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I have been doing a lot of research lately on where would be the best place to land for me as California has been going to the gutter for a long while now. I can buy a home here right now, but with the way the state is trending I honestly feel that that is a horrid idea. On top of that, I could never see myself raising a family here.
I have a girlfriend here, but if I moved, it would ensure the end of that relationship, so that is something I have already come to terms with. So, I would be making this move with nothing holding me back.
I have yet to visit NC, but everyone tells me that it would be the premier place for me given my lifestyle and career.
From what I have been reading, it seems that Charlotte would be my best bet for finding a job, but I am also seeing suggestions for Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro, and Ashville.
My big question is if I had 5 days to spend out in NC, what are the must-visit towns to check into for living and jobs for someone that does Web Programming (Just think anything IT-related)?
Thank you all for your time and I look forward to your responses!
Asheville is a nice place, but there will be far fewer IT jobs and more competition for them. I would concentrate on the larger cities.
Before you plan any trip, I would scope out the jobs you could fill on a job site like Indeed.com. Then chart where they are located. That will give you a far more accurate picture of where the jobs are located than the opinions of strangers on this forum.
I'd say if you're going into IT, Raleigh/Durham is a far better spot than Charlotte. Raleigh/Durham is more the computer/tech area with multiple IT-related companies here (offhand I can think of Lenovo, RIM, Red Hat, Cisco, Epic Games, IBM, and SAS - I'm sure there are quite a few others both in and out of RTP).
In general though I'd recommend checking out the Triangle (comprised of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, and assorted other towns), the Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point), Charlotte, and maybe Hickory (Apple's placing a major data center there which could potentially spawn more tech innovations in that town).
I think the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) is the go to place in NC for IT with many big companies like Cisco, IBM, RedHat, etc, the universities, as well as many smaller tech firms, but you really need to do some more research on your own.
Yeah, it definitely looks like the Triangle has the most IT jobs. I am seeing zip in Charlotte. I love that the Triangle is more affordable insofar as homes as well and is in between the beach and the mountains.
I am planning to go out there at the end of a July to see what the summers are like there and to get a feel for whether or not it would be a good fit
Take a week off from work (not a minute less).
Get on a plane and fly into Raleigh.
Poke around. Walk into a few potential work places.
Better yet, try to make some advance introduction/ contacts.
Have lunch and dinner at the nearby watering holes.
Take 3 or 4 days to meet people and see what is what.
Poke around outside of Raleigh too.
Rent a road car. Buy a paper road atlas book (Walmart $5)
Get motel rooms by the night.
Make the (4+ hour) run out to Asheville.
Stop in at Winston and fly home out of Charlotte
Allow for an afternoon at each. More if you can.
Go home to CA and think about life.
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