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So my wife and I decided that we don't want to live in IL anymore. It's over crowded and I'm tired of the same scenery of building and homes. We want more to our life then just building after building. The cost of living in IL has become over-whelming the cost of gas is out of control and the crime is only getting worse. So we want to nice quite peace-full place to raise our new born baby. How is the economy in N.C what do you think would be a ideal place for us; Please comment thank you.
I moved from NY to NC 7 years ago with my kids. I loved it here so much that I became a Realtor. I live just outside of Charlotte where the taxes are lower.
Arkidean, what sort of employment are you looking for? Do you want/need to be near a metropolitan area? Will you be happy living in a city or suburb as long as there are plenty of trees and parks around, or do you want something more rural?
The two biggest pieces of advice that people on this forum repeatedly tell potential transplants is (1) consider renting first and (2) if at all possible, secure employment before moving here. There are jobs to be found in NC, but they're not as plentiful as many have been lead to believe.
I'm looking to pursue sales as that is my expertise. As far as needing a metropolitan area, I can commute as long as it does not take longer then an hour otherwise I'm really flexible. I want something with a lot of scenery I'm tired of looking at buildings loll. I do plan on renting to see if I really like it and then I will go from there, I will not more with out securing a job first as that would be stupid.
I moved from Chicago to the outside of the Triangle area 18 months ago. My biggest regret is that I didn't do it sooner. It's for sure more peaceful here in the country.
That said, there isn't the same level of public transportation here, so I use the car much more than I used to. The cost of living, overall, may not be too much different. Real Estate and RE taxes are a lot less. Income tax is much higher than in Illinois. I pay a higher electric bill, but I pump my own water from a well. I pay about half what I did in heating (propane here, natural gas there), but about the same in food.
Where would be ideal? What (other than better scenery, and that depends on what you mean: Mts., Beach, Woods, suburbs, farms, hills) is most important?
I'm thinking more woods with close travel to the beach....
How close to the beach?
As witcdhseavey mentioned, the Triangle area is one option for you. It's made up of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, and other smaller towns. There are plenty of trees to be found here - especially in older neighborhoods. We have a couple of lakes here, but if you prefer the ocean the closest beach to the Triangle is about 2 hours away. The mountains are about 4 hours away.
Thanks guys!! The help has been much appreciated, I think that we are going to take a short vacation there in the next couple of weeks to see what we really think. I have heard a lot of buzz around Raleigh and Durham as well from some friends of mine; so I think we are going to check those out. We did want to be close to the beach but...It's not the end of the world if we have to drive an hour to get there.
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