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But, when someone does move here and decides after giving it a chance, that it isn't the right "fit" for them, I feel bad for them. But then, I wonder, how will they choose their next place? And should we feel bad for them that they have NO TIES to any area? Are they typical? Do they try to make the best of it or are they part of the generation that wants everything?
Don't know if one can generalize, but you've described me. Single, no family, no ties, no roots to anywhere. I wish it weren't this way, but it is. I moved here 8+ yrs ago. I'm trying to make the best of it. Why? Because without family/friends/roots, no place is particularly 'better' than any other place. Oh sure, there may be better weather, and costs to live one place vs another may be more or less, but family, community, and a purpose is at the heart of anyone feeling like a place is good for them. That can happen anywhere....or, conversely, it can remain elusive.
YEARS AGO, people relocated due to family or jobs. It wasn't very often that you heard of people relocating just to "find a better place to live" or to "find a cheaper place to live".
It always seemed easier...husband's job relocates him, family moves and makes the best of it. Happened to my parents. And yet, people today, don't want to make the best of it. They want it easy. They don't make the best of it, they just pick up and try to find the next best place?
I am ALWAYS amazed at the number of relocating families that I help find their homes. One person moves down and then their parents and then their brothers/sisters/aunts/uncles/cousins. Yes, I see it often and yet, it still amazes me. The part that amazes me is that they really have no ties to the area, other than having done some research.
My parents moved to NC through a job transfer over 40 years ago. Hubby and I have stayed because it is our "home". All 4 of my kids were born and grew up here. So, when I look at all those people that move here with NO ties, I think it takes lots of courage.
But, when someone does move here and decides after giving it a chance, that it isn't the right "fit" for them, I feel bad for them. But then, I wonder, how will they choose their next place? And should we feel bad for them that they have NO TIES to any area? Are they typical? Do they try to make the best of it or are they part of the generation that wants everything? And if they are moving here just because they HEARD it was cheaper or READ it was the best place to live, are they unhappy where they are? Can you leave "home" just to get a larger home? SHOULD you leave "home" for what you think may be a better way of life? Or should you stay because you have ties to that area? I wonder.
Vicki
Ahhh, free will - it's a great thing. Many of us do pick up and move for desires very specific or for careers. We spent over 20 years moving for the Navy. Moving to areas where I have no specific ties do not worry me. Now that I can exercise my free will I like choosing areas that offer beauty as well as cultural/social/civic vibrancy. Each of us brings a gift of knowledge and experiences and hopefully that adds and not subtracts.
Most of you would see a big difference if you visit the rural areas of NC. The Triangle, Triad & Charlotte areas are our most urban & most expensive places to live. I know in the Triangle, plots of land have been bought and resold many times, the price steadily higher. I grew up in a small town near Goldsboro. Land is much cheaper, rents are cheaper, houses are at least some cheaper. Our family is asking $119,000 for my deceased mother's house, on a 100 x 200' lot. Brick home, 2 bath, 3/4 BR, LR, DR w/new roof, new HVAC, fairly new Leafguard gutters, etc. In Durham, we would ask $175,000 for it.
A small item but a good example. I rent a 10 x 10 storage space there for $45 a month. A 5 x 10 in Durham cost me $70 a month. I knew an apartment owner
getting $350 15 years ago on 2 BR apts. I told him he could get about $500 or more in Durham. He was amazed, could barely keep tenants @350.
The other side of that is that jobs are much harder to come by and pay less in the rural areas. But the pace of life is much slower too.
YEARS AGO, people relocated due to family or jobs. It wasn't very often that you heard of people relocating just to "find a better place to live" or to "find a cheaper place to live".
It always seemed easier...husband's job relocates him, family moves and makes the best of it. Happened to my parents. And yet, people today, don't want to make the best of it. They want it easy. They don't make the best of it, they just pick up and try to find the next best place?
I am ALWAYS amazed at the number of relocating families that I help find their homes. One person moves down and then their parents and then their brothers/sisters/aunts/uncles/cousins. Yes, I see it often and yet, it still amazes me. The part that amazes me is that they really have no ties to the area, other than having done some research.
My parents moved to NC through a job transfer over 40 years ago. Hubby and I have stayed because it is our "home". All 4 of my kids were born and grew up here. So, when I look at all those people that move here with NO ties, I think it takes lots of courage.
But, when someone does move here and decides after giving it a chance, that it isn't the right "fit" for them, I feel bad for them. But then, I wonder, how will they choose their next place? And should we feel bad for them that they have NO TIES to any area? Are they typical? Do they try to make the best of it or are they part of the generation that wants everything? And if they are moving here just because they HEARD it was cheaper or READ it was the best place to live, are they unhappy where they are? Can you leave "home" just to get a larger home? SHOULD you leave "home" for what you think may be a better way of life? Or should you stay because you have ties to that area? I wonder.
Vicki
Frankly, I think ,most people, wherever they are, stay put, for better or for worse.
Some areas do become really difficult to live in for certain demographics, and then you see those groups leaving, usually en masse. But they look for people from where they are from ,because they are looking to avoid certain specific bad conditions without throwing themselves entirely into the unknown.
Years ago, there was a certain class of people that got relocated by their companies, over & over. They seemed rootless to me. It was nto the kind of life to which I aspired. I think the days of companies relocating executives so much are over for teh forseeable future. I've seen it in my subdivision- people who thought they would be here for 2 years and then be moved onward & upward. Then, BOOM- laid off! And "stuck." There's an interesting dynamic between those families and those who came here expecting to stay...
It used to be called a Sales Tax and it was capped. No matter what you call it, you still have to pay 3% on the sale of a car, and under the new label, there is no cap on how much you have to pay.
True, but my point was that it's still only 3%, as opposed to the ~8% you have to pay in many other states where regular sales tax applies. That's a significant chunk of change to offset the auto property taxes paid here.
- Food about the same, with some things espepcially harder to find pon sale (meat) but the produce in the supermarket blows away anything on Long Island unless you hit a really good farmstand.
2% tax on all foods, which we didn't have in NY, but no objection from me as this is a tax EVERYONE pays.
I have definitely not found the Target here to be more expensive than NY; I find the same great prices.
-Clothing tax - 7.85% in the county I lived in. I've never NOT paid a tax on clothing so no big deal. This same tax applies to anything actually - cars, etc.
-I don't even want to say what I paid in mortgage transfer tax, title closing fees etc, when we sold the NY house. Utterly ridiculous and mysteriously you can transfer a property in NC without all that stuff!
-Homeowner's insurance - half what I paid in NY (for a smaller house)
-auto insurance - half what I paid in NY
-umbrella policy - didn't even have one in NY, they are difficult to get there now and very expensive
-Homes - not sure where you are looking but my sister looked at several apartments here before she moved here (the same weekend we did) and had her pick of nice, well-located apartments that were in not in someone's basement for $1200 a month. She's paying less than she did in FL and it's nicer than what she had there.
As far as regular houses - no comparison - I bought a bigger house for half what I sold my NY house for and my property taxes are 1/4 of my NY taxes.
-Schools - we moved here from one of the top school districts in NY and my kids are NOT ahead of the curve here. At all. Teachers have a lot more responsibility here and I sense a lot less whininess and less entitlement attitude to boot.
-An end to the ridiculous NY taxes that my DH was paying in NY. MTA Bailout Tax, anyone? ENough said.
-Services - mani/pedi are way more expensive here (not sure why as they are on every corner just like NY!) as is haircut, etc.
-Attitude - more than once I have been surprised in a store by an employee so friendly that I was sure I must know them. It's so enjoyable to actually engage with people while you're out and about, instead of getting the gangbanger stare or a grunt whilst they do the pimp-roll over to help you. Personally I think it goes back to the fact that most people can have a much better quality of life here even if they don't have an awesome job. See housing, above. Who's going to be happier, the person in the basement apt working towards nothing or the person in the apartment complex with pool, tennis, security, etc? We were down here for only days when daughter got sick - took her to the urgent care and explained that I just moved, no permanent address yet, still had NY insurance - NO BIG DEAL!!! Would've been a HUGE deal in NY. Messed up our checks when we went to close and had to go have them re-done - again, no big deal, credit union worked it all out with the credit union in NY - would not have happened in NY, they would've just delayed the closing. Life is so much easier here so far.
Maybe this place doesn't have it all, but that's true of anywhere.
Yea, I know. We're paying more in taxes here than we did in Mass. Sure, on the plus side we've got a much bigger house, but on the minus side there's no subway that I can catch a block from my front door. (And yes, our salary is much bigger here, but I'm accounting for that!) It was a bit of a shock, to be honest -- just goes to show that the Taxachusetts moniker is inaccurate.
To be fair, you need to compare apples to apples. Compare the cost of living if your house is the same size and in a similar area with similar amenities. One can always make their life more expensive when they upgrade certain major aspects of it.
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