Best area in NC for:52 yr.old single w/Mom who is great duplicate bridge player (Charlotte: apartments) - North Carolina - City-Data Forum

tkpleslie · 05-23-2008, 05:51 AM

Hi:

I currently live in Minneapolis(actually Eagan) and am needing to move to a warmer climate for my Mom who needs to come and live close to me. I am 52, a work from home entreprenuer who loves culture, reading and great bookstores, new ideas and nature. Need to be close to an airport.

Here are my concerns: I need an apt. community to live in where the apartments are bright, light and in nature and I need a place for my Mom to live in an assisted living or over 55 center close by. She is still healthy and her passion is duplicate bridge. She is the best female player in Central Florida right now, but her partner is moving away. I want her to be happy and find a thriving bridge community.

I need great independent bookstores, a liberal, progressive mindset and a thriving internet/IT community. I am connected with the furniture business but don't think High Point is where I want to live.

I am concerned that Charlotte is too much like Dallas-which I don't like as it's TOO focused on money and the people are not sincere and it is too "corporate" and that Raleigh might be too family oriented for me. I am a spiritual person but not religious and don't want all social activities to focus around churches. I need to know which city might best fit with all of these criteria in NC or which neighborhood in Charlotte, Raleigh or Greensboro or surrounding towns might fit best. Greensboro would be ideal if it fits with what I need as I have some friends there already, but I can't ask them these questions as I don't want to offend them.

I love where I live now, but it is too cold for Mom and she won't move here so I am trying to find a place where we can both be happy.

Any help you can give me would be so appreciated. I have moved 6 times now in two years for family and job related reasons and I just found out about this change for my Mom so I want to move ONCE more, hopefully.

Thanks SO MUCH!

RDSLOTS · 05-25-2008, 06:15 AM

My vote would be for the Raleigh/Triangle area. There are lots of areas with a small town feel to them -- Apex, Cary, Morrisville, for starters -- yet offer easy accessibility to Raleigh, and the Triad area, as well as being two hours from coastal NC, and two to three hours from the NC mountains.

Nice places to live, lots of people from all over who either live and work here, or who have retired. I found a great social bridge group by going to Meet Up on the internet. You can focus on a specific interest, and area. I also found some book clubs, and made note of all sorts of hobby groups and social gatherings.

brokensky · 05-25-2008, 06:27 AM

I think RDU would be the better when comparing RDU and CLT, but some of your criteria really seem out of synch w/ NC in general. Chapel Hill and Asheville may be two of the more "progressive" areas . . . so since you are thinking the Raleigh area in general . . . I would suggest somewhere in or near Chapel Hill. Maybe others will have more advice.

tkpleslie · 06-07-2008, 04:40 AM

Thank you both very much for helping me out here. I really appreciate it. My gut instincts had already led me to Raleigh area, but I wasn't sure if there was a specific part of town or neighborhood. Chapel Hill sounds good and I will check it out when I am in NC in October. I have also been to Asheville which I love. Any thoughts on duplicate bridge there?

Thanks again!