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.
Or consider moving to a place on a lake somewhere in the Midwest. Four seasons with tolerable summers AND winters, and more libertarian conservatism and less overt prosyletizing of any kind.
I love NC. And the coast is great, especially, IMO, in the shoulder seasons. But I wouldn't want to live there year-round, and I also think, as someone who grew up in a colder climate, that the oppressive heat in the summer is not always an even trade-off with snow in the winter up north. I didn't move here for that reason and I never quite understand it as a main reason for moving here (except perhaps for retired folks who can't easily shovel snow any longer and who aren't interested in being outside a lot in the summer).
Or consider moving to a place on a lake somewhere in the Midwest. Four seasons with tolerable summers AND winters, and more libertarian conservatism and less overt prosyletizing of any kind.
I love NC. And the coast is great, especially, IMO, in the shoulder seasons. But I wouldn't want to live there year-round, and I also think, as someone who grew up in a colder climate, that the oppressive heat in the summer is not always an even trade-off with snow in the winter up north. I didn't move here for that reason and I never quite understand it as a main reason for moving here (except perhaps for retired folks who can't easily shovel snow any longer and who aren't interested in being outside a lot in the summer).
It's not just shoveling. The snow stays around for a long time, and turns into a grey, slushy, disgusting mess that you have to deal with every single time you leave the house. Got a lot of snow? Try driving around on narrow new england roads with 10 foot snowbanks blocking every single view you have. Got bad ice dams on your 60 year old house? Better be up on a ladder every day with a hammer and chisel chipping away at that ice so your roof doesn't leak. Live in an urban area? Have fun fighting (literally) for that parking space that you spent hours shoveling out so you could run to the store.
Ugh....just thinking about it raises my blood pressure. I'll take some humidity any day of the week - all I have to do is change my shirt.
Just for reference, here's the front of my house in the winter of 2015. I was up on a ladder every single day for two weeks trying to break up that enormous ice dam. We moved to NC that Summer. Lol.
I appreciate everyone's candor. It has helped us to think more realistically about what life would be like in NC.
What was really motivating us to leave New England is the horrible winters but I don't think I'd enjoy the hot summers down there either. Every day in the summer up here I go for long walks (about 4 miles) on my lunch break at work. It sounds like I'd drop dead of heat stroke if I tried that in the summer in NC. After thinking about it we realized how much we'd miss about New England: the foliage in the fall, the moderate summers, the beautiful Maine coast, lobstah rolls, clam chowdah and whoopie pies, the history, etc etc etc We've come to realize that New England is who we are; it's in our DNA and we don't want to mess with that.
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until you see what the alternatives would be like and the picture you guys have painted for us is honestly not very appealing. Maybe we'll still make it down some day to visit the NC coast but it seems like for now we're probably just going to stay put and deal with the winters. We've been doing it all our lives. My wife calls it seasonal amnesia. Every spring and summer we forget how bad the winter was because it's so incredibly nice here from May through mid October.
It's not just shoveling. The snow stays around for a long time, and turns into a grey, slushy, disgusting mess that you have to deal with every single time you leave the house. Got a lot of snow? Try driving around on narrow new england roads with 10 foot snowbanks blocking every single view you have. Got bad ice dams on your 60 year old house? Better be up on a ladder every day with a hammer and chisel chipping away at that ice so your roof doesn't leak. Live in an urban area? Have fun fighting (literally) for that parking space that you spent hours shoveling out so you could run to the store.
Ugh....just thinking about it raises my blood pressure. I'll take some humidity any day of the week - all I have to do is change my shirt.
Just for reference, here's the front of my house in the winter of 2015. I was up on a ladder every single day for two weeks trying to break up that enormous ice dam. We moved to NC that Summer. Lol.
If you had ice dams that's a sign that your attic was not properly insulated. If you have a properly insulated and air sealed attic/roof then you would not have ice dams.
But yes the snow/slush/dirty brown mush is annoying but life does not get any better than sitting on the Maine Coast in July eating a lobster roll while looking at the Atlantic Ocean.
If you had ice dams that's a sign that your attic was not properly insulated. If you have a properly insulated and air sealed attic/roof then you would not have ice dams.
But yes the snow/slush/dirty brown mush is annoying but life does not get any better than sitting on the Maine Coast in July eating a lobster roll while looking at the Atlantic Ocean.
Of course there's always a way to remediate, but when you're paying 600k for a 1800sf cape cod that wasn't even intended to have the 2nd floor finished, it's easier said than done. Ever been in the "attic" of a cape cod with a finished 2nd floor? Good luck getting it well insulated.
New England housing stock is old and has issues like this - ask any insurance company about water claims in winter of 2015.
New England is a great place and I miss some things about it - but living in general is much easier down here.
Of course there's always a way to remediate, but when you're paying 600k for a 1800sf cape cod that wasn't even intended to have the 2nd floor finished, it's easier said than done. Ever been in the "attic" of a cape cod with a finished 2nd floor? Good luck getting it well insulated.
New England housing stock is old and has issues like this - ask any insurance company about water claims in winter of 2015.
New England is a great place and I miss some things about it - but living in general is much easier down here.
A lot of New England housing stock is contractor grade and contractors don't go the extra mile. They're all about slapping it together as quickly and cheaply as possible and then getting paid. It's been my experience that homeowners often have to pay out of pocket to resolve the corners that the contractor cut.
What is so much easier about living down there?
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.
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.
