Thinking about moving to NC from Boston

[OldMortgageGuy]

Originally Posted by habs033

My wife and I are considering moving our family (5 and 2 year old) from North of Boston to the North Carolina area. I work in banking and am looking to relocate to a nice, family friendly area, find a job in banking and live in an area with a better cost of living than Massachusetts.

I've looked at the Durham, Cary, Wake Forest areas, but we want a nice community, bigger house (<$300,000) and a safe place to raise a young family.

My wife works in the medical field, so this seems like a good fit, but I will need to land a job in the banking field.

Any advice???

I strongly recommend the Apex/West Cary area. As others have said, many New Englanders down here to bond with. Even the NY Yankee fan transplants are tolerable unlike up North believe it or not.

[Bull City Rising]

Statistically, if you're from Suffolk or Middlesex Co. -- core Boston/Cambridge/Dorchester/Arlington/etc. -- Boston relo's disproportionately choose Durham Co. over Wake Co.

If you're from outlying Boston suburbs, you're disproportionately likely to choose Wake Co. over Durham Co.

(Ex-Cantabridgian who's run the numbers based on 2007 relocation data; PM me for a link -- and who loves Durham!)

[Beans&Cornbread]

Originally Posted by frankpc

Traditionally more banking jobs are in Charlotte as opposed to Raleigh/Durham but with Wachovia being acquired by Wells Fargo some of those jobs are being eliminated.
Quality of life between Raleigh and Charlotte is fairly similar (at least compared to Boston).
If you move here, you'll have to become a Canes fan

Frank

Funny - We're probably on the same wavelenth coz first thing that popped into my head when I saw the username was Canadiens/Patrick Roy fan.
Not very Boston, though, hmmm?

Agree with the above. When I think banking in the south, I think Charlotte. Although few banks do have HQs here - bigger ones being RBC (US div) and First Citizens.

[blytheny]

Good luck to you... we are Central NY'ers looking to do the same as you and your wife, although my husband isn't in the banking industry, he's more manufacturing & production. I, like your wife, am in the medical field (I'm an RN) and although jobs don't seem to be super plentiful, they're definitely out there, depending on what she does. We also have two school-age girls and will be looking for good school districts and/or Christian schools in the area, depending on where my husband finds a job. We're looking for the same things you & your family are looking for... your post sounds so like my original one!

[jamangirl]

Life is what you make it. We were happy in the Boston area (lifelong until 5 years ago) and now are happy in the Raleigh area. We moved here for job relo. Left both of our families behind along with many friends. But...we have made a ton of new friends (both transplants and natives) here, enjoy a slower paced lifestyle, feel less like keeping up with the "Joneses" than we did in Boston area. Have never regretted our move, have found many opportunities here that we would not have had up North. Enjoy the friendliness of most everyone from neighbors to store employees. Don't move here thinking it is less expensive. I believe it all evens out in the end. Some things are more expensive while others are less. We are able to make it work on a reduced salary level (we chose to not have me look for a career job right away), chose a comparably sized house that is small in comparison to most houses in my neighborhood but it works for us. Weather is a trade off- I intensely dislike those long cold and snowy winters that I spent almost 20 years commuting into Boston. Spring starts here in February. Summers are hot but I can tolerate heat much better especially since everything is air condiditoned. Tons of great medical centers here- Duke, UNC, WakeMed, Rex so finding a job should not be an issue for your wife. Make the best decision for your family.