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I live in MN. I'm originally from CA. I have family in NC, lots of family. I'm considering moving there, but I have some questions.
1) The housing: Online, it looks like I could get a decent home for under 175k. Is this true? I'm looking for a nice neighborhood, of course, with decent schools.
2) Schools: My children go to Minneapolis Public Schools and we're pretty happy. They don't need to be perfect, but I want them to be able to fit in easily and enjoy school.
3) Racism: The South has kind of a bad rep. I don't know much about NC since we don't get to go there very often. I'm white, but my kids are half latino/half white AND I'm a single mother. I don't want to be the sore thumb sticking out. Out here, in Minneapolis, there are many diverse families and we really are just one of them. I like that. I love the diversity in this city and in Los Angeles, where I grew up. I can't stand racism whether it's closeted or overt.
WHere should we move to?? I hear Raleigh and Durham are the most diverse and are great cities. I wish we could live near the ocean, but I don't know much about your coastal areas. Also, I'm a teacher, and I'm used to working with English Language Learners--I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have that population to work with.
I live in MN. I'm originally from CA. I have family in NC, lots of family. I'm considering moving there, but I have some questions.
1) The housing: Online, it looks like I could get a decent home for under 175k. Is this true? I'm looking for a nice neighborhood, of course, with decent schools.
2) Schools: My children go to Minneapolis Public Schools and we're pretty happy. They don't need to be perfect, but I want them to be able to fit in easily and enjoy school.
3) Racism: The South has kind of a bad rep. I don't know much about NC since we don't get to go there very often. I'm white, but my kids are half latino/half white AND I'm a single mother. I don't want to be the sore thumb sticking out. Out here, in Minneapolis, there are many diverse families and we really are just one of them. I like that. I love the diversity in this city and in Los Angeles, where I grew up. I can't stand racism whether it's closeted or overt.
WHere should we move to?? I hear Raleigh and Durham are the most diverse and are great cities. I wish we could live near the ocean, but I don't know much about your coastal areas. Also, I'm a teacher, and I'm used to working with English Language Learners--I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have that population to work with.
THANKS!!!
Oooo....you had promising prospects until that teacher part came up.
Single parent teacher with two kids....not a great scenario in NC. Our teachers are among the lowest paid in the country across the board.
Single Family house for under $175k would also be pretty tough to find in most areas of the Triangle as well. Unless you have a significant amount of cash to put down I can't see a teacher even being able to afford a house for $175k here.
The Triad ( Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point) might be a better option as it's more affordable than the Triangle. It is a little further from the ocean than the Triangle (but way closer to it than Minnesota is!)
All of the major metros in NC are fairly educated and diverse (I'd bet significantly more racially diverse than Minneapolis)
Single Family house for under $175k would also be pretty tough to find in most areas of the Triangle as well.
Can definitely still be done in Durham and in a nice area. True that prices have gone up but one in my neighborhood mysteriously sold for under 150K very recently - that's not the norm. I live in central to south area of town, but I just looked on realtor.com and there are a lot of houses for under $175K in north Durham. I don't know how the schools are.
Yeah you can get a small house here but it won't be huge or updated. The further you go from city centers the easier it will probably be.
I don't agree that your being a teacher has anything to do with whether you can afford it here. Teachers aren't making remarkably less than a lot of other professions everything else being equal, it's just become a buzz-worth political topic because you're paid out of tax money. Take the same requirements and put them in the private sector and no one gives a crap. People starting out at my company in my job are making what a new teacher makes in Wake County but that's not newsworthy because it can't be a political football. And - every single one of my kids' young single teachers owned houses in this area when my kids were in elementary school. Every one.
I would say come and check it out and see if it's to your liking. The racism thing is not going to be an issue around here. Plenty of ESL kids but be prepared for not all of them to be hispanic - many Indian and Asian kids in this area.
Hollywood still persists in that old racist Southern sheriff trope. Most people who move here from other parts of the country say there is less racism here than where they were. You can find it anywhere if you look for it, though.
It's very diverse here with people from all over the world and more African American people than you find in some other parts of the country. Minneapolis is quite a bit whiter than Raleigh. More Hispanic/Latinx folks here than in Minneapolis, too. Not as many as in Los Angeles or the other border states, though.
Races in Minneapolis, MN (2013)
60.0% White alone
17.9% Black alone
9.7% Hispanic
6.2% Asian alone
5.0% Two or more races
0.9% American Indian alone
0.4% Other race alone
0.03% Native Hawaiian and Other
Pacific Islander alone
Races in Raleigh, NC (2013):
52.6% White alone
28.8% Black alone
10.7% Hispanic
4.7% Asian alone
2.3% Two or more races
0.4% American Indian alone
0.4% Other race alone
0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other
Pacific Islander alone
Raleigh has a great rep as family-friendly and suburban. There is other more hip and exciting stuff going on, too, but it is very popular with families.
Teachers don't get paid much here, though, so the advice you have gotten is right on the money there. You could do a townhome for $175, though. You might look in Garner or Knightdale, too, for a small house.
It sounds great- maybe more diverse than MN. I've got to get my license converted though and sell my home. At least I'll have about 40k for a down payment.
I live in MN. I'm originally from CA. I have family in NC, lots of family. I'm considering moving there, but I have some questions.
1) The housing: Online, it looks like I could get a decent home for under 175k. Is this true? I'm looking for a nice neighborhood, of course, with decent schools.
2) Schools: My children go to Minneapolis Public Schools and we're pretty happy. They don't need to be perfect, but I want them to be able to fit in easily and enjoy school.
3) Racism: The South has kind of a bad rep. I don't know much about NC since we don't get to go there very often. I'm white, but my kids are half latino/half white AND I'm a single mother. I don't want to be the sore thumb sticking out. Out here, in Minneapolis, there are many diverse families and we really are just one of them. I like that. I love the diversity in this city and in Los Angeles, where I grew up. I can't stand racism whether it's closeted or overt.
WHere should we move to?? I hear Raleigh and Durham are the most diverse and are great cities. I wish we could live near the ocean, but I don't know much about your coastal areas. Also, I'm a teacher, and I'm used to working with English Language Learners--I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have that population to work with.
THANKS!!!
Believe it or not I would suggest taking a look at Cary. Specifically, the area around the core downtown area including Cary Elementary, Northwoods Elementary and, the school that came first to my head for your requirements of good + diversity (ethnic & socioeconomic) + high ESL + affordable housing = Kingswood Elementary
This school State average Hispanic 32% 14% White 25% 50% Black 21% 26% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 15% 3% Two or more races 7% 4%
I'm not a huge fan of greatschools.com as the sole indicator of school quality using their scoring system (Kingswood is a 7 BTW for whatever that means "above average/good" but unacceptable to some tiger parents in this area I know). It is a nice tool to get an idea of the demographics. The entire community around Kingswood Elementary is very diverse, it is just not the school; I know, we live here. Those that are uncomfortable with diversity wouldn't live around here so don't worry about that. Really, most of metro is pretty diverse and tolerant but the Cary core really checks those boxes for sure...while still having houses in your budget.
There is a sfh house (1300 sqft 3/2) going up for auction down the road from me predicted to start at 155K; who knows what it will eventually sell for. Also, there are these homes for sale in the Cary core that are in your price range. Expect under 2000 sqft and not to be totally HGTV-a-fied.
Thank you- yup I'm coming from a very modest 1000 sq ft home built in 1950, 3bedroom- 1.5 bath so anything better than that will make me happy. My brother lives in Cary, so that'd be great!
Nah, I don't think so mlhm5. Trump has a 47%-44% overall in NC in the latest poll I could find and in Wake Co it will be much lower. No way Trump wins in Raleigh.
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