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So for reasons that are too complicated to get into right now, my girlfriend and I plan to move from Portland, ME to NC in October. We'll be bunking it with her family in Winston-Salem, and most likely moving to the carrboro/chapel hill area.
My question is this. I've lived in New England my entire life; what are the major differences - both positive and negative - that I should expect out of living in the south?
So for reasons that are too complicated to get into right now, my girlfriend and I plan to move from Portland, ME to NC in October. We'll be bunking it with her family in Winston-Salem, and most likely moving to the carrboro/chapel hill area.
My question is this. I've lived in New England my entire life; what are the major differences - both positive and negative - that I should expect out of living in the south?
hmmmm...don't ya'll have those really nasty little black flies that keep you from being outside a lot in the summer time in Maine? Here we can actually sit outside without being bitten to death - no black flies!
Here's a general rule of thumb, what you put out into the world is generally what you get back. If you are friendly and nice you'll find lots of friendly and nice people wherever you go
Positives to living here though are definitely the milder winters, the more conservative politics (statewide, though some cities are leaning more left these days) and easy access to some of the nicest beaches and beautiful mountains in the country.
Black flies are more of an inland thing - coastal areas usually aren't bad.
I'm sorry...how again are conservative politics a good thing?
sigh - Look at the states with the highest tax rates, the most problems, the most social ills, (NY, NJ, Connecticut and California) and tell me you don't get the connection between liberal policies and their ridiculously expensive way of life
Be forewarned, you ARE moving to the Bible Belt - people here in general will be more conservative in many ways - we consider that a positive thing.
sigh - Look at the states with the highest tax rates, the most problems, the most social ills, (NY, NJ, Connecticut and California) and tell me you don't get the connection between liberal policies and their ridiculously expensive way of life
Be forewarned, you ARE moving to the Bible Belt - people here in general will be more conservative in many ways - we consider that a positive thing.
Uhh, not all of us consider this a positive thing.
I was under the impression that NC was one of the more liberal of the southern states...
I suppose compared to Mississippi that's true. And unfortunately we do have liberal pockets popping up in all our major cities (too many liberal transplants from the northeast), but as a whole once you get outside the top biggest handful of cities the state is conservative.
Uhh, not all of us consider this a positive thing.
Well, this is still America, at least for a little while longer anyway, so you are of course entitled to your opinion - my grandfather, among other ancestors, died to give you that right
A few years back, my brother and sister-in-law moved from NC to Presque Isle. They couldn't afford enough property for her to keep her horse, which they easily found in spades in ME (85 acres for $85,000 ). Also, she had personal reasons to be there for her ailing Grandparents. They've since relocated again to Indianapolis.
I've come across many, many former "Maine-iacs" in this area. I've never heard them complain about anything. My father, who grew up in Pittsfield, ME, lives here. Both of my parents are having a real hard time finding places to eat that have seafood prepared the way they like it, and that have that bland, non-descript New England style cooking and dishes that they're used to. So if you're used to lots of fresh, local seafood, especially lobster and clams, be prepared to miss it. Being from New England, we all grew up in an almost exclusively WASP-ish environment without much interaction with other cultures, food, or ethnicities. They both have a harder time dealing with those nuances then us kids do, since there's much more of that diversity here, but that might be a generational thing as well.
You'll love the lack of the horse flies, mosquitos, ants, termites and that lovely springtime mud, and enjoy much better evenly-spaced seasons, with real and distinct divisions between them. You'll have to, though, get used to dealing with more spiders, crickets, snakes, fire ants, and some other, mostly benign, insectia that you may not have seen before.
The landscaping that you'll see as you drive around will be so different than that of New England. Growing up where the landscape was a few yew bushes, a couple of maple or birch trees, and maybe a Rhododendron or two, I still get blown away sometimes by the breadth and variety of landscaping and hardscaping materials I see in use here. However, the general topography of the NC Piedmont area will still look like much of NE.
Wow!! I actually spelled Rhododendron right on the first try without a spell checker! My mom would be so proud of me!!
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). Also, she had personal reasons to be there for her ailing Grandparents. They've since relocated again to Indianapolis.
