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Old 02-22-2011, 12:23 PM
 
12 posts, read 26,965 times
Reputation: 12

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Hello

We would greatly appreciate any advice you have to offer

My husband, our children (ages 5 and 10) and I are considering a move to NC. We now live in PA and have lived here our whole lives. We have many questions about NC and would appreciate any input

What are the "best" areas to live in in NC? We're looking for something suburban with a great school system.

My husband and I both work in healthcare and would need to be close to multiple hospitals for job opportunities.

We would love to be close (30mins-1hr) to the beach but not so close that we would have to evacuate for hurricanes.

Our housing budget would be less than $300,000. Believe it or not $300,000 doesn't get you all that much here in PA.

We would love to be in a neighborhood with other young families

Thank you in advance for taking the time to reply!!
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Old 02-22-2011, 03:27 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
10,728 posts, read 22,829,826 times
Reputation: 12325
Quote:
Originally Posted by desireeduvak View Post
What are the "best" areas to live in in NC? We're looking for something suburban with a great school system.
The best places to live are where you can find a job(s). NC has many attractive areas, but nobody can tell you what are best for you.

How is it that you have decided to move to NC but don't know where you want to be? You might start with the City-Data page on NC, and look into various municipalities. Usually people find a city they like, whatever state it's in, not a state and then try to pick a city.

You also might google NC hospitals and see where they are, maybe even ask a hospital association for "ratings" of NC hospitals? Every part of the state has fast-growing suburbs, and the new suburbs usually have the best (new) schools, so you'll need to narrow it down beyond that. Do you want mountains or coasT? Urban or rural (besides suburban)? More liberal or more conservative politics? NC is a very varied state, so it's odd that you would make a general "we want to be in NC" without knowing a specific place in NC you want to be.
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Old 02-22-2011, 03:58 PM
 
Location: Up above the world so high!
45,217 posts, read 100,739,056 times
Reputation: 40199
Quote:
Originally Posted by desireeduvak View Post
Hello

We would greatly appreciate any advice you have to offer

My husband, our children (ages 5 and 10) and I are considering a move to NC. We now live in PA and have lived here our whole lives. We have many questions about NC and would appreciate any input

What are the "best" areas to live in in NC? We're looking for something suburban with a great school system.

My husband and I both work in healthcare and would need to be close to multiple hospitals for job opportunities.

We would love to be close (30mins-1hr) to the beach but not so close that we would have to evacuate for hurricanes.

Our housing budget would be less than $300,000. Believe it or not $300,000 doesn't get you all that much here in PA.

We would love to be in a neighborhood with other young families

Thank you in advance for taking the time to reply!!
Being in healthcare you will have a little bit of an advantage in the job hunt.

The Winston Salem and Raleigh Durham areas have fantastic hospitals. Start a search there to see what might be available. Your money will go further in Winston Salem than in Raleigh however.

Since you want to be closer to the beach consider living east or south of Raleigh in nice places like Wake Forest, Clayton or Zebulon. Though you would have a commute back in to get to your jobs but would be about 2 hours from the beach.

To get even closer you could look at Greenville, home of East Carolina University - it's kind of a college town but does have a large medical community.

Personally, I really like the Crystal Coast if you want to get practically on the beach. This is a nice collection of communities with easy access to nice beaches along the coast. There are hospitals in Morehead City and New Bern you could look at if that area interests you.
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Old 02-22-2011, 07:26 PM
 
1,442 posts, read 2,564,646 times
Reputation: 924
Quote:
Originally Posted by desireeduvak View Post
Hello

We would greatly appreciate any advice you have to offer

My husband, our children (ages 5 and 10) and I are considering a move to NC. We now live in PA and have lived here our whole lives. We have many questions about NC and would appreciate any input

What are the "best" areas to live in in NC? We're looking for something suburban with a great school system.

My husband and I both work in healthcare and would need to be close to multiple hospitals for job opportunities.

We would love to be close (30mins-1hr) to the beach but not so close that we would have to evacuate for hurricanes.

Our housing budget would be less than $300,000. Believe it or not $300,000 doesn't get you all that much here in PA.

We would love to be in a neighborhood with other young families

Thank you in advance for taking the time to reply!!
Probably Raleigh/Durham - lots of hospitals, and 1.5 - 3 hours from the beach depending on what side of RDU you live on (Durham about 3 hrs -Duke/UNC, whereas Johnston County SE of Raleigh about 1.5 - 2 hrs - much less expensive than Raleigh, but farther from Duke/Rex Hospitals, but close to Wake Med) All other larger cities in NC with multiple hospital systems are much farther from the beach. Greenville (ECU Med ctr) is a little closer to the beach, but I have heard mixed reviews of this area.
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Old 02-23-2011, 09:35 AM
 
1,500 posts, read 2,902,323 times
Reputation: 3608
Curious how you came to choose NC if you don't know much about it? Do you have family here? Do you vacation here every year? etc...
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Old 02-24-2011, 07:06 AM
 
12 posts, read 26,965 times
Reputation: 12
Thank you for all of your suggestions and advice thus far

We haven't necessarily "decided" on North Carolina but are "considering" North Carolina. We are presently in the process of weighing all of our options.

Thanks
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Old 02-24-2011, 07:40 AM
 
1,500 posts, read 2,902,323 times
Reputation: 3608
Okaaaaaaaaaay, so then the question is why out of the other 49 states you've decided to "consider" NC. Trying to get an idea of what you find appealing, not appealing, what you already know, etc., or if this is just a situation of "I'm sick of snow and I think it doesn't snow in NC". Wondering if your 300K housing limit is tied to your life in PA or if you already know what salaries and the housing market are like in your target area of NC.

Help us help you.
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Old 02-24-2011, 10:47 PM
 
12 posts, read 26,965 times
Reputation: 12
We are considering for NC for a multitude of reasons but they do not have any bearing on the advice we seek from others. Yes, we have a good idea of what our salaries will be in NC. They will be very comparable to what we're earning in PA but the cost of living in NC will be MUCH lower! I love the snow, I will miss it It's the ridiculous cost of living here outside of Philadelphia that we'd like to get away from...

Thank you for all the advice so far
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