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I am not looking to avoid people with differing views. The move is not done for ideological reasons. The reason I bring up politics is because of the failed policies that have destroyed the upstate economy. The state government creates unfunded entitlement programs - or the "safety net" - and makes the counties pay for them. I live in a house assessed for $280,000 and pay $9000 a year in just property taxes. I know it will be difficult for my parents to stay here when they retire and will only be worse when it's my turn. The tax burden is out of control on everything - with no relief in site. When $15/hour minimum wage goes through, my children can forget about finding part-time jobs. I plan on moving when my children, who are currently in high school, graduate.
I plan on visiting the Raleigh-Durham area starting this summer to get familiar with the surroundings. I would like areas to consider moving to. Safe neighborhoods and schools are a top priority. I'm not opposed to parochial schools.
You can pretty much move anywhere around here and get all that.
Yes... some will prefer one area over another, but there you go.
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Thank you! Finally, someone who understands what I'm asking.
Well, to be fair, you did lead with politics instead of "I cannot afford to live here and I want to find a warmer place with lower taxes and good schools."
If you had, your response set would have been different.
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The area around Durham/ Chapel Hill/ Raleigh tends to be liberal, and so you might not be happy in this area. This is also the general area where the best schools are, and the taxes are higher. Funny how that works.
I am with you in agreeing with you that taxes are higher in the Northeast, and have paid exorbitant property taxes myself in northern NJ. Several factors contribute to those high taxes up North that don't apply here. One is that the infrastructure is very old; here in NC it's noticeably newer overall. Another is that the concentration of population in the Northeast makes it harder and costlier to provide services at peak times and managing those surges of demand is expensive. Another, unfortunately in my view, is that there are many ways the lower taxes here in NC result in fewer taxpayer-funded services, for example scandalously low teacher pay or lack of benefits for working people.
Finally, and this is an unequivocal benefit to living here also related to lower taxes, is that the weather is far better.
You must of course know that the income tax, however, is currently a flat tax and thus quite regressive. Under the current administration the state is moving toward more consumption taxes as well, which also means that people earning less pay a higher proportion of their income in taxes.
Good luck with your search.
Last edited by marialidia; 03-03-2016 at 01:00 PM..
$15 is barely a living wage in NY. In any case, it's not "entitlement" programs that are destroying the U.S. economy (unless you're referring to the annual $250 billion welfare payment that the American taxpayer gives to Exxon and its ilk, no strings attached). Jobs don't move overseas due to the requirement to pay people a living wage or due to unions (unions are what created the American middle class); they move overseas because corporations can make a bigger profit. It's that simple. And there's no one stopping them from doing so. American big business has abandoned the American people and their communities, and forced small businesses to go bankrupt, leaving Americans in even greater need of "entitlement" relief--you know, like a living wage. As compared to somewhere, for example, like Germany, that passed such onerous corporate tax laws that they've kept 90% of German jobs in Germany, and no corporation, big surprise, has gone bankrupt because of it.
First off, if I lived in upper NY I'd be down here in a heartbeat. Raleigh is just a better place to live on so many levels and doesn't have the insane tax burden New Yorkers are faced with. Secondly, people may complain about the educational system here but quite frankly, if your children want to be educated they absolutely can. I have children, nieces and nephews and getting into a quality university has not been an issue. Thirdly, if you are a conservative, just stay out of Chapel Hill and a few of the surrounding areas--you will be fine. Personally I would consider Raleigh to be moderate. Fourth, most of the people complaining about state politics are----you guessed it, liberals. They are the ones out of power after running things for more than 40 years. Things were so much better when they were running things (lol).
Raleigh is a great place, the majority of people really like it for a myriad of reasons-we have something for just about everyone.
The problem with the "safety net" is that it's a job killer. Everyone will need the safety net because employment will be impossible to find. Go to any jobs website and search for jobs in the Albany area versus the Raleigh area.
I don't know -- California has a safety net and no jobs issues.
Politics in New York are very corrupt. Our politicians are often arrested and most budgets are made in smoke-filled rooms and shoved down our troats. We are about to pass $15/hour minimum wage and the latest agenda is three month paid family leave per year. Single payer has passed in our Assembly, so it's just a matter of time before the NY Senate agrees to it. A lot of jobs in our area are in the public sector. My husband is IT management and is fortunate enough to have a good paying job. I feel the future in New York is very bleak. I look at my children and feel that their opportunities are going to be very limited. While I understand the Raleigh area is more liberal, at least it doesn't have the state-wide corruption that makes it impossible for good politicians to make an impact in our state.
If you are leaving JUST because of politics, why not just pick a metro area that is more conservative? The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area is more "Blue" even than most metros areas in the South. Charlotte or The Triad (Greensboro/Winston-Salem) are both more conservative, but so would somewhere like Greenville or Columbia, SC, in an even more conservative state. Your post mention no reasons in FAVOR of Raleigh-Durham except that "it's not NY", which is true of most of the country. But this area is really not "conservative", so if you're going to move anyway, you should pick somewhere that is (seems to me). This is also a more expensive metro area than most of the others I list above (except maybe Charlotte).
You spent a lot of time saying why you're moving out of NY, but I don't think anybody disputes that--more of us are disputing why you chose Raleigh specifically after going on about politics. NC is the most progressive state in the South, despite our current legislature, and this is the most "liberal" metro area in NC. Just be aware of that before you settle in and then complain about it because you didn't consider more conservative areas.
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