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I currently live in NH with my lovely wife and two great kids. We're thinking of relocating to somewhere in the Triangle area. New England is expensive, and now with Obamacare, healthcare costs are draconian.
Since I work for myself and my job is portable, it's starting to feel like leaving is a no-brainer. My family and friends are all here. It would be tough. But with 25 years to go before retirement, I'd rather achieve financial security and come back to visit from time to time. COL is lower in NC as far as I can tell. Maybe not as low as advertised, but still much better.
We hope to visit the area sometime this year to have a firsthand look. In the meantime, I have a few questions:
--With Triangle area towns growing so rapidly, are schools having a hard time keeping up? Do class sizes get above 25 kids in a single class?
--Property taxes in Durham appear to be higher than in Cary/Apex for comparable properties. Any ideas why?
--Is there a pending water shortage? Do municipalities impose water bans?
--I'm excited to try the local cuisine. What's the best bbq restaurant for a newbie to visit?
If you are moving to NCfor lower health insurance costs, I suggest you do a little more research. Unless you qualify for a subsidy, health insurance is very expensive here. NC didn't set up their own exchange and BCBS basically runs the whole insurance market so insurance is fairly pricey.
Yes, in certain areas the schools are suffering from overcrowding and caps on enrollment at some of the popular options.
I live in Cary so can't comment on Durham property taxes.
I like The Pit for barbecue but there are lots of options.
If we go with Anthem BCBS here in NH, the least expensive plan is $1,000/month with a $12,700 deductible. Assurant's cheapest is $1,300/month with a $3,500 deductible. We're over 30 and don't qualify for bronze plans.
OTOH, NC BCBS has good plans with premiums around $800/mo. and deductibles of $3,500. So, total annual health costs (including deductible) for Anthem in NH would be $24,700 and with Assurant would be about $19,000. NC, by contrast, would be around $13,000. Very reasonable.
Thanks for the recommendation. I look forward to trying The Pit.
--With Triangle area towns growing so rapidly, are schools having a hard time keeping up? Do class sizes get above 25 kids in a single class?
Thanks in advance.
Yes (we just passed a bond issue to build new schools and renovate some old ones)
and
Yes. Most schools will keep it under 25 through 3rd grade and after that all bets are off (although they usually try to keep it under 30). This has been a problem for one of my kids.
Some schools won't come close to that but may have lower test scores. Look at the whole picture.
I'm excited to try the local cuisine. What's the best bbq restaurant for a newbie to visit?
These are both off the beaten path, but are by far my favorite places around here for BBQ. There's Hog Heaven off Guess Road in Durham. Then in Chapel Hill you've got Allen & Son.
These are both off the beaten path, but are by far my favorite places around here for BBQ. There's Hog Heaven off Guess Road in Durham. Then in Chapel Hill you've got Allen & Son.
I love Allen & Son.
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Do schools offer extra classes to help kids keep up? Test scores in your area appear to be quite strong even with the increasingly large class sizes. Is it Cary that will issue the bond?
DPK, meh_whatever, thanks for those suggestions. can't wait to try 'em out!
Do schools offer extra classes to help kids keep up? Test scores in your area appear to be quite strong even with the increasingly large class sizes. Is it Cary that will issue the bond?
DPK, meh_whatever, thanks for those suggestions. can't wait to try 'em out!
Our schools are on a county system, so it's a county bond.
My child who has difficulty has an IEP now so he has some resources in place. However the fact is that too many kids in the class are a bar to him concentrating. I can't see him in public HS here, but that's our issue. My other two kids are OK. And the schools here are probably more modern that what you are used to because they were built more recently. So there are more kids in a class but the classroom is bigger than what you'll find up north. I remember walking into a 5th grade classroom up north over the summer and literally thinking it was a storage room. I could not see how they could fit 15 kids in there, let alone 25. Pre-WWII construction - lovely features but not so much room.
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