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I'minformed et al, the transition to another locale with its myriad differences can be easier if you're fleeing rather than sampling.
Friends in Vermont, and my husband and I are all about to embark on a scouting trip to Western NC for possible relocation. The friends merely want another horse farm with a warmer climate, and NC looks sufficiently lovely to them.
We, on the other hand, are fleeing the worst that Los Angeles has to offer. We are middle class, and here's what middle class translates into in 2006 in Los Angeles:
-Assaults on my street
-gangs on my street
-daily graffiti on my street
-double homicides 2 blocks away 2 months ago. Many yearly.
-NOBODY SPEAKS ENGLISH! Nobody! Really! No adult around here speaks English. My only conversations can be with children who are learning ENglish in school. See my "rants" for factual backing up on the Los Angeles forum here.
-Hideous littering
-Hideous wrecking of all quaint housing to construct "McMansions" or cookie cutters, all of 10' from one another, which is legal here.
-The worst "quality of life" laws in the nation, banning pets, horse zoning, and enabling housing density at all costs: there are people living in garages and garden sheds here (several behind us.) Single-family residency was banned all over California last November. All housing lots now are sub-dividable now.
-Noise like you wouldn't believe: ALL parties here have stadium-capacity P.A. sound systems making sure that parties 8 blocks away sound like they are in your own living room.
-24 hour traffic jam. You all may rant of your local concerns, but L.A. is the statistical clear winner (loser) on this one.
-Toxic air
-Toxic people, all of whom despise American citizens and have no intention of obeying any American laws.
-Housing prices that are the worst in the nation with the exception of Manhattan, Honolulu, Jupiter Island and a few tiny enclaves of the Paris Hilton set. Example:$800K will get you a smallish 2-bedroom home in an area with fewer gangs than where we live. Anything below $500 means condo.
-Our foreign national neighbors have shot at our dogs through the fence.
-Our foreign national neighbors have destroyed our property with chainsaws because "they didn't like it."
-Our foreign national neighbors block our driveway with commercial trucks and think it's funny to get back at gringo.
-Police never, ever responding to the above because they're busy with the gangs.
-Educational system where war has been declared on teachers as well as students (my husband is a teacher. I know.) by know-nothing administrators.
-and so on ad nauseum.
The upshot is that my husband and I would have an easier time adjusting to the differences because we want no part of what we will be fleeing. This is a TERRIBLE way for middle class people to have to live. (we'll be leaving Los Angeles the nanosecond my husband retires in 3 years.) Our game plan elsewhere is to keep our personal beliefs to ourselves if they differ from the locals, make sure we find a place compatible with our pet/animal needs, and see how the locals actually accomplish things in their area and why. After all, you all are the experts.
ALSO note this. When it snows STAY OFF THE ROADS. It doesn't matter how much snow it is. You stay off the road because there WILL be serious back ups and accidents. I may make current residence cringe when I mention this......... last January; .7 inches! It snowed less than an inch in Jan. 2005 and completely LOCKED DOWN the areas roads. Trips that took 10 minutes took 6 hours; kids spent the night in school, people spent the night at work or in their cars on the road. But that was nothing. In Jan. 2000; 27 inches (no decimal, that says twenty-seven inches) fell and people thought the end had come. There was no school for 2 weeks and you didn't DARE get in your car. That is why not when it snows... but the minute they predict it coming; you go to the store as the creater of this thread mentioned.
LMAO...I grew up in Columbia,SC but my family was originally from WV. They knew how to drive in snow. It was so funny when we just got a dusting of snow people would panic..buy out all the bread, milk and eggs from the grocery store. I worked 20 miles away and they were one curve(yes ONE curve) to the way to work. I bet I could cant at least 20 to 30 accidents when it snowed. Plus they would even close schools if the temperature just below freezing.
A short while ago I left a post in another NC topic area. I am from CT, who was fleeing the nasty New York mindset people who were ruining what used to be a small farming town. It is a long story, but last November I landed here in CA, mid-state and just can't seem to assimilate at all. I call this the "leftist-coast" and hate it for all the same reasons you state in your post, but I was trying to be polite. I won't even go anywhere near the cesspool called LA. I am presently planning my escape to Dixie and that is the only thing that is getting me through. The thought of staying here simply makes my skin crawl! I pray that those moving to NC will not make it into what I was trying to get away from. I have many friends there and can't wait until I set my feet on southern soil once again, and I WILL assimilate!!
I can’t speak for anyone from the North East, but I can for CA.
Fastfilm, has pretty much nailed the quality of life issues. English is a foreign language in some parts, and some that speak English, it’s hard to understand with an interpreter.
The weather is better, but three or more months with out any change can get well, boring. Unless you live by the beach it can hot from April through October. At the beach it’s always too cold in the evenings.
Little change as far as seasons go. Hot, cool, little rain, no rain. This appeals to a lot of people, but after several years you long for the changing seasons.
The crowds are everywhere you go. Even the out of the way campgrounds are full in the spring and summer.
As for moving with jobs, that’s a tough one. Silverwing mentioned how it was better before and the boom days are over, here’s a news flash, same thing is happening all over, been there done that.
Some in CA have lived in their houses for a number of years and have a lot of equity. If you purchased an average house in CA within the last 10 years you probably would be able to sell and have @ $400k cash when you arrive in beautiful NC. For those that fit into that category, you would have to be a fool not to cash out and go to a place that provides a better quality of life.
The one common attraction is the quality of life, and I think NC provides a good quality of life.
Tryon, NC is a hot spot among the horsey folks as you can tell by the town's official seal. It's in conservative Polk County bordering South Carolina. Population is around 1,800. Closest cities are Asheville, NC (70,000) at 43 miles, Spartanburg, SC (39,000)at 30 miles and Greenville, SC (57,000) at 48 miles.
Nearly every post in this thread has resonated with me in some way.
I thought that being middle-class in Mass. was bad enough, but Fastfilm has definitely shamed me.
Some folks move to an area and find that they don't fit (e.g., I'minformed) and have to leave.
Without raising political/cultural hackles: We are leaving for a number of reasons. We are not really well off, still have one son in college (he will have to pay for more for it out of his pocket next year, I assure you). Median house price in our area is over 400k but the market is cooling. Luckily, we have sold our house and have found a nice house in Mebane that we paid a fair price for (we certainly didn't drive up the prices). After paying off the two mortgages (one of which has financed our sons' educations) we will have enough left to be able to job-hunt for quite a while and adjust.
The problem in the areas with high costs-of-living is that you cannot ever hope of retiring unless you were somehow miraculously able to bank half your pay since you started working! Taxes on our modest 1800 sf house in NE Mass. are $4800 and will certainly top $5000 next year if not worse. Heating bills can go over $400 per month from December through March if you're not careful. Electric bills are always high and are among the highest in the country. Car insurance is more than what most people in NC pay for their property taxes. PER CAR. (Only NJ is worse).
Add one of the most corrupt political climates, the one-party (socialist) politics and the never-ending griping by the political class here about how we greedy taxpayers just won't cough up what they need, coupled with their arrogant disregard for the voters' wishes (Income tax rollback, clean elections law, term limits all uniformly ignored or invalidated by political trickery). I won't even go into what some towns are teaching to kindergarteners (you can read the papers) and the seemingly endless winters (fine if you're a snow-lover, which we are not).
The salaries for middle-aged, middle-class folks have stagnated here, which essentially means we have taken huge pay cuts over the last 10 years at least. Many ads are on the radio touting "reverse mortgages" as the salvation for middle-class folks who are getting older. Yes, friends, give your house to the bank so that you can keep from freezing to death! The suckers are lining up.
Nope, I am done here. I work in field service, so when I came back from my first visit to NC for work a few years ago, I liked what I saw and the people that I met. I brought my wife down in the fall and it suited her, too.
We don't expect to find the Emerald City when we arrive -- just a somewhat more sane place to live that I hope will not be overrun with the same sorts who unfortunately have overrun many other places. I'm afraid that a lot of that is due to population increases and that is another topic for a different forum, I expect. The townies can expect that we will stand with them if it comes to that!
Im sorry but I have read many posts on here about people moving to NC and some coming without even a job, like people are fleeing the plague. Is it really that bad where everyone is? Im being serious. I just never would really want to uproot my family or life just for a warmer climate or because I heard people are nicer. Seems like newcomers are metal and NC is the magnet for them.
Maybe I sound harsh but I dont intend to be. What is really the final straw that made you want to move?
Where is that southern hospitality we keep hearing about? I am trying really hard to not be offended by your implication that those of us moving to your state are doing so because we are cold hearted foolish people who can't wait to leave our family and friends behind for the sake of warm weather and nice people. I am responding to this message to let all of the native NC people know how blessed and fortunate they are that they have options of staying near their family. Some of us were born and raised in the most expensive places in the nation - my husband and I being two of those people. If you want to know why we have to leave, try looking up Santa Barbara, CA house prices, gas prices, job market and school systems. We have no choice but to leave since we are teachers trying to make a life for our new baby and ourselves. We dread the day we have to take away our baby from his grandparents. And we sure aren't moving to NC for the weather! We just want to have a piece of the American dream and it isn't possible for some of us living in our over priced communities in low paying (but admirable ) professions. I can assure you we aren't fools thinking we are going to this great state that doesn't have its share of problems. However, now that I am a parent, we have to make sacrifices for the sake of our child and we have no chance of living a successful life as a middle class American in Santa Barbara. Heck, it is even near impossible to live on a teacher's salary in NC, but we at least have a chance of buying a modest home and teaching your children. In most of CA, you can only make it if you purchased a home years ago, are rich or a celebrity. Otherwise, you are living like FastFilm described - in gang-infested areas. Believe it or not, we even have to wipe down the graffiti in our "idyllic beachside community" in Santa Barbara.....
Im sorry but I have read many posts on here about people moving to NC and some coming without even a job, like people are fleeing the plague. Is it really that bad where everyone is? Im being serious. I just never would really want to uproot my family or life just for a warmer climate or because I heard people are nicer. Seems like newcomers are metal and NC is the magnet for them.
Maybe I sound harsh but I dont intend to be. What is really the final straw that made you want to move?
The final staw is when you cannot move to the next town or want to get a different house.If you bought less than 5 years ago, (yes we made money )BUT it does not enable you to even move to the next town and pay $800k plus for a home that needs work. Plus your taxes become $8,000 or more a year. All home prices in 5 short years have doubled. Some people like us can come and have no jobs because we can afford it thats all. And the reason we are comming is because my son planted roots there three years ago and we decided to join him.
I am not fleeing for warmer climate or to find "nice" people. I live amongst friendly people and we all dont wave to one another!!! We dont find that rude either.
I think for most, it's the attractivness of the home prices plays a big part.
If you have ever lived in other areas or did a search on realestate values N.C becomes pretty attractive thats all.
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