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Hello.
I know there have been many of these threads and I have taken the time to go through many of them. I am originally from CA and my husband is from MN. We have lived in Boston for the last 15 years. I simply HATE the winter. I realize the NC summers are hot and humid (I went to college in NC) but we are not winter sports people and I feel like we completely hibernate from December to April. This coupled with unshoveled sidewalks and gray skies has made me serious about relocating. I think our quality of life and our children's would be better because we would be more active. We like to be outside. We both like cities and I've read Charlotte is a top choice from former New Yorkers and the Raleigh area is a bit more spread out. The schools are a top concern as well as work. I will be looking in healthcare while hubby is a commercial photographer and needs easy access to an airport. Schools are a top concern. I've read that Charlotte schools aren't great but some of the posts were older. What communities in both Raleigh/Chapel Hill or Charlotte should we look at? And, we are making a week-long trip to the area in the spring. Any suggestions of what to do or where to go with my family since they have never been to NC?
Hello.
I know there have been many of these threads and I have taken the time to go through many of them. I am originally from CA and my husband is from MN. We have lived in Boston for the last 15 years. I simply HATE the winter. I realize the NC summers are hot and humid (I went to college in NC) but we are not winter sports people and I feel like we completely hibernate from December to April. This coupled with unshoveled sidewalks and gray skies has made me serious about relocating. I think our quality of life and our children's would be better because we would be more active. We like to be outside. We both like cities and I've read Charlotte is a top choice from former New Yorkers and the Raleigh area is a bit more spread out. The schools are a top concern as well as work. I will be looking in healthcare while hubby is a commercial photographer and needs easy access to an airport. Schools are a top concern. I've read that Charlotte schools aren't great but some of the posts were older. What communities in both Raleigh/Chapel Hill or Charlotte should we look at? And, we are making a week-long trip to the area in the spring. Any suggestions of what to do or where to go with my family since they have never been to NC?
Whats your budget?
Both areas are very spread out. NC cities are essentially giant suburbs surrounding very small downtown areas.
Setting budget aside, here are communities that would meet your needs:
Charlotte: Davidson, Huntersville, South Mecklenburg High School district
my opinions:
1. RDU airport is better than Douglas.
2. don't visit NC during spring pollen season.
3. are schools THE top concern? over work? you posted schools twice.
4. what/where: the Duke Lemur Center, NC Zoo, and Carolina Tiger Rescue.
Re: Airports. Charlotte's airport is a hub for American and has non-stop flights to over 170 cities. Raleigh-Durham airport has non-stop flights to about 54 cities. Because American has a huge market share in Charlotte, it is more expensive. Its a matter of what's more important, convenience or price.
We both like cities and I've read Charlotte is a top choice from former New Yorkers and the Raleigh area is a bit more spread out.
That's just not really accurate. PLENTY of New Yorkers and New Jerseyites have relocated to the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Cary and Wake Forest, etc). The Charlotte metro area is also plenty spread out and is larger overall than the Raleigh metro area.
I am totally with you on the winter. I could never live up north. There's still too much winter for me here in NC, but I'm not really a Florida person.
Healthcare (what field?) is better in the Triangle with two major teaching hospitals and universities in UNC and Duke, plus Wake Med and Rex in Raleigh.
RDU and CLT are both good airports, but both will probably have higher fares than Boston. Might not matter if he's got lots of frequent flyer miles. Raleigh is closer to DC. Charlotte closer to Atlanta. We drove up to DC to save $2000 on flights to London for our family of four a couple of summers ago. Got non-stops for $750 a piece and they were $1300 out of RDU. RDU is a Southwest hub, though, so sometimes there are cheap domestic flights. Frontier also flies out of RDU.
I think schools are so individual. Wake County Public Schools and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools are both MASSIVE systems (both in the top 20 largest in the country). There are very good schools in both areas.
We are a family of 4 who moved here from the Boston area in the past 6 months. We live in Cary and are ~10 minutes from RDU which is a great/easy/inexpensive airport compared to Boston. I highly recommend this part of Cary (near Bond Park/Prestonwood) as there are also great schools here.
FWIW I grew up in NH and wife is from Canada, we hibernate down here as well, normally thru March....looking to move further south. Both Raleigh and Charlotte can get downright freezing in Dec/Jan/Feb, just look at a temp chart over the year. We went almost two weeks this year and never got above freezing (32*). If escaping winter is a top concern I would look further toward the ocean down here. Example Charleston. You actually need to go to central FL and below to get away from the winter temps.
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