Liberal City in North Carolina (Charlotte, Raleigh: crime rate, neighborhood, school)

[eadams2]

Chapel Hill hands down. Asheville is somewhat liberal also.

[jent85]

Thanks for everyone's help. I'm looking into Asheville, but like I said, the job market doesn't seem to be very active there, besides how bad the national job market is already.
I'll look into the Triangle Area, Durham might be a good pick since I'd like to go to graduate school in a few years.

The pacific nw would obviously be a better choice. But my father is sick and I can't be more than a few hours drive away, so I had to put off moving to Portland for awhile. I've lived in Gainesville for the past 4 years and wanted a change.

[Palmetto Heel]

Originally Posted by eadams2

Chapel Hill hands down. Asheville is somewhat liberal also.

Again, Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Asheville are liberal by NC standards only. Both places are middle-of-the-road by national standards.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by roncorey1

Don't listen to this GARBAGE!!!

Durham has some very nice neighborhoods (I live in one of them), and has a lot to offer. Durham is much more than Duke University. It has a deep and vibrant history and is very diverse. Areas near Downtown Durham has beautiful older homes with huge oak trees lining the streets. Durham Bulls Athletic Park is one of the best places to go see minor league ballgames. The old ball park hosts jazz and blues festivals. Eno Park has a festival every summer. The Durham Arts Council is very active in the community. The American Tobacco District and Brightleaf Square (downtown) are cool places to hang out at any night of the week.

Yes it has some rough neighborhoods(what city doesn't?) and higher than average crime rate; but Durham is over 200,000 in population and occupies almost 100 square miles! I'm sure you could find something nice.
And if Durham is not liberal, then why do I only see Obama/Biden signs in my subdivision?

Sorry if I offended you, but I am a native and I stick to my sentiment. Durham may be liberal and "progressive" by NC standards . . . but it is also a very clique-ish society there. And yes, I may go there for a festival but would not want to live there unless I taught at Duke or had a government job and was part of the "in" crowd who run that city.

For anyone who is comfortable living there . . . that is good! We should all like where we live! But as someone who has lived half a century in this state, I do not find Durham a comfortable place to live. There are towns around Durham that I would find more compatible.

Again, my opinion, and that is what OP was asking for - our opinions.

As for Raleigh, Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Asheville - I agree - those would be about as liberal as NC gets - and those are more desirable places to live, IMHO.

[flyingpiggy]

Chapel Hill: Intellectuals, college kids, "free thinkers", lively downtown, good food
Carrboro: Vegans, musicians, artists, organic-food-eaters, bikers, barefooted people
Durham: Liberal near Duke and UNC, more mainstream than either of the others, CITY

As someone who has lived in the Pacific NW also (Seattle), I can tell you that there is great fresh air and hiking to be found, but there is no way to make up for the loss of the community, lively downtowns you have here. Everyone knows all the restaurants and schools, people are much friendlier and will say "hi" to you walking down the street, and it's just better, in my opinion.

[.0.]

asheville has actually been deemed "san francisco of the east"

asheville, durham, raleigh, carrboro, boone, and greensboro's mayors have all endorsed obama...so that might stand for something.

[uncletupelo]

Try Wadesboro, Wilson, Rockingham, Smithfield, Oakboro, Ramseur, Oxford or Murphy.

[MrsSteel]

Count me as another person who thinks you should look into Durham. Asheville and Chapel Hill/Carrboro are good, too. They're not as Liberal as what you'll find in the PNW, but I think you'll meet enough people at the farmers markets here to make you comfortable.

Here in the Triangle, Chapel Hill and Carrboro are usually thought of as very Liberal with Durham following on close behind. I really like CH/C, but I chose to buy a house in Durham because it's more centrally located and because housing is less expensive in Durham. Plus my husband works in Durham, so that makes it extra convenient. I definitely do not feel any sort of clique-ish society here whatsoever. Perhaps Ani is right and there were barriers in the past, but I have not felt it in the few years I've lived here. I find that nowadays the prevalence of local blogs has made it especially easy to stay in touch with what's happening in our local government. The internet is a marvelous thing!

I'm not sure how the job market is doing lately - especially in your fields (restaurants & non-profits). We have Duke and UNC close by, as well as other universities, but the big employment draw for this area now is Research Triangle Park. RTP is very large (about 2 miles by 8 miles I think) and is home to offices for dozens of corporations (IBM, Cisco Systems, Sony, Red Hat, and Lenovo just to name a few). About 50,000 people work in RTP and they all need to eat lunch, so your boyfriend might have luck landing a job at a restaurant in that area.

This month BusinessWeek Magazine had an article that listed Durham as one of the top 12 cities in the country to ride out the recession. I'd love to think they're right about that, but only time will tell. It's no secret that a few businesses in the area have announced layoffs in recent weeks, but others are still hiring. Hopefully it will all balance out.

Speaking of magazines, in the October edition of Bon Appetit magazine, they declared Durham & Chapel Hill "America's foodiest small town". Lord only knows how they got around using the singular "town" in that statement, but grammatical inconsistencies notwithstanding, it was still a great compliment to our area. If you're interested in eating locally produced food, you should definitely check out that article.

The only way to truly know what is right for you is for you visit yourself. I'll let you know, though, that I really love living in Durham. When we moved to the Triangle we considered lots of towns around here, but we like Durham the best & we have never regretted our choice. It's not right for everyone - no town is - but it might be right for you. Good luck!

[flyingpiggy]

Chapel Hill and Carrboro are liberal by ANY standards. I've lived in Seattle and Los Angeles and the CH/C area is as liberal as either of them.

[portlandshaws]

With everyone suggesting the Triange area for "liberal", does that mean that Charlotte is much more conservative?