that and visit them, and see what they are really like. It's so much easier to know if you want to move somewhere if you can actually get a feel for it. A lot of people are moving to nashville now, but we went there and hated it.
Another thing to consider, is if you are going to want to visit your family down here, see which cities will have easy access to interstates that head right there. So you could have 1 place that have a highway that gets you to most of your family, and 1 place that is 200 miles in the other direction. That could also sway you. Stuff like that, you know?
edit: Another thing to keep in mind too, is that you may be looking for that laid back lifestyle, but there are tons of people who move to these parts from NY/NJ, ect on a whim stating the exact same thing, but all they are doing is bring the exact same lifestyle down with them that they were trying to escape, diluting the actual "laid back lifestyle" experience, and end of creating an atmosphere of the life they claimed they were trying to escape. As more people move, understand that the bigger the city, the more likely what you are looking for has has long been a shell of how it used to be. There's a good analogy somewhere here regarding red cup and yellow cup that I hope someone has a link for, because I think it's a good read for anyone considering relocating. (including myself).
But, I know that Myrtle Beach is the new "go-to" moving area for NYers.. I'd personally rather not move from NY into NY Part 2, if you know what I mean..
Myrtle Beach has a couple advantages over North Carolina: Lower taxes and good airport access. It's major problem is traffic in the summer. A minor problem is little quality housing. The norm in MB is a 1700 SF 3 bedroom, whereas there are many larger, nicer houses in Wilmington.
I am a pretty honest guy, so my frank answer is not meant to offend.
If you are moving here for "inexpensive" living, you will be sorely disappointed. The coastal living ain't cheap, and neither is Asheville. Gasoline alone is darn near 50 cents per gallon cheaper in SC than in coastal NC due to both greed, monopolies and taxes.
So many northerners have moved down here and then complain constantly about how much better things were "back home." We get it, they dont. If everything is cheaper, then there is less infrastructure and amenities.
Please understand that my post is not knee jerk, but based on scores of threads over many years. While you won't have a lot of the negatives you have in Long Island, you will be missing a lot of positives, too.
Having said that, You will not be much of a beach bum in Asheville. Asheville is 6,7,or 8 hours from the coast. My daughter drives it on the way to college and back and she hates it. Even with her eyes open before choosing a college in the West, she hates it. Boring interspersed with stretches of bad traffic.
To your question. Based on you desire for an enclave, I think you will need to go after new construction, near the coast. The closer you are to towns/cities, the more options you and your clan will have for employment. If you build outside the flood zone, you will not have to worry about flooding, and other than at the extreme coast, hurricanes will only decimate you occasionally. I lot of low risk folks live down here, it is not like rolling the dice.
Near Wilmington, or Morehead City, possibly New Bern are your best bets. The first two are pretty much on the ocean, NB is about 45 minutes or so inland...but we really did get slammed by the Cat I hurricane last year!!!!!
Contrary to a lot of frustration that percolates to the top in these threads, we really don't hate yankees (we just tease a lot) and we really don't mind newcomers, but we just have too much experience with a myriad of complaints about the area they chose to move to, once they moved. It is not Long Island for a reason.
Good Luck, and I think it is cool you guys are considering moving "the family" down this way.
I am a pretty honest guy, so my frank answer is not meant to offend.
If you are moving here for "inexpensive" living, you will be sorely disappointed. The coastal living ain't cheap, and neither is Asheville. Gasoline alone is darn near 50 cents per gallon cheaper in SC than in coastal NC due to both greed, monopolies and taxes.
So many northerners have moved down here and then complain constantly about how much better things were "back home." We get it, they dont. If everything is cheaper, then there is less infrastructure and amenities.
Please understand that my post is not knee jerk, but based on scores of threads over many years. While you won't have a lot of the negatives you have in Long Island, you will be missing a lot of positives, too.
Having said that, You will not be much of a beach bum in Asheville. Asheville is 6,7,or 8 hours from the coast. My daughter drives it on the way to college and back and she hates it. Even with her eyes open before choosing a college in the West, she hates it. Boring interspersed with stretches of bad traffic.
To your question. Based on you desire for an enclave, I think you will need to go after new construction, near the coast. The closer you are to towns/cities, the more options you and your clan will have for employment. If you build outside the flood zone, you will not have to worry about flooding, and other than at the extreme coast, hurricanes will only decimate you occasionally. I lot of low risk folks live down here, it is not like rolling the dice.
Near Wilmington, or Morehead City, possibly New Bern are your best bets. The first two are pretty much on the ocean, NB is about 45 minutes or so inland...but we really did get slammed by the Cat I hurricane last year!!!!!
Contrary to a lot of frustration that percolates to the top in these threads, we really don't hate yankees (we just tease a lot) and we really don't mind newcomers, but we just have too much experience with a myriad of complaints about the area they chose to move to, once they moved. It is not Long Island for a reason.
Good Luck, and I think it is cool you guys are considering moving "the family" down this way.
lln
Agreed totally!!! Most newcomers from NY/NJ say they want the "laid back slower pace" and would like the live in the mountains or the beach. In reality though, Charlotte and Raleigh (NC's two least laid back areas) attract and retain the vast majority of northeastern transplants. There is a reason for that (more of the infrastructure and amenities they are used to, more transplants just like them, and more direct flights back "home" to visit relatives).
The initial attraction to North Carolina for me personally is the Coastal area and landscape.. I've honestly never been there myself, but plan on heading there this summer to check it out... I'm thinking the laid back culture along with the water/beach access is a great combo for me personally.. My wife is in the same boat as me with those feelings. She enjoyed the southern hospitality she receives when she comes with me to Louisiana, but was bored out of her mind with the lack of possible activity. I have a few friends who moved to Myrtle Beach, SC and tell me I have to get my butt down there... But, I know that Myrtle Beach is the new "go-to" moving area for NYers.. I'd personally rather not move from NY into NY Part 2, if you know what I mean..
Um, I think it's safe to say that North Carolina is much more of a "go to" relocation for New Yorkers than SC is! NY license plates everywhere you go, and read this forum and see how many NYers there are.
This map has recent migration flows--click on a county and black lines represent inbound net migration, red lines outbound. Note the Long Island counties, for instance. I think there is a way you can hide the lines and only see the counties themselves lit up.
SC is also a little more isolated from hurricanes, since you mentioned that as a worry, since it does not jut out into the ocean the way the NC coast does. But of course, anywhere can go decades without a hurricane and then get several in a row.
I live in Wilmington and everyone in Wilmington is from Long Island. OK, not EVERYONE - but it's amazing how many people are from Long Island. I was in Long Island earlier this month and a guy in the bagel shop asked me why everyone is moving to Wilmington :-D
I think Wilmington is better than Myrtle Beach for year-round living - Myrtle didn't seem to me to have any sort of cultural core other than the strip restaurants, etc. Wilmington has a great downtown and a lot of entertainment choices that aren't so touristy.
Traffic can get annoying, but not as annoying as the tri-state area.
I'm originally from Northern NJ and personally prefer Durham to Wilmington - I am here for the ocean, but feel drawn back to Durham, it's a little more cerebral (sorry if that offends anyone, just my impression/opinion).
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Is there a specific reason you think NC is best for your specific needs (and those of your clan)?
Arkansas is pretty much the same deal from my family experience... Florida, I was never a fan... I enjoy visiting Disney, and seeing my dad, but other then that, I really haven't enjoyed my stays there.. 
