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I know that there are several threads about moving, but I wanted to chime in with my own info. and hopefully get some help. My husband and I have always lived in New England, and now we're considering moving to NC. He was recently laid off from work, and we're wondering what NC might have to offer.
We think that the cost of living would be somewhat less expensive than up here, but we're not 100% sure of that. We don't have sales or income tax in our state, so that would take some getting used to.
We are in our mid thirties and we do not have children yet.
My husband is a database administrator and a data analyst, and I'm an elementary ed. teacher. I currently work in a very small town, in a small school with under 300 students. I love my school and I would need to find a great school in NC in order to take the plunge and leave. My husband and I both feel that our jobs could be needed anywhere, so it's just a matter of finding the right fit for us.
We are looking for a friendly, welcoming town or city with a lot to do and see. (theater, concerts, museums, parks, etc.). We currently live an hour from Boston, and we enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city on day trips(but we also like living outside the city where it's a little more quiet). We also live an hour from the ocean, lakes, and a little over an hour from the mountains. It would be great if we could be near some of those things in NC.
Is there any other info. that would be helpful to provide?
We'd appreciate any insight to area of NC that we should look into.
I forgot to mention a couple of other things. My husband wanted me to mention that we're from a state without a lot of culture, and that's something we're looking for in a new place.
While we'd probably ultimately buy a house, we'd definitely rent for the first year or so until we get settled.
My husband is a history buff, and besides cultural sights, he's very interested in living in and/or being near historical areas. Neither one of us is too interested in living in a community that is just one shopping plaza and condo complex after another. Character and charm are great pluses!
I wish I could be more specific about what we want, but we're still at the very beginning stages of this. We're planning on taking a trip down to NC at some point and seeing areas for ourselves, but we're hoping to get some ideas of where to start.
I'm from New England also. You'll probably want to find someplace within the Piedmont region of the state. However, this is a large area and you'll need to find that one spot that suits you best. You'll need to look at the Charlotte Metro region, the Piedmont-Triad (Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point) region and the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham) region. Each has its own character. Each has its own unique history.
NC has a lot in common with New England and shares a similar topography.
You probably will NOT find a lower cost of living here.
You might want to start with the Triad region. First, you have three small-to-midsize cities, so hopefully you can find the one that best suits your style. I also like its closer proximity to the mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway and Virginia. You also have the local universities (Wake Forest, UNCG, High Point, WSSU, Greensboro College, Salem College). Historic Bethabara and Old Salem. You'd probably like a town like Jamestown or Clemmons.
Next you can look at the Charlotte metro region. Nascar, professional football and basketball. Financial. Lake Norman. A town like Davidson might suit you. Downside, not as much of the college vibe as the other areas of the state. Historic Latta Plantation. Charlotte is the first city in the state to have a light rail commuter line.
Next, the Triangle. Home to the major schools - Duke, NC State, UNC Chapel Hill. Government seat. Professional Hockey. Research Triangle Park. Historic Hillsborough. Easy access to I-95.
We're from NH, and we're excited to check out a different area, and we do love the fact that NC has similar topography of New England. I don't think we're expecting a much lower cost of living in NC. We're finding that it's pretty similar to NE.
It's so hard to decide on an area to focus on, since up here, we have the lakes, the ocean, and the mountains so close to us (well, within 30 minutes-2 hours). We love it all. If we had to choose one though, we would choose to live near water (lakes or the ocean).
When you moved down to NC, how did you decide where to go, if you don't mind me asking.
You need to start researching jobs. Our unemployment rate is over 7 % in Charlotte, and expected to rise. IT jobs are super saturated - any openings have a stack of applicants. Tough market. As for elementary school teachers . . . it would all depend where you are willing to teach.
If you start looking now, you can have things lined up to come by the summer, when you should have a contract signed for a teaching job. We have lakes here in the CLT region . . . If you want near the ocean, you might consider the Wilmington area . . .
I thought Superk's info was terrific and spot on about the different areas. Great advice!!!
My husband has been researching jobs, and I was planning on starting to actively look in the late winter. I'm just beginning to look into what it takes to get a teaching license in NC.
My husband hasn't had any luck finding full time employment anywhere yet (it's been less than a month since he was laid off). He's now looking into contract positions all over the country, but he's focusing his search on NC. We're really open to anywhere, but we'd love to be in NC if it's the right fit for us. If he gets a 1-3 month contract position in his field in NC, he can check out the areas we're considering more thoroughly.
The economy isn't great, no matter where you go. Unfortunately.
As for me, I currently teach in a small school (under 300 students) in a fairly small town with a huge amount of parent involvement. I've also taught in a larger school in a not-so-great area and my former school didn't have much parent or community involvement. I love the school I'm in now and it would be really hard to leave. If I find a good match elsewhere though, I'll definitely consider anything.
We're excited about the possibility of moving to a new area of the country and seeing what it has to offer. I guess it does come down to where the positions are I suppose.
Check out Hillsborough. It's an historic quiant town with a quick drive to Durham and Chapel Hill and not too far from Raleigh. It's about 2 1/2 hours from the beach and just over 3 to the mountains. Of course jobs will be the number one issue so get them where you can in NC and explore from there while here.
Thanks Danielle! We're planning to take a trip down to NC to check out a few areas, and I'll put Hillsborough on our itinerary. Yes, as you mentioned, getting a job is the most important thing. Hopefully something will work out. We're in no real hurry -- I still need to finish out my year at school and look into getting my teaching license in NC before that anyway. Plus, we also have a condo to sell up here as well. Thanks for posting so much in the other thread! It really is helpful to hear from others who know an area that you're considering living in.
When you moved down to NC, how did you decide where to go, if you don't mind me asking.
The decision was partially made for us by the fact that my job would be in Winston-Salem. While living in W-S, we spent a lot of time looking at various communities throughout the region, eventually settling on the town of Jamestown in Guilford County. Part of our reasoning for living where we have is the proximity to some of our relatives. With my brother and SIL in Lynchburg VA, my aunt and uncle in Statesboro, GA, my SIL and her husband in Macon, GA, as well as the fact that there were already relatives living in Charlotte, it suited us well to be the middle spot between a lot of those destinations. When my parents moved to NC, they found that Greensboro suited them well.
We moved to NC from Sandwich way back in 86.My husbands job was in Rocky Mount. It was the worst 17 years of my life. Now ALL of NC is not like this but in many areas if you are not an evangelical christian or at the very least a baptist you will be terribly ostracized. The person who mentioned Chapel Hill area was right. It's a fairly liberal area and religion probably isn't real important there. You need to be near Raleigh if culture is important. There are other places but Raleigh probably has the most. Also any city with lots of colleges is going to be way more accepting of you. Seriously you cannot imagine how important your church affiliation is to many many people here.
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