Michigan to Greenville? (Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Wilson: transplants, apartment, rental market)

[michiganbob]

With things progressively getting worse here in Michigan, my wife and I are considering moving to Greenville, NC. Have read a lot of "stats" about it and some discussions here in the C-D forum, but would like to hear from someone else who has made the move from Michigan or the Midwest to this area.

My info: my kids are grown, so I don't have to worry about schools. I have my own business, but also my look for some work in the technology area (web design and/or promotion, possibly radio). My wife is a lawyer and would likely have to take the bar exam down there to practice law. She would also like to take college classes at some point in the future.

My questions:
What was the biggest adjustment?

Any health concerns for someone with asthma? It does get hot and humid SOMETIMES in Michigan and I've heard that might happen in NC , but is it serious enough to negatively affect someone's health? Is smoking banned in public restaurants, etc? How is the medical care in general?

Is Greenville too much of a college town? Currently we live not far from Michigan State and it's the kind of thing that you can avoid campus and the college kids if you want to, but if you want to go to campus for an event (sports or arts) it's not that bad. The Lansing area is big enough for everyone, but the total metro population here is close to 200,000 and it sounds like Greenville is not that big.

How are housing prices? Most likely we would rent for a year or two and would prefer to have a house (as opposed to an apartment or townhouse). 3+ bedrooms and 2 baths with some kind of yard. Is there much of a house rental market away from ECU? What would something like that run a month IF we could find it?

Dislike for Yankees? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not assuming there will be a problem, but I did live in Texas for a while back in the 80s and some natives down there were very nice to us and others, well, they were glad when we moved back to the Midwest. And they were not shy about letting us know! I don't expect them to give us a parade when we drive into town, but I would prefer not to be hassled on a regular basis for being from "up north."

Thanks. If I think of more questions I'll post them.

[cassy1]

Hi, Michigan transplants here. We moved in late 2005 and love it here. I can't speak about Greenville because I have only been there shopping. I can tell you that "Yankee" is more of a northern thing. I have never been treated any differently than anyone else, and there are so many transplants coming here that I think you would probably find friends from your general area. Just as in Michigan, if you treat your neighbor, your butcher, your cashier, etc with respect, you will receive respect.

Housing is cheaper down here, you should not have a problem finding what you want.

Health care in Rocky Mount is not what I am used to, but I had to search in GR in order to find physicians that I liked, I'm in the process of doing that here. In Greenville you have the medical school so health care should not be an issue.

Good luck on your upcoming move, and smile in December when it is 70 outside with NO SNOW!

[Richard Martin]

I live just outside of Greenville and my wife works there (Bells Fork). I keep seeing a lot of references to Greenville being a college town and it's almost like that's a bad thing. Yes Greenville does have the third largest college in NC but it's not like the students go on drunken rampages throughout the city. I fail to see how the students have time for that nonsense while they're working on one of the many master's degrees that ECU offers. To my knowledge there has never been a riot because the Pirates did or didn't win a championship or anything like that. There is a portion of downtown that caters to the students and it's pretty easy to recognize.

ECU is the best thing that ever happened to Greenville and it is almost wholely responsible for the success of the community and more importantly the 731 bed Pitt Memorial Hospital and the supporting facilities.

Of all of the comments I keep seeing about Greenville being a party town for ECU I would like to hear from one single person who has ever been affected by it. Greenville has grown into a thriving city and is very happy to have ECU.

[Richard Martin]

I'm sorry Bob, I forgot to try to answer most of your questions after I went off on my rant.

I'm from MD so I can't really tell you what the biggest adjustment would be from the mid-west. For me it has just been the slower pace that everything seems to move here.

Summers do get hazy, hot and humid. It's no worse than where I came from so it doesn't bother me but you may want to consult your doctor for real advice.

Smoking is quickly on the way out here. There is currently legislation up in Raleigh barring smoking in any government building and it's already banned in Health Department buildings. Some restuarants still allow it and some don't. I think it's just a matter of a few short years before it banned at least in restuarants.

Medical care is excellant here and Pitt Memorial is open heart certified. The Brody School of Medicine is among the finest in the nation.

Greenville/Winterville's population is expanding at about 30 residents a day. I say Greenville/Winterville because the two places abutt one another and when one sneezes the other says "Bless You". It's hard to tell when you've driven out of Greenville and into Winterville. Between the 2 it's around 80 to 85 thousand plus the 23,000 college students.

I think I've touched on the college town issue.

Houses here are very affordable. Where I came from a 3 bed 2 bath rancher on 1/4 acre runs around $300k. We bought a 3 bed 2 bath all brick rancher with a formal dining room plus a 1040 sq ft detached garage on 1.3 acres for $122,000. There is something to fit almost any budget here.

As far as being a Yankee. Well, there's getting to be quite a few of us here and I've never seen any real anamosity towards us. We do get teased occasionally but that's only by my friends. As far as going out shopping and having someone give me a hard time about being a Yankee, it's never happened.

Originally Posted by michiganbob

With things progressively getting worse here in Michigan, my wife and I are considering moving to Greenville, NC. Have read a lot of "stats" about it and some discussions here in the C-D forum, but would like to hear from someone else who has made the move from Michigan or the Midwest to this area.

My info: my kids are grown, so I don't have to worry about schools. I have my own business, but also my look for some work in the technology area (web design and/or promotion, possibly radio). My wife is a lawyer and would likely have to take the bar exam down there to practice law. She would also like to take college classes at some point in the future.

My questions:
What was the biggest adjustment?

Any health concerns for someone with asthma? It does get hot and humid SOMETIMES in Michigan and I've heard that might happen in NC , but is it serious enough to negatively affect someone's health? Is smoking banned in public restaurants, etc? How is the medical care in general?

Is Greenville too much of a college town? Currently we live not far from Michigan State and it's the kind of thing that you can avoid campus and the college kids if you want to, but if you want to go to campus for an event (sports or arts) it's not that bad. The Lansing area is big enough for everyone, but the total metro population here is close to 200,000 and it sounds like Greenville is not that big.

How are housing prices? Most likely we would rent for a year or two and would prefer to have a house (as opposed to an apartment or townhouse). 3+ bedrooms and 2 baths with some kind of yard. Is there much of a house rental market away from ECU? What would something like that run a month IF we could find it?

Dislike for Yankees? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not assuming there will be a problem, but I did live in Texas for a while back in the 80s and some natives down there were very nice to us and others, well, they were glad when we moved back to the Midwest. And they were not shy about letting us know! I don't expect them to give us a parade when we drive into town, but I would prefer not to be hassled on a regular basis for being from "up north."

Thanks. If I think of more questions I'll post them.

[michiganbob]

Thanks to everyone with your help so far.

Any sense that Greenville is growing TOO fast at this point? I have heard that about some other southern cities.

[vetegnc]

As a midwesterner moving south (Rocky Mount) and now leaving next week again.....
You will LAUGH if they ever get snow here! It's quite funny....everything shuts down for a couple days, no bread or milk to be found. They honestly don't know how to drive in it!! (Thank goodness it doesn't happen often!). I don't enjoy the threat of hurricanes...and I think Greenville is a moderate risk. Since you can see it coming, everyone panics for a few days wondering where exactly it will fall. Three months after I moved here, Floyd hit...and that was water damage, but it was BAD.
Why am I leaving? General attitude of people here is poor, and just not a great place to raise kids. I would think that Greenville would be better...and they are WELL known around here to be the best place for pediatric emergencies, and very good at cardiac as well.
If you moved down here, I would definately stick to Greenville (and not very far out...but you don't have kids) or one of the bigger cities in the triangle. If I were you, I'd easily get acreage and set up the little dream of having a piece of land to myself!

[michiganbob]

Thanks vetegnc.

I lived in Texas for a couple of years, and I know what you mean about the panic that sets in with a little snow. "King of the Hill" did a great episode on that subject a few years back.

Since you brought up The Triangle, how is that area? The sense I get from this forum and others is that area is growing too fast.

[Richard Martin]

Originally Posted by michiganbob

Any sense that Greenville is growing TOO fast at this point? I have heard that about some other southern cities.

No. In the city proper they have a good number of laws and rules regarding building and they are always looking at ways to improve that area. Just last week they passed a law concerning clear cutting of trees and it went into effect immediately.

The county is also a lot more involved in what developers do than developers would like. In as much as they would like to increase the tax base the county is cognizant of their facilites and the roads capacity to address development.

On the west and southwest sides of GC/WV you will find subdivisions when the housing is pretty densely spaced and the roads are there to handle it or are currently being improved.

On the east side of GV they are doing a lot of building too but the lots are typically much larger and the density is much lower due to the more rural nature of the area.

[cassy1]

As far as Greenville goes, we would move there in a heartbeat if it were closer to my husband's work. It is a little too far for him to drive in the dark hours, so we prefer to stay close to that. I shop in Greenville when I want more selection or have to have speciality stores, more restaurants than the RM/Wilson area too.

[hdprlt]

We are cheeseheads that moved to Colorado two years ago and now are considedring Greenville, NC.Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed