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.
My 14 month old son, my boyfriend and I want to move to North Carolina to "start over"...we need some advice. Were looking for good schools, low crime rate, extra curricular activities, close to a lake, some-what small town, but not far from the city, affordable rentals, decent jobs...we have looked at some cities like Raleigh, Hickory, Charlotte, and Asheville. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
My wife and I moved to Raleigh, from Dallas, with our then 10-month old son about 1 1/2 years ago.
I'd moved to Fort Worth right out of college back in the mid-80s. I lived down by Hulen Mall for a year, then up in Bedford for a year, then bought a house in North Richland Hills for 10 years. Once I met my wife, I moved to Carrollton and we got married. We lived there for about 10 years before moving here. My wife was born and bred in Dallas and had lived there all her life.
We decided to move away from TX and started researching places to go. Our number 1 requirement was a moderate climate. We were sick of the long hot TX summers. We also wanted a place where both of us could get jobs easily (I'm in software development and she's in the medical field), the cost of living was "reasonable", and there were plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities (we love hiking and camping). We also wanted a city much smaller that Dallas.
We thought about Tennesee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and North Carolina. We took trips to Memphis, Nashville, Bowling Green, Chattanooga, Asheville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Raleigh. Raleigh won out because of the Research Triangle Park. . . . . . a high-tech office part with lots of companies that do software.
Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'd be glad to offer my opinions.
Thanks for the reply! How is the crime rate in Raleigh? Did yall apply for jobs and housing before you got there? Is there a lake nearby? How does NC compare to Ft. Worth? Sorry so many questions, we just want to make sure we do this right!
Thanks for the reply! How is the crime rate in Raleigh?
To tell you the truth, I don't bother looking at crime statistics much. Seems to be about the same, or better than Ft Worth. If you look on this City-Data web site, you will see ALL KINDS of statistics for cities. Here are the ones for Fort Worth and Raleigh. Crime seems to be better in Raleigh than Ft Worth.
Did yall apply for jobs and housing before you got there?
Yes. I would recommend that at least one of you have a job lined up before you arrive. For us, I had a job lined up first, and my wife found one after we arrived and were settled in. This is probably the most difficult part of the move because companies are hesitant about hiring out-of-state workers. They have plenty to choose from that are in-state. It all depends on the field that you are in though. Some occupations are in more demand than others.
We searched for apartments near my new office using the internet, and applied via fax. We had already made a trip to the area about 6 months earlier, so we knew the general area to look in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RacquelR
Is there a lake nearby?
Yes. Quite a few. They aren't nearly as large as Dallas/Fort Worth lakes, but they are lakes. Use Google maps to get a satellite view of the area. The biggest are Falls Lake (Raleigh water supply) and Jordan Lake (Cary Water supply). There are also many smaller ones. I live next to Lake Wheeler, which is south of Raleigh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RacquelR
How does NC compare to Ft. Worth? Sorry so many questions, we just want to make sure we do this right!
That's very difficult to say. Ft Worth is bigger than Raleigh in both population and land mass. In fact, I'd say that the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area is about 1/5 the size of the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area. The weather is cooler here (about 5-10 degrees cooler all year) but the humidity is a little worse.
Raleigh is only a 3 hour drive to beautiful ocean beaches and a 4 hour drive to the Smokey Mountains. Where will you be if you drive 3-4 hours from Ft Worth? Probably the best place would be the Hill Country down by Austin.
Your little one still has some time before he's in school, but you should know that there are some problems with the schools here because the area is growing rapidly and they are having trouble keeping up with the growth. There is lots of discussion on this topic on the Raleigh forum, so I'll let you read that.
Thank you so much for all the info. We have heard a lot of great things about Hickory also. I know its not in the same area at all...but have you been there or do you know anything about it?
Thank you so much for all the info. We have heard a lot of great things about Hickory also. I know its not in the same area at all...but have you been there or do you know anything about it?
Nope. I know that when we were deciding where to move to, we took one of those tests that supposedly helps you pick out the "perfect" city. Moderator cut: url removed It said that Hickory was our Utopia. However, there are no telecommuncation SW companies in Hickory, so we crossed it off our list.
Last edited by autumngal; 05-02-2008 at 07:49 PM..
Reason: no competitor sites please ,ty
Hi--
I have lived in raleigh for over 30 years--we might be getting transferred w/ my husbands job to FW area. He would work off of 35W between the speedway and alliance airport. Where is good to live--I love Raleigh! We live near crabtree so everything is w/i tops 15 min.
We have 2 kids and one on the way! My oldest is 4 so schools are important--
We could spend about $350 on a house any help would be appreciate---I like an area that compares to raleigh although I know it won't be as big!
Thanks
Hi--
I have lived in raleigh for over 30 years--we might be getting transferred w/ my husbands job to FW area. He would work off of 35W between the speedway and alliance airport. Where is good to live--I love Raleigh! We live near crabtree so everything is w/i tops 15 min.
We have 2 kids and one on the way! My oldest is 4 so schools are important--
We could spend about $350 on a house any help would be appreciate---I like an area that compares to raleigh although I know it won't be as big!
Thanks
You have only $350 to spend on a house?! You won't get anything for that price. Did you mean to say $350,000?
Well, you're in luck. Real estate is CHEAP in Texas. $350K will buy you a very nice house.
I'd recommend that you start your search in Southlake/Westlake. Flower Mound and Grapevine are also nice cities, although farther away from Alliance (but closer to the DFW airport). I used to live in North Richland Hills and passed through Southlake on my way to work in Lewisville every day.
And you may be surprised about Fort Worth. It is MUCH bitter than Raleigh. . . .probably twice the size in fact.
Oh, and a bit of advice. . . . you are responding to an existing thread on the North Carolina page started by someone wanting to move to North Carolina, yet you are asking questions about moving to Texas. You should start a new thread on the Dallas-Fort Worth page instead.
well what exactly are yall looking for, do you want to be closer to fort worth or further away? That area is quite big you have fort worth, keller, denton, north richland hills, hurst, euless, bedford, colleyville, richland hills, fossil ridge... i could keep going just letting you know how big the area is and everything here is with in 15 mins of texas motor speedway. Are yall looking to buy or rent? Rent here is much more expensive I really dont think you will find an apt for 350 and a house for that just isnt going to happen, you are looking at 500-800 dollors at the least for an alright house. Keller is a really good area to live in has really good schools and its a nicer area to live in. not as big as some other citys but is still pretty large. colleyville is going to be the most expensive place to live out of the one i have listed very nice area very good school very big house in most of the city. I dont even know where im going with all of this or if it is even helping you so if you could give me a little more detail about what you are looking for i could help you out alot more. How far do yall want to live from Husband job? DO yall want to live closer or futher from big citys? just give me some kind of idea.
sorry i couldnt be more help right now i just want to make sure i am giving yall my best opinion and make sure yall know everything yall want to know, and give more insite about the area. Thank you
My 14 month old son, my boyfriend and I want to move to North Carolina to "start over"...we need some advice. Were looking for good schools, low crime rate, extra curricular activities, close to a lake, some-what small town, but not far from the city, affordable rentals, decent jobs...we have looked at some cities like Raleigh, Hickory, Charlotte, and Asheville. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
WHY???????????????? Why are you all moving here from Texas???? Your state is doing so much better!!!
I live in NC and all I see are Texas plates! I see upwards of 10 a day. That is a lot! No, they're not all visitors. They're all beside me in the morning rush around 6am. And again at 6pm. And on the weekends they're all over the malls and shopping centers. Some of these people keep their Texas plate on the front and their nice shiny new NC plate on the back (which is illegal over here by the way), so these are not visitors. They're transplants. WHY ARE YOU ALL MOVING HERE????? There is no work!
We have people moving to NC from a lot of places but lately its mostly Texas plates I see. If Texas has it going on then why are people leaving to move to NC of all places?????? We have 9.2% unemployment and Texas has 6.2% I do not doubt the economy is better in Texas, I just want to know why people are leaving it for a state that does NOT have it together??!!??
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.
Did you mean to say $350,000?
moving to texas
