Natives and long-term residents: Should we move to NC? (Charlotte: apartment, rental)
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Agreed raider...there are plenty of folks Down East with PhD's...most all of the school superintendents have them as do many of the college professors...
Not quite every county has a community college, but close to it. Hyde doesn't have one, believe Gates doesn't either...Bertie has a small branch of Martin...COA in the northeast part of the state has a few branches that cover multiple counties.
Guys: there is a huge difference in having a PhD AND experience. I can assure you no school superintendents are fresh caught PhDs.
But I concede that teaching science at the comm college level is a possibility, though you really only need a masters for that.
While I understand your point about experience...you said she was overeducated for jobs in ENC...and I'm just saying that's not necessarily true...maybe from the get go but with a PhD you can get an assistant job or comm college job and then get a Super or Prof job....and there are those in ENC.
So it sounds like Wilmington might be the ticket. It's funny that so many people have mentioned Savannah. My wife and I went there for our honeymoon and the only reason we came back was for our dogs! Our only real concerns with Savannah are that we'd heard from some locals that the schools weren't very good, and that, unless you live in the nicer parts of Savannah (read: the parts we probably can't afford) there's a pretty significant crime issue.
I guess we are looking for an "Annapolis South" in a way. It's changed a lot in the past twenty years or so, especially in the past 15. It's sort of become a DC retirement community/commuter town, and that's changing the character of the place. It's kept the "bubble" real estate prices as high as ever, and people in general have become ruder, honestly. There have always been snobs in Annapolis, but now there aren't enough non-snobs to balance it out. It's become a little less southern Maryland and a little more Jersey/NYC. And as far as weather goes, it has been scientifically proven that Maryland, particularly central and southern Maryland, has the worst weather in the universe. Hot, muggy, no breeze in the summer, followed by cold, wet winters that mysteriously lack accumulating, picturesque snowfalls. The recent stinkbug invasion is just the icing on the cake.
And, yeah, there are a lot of jobs in the area, especially in IT, but most of them are tied to government contractors. I don't have a security clearance, and most companies are looking for people who already have clearance (since it's costly to pay for a new one, but cheap to renew), so, in reality, there isn't that much work for me. Also, a lot of those places are looking for programming languages and database specialties that are kind of particular to government IT shops, and my experience is with web development stuff that's usually found more often in the private sector. Plus, cost of living is sky-high in the DC metro area, and Maryland taxes put California and New York to shame.
As for my wife, she'll have her PhD in about two years, but she also taught elementary school for eight years prior to starting her post-grad. She isn't interested in going back to the classroom, but she does have a good bit of experience in the trenches of education. Ideally she'd like to work for a large museum; she's interning at the Smithsonian this fall developing curricula for classes that come in on field trips. So, that's something to consider, since her career field is a little more of a limiting factor than mine.
If we were to stay in Maryland then Annapolis or the Eastern Shore would be about the only places we'd consider. As it is taxes and fees under the current Governor are killing us, and many small businesses too. Cost of living, traffic congestion, and a lack of a two party system that helps balance things out are just too much.
You don't like the marmorated stink bugs? They are such elegant flyers....
As for my wife, she'll have her PhD in about two years, but she also taught elementary school for eight years prior to starting her post-grad. She isn't interested in going back to the classroom, but she does have a good bit of experience in the trenches of education. Ideally she'd like to work for a large museum; she's interning at the Smithsonian this fall developing curricula for classes that come in on field trips. So, that's something to consider, since her career field is a little more of a limiting factor than mine.
Agreed, that looking for a large museum to work for will limit you to large cities. Other than Wilmington, there several smaller museums and historic site in Eastern NC. I'll suggest looking also at Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, Florida, and maybe Houston.
Wilmington museum options include the Cameron Art Museum, the Children's Museum downtown as well as the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher...also keep in mind the Historical components of the Historic District downtown, there is Thalian Hall, the Bellamy Mansion, the Burgwin Wright house among others...and some plantations in Orton Plantation and Poplar Grove. Additionally the Battleship NC is essentially a museum that sits on the Wilmington waterfront.
There are a few different historical committees in Wilmington, you can find out a little about them with some quick google research.
I'm from Maryland (dc suburbs) and love living in Wilmington. I would advise you and your wife to find jobs before moving though, unemployment is high and salaries tend to be substantially lower. Housing costs and real estate taxes are lower than in Maryland, but in other areas the cost of living is the same.
For the types of careers you are looking for the Raleigh Durham area is much more appropriate.
While you may find a job in Wilmington you would have a much better career choice in Raleigh as both your skills are very attune to the types of organizations that are attracted to the RTP area.
Unfortunately it is not on the coast and it is at least 2.5 hours away. Fine for day trips but not exactly coastal living.
Just like around DC, with all the military bases near the coast, working on base in IT means that getting a security clearance is almost always required. This is usually done by the employer and shouldn't be an issue if you have a clean record.
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