Worst towns in NC? (Charlotte, Raleigh: best towns, 2010, townhome)

[mm34b]

Originally Posted by Ginny T

I attended junior high in Henderson (Vance County). I was a kid and had good friends, so I was happy enough there at the time, but much of the population was racist and ignorant.

I thought Henderson was a predominantly African-American community?

[cassy1]

Stay out of the city limits to Rocky Mount. The surrounding country is great and I hear Red Oak has very good schools (we are older and our children are out of school).

[wisconsin man]

Looking for information on Edenton...looks very low an soggy? Buggy in the summer? Housing costs look attractive ...love and miss the ocean and this looks like an area that would more than satisfy the need

[nicknat]

Originally Posted by John Law

Any town where the ratio of transplants to natives is highly disproportionate. (i.e. Cary)

Why would that be undesirable? Wasn't it voted one of the best small cities to live in?

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by nicknat

Why would that be undesirable? Wasn't it voted one of the best small cities to live in?

Actually I believe it was voted as one of the best US cities to live in BEFORE it got so overrun with transplants, and that's what has contributed to it being overrun

[Raleighwood]

Well, here goes. Posts have run the gamut from racism and rednecks to Bible thumpers and gays and all over the board. If you want to put it in a nutshell, anything east of Raleigh, until you get to the coast, is questionable at best. There are most certainly areas of western NC that would fall under the same category, but according to the last census figures, only one county (Dare) was in the top 10 in highest household income in NC. By contrast, the top 10 in terms of poverty rate were all in eastern NC. This is not just my opinion. Our newspaper in Raleigh is constantly filled with stories/opinions on how to "fix" eastern NC and the economic problems they face. No-one as of yet has come up with a solution, and I seriously doubt will, in my lifetime. By their own admission, the Global Transpark in Kinston has done nothing since it's inception, and has been deemed a "failure" in the press. IMO, Greenville and the ECU connection are the best hope for creating knowledgable , higher paying opportunities for eastern NC.

As far as locally, Durham would have to be the worst place to live in the Triangle. Our neighbors moved here from NYC and were appalled at the almost daily crime reports/gang activity that came from the "Bull City". These aren't people who, btw, were insulated in Manhattan somewhere. They both were teachers in the Bronx.

Further west, Charlotte has its problems but is much more of a "big city" in both money and mentality than any of its counterparts in NC, Raleigh included. As a native of that area, but living here since I came to college (30 years ago) there are vast differences between the two, separated by only 150 miles. You'd think we came from 2 different planets. On the one hand, Raleigh and the Triangle are filled with educated people from all walks, transplant or not. We have the highest concentration of PhD's in the country. On the other hand, Raleigh civic leaders have always seemed to have a chip on their shoulder concerning Charlotte. They come across as "We're Just as Good! We're Just As Good!" while endlessly debating the merits of some piece of tasteless public art. Raleigh tries to compete with Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Charlotte competes with Atlanta, Miami, and DC.

Even further west, I would pick Asheville or close by. Even for a straight guy!
It's beautiful and if I could move my business to the mountains, that would be the place. Boone/Blowing Rock is gorgeous as well, just more small town, though with ASU, it's not an "ignorant outback".

[Bull City Rising]

Originally Posted by Raleighwood

Well, here goes. Posts have run the gamut from racism and rednecks to Bible thumpers and gays and all over the board. If you want to put it in a nutshell, anything east of Raleigh, until you get to the coast, is questionable at best. There are most certainly areas of western NC that would fall under the same category, but according to the last census figures, only one county (Dare) was in the top 10 in highest household income in NC. By contrast, the top 10 in terms of poverty rate were all in eastern NC. This is not just my opinion. Our newspaper in Raleigh is constantly filled with stories/opinions on how to "fix" eastern NC and the economic problems they face. No-one as of yet has come up with a solution, and I seriously doubt will, in my lifetime. By their own admission, the Global Transpark in Kinston has done nothing since it's inception, and has been deemed a "failure" in the press. IMO, Greenville and the ECU connection are the best hope for creating knowledgable , higher paying opportunities for eastern NC.

As far as locally, Durham would have to be the worst place to live in the Triangle. Our neighbors moved here from NYC and were appalled at the almost daily crime reports/gang activity that came from the "Bull City". These aren't people who, btw, were insulated in Manhattan somewhere. They both were teachers in the Bronx.

I would agree with your assessment on eastern NC, but disagree about Durham. Strongly.

I would note with interest the "daily crime reports" ... Durham takes historically a beating in the TV and newspaper press around here, where literally, a bad-news story in Durham makes top-of-fold in the News & Observer, while the same exact event in Raleigh makes it inside Local & State.

Durham has its share of crime, in large part because it is a tremendously socioeconomically diverse community. Million dollar homes and old mansions, in the same town as modest middle class homes and, sadly, deeply impoverished pockets. Lots of people who choose to live here love living in a diverse community and wouldn't want it any other way.

Some suburbanites don't like this idea and run off to a place like Cary, which is okay, it's a free country. But I think it's important for folks to understand that plenty of well-off, educated professionals live in Durham, and in fact, actively choose *not* to live in Cary, or Holly Springs, or "Ye Olde Southern Plantation" or whatever they call those places.

If I had to pick worst-place-in-the-Triangle, my own choice would be based around my own biases about the kind of places I don't want to live (cheap tract housing in vanilla subdivisions, sprawled out with mega shopping centers and Wal-Marts, long highway commutes everywhere) -- e.g., Clayton. But before folks jump on me, I'm saying that Clayton's not for me. Plenty of people love it, and God love 'em, as long as they can pay the cost of gas to do the commute, good for them.

[joenc]

It's just like most states, the poor rural areas are pretty bad. The eastern part of the state is on especially hard times with no salvation in sight.

[nicknat]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Actually I believe it was voted as one of the best US cities to live in BEFORE it got so overrun with transplants, and that's what has contributed to it being overrun

I guess that's why they say "if you build it, they will come" but I did think it was US News & World Report in 2006 that said what a great place Cary was...double edged sword I guess...if it tops the list next time around then maybe they've got something there!

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by nicknat

I guess that's why they say "if you build it, they will come" but I did think it was US News & World Report in 2006 that said what a great place Cary was...double edged sword I guess...if it tops the list next time around then maybe they've got something there!

This isn't the first time Cary has made this list. Going back to the early 1990's Cary has very frequently been in the category of either best places to live or safest places to live by reports in Money Magazine, Quitmo's Annual Safest Cities List, ect... Ever since the first time it was touted as one of the best little cities to live in (either 1991 or 1992) people have been flocking there.