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I very interested in moving to Raleigh, as I have been for years now. I should have made the move years ago but my hubby wasn't quite on board. Let me explain my situation and maybe you guys can help me...I'm 24, happily married and mother to 2 boys {ages 5 and 2} I am currently living in Atlanta--well a suburb of Atlanta. My husband and I met in high school and married 3 years after. He is originally from FL and I'm a native of Atlanta. I grew up knowing I didn't want to raise my family here. So when I started doing research {while pregnant with my oldest} I felt that NC had everything I was looking for. Finally, last year I made the trip that confirmed my feelings about NC. Though I lit up like Vegas....hubby? mmm not so much .
For YEARS I have been trying to sway his feelings, practically BEGGING him to give it a chance. Well, for 5 years he worked for a electronics company that recently went under and my hubby lost his job. Where he felt like his whole world had just crumbled, I felt that it was a sign to move on. {Hubby always used his job security as an excuse to not leave} We had become pretty accustomed to living in our beautiful townhome in Loganville, GA {which by the way is a great place to raise a family!!!} When my husband abrubtly lost his job, we lost everything with that. So, now we are back at starting point and IT SUCKS , but I still feel that this is now the time to make a {cynical} move. We are kind of floating and that is just not ideal when toting kids. We need stability again.
I have heard of little job openings here and there but not much. I know that residents there are pretty much telling people don't move there unless something is secure, but what happens if where you are isn't secure either? My husband did Car Audio Installations for 5 years. He's such a tech savvy person. I have been a SAHM and will be {finally} entering the workforce with him. I have no experience, but plenty knowledge. We both will be going back to school{so yeah, no college degrees} If anyone out there knows of anything where people are looking for installers or tech savvy individuals that would be great. What my husband lacks in education, he makes up for in his general knowledge and ambition. Sorry for the life story but I didn't know how to explain what I was looking for without giving you the facts! LoL! I look forward into hearing back from ANYBODY! LoL....
Last edited by jcollazo; 05-11-2009 at 01:31 AM..
Reason: edit title
I don't know how the Real Estate Market is in GA, but I'm guessing it will probably take some time to sell your townhouse. If I were in your shoes, I would get my place ready for the market and get it listed. During the time you are waiting for your house to sell, I would set things up here. Get on the job websites, put in applications and find a job. By the time you go under contract in GA, perhaps you'll be able to put your plan into action and move forward with finding a home here.
I don't know how the Real Estate Market is in GA, but I'm guessing it will probably take some time to sell your townhouse. If I were in your shoes, I would get my place ready for the market and get it listed. During the time you are waiting for your house to sell, I would set things up here. Get on the job websites, put in applications and find a job. By the time you go under contract in GA, perhaps you'll be able to put your plan into action and move forward with finding a home here.
Good luck
fortunately, my townhome was a rental. I lived in the community for 3 years...
I am a local resident, and I was wondering what research was it that convinced you that Raleigh had everything you were looking for?
As I said in the OP, I knew growing up that I didn't want to live here. Some reasons are demographic, some more personal. NC is a bit more slower pace than that of ATL. And as a resident of a busy city, I appreciate that. I'm in the suburbs of Atlanta, so getting to downtown for me is hellish. It may take 1 hour just to get down there due to high traffic. When I visited Raleigh {& even Charlotte} I noticed that the commute to the downtown {or Uptown-Charlotte} areas were ALOT faster. Say 15-30 minutes with the same amount of traffic! Even during RUSH HOUR here in Atlanta, if you HAVE to go downtown around 5, you must leave by 2:30--and that maybe pushing it.
Because education is of importance to me, I went searching for an area that really put emphasis on education. The schools here, eh. Slim pickins....GA in itself doesn't place high on the primary schooling scale. I wanted an area with more to offer, in more areas. As my oldest will be in Pre-K this year.
NC is underdeveloped && I LOVE it! The area has so much potential to be a great place with proper planning and thought out development, it can be! My hubby will be making his focus in the IT department, I will be focused on interior design. Can't lose. My hubby is a import car enthusiast. That scene is already in Charlotte. I'm hoping he can bring something to the Raleigh area.
Also, being in the city has perks of citylife, but to go outside the city, like maybe to the beach...is a joke! Savannah is where people go to "enjoy"{depending on who you ask} the beach here. That drive is a solid 4-5 hours. Whereas in Raleigh and moreso Clayton that drive is a 2 hour drive. That's a day trip! The mountains are about 4-5 hours away from here..ppl go to Helen, GA{nice, but kinda commercial--like spooky commercial, BUT BEAUTIFUL once you get pass the town!}. The trip to the mountains there in Raleigh are 3-4 hours. I feel like the distance to both ideal areas are much closer in proximity. Raleigh has 3 other major cities within a 30-40 minute radius of Raleigh--Chapel Hill, Durham and Greensboro. PLUS you can drive to Charlotte in 2 1/2 hours, D.C. in about what? 5-6 hoursor Bush Gardens in Williamsburg, VA in about 4 hours...what I'm trying to get at is being in Atlanta is cool, but to me, is more for the single crew than the family crew. There is PLENTY to do if you are a young single{by gov't def.} person. The nightlife is cool. But I feel that it lacks more for families JMO.
Housing, of course is another thing I looked at and I can definitely see myself living in Clayton. I have already visited and LOVED it! I LOVE the mom & pop resturants and the home-y feel I got while there. I felt like that was home. Plus, you can get a bit more out there than here.
I'd be wary of coming here without a job if your husband is looking for a job in IT. There are a lot of unemployed IT professionals in the area. My husband has been looking for an IT job for almost a year, and knows lots of guys with lots of experience who have been too. Futher, you might want to keep in mind that Clayton is awfully far from RTP, especially with traffic. Maybe not as bad as Atlanta (although I could get from Norcross to the airport during rush hour in about an hour), but still something to be considered in a daily commute.
Also, now that the TARP money has been making the rounds, it is much harder to get a mortgage. I have no idea about the rental market.
I'd be very wary about moving here without lining up jobs first, especially since it's going to be hard to even get a lease without proof of income. And even jobs at retail places are getting hard to find because the unemployment rate is so high and people are taking anything they can get.
Well, those are mostly solid reasons, BUT like the other posters have said, there is a big issue in the Triangle nowdays with IT; I have been in IT here since 1993 and did very well up until 2003-4 when the volume of people who have been cut from the big companies here became a real problem with getting work. There is a very recent set of ads on Craig's List advertising real IT jobs (like that require a BS and some years of experience to do) for $12/Hr in one case and $8/Hr in another; and while no one I know thinks it is really that bad yet, I do know IT managers who are getting 300+ resumes for IT jobs they are looking to fill; I hired a recptionist recently and got hundereds of resumes for a minimum wage job. I have an ex-employee who left the Triangle because sho couldn't find a job and is now working happily in Atlanta; and I have quized her on the difference in the two areas and she says that Atlanta has far more IT work than here; so don't make this critical decision using the old mentality that goes "the IT jobs market is hot everywhere"; I'm here to tell you that in the Triangle IT is most certainly NOT a hot job market. A recent transplant said it best: he said that he had no idea that he would have a harder time finding IT work in the Triangle than he did at home in Detroit...
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, but I still feel that this is now the time to make a {cynical
} move. We are kind of floating and that is just not ideal when toting kids. We need stability again. 
Here's an idea
