Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
North Carolina is the Georgia of the Carolinas. lol Much more so than it is anything that resembles California.
Areas of Texas and Florida is where you will start to see some similarities to parts of California, but with a twist.
I'd say it's more or less the Arizona of the south, where a lot of people move to from more expensive states, yet still being within a day's drive of a megaregion (FL or the NE corridor). It generally flies under the radar in the national/global media, unless if a major event occurs. NC is missing a lot of worldly things that CA and many of the other Tier 1 states have. IMO Asheville=Flagstaff, Charlotte + Triangle= Phoenix, and the Triad=Tuscon. Like AZ, most of NC's cities are postwar sprawl and very autocentric, even if both Phoenix and Charlotte have a limited transit network. NC does have a small film industry in Wilmington, but it pales even in comparison to Atlanta's. It doesn't have the MLB. Nothing like a Beverly Hills, La Jolla, or even Carmel for luxury shopping. Overall, NC a nice, pleasant place to live, but it lacks the high energy/thrills that are associated with CA. Lots of chains and it's probably the most "Middle America" of all the coastal states.
I don't think anywhere is the somewhere of some place.
Those statements are just silly and California and NC do not share any more similarities than other states.
From the three states mentioned NC is my favorite.
All are beautiful in my opinion but I prefer the variety of major cities in NC. The growth is more spread out than Georgia and it is on the coast unlike Tennessee.
If I had to bet on a state amongst the 3 for future outlook I would go for NC. Atlanta's reach is just so strong within the state that it doesn't leave much room for the others to shine.
Well, NC has a large coastline, beautiful beaches and a mild climate, esp along the coast.
It also has, IMO, the most beautiful part of the Appalacians in the western part of the state.
Other then FL (I love the heat and humidity of the southern part of the state) NC is my overall favorite state.
Florida is more like the California of the South. Glamorous, lots of beaches, tons of growth and development, large populations, etc. For one, Miami and Los Angeles have plenty of similarities, and there's really no North Carolina equivalent to those cities.
North Carolina has a lot of growth, but it's primarily concentrated in the central part of the state (Piedmont), while the mountains and coastal areas mainly attract retirees and aren't quite as developed as the Piedmont. The Piedmont cities are all fairly similar, with nice but small downtowns surrounded by lots of suburban sprawl. The traffic is getting worse around the Triangle and Charlotte but it's still a laid back state in many ways, I would not compare it with California. If anything, North Carolina is like a cross between Virginia and Georgia.
This why I said as a region it makes more sense
As I said Cali is a larger state at 155,959 sq mi, you near fit all of GA, NC, and FL combine 160,242 aq mi just in CA.
GA 10,711,908
NC 10,453,948
FL 21,538,187
3 states population 42,704,043
in 160,242 aq mi
CA population 39,538,223
in 155,959 sq mi
Comparing one eastern small state to Cali a super large state is not a fair comparison. How ever if you taking in account all you can do with around area size of Cali over the South Atlantic that changes everything. I mean if choose state you still have close access to other states.
You could compare Southern Cali to Florida
Central Cali/The Central Valley To Georgia
And Northern Cali to North Carolina
Otherwise Florida beaches aren't in NC but Cali is so large they might as well be NC is my point.
One fun fact, the name "California" contains all the same letters as "Carolina" plus an "f" and an "i", lol.
The point of me bring of GA and NC gold rushes was not meant to say these solo states are similar to CA. but rather people ignore the general access of the region. And me just trying to put a spotlight on Southern Appalachia. that why I said "fun fact" Personally I wouldn't want any Southeast state being called Cali of the South, each state has there own identity and honestly the South Atlantic should embrace that sub regional identity more you don't really here that just "Southern". but if you look at population, growth, politics and Culture, The Alantic states are a stand out compare to rest of the South.
But one state to all of Cali would already be weird because of the size difference. How ever regional the Size of Cali across the South Atlantic. If someone want to they could wake up off the coast of Florida the in morning but fall sleep camping in the Georgia mountains. That's how large California is. Going NC doesn't have blank compare to CA is sort pointless, when considering how huge Cali is in the first place.
There's a whole lot of nothing in parts of NC. I can't speak on large parts of California.
NC's growth is in the cities, then it gets rural really quick.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
