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Hi, I may have an opportunity to work in North Carolina. It is not definite, but chances are good. I live outside of Philadelphia and I'm used to the things to do there and the environment. I don't know anyone in North Carolina. What do you feel about safety in various sections, school district and public school reputation, and things to do? Any suggestions of where to live, preferably something with many amenities included and a 6 month option is nice, but not absolute necessary? Range is probably like 800-1400/month or so.
I am feeling overwhelmed but potentially greatful for the opportunities I may have in North Carolina. Please help. Thank you!
Firt, you need to come visit W-S and get a feel for it, in order to determine if its right for you. No one can tell you that. I can guarantee you its nothing like Philadelphia.
Some parts of the city are obviously more desirable, just like some parts of every city are more desirable. W-S has lots of nice, safe neighborhoods with good schools.
Where will your job be located? I would think you'd want to be as close to your job as possible, in order to minimize your commute. But of course, W-S is not that large and you can get across town in 30 minutes or so.
In general, the west and northwest sections are very nice, so you may want to start looking there. There are many apartment communities.
You might want to read through some of the existing threads on here asking some of the same questions, such as:
The best schools in Winston-Salem proper are to the west and northwest, with some very good charter and magnet schools scattered throughout town.
As for things to do, what are you into? The arts? The outdoors? Music? There are lots of options for a city this size, and larger cities (Charlotte and Raleigh) are within an hour and a half, so there are plenty of options. We can narrow that down with a little guidance from you.
And with a max budget of 1400, you're in pretty good shape. There are lots of houses for under that max if you want to go that route. I take it you have kids?
I like competitive chess (no surprise, lol), competitive Scrabble, anime, modern music (indie or some popular very basically), like access to exotic food if possible, and having a cheap priced gym near me would be nice.
27106 is the northwest part of W-S, which is ideal. I'd start looking for rentals in that area. W-S has a very nice downtown, with restaurants, music venues and an arts district.
Ah! I only assumed you had kids because of the comment about schools. If I were you, I'd go downtown, West End, or Ardmore. Google tells me that the WS chess club meets at Miller Park, which is in Ardmore. Many of the best ethnic restaurants are sprinkled around town, often in strip malls and the like. (Weirdly, one of the best thai spots in town- Thai Sawatdee- is located inside of a grocery store on the edge of Ardmore near Baptist Hospital. They have two other locations, but the one inside the grocery store is convenient and very good.) However, there are a few good options downtown.
For gyms, there's a Gold's downtown and a nice YMCA in West End. There are also a few crossfit gyms and a muay thai studio in the downtown/west end/buena vista area. There's an LA Fitness to the west of Ardmore, and it's brand new, so it's probably pretty well equipped. I've never been in, though. I understand there's also a smaller YMCA in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter on the eastern edge of downtown, and there are a couple of Planet Fitness locations in WS: one south of downtown on Peter's Creek Parkway and one near Wake Forest University on Reynolda.
There's some good music downtown, too. One of the best venues, Ziggy's, is closing, unfortunately, after a falling out between the owners. But there's good music at spots along Trade St, including the Garage, and any larger acts that don't come through Winston or Greensboro usually stop in either Charlotte or Raleigh. Both are under an hour and a half away. There's also a great music festival called Phuzz Phest in April. Last year's lineup included Ex Hex, Foxygen, Blackbird Blackbird, Futurebirds, and a bunch of others. Not sure how indie you like your indie, but it's a pretty diverse lineup.
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