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First I want to say this forum is great. Stumbled upon it recently and can't stop reading.
My family and I want to relocate to NC prefereble the triad are but open to any where else. I'm at a loss on how to even narrow down the city so I thought I'd do this post. Initially I was looking into W-S, Greensboro area. But I read some decent things about Chapel Hill. Or anything in between.
I am hispanic, husband and children are African America. Son 11 daughter 7. We're in Chicago now and while the summers here are great I hate the rest of the year.
I'm a Real Estate Agent so I would like an area that would be good to restart my business but more importantly we seek:
Safe Community!!!
Superior schools
Somewhere with at least a few things to do on the weekends
Somewhere that is at least a little racially diverse
Milder winters
population size doesn't matter as long as the above criteria is met.
We'd be looking to rent for now at 3-4bd for no more than 1200.
Is what I seek out there or am I asking too much? Your suggestions and inputs are greatly appreciated. Thanks
Looks like we're in the same boat. I am lifelong Chicagoan, with 2 kids-ages 2 and 6 months. Ideally, I'd be looking to relocate within 2 years before the oldest starts school.
I love Chicago, hate the winters! I think opportunity in the Triad Area-North Carolina is abundant for someone in Banking like myself. I would also be looking to restart my financial services company.
I was thinking either Greensboro or Winston-Salem and also Raleigh. I am looking for the same things Excited J is. I want to live on the outskirts of the city AND be able to commute in easily for work. I want a safe, family- oriented community with strong schools-where my kids can walk freely to a neighbor's home or park. Any suggestions?
"Potential" Welcome to Triad! I visited Chicago one time in May, 1996, and man, it was cold and WINDY! I relocated here from Alabama about 20 months ago, so NC is "cold" to me, LOL.
Anyway, based on your criteria, many people in this board would recommend the Northwestern part of Greensboro. Northwest High has been the best high school in town, and the new Northern High will be good as well. Forsyth county has a couple of good schools, I guess, Reagan HS and West Forsyth. Things you can do: mountains/ski resorts in 2-3 hours, the Atlantic Ocean in 4 hours, DC and Atlanta in 5 hours, etc.
The problem though is that the NW part of G'boro is the most expensive area. I believe it will be difficult for you to find $1,200 rental for 3-4 rooms unless you settle for a very low quality home. If you have to look for elsewhere, North High Point wouldn't be that bad. In there, you can definitely find homes in your budget while schools may not be as good.
As for your job, because I am not in the RE business, I can't comment on it. One thing is for sure, however, that it is very tough these days to sell houses. It was just announced that NC is the 6th in unemployment in the nation.
Greensboro has so many diverse areas. Good schools are in abundance, not just in the Northwest (Oak Ridge/stokesdale area). Everyone talks about NW but never mentions the crowding. New Northern High school covers Summerfield. Page, Grimsley, Western, Southwest Guilford... all good schools. Hopefully you can find a good place to rent that feeds into these areas. Always check the school report cards @ NC School Report Cards
I am also an agent, so I know how it is restarting a career. If you need help finding anything to rent, I can recommend a former agent here @ www.elderproperties.com- Mr. Elder now does property management exclusively, so maybe he can help you.
Thanks for the info. How would you say the RE market is down there? It tought here but there's still people buying and selling everyday. It's tough because there 18k of us and there's significantly less transactions than there were 2 yrs ago.
Anyhow, 6th in the US with high UE is a little scary cause my hubby would have to find employment there.
Are there any smaller cities in NC that would have good schools better RE market and low rents?
Also, someone mentioned NC is cold... is it really? I was hoping to escape these rigid winters>
NC will be like a tropical paradise compared to Chicago! The coldest months are Jan and Feb. You can get some random 60-70 degree days thrown in. It tends to lightly snow maybe 2-3 times and it is usually gone by the afternoon. Don't let the weather scare you.
Hello to the Forum! I am relocating from Omaha, NE to the Triad area. I have already submitted several CV's in the my area of discipline. What is life there like?
Hi Excited J and Glinan25 and anyone else moving to NC, welcome to the Triad. I've lived in the Triad now over 13 yrs. I've lived in Greensboro and now currently in High Point. As others have pointed out, NW side of Greensboro (GSO for short and is actually our International Airport code) is very nice for living and has decent shops/restaraunts and light entertainment. It is also an excellent area for schools. However, over the past few years this "niceness" has attracted many and now they're overcrowded. If you're still interested in looking into it, check out these other outlying areas: Oak Ridge, Summerfield, & Stokesdale. Other decent areas that are very convenient to other cities and towns are: N High Point (15-20min to GSO), Colfax (5-10 min to GSO) and still known as the "bedroom town", Kernersville (10-20 min to GSO).
I'm not going to sugarcoat anything about the Triad. To me and my husband personally, it can be very boring after work. We both work hard and sometimes long hours so there isn't much else we do outside of staying at home or hanging out with friends and attend church. I will say this, North Carolinians (as many other states in the South) love to eat! You really shouldn't get too bored with places to eat. It's true though that some places--particularly the local "mom and pop" restaurants do close by 9, some times as early as 8pm and many times aren't always open on Sundays in observance of church. But there are always new and interesting eateries headed by both long-timers and newbies from the North so you shouldn't have to miss out on the unique foods of NYC, Chicago, etc.
NC has become quite diverse ethnically and racially over the past 10 years. When I first moved here it was "non-existant" in this matter. There was either all white or all black and sometimes a mix of both. Rarely were there ethnic groups of Asians, Latinos and others. There has been a tremendous influx of Latinos and Asians and even many Europeans/Central Europeans and Middle Easterners. My husband and I are both Latino and are grateful that there are more readily available Latino products and related restaurants now than years before. I definitely don't leave it at that either! We enjoy all other ethnic peoples and believe strongly about having a mix of all races and ethnicities. You should always scope out any International shopping areas/malls and eateries because they're here now!
Don't listen to anyone who says traffic is bad! Waiting for 40 minutes to 1 hr is nothing compared to NYC, parts of FL and of course the infamous CA! True North Carolinians will consider sitting in traffic for 20 minutes bad. Besides, to me, there is NO real traffic other than an occasional stop and go. Distances aren't very far here. You can easily commute or just travel somewhere well within 30 minutes no problem. I don't stand for slow drivers and watch out! they do drive slow here. It'll be an "accident" if someone blows their horn too! LOL
If you decide the Triad is not the place to live for you, I would suggest the in-betweeners: Burlington/Mebane (25-35min E of GSO), Durham/Chapel Hill (45-1hr E of GSO, 15-20min W, NW of Raleigh). If you're willing to commute or can tolerate living further South, I would suggest Kannapolis/Concord (45-1hr S of GSO) and of course the unforgettable Charlotte (1-1/2hr S of GSO). Burlington/Mebane have their good and bad (what place in the US doesn't!?) but more good than bad. It's relatively inexpensive to live and for light entertainment and shopping/eating do pretty good and are continuously booming. Durham/Chapel Hill is strictly college town and high techies, same goes for Raleigh. Although not too far from Raleigh, Durham/Chapel Hill still have more expensive housing, particularly renting than say Burlington or Concord. Raleigh is more expensive to live overall; just about everything is overpriced considering the overall low cost to living in NC. Even coming from Chicago or any other high-cost Northern city, expect to spend either the same maybe slightly less but not much.
And don't forget Winston-Salem! W-S as it's often referred to, has more "history" and places to "see" than the rest of the Triad. Not that the Triad doesn't offer things to do, but I've always found W-S to have a little bit more to do. In size it's even much larger area and has more people spread out. Unfortunately, there's only a couple of places in W-S that seem to fare better than the rest. N, NE and NW W-S tends to have better housing, schools, shopping, etc. Downtown W-S has its places to go as well. The other side is W, S, SW W-S right off Interstate 40 near the biggest mall in the Triad--Hanes Mall and Forsyth Medical; also in proximity is Clemmons. It's just another area that is great to live in and commute.
There are few people I know of that live and work in the same place. Many if not nearly all of us, commute to some other city simply because of the job demographic. The medical field is pretty important here, as is banking (more so in Charlotte), and anything Technilogical you'll need to go further East toward Raleigh. There are of course jobs of all kinds. I will say this though, there isn't as vast an opportunity simply because of the countless unemployment/layoffs that have been occuring in NC over the past few years. As we all know, this is happening everywhere in the US.
Don't lose hope though. I've moved to many states and cities throughout my life and NC has been the longest place I've lived in. I've had a love/hate relationship with it all this time though I've thoroughly enjoyed it. As broad as the states and cities I've traveled to (more than 12 states, at least 25-30 cities), Atlanta has been the closest to my heart. Our goal and dream is to one day settle (for good!) in Atlanta. Hope you feel the same about calling NC home!
P.S. after all this, I dare say to sum up NC in these words: most central Eastern state, not too cold or too hot, and only hours from 2 favorites: the BEACH and the MOUNTAINS. can't be beat!
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Seeking greener pasture to raise family
what part of the city are you in?
