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The difference between Raleigh and Asheville is striking. The former is a small central city area surrounded by bedroom communities, while the latter is a vibrant, creative place with lots of cultural offerings and a youthful, exciting vibe. Unfortunately, jobs are much more plentiful here (at least when the economy is cooking), which is why we're here instead of there. But I'd love to retire to that area.
The difference between Raleigh and Asheville is striking. The former is a small central city area surrounded by bedroom communities, while the latter is a vibrant, creative place with lots of cultural offerings and a youthful, exciting vibe. Unfortunately, jobs are much more plentiful here (at least when the economy is cooking), which is why we're here instead of there. But I'd love to retire to that area.
You might wish to specify where "here" and "there" are, in your post
Asheville is liberal and Raleigh is absolutely not. Raleigh is about dead center. There are strong conservatives and there are strong liberals in Raleigh. It about balances out, although I can't stand either group. CH and parts of Durham are another story, but the question was not about them. It is about Raleigh and Asheville. For brain power, my money is on Charlotte as well, but it is not a night and day scenario.
No and no?? I believe this forum is for those expressing their individual experiences. Mine has been that Charlotte is far ahead of Raleigh in terms of liberals and although Raleigh might be considered "better educated" because of all the healthcare industry here, I don't find that to be the case in my experience with those I've met in Charlotte. P.S. - I'd love to see these "smartest city" lists that you refer to!!
It's a forum for sharing facts and opinions. In this case, facts do not substantiate your opinions which were formed by individual experiences.
This map shows election results by county for 2008. Mecklenburg Cty vs. Wake Cty is not a fair measure of Raleigh vs. Charlotte, but it's the closest this map provides. They're pretty close. However, the greater Charlotte area is comprised of a lot of surrounding red counties, whereas the greater Raleigh area is mostly blue counties. WRAL.com VoteTracker: Interactive 2008 N.C. General Election Results Map :: WRAL.com
LOL...you can't tell me that "facts" (based on various "criteria") negate MY individual experiences. Sorry.
No, because if you hung out in NoDa in Charlotte and then in Brier Creek in Raleigh, I could certainly understand you thinking it seemed more liberal. If you had lunch across from B of A's headquarters in Charlotte on a weekday and saw all the bankers coming and going I could also understand you thinking it was "smarter", especially if your comparison in Raleigh was lunch near Triangle Town Center.
However, what my previous post shows is that, in fact, the greater Charlotte was more right-leaning in the 2008 elections than the greater Raleigh area. Also, a range of publications over a range of years using different criteria consistently rate Raleigh and the Triangle higher than Charlotte on the "most educated" or "smartest" city lists.
I just thought my references better represented the areas as a whole, rather than your opionion which was based on (I assume) limited observations and not across the whole population of either area.
It's not unlike a poster coming on here and saying that they moved to NC from Michigan without a job and then landed the perfect job in just a few weeks! Has that happened--sure, is it the norm--absolutely not! Now, if others read that without considering the facts and reality of NC's job market, they might also come here with similar expectations and be quite dismayed by what they find.
Asheville is liberal and Raleigh is absolutely not. Raleigh is about dead center. There are strong conservatives and there are strong liberals in Raleigh. It about balances out, although I can't stand either group. CH and parts of Durham are another story, but the question was not about them. It is about Raleigh and Asheville.
Raleigh is still quite a bit less "conservative" than Charlotte--Charlotte has had a Republican member of Congress (and a pretty "right-wing" one, Sue Myrick) for many terms, not to mention a Republican mayor, while Raleigh is split among 3 Democrats and generally every Raleigh address has had Democratic Congressmen in the past 20+ years or so except for two years after the nationwide GOP "backlash" of 1994.
I would live in Asheville at the drop of a hat if they had the jobs that the Triangle has had over the last 20 years. It is a beautiful area with a fun downtown and lots of incredible recreation activities in the nearby mountains. Raleigh finally has a nice downtown, but not a lot of beauty, although it is far from ugly. Umstead and other parks and lakes at least keep my sane in Raleigh, but I sure miss having mountains nearby (or a coast. Both require a long day trip).
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