Very young family wanting to move to NC ..but where? (Charlotte: 2011, lease)

[Red_Angel326]

Ok, well to start off my husband and i are in our early 20's (22 about) and will be having our first child very soon. We currently live in New York in a very small town, actually an Island, But are looking to move somewhere warmer, and have fell in love with North Carolina. The only problem now is that we can't figure out just where to move. We are looking for a town that has a good number of young families like us, and are looking to move into possibly a small town, or on the outskirts of a larger town. Also we would like to be within 30 or miles from a place we can work, but if not it’s no biggie. He will be working in computer security and / or Information Technology, and I am a Physical Therapist Assistant. We have been looking around the southern part of NC, and would like any information that locals or others could supply us with. Thanks so much for your help! Any information would be helpful!
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]

[trese]

At least one of you need to try and get a job FIRST. Surely you are aware that our unemployment rate is very high in this state?

[Bobb]

Check out the area around Hickory, look for a home in the Mountain View Area ( better schools etc.), you will have plenty of doctors offices and there is one of the biggest plants of Google in Lenoir, only 30 min away. House prices are great right now, rent or lease not so... Hickory is a smaller town, but yet big enough to find all you need. Hickory is only 45min from Charlotte, ca.1hour from the mountains and 4 hours to the beach! Message me direct if you have more questions. Good luck!

[memorytheatre]

How does one fall in love with something that they know nothing about?

[JJingle]

Originally Posted by memorytheatre

How does one fall in love with something that they know nothing about?

The state's fine marketing?

[al_roethlisberger]

If you like the Triangle/Triad area, and you are looking for land, open space, affordability, and more of a small/mid sized town feel, you might consider Sanford.

We are almost smack-dab in the middle of the state, and practically equidistant from Greensboro, Raleigh/Durham/Cary, and Fayetteville. So we have easy ~30min access to any of those metro areas, and are equally 2-3 hours from beach or mountains.

Sanford has everything you need, being a mid-sized city of around 30k population, but still has a mayor that will wave to you and probably know you by name. And if there is something you "want" that Sanford doesn't have, again, the larger cities are just 30 minutes away.

We moved here, by way of a quick 1yr in Cary, from San Jose CA and have been very pleased. In the short 3 years we've been here, we've made more friends and gotten more involved in local government, community, etc than we were able to during a decade in the "big city". It really seems like you can make a difference and see progress in these smaller communities.

Being relatively small, Sanford has a variety of housing, everything from rural farms, historic housing, new condos, to golf/gated communities... all within minutes of each other.

We've also got several new schools in Lee County, and we've found the school system to be great.

And with the BRAC program, the area around Ft. Bragg is expecting up to 30k new senior military and skilled population growth, almost 10k of which is expected in Lee County by 2011/12. So we should see some great investment in the area even considering the current economy.

Also with the local military family population(as well as other residents), we have many young families in the area.

City of Sanford, North Carolina | Official Government Website

Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce

Downtown Sanford, INC. | Sanford, North Carolina


Here are some maps showing Sanford's relative position in the state:

Live Well Centered.


Good luck with your job search and move!
Al

[workingclasshero]

as a former New yorker (Long Islander) one area you can look in is the FT. Bragg commuting area (fayetteville, sanford, rockingham, southern pines/pinehurst, and Lumberton)

IT is always needed and we DEFINATELY need Special education professionals like your self

compared to long island and New York, the weather is better, the costs are cheaper (except for food prices(not sure why, think it is the lack of competition)), taxes are MUCH lower....one thing though...the schools because of funding do lack in comparision to areas like Long Island, they are good, but lack compared to NY

best of luck

live in lumberton, work at Ft. Bragg

[clj2]

Not trying to sound rude, but in the current economy, have a job first before you move. If you've got one, just be thankful you do. Weather isn't going to clothe, feed, or put a roof on your head.

If you can secure a job, I would suggest visiting and getting to KNOW the various areas first. Holly Springs, Apex, Fuquay, or Cary, all around the Raleigh area are nice.

[memorytheatre]

Never in my life have I heard someone who has experienced a Fayetteville summer say that the weather was better there than anywhere, except maybe Hades or Columbia, SC.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by memorytheatre

Never in my life have I heard someone who has experienced a Fayetteville summer say that the weather was better there than anywhere, except maybe Hades or Columbia, SC.

I think when people say that they are referring to WINTER weather