Charlotte? Raleigh? WHere?! (Durham, Winston-Salem, Cary: low crime, chapel, house)

[aerkick79]

I'd love to hear what anyone has to offer on the topic, here's the deal:
We live north of Boston, MA and Hate New England (it's just not for us even though we were both born here). We're thinking of relocating to Raleigh next fall but after a visit of course and would like to check out Charlotte too. Stats: NE winters are WAY too extreme! We need more mild but my husband doesn't like any place too hot (above 90 in summer) I don't want ANY or very very little snow. He's a Design Build Electrical Engineer with his masters and PE -we need a place where he can find a good job of course. We like suburbs, nice, clean, low crime the typical I guess..we would like a slower pace of life and a good place to raise a family. Price range for house would be $200-$250 and $250K is stretching it. All set with buying house that needs lots of work, been there done that but it wouldn't have to be brand new either. hmm what else, we love love outdoors! That's it for now dying to see if anyone has ANY input at all...thanks for looking!

[aerkick79]

forgot to mention we're very "green" and there must be Natural food stores and local farms near by, or at least a Whole Foods market which I can look up on thier site

[Zatol]

Both places get above 90 in the summer. In fact we'll be in the 90's today and it's still Spring.

[Native_Son]

I'd recommend Chapel Hill.

[ctribucher]

Ditto. Summers in North Carolina can be very hot and humid.

Originally Posted by Zatol

Both places get above 90 in the summer. In fact we'll be in the 90's today and it's still Spring.

[Native_Son]

With the humidity 90 feels like 100+

[nascarnancy]

We have lots of farmers markets.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/charl...open-up-2.html

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/data/story/99608.html

We also have a couple of Trader Joe's. We had them in CA so I was very happy when they opened here.

Welcome to Trader Joe's - Your Neighborhood Grocery Store

When DH said he wanted to move I just started googling everything. I read the town hall pages for the cities & counties we were interested in living in. I compared the weather everyday. Luckily we do have family here so they would help answer any questions we had and sent me the living here guide. They also issue the guide I believe once a year and you can order a copy.

Living Here Guide | Charlotte Observer

[NCgirl]

Your price range should be fine. This area doesn't get a lot of snow but as others have mentioned it does get hot.

There aren't any Whole Foods in this area but there are four in the Triangle - Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary. There is also one in Winston-Salem. I think there is also a Trader Joe's in Cary and Chapel Hill.

We do have two Earthfares (one in Raleigh) and a few Home Economist Market.

[Gregory P]

Sounds like you're just at the beginning of your venture...

We moved down to Charlotte a few years ago from New England (born in RI, moved to MA, tried CT).

We got a little homesick, had a family health issue (father-in-law got hit by a car) so we moved back north. After the initial excitement wore off being back "home" we spent the past 2 years wondering if we should have given Charlotte more time. (BTW, father-in-law is fine...and goes to FL in the winter anyway)

Next month, we're moving back to Charlotte.

You'll see some people on this forum mentioning the grass isn't always greener and why Charlotte is NOT the promised land.

And it's not.

But overall, it's more affordable than the northeast by a long shot. There are lots of young families, a lot to do, and every kind of person you could imagine from all over the country. It makes it exciting where so many people are down looking for a better life. Not everyone finds it but the adventure and change is exciting to most of us.

You've got Trader Joe's in south charlotte and some whole food type stores in the area.

There are problems of course. But for someone who has kind of tried a lot of areas over the past 15 years it's got a lot to offer you.

Regarding Raleigh...I've never been but I have a friend I've known since I was about 2 who moved to Raleigh 2 years ago and absolutely loves it.

But I can only tell you we're going back to Charlotte after trying New England one last time. New England is beautiful and every place has good and bad.

You just gotta make that list of pros and cons and make the best decision you can.

These forums are a great start, but sometimes the only way to find out is to do it and make it work.

Greg

one final note -- when you DO make the move...give it time to adjust and let yourselves get over that feeling you WILL have when you miss everything you've known your whole life.

One more final note...there are a couple of Red Sox bars/cafes in the area :-)

[car421]

Ditto on the weather. It is going to be in the 90's the next few days. And it seems every year we get a stretch of 3-4 (if not more) days where it will hit 100. If this is a major problem for you, you might want to rethink your plans.