Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-08-2015, 09:46 AM
 
6 posts, read 5,687 times
Reputation: 12

Advertisements

Hello all!

My wife, our 2 small children and I are considering a move to the NC area, mostly for cost of living and weather (we are from a Boston suburb and HATE the winters here) while we are still young enough. We will be doing a road trip down to Myrtle Beach in May - we plan on stopping in various locations along the way to test the waters - basically to see if we like the area. What I am looking for is suggestions on places to stop along the way. So far the Raleigh area and Wilmington area seem very intriguing, anywhere else? Here is what we are looking for in a community:

1. Safe community with good schools
2. Jobs - I am a firefighter/paramedic and my wife is a private investigator. Need somewhere near a city that has a decent job market.
3. Affordable - obviously we aren't millionaires - need an area that we can afford a decent home, probably in the 150,000 - 200,000 range.
4. We would prefer to live in a suburb near a city - small town feel but close enough to visit or work in the city without a huge commute.

We will not move until we have jobs and are sure that we like the area, just looking for a little advice to get us started. Thank you in advance for the help!

-Matt
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-08-2015, 10:04 AM
 
Location: Sneads Ferry, NC
13,345 posts, read 26,844,730 times
Reputation: 6930
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcroall47 View Post
So far the Raleigh area and Wilmington area seem very intriguing, anywhere else?
The Raleigh job market is much larger than the Wilmington job market, especially if you consider the outlying counties like Johnston, Harnett, Orange and Chatham.

I think you should also consider the Triad (Greensboro and Winston-Salem) as the housing is more affordable than either the Triangle or the Coast.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2015, 10:07 AM
 
6 posts, read 5,687 times
Reputation: 12
Thank you Goldenage1 - I have not done any research on the triad area. I will do that thank you.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2015, 11:12 AM
 
Location: The Triad
34,090 posts, read 82,583,206 times
Reputation: 43650
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcroall47 View Post
2. Jobs - I am a firefighter/paramedic and my wife is a private investigator.
Need somewhere near a city that has a decent job market.
EVERYthing comes down to the jobs that you might find.
Which by extension usually means the 3 (or 4) larger population centers.
(Charlotte or Triangle or Triad and maybe Wilmington)

Use your firefighter (and PI) contacts to ferret out the inside info on which of these
several departments are hiring and how much they really pay (which won't be much).
And of course what benefits and opportunities for advancement might exist.

Then see if you can maintain your lives on that certainly lower than current number.

Three generally reliable sources of objective data:
Family Budget Calculator | Economic Policy Institute
Cost of Living Calculator | Comparison Tool
State and County QuickFacts
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2015, 11:25 AM
 
6 posts, read 5,687 times
Reputation: 12
Thanks MrRational - I plan on stopping in at a local fire station in each area we choose to investigate to ask them some questions about their pay/benefits and how far it goes. Thanks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2015, 01:12 PM
 
3,070 posts, read 4,810,762 times
Reputation: 1942
The 150-200K is your biggest issue (besides jobs)...you may want to research your housing options in those markets and then ask questions about those neighborhoods.

Quick little story...had some close relatives living in San Francisco for awhile...they decided they wanted to buy a house and we looked through the book (before housing on the internet)...I kept calling out houses and asked about the neighborhood and my relative kept rejecting the neighborhood. I was throwing out houses listed for 500K...and I finally said...you know, you can get a lot of house in a nice neighborhood in NC for less than 500K. 6 months later they moved back to NC.

If there isn't something in your price range, find a good place that fits your price range.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2015, 01:18 PM
 
6 posts, read 5,687 times
Reputation: 12
Thanks hp - Just from looking online it seems there is many options in that price range in what looks like decent neighborhoods. It is just so hard to detect whether a neighborhood is nice or not just from looking on the internet. It is also difficult to predict how much of a monthly mortgage payment we would be able to afford without first having a job. It seems like most Fire Departments down there start at 30 - 35,000 per year. Not to sure what I would be able to afford with a salary like that
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2015, 01:28 PM
 
Location: The Triad
34,090 posts, read 82,583,206 times
Reputation: 43650
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcroall47 View Post
...what looks like decent neighborhoods.
It is just so hard to detect whether a neighborhood is nice or not ...
Start with using far more objective terms for your criteria and then finding them.

Prices (rent or buy) tend to reflect income of an area.
https://www.richblockspoorblocks.com/

Lower prices and lower income TEND to be reflected in school quality.
GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Quote:
It seems like most Fire Departments down there start at 30 - 35,000 per year.
Not to sure what I would be able to afford with a salary like that
Taking a $30,000 cut in wages to save $20,000 in living expenses...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-11-2015, 09:46 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
10,728 posts, read 22,747,084 times
Reputation: 12325
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational View Post
EVERYthing comes down to the jobs that you might find.
Which by extension usually means the 3 (or 4) larger population centers.
(Charlotte or Triangle or Triad and maybe Wilmington)
On the other hand, since "everybody" is clamoring to move to the 3-4 major population areas, job openings are flooded with applicants there; you probably have better odds applying to listings "off the (well-) beaten path" from the same-old "Charlotte/Raleigh/Asheville/Triad" places, presuming you can find such listings, of course. Your desire for a smaller place, as long as there is work, reinforces this.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-12-2015, 09:19 PM
 
Location: I live in reality.
1,154 posts, read 1,416,547 times
Reputation: 2267
And the Charlotte-Mecklengburg schools have MANY issues and have had for the past 15+ yrs! You have small kids to think about.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top