I am moving to North Carolina this August

[StopTheMorans]

I love Boston, this city is incredible. All the culture/sports/liberal inclinations one could fancy, but: sick of the winter, sick of the traffic, sick of the bitterness (although I'll still be a Sox fan:), sick of the cost of living, and I get to vote in a "swing" state to boot! So, just for the sheer hell of it (I just had a tooth removed and have nothing to do but sit here and wait for the vicodin to kick in), would anyone like to attempt to convince me either to stay in Boston or to move to NC (Wilmington in particular)? I'll be here either way!

[treefrogjohn]

1. Look at Asheville

Wonderful little city in a beautiful locale. A lot more liberal thinkers than in much of the rest of the state. You'll have just enough snow that you'll remember that there are four seasons but not so much that you'll hate it forever.

[StopTheMorans]

3. i love asheville!

but i want to live on the coast, i've never lived anywhere but on the coast of a major body of water (just a thing I have). And I have friends in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, I can't wait, I love the whole state:)

[dweller]

15. Come on to the Hill

just about midway btwn the coast and the mtns...not much to offer in jobs tho, but i'm not so sure that's different anywhere else you'll look in the state.

dp

[StopTheMorans]

19. that's alright on jobs

I've got experience in enough fields to be able to parlay that into a job pretty much anywhere, even if to start it's not doing anything other than paying the bills.

[dweller]

21. i forgot to add

you would be here for the upcoming DU wedding of the year....um, not sure when shortbus and dolo amber are tieing the knots, but i guess it'll be the happening whenever they decide.
:)

dp

[StopTheMorans]

23. sounds good to me: HEY DOLO AMBER AND SHORTBUS:

have your wedding next month, I'll be in Raleigh and Chapel Hill for the weekend of March 5th!

[jmowreader]

32. you love FAYETTEVILLE?

Egads, man, Fayetteville is Inferiority Complex City.

Remember that "North Carolina" rap Petey Paul did a few years back? Guess what city wasn't in it...that's right, Fayettenam. (Then again...the only towns he named had prisons in them.)

As soon as I've got the money to do it, my ass is back on the west coast.

[brainshrub]

4. I live in Asheville

It is the greatest spot on earth.

[Flaxbee]

5. I've looked at Asheville, too, and if you want to buy a

house or own some land, it is muy expensivo! Dang, I fell over from sticker shock, you can't get more than an outhouse for $100K, anything with some elbow room is serious money.

But Asheville is a gorgeous little town, very liberal and fun, probably terrific if you want to rent. I actually am looking around Morganton, halfway between Charlotte and Asheville...

[Flaxbee]

2. My husband and I are thinking of moving to NC...

sometime this summer, I hope. We're trying to get our nonprofit started, then will focus on getting the heck outta Virginia, we're too close to DC and the traffic and congestion and cold (not like Boston, but still COLD for my socal. girl blood) just wear me out. NC looks lovely, you still get the 4 seasons without quite as much bite!

We're not sure where yet, but not the Raleigh area, that's a little too crowded for me.

edited for spelling & clarity

[StopTheMorans]

6. I thought briefly about DC, but the things you cited all dissuaded me

I have a lot of friends in DC, but it just has too many of the things that I can't handle about Boston for me to move there. I can't wait to move somewhere a little less hectic.

[jmowreader]

33. The Triad is nice

Up around Winston-Salem.

If you want to work and play in Raleigh but not live there, Johnston County (Smithfield, Selma, Four Oaks, Pine Level) has become sort of a bedroom community for Wake County, which is Raleigh. It's still small enough to have that home-town kinda feel, which means housing prices are still low, but it's not completely overrun yet. Its major industries are agriculture, manufacturing and tourism. You can get the best country ham in the world at the Smithfield Ham Shop--Rufus Brown's hams make Virginia hams look like the oversalted messes they are. (Although if you do start eating country ham, make sure to go to Harbor Freight and buy a meat slicer. Country ham is best taken in very thin slices.) Selma has a large antiques district, and they even have their own little Branson in the American Music Jubilee. (Okay, okay, they roll up the sidewalks after dark. That's why you play in Raleigh.) If you live in the Smithfield/Selma area you're best to take US 70 into Raleigh; Four Oaks residents are better off dropping south to the I-40/I-95 interchange. Yes, I'm a major Johnston County fan.

[TriadLeftist]

7. Just watch out

We here in NC are under the "Right to Work" provisions which means workers have no protections at all. Lots of wingnuts and religious zealots. But the people are great. Welcome!

[felonious thunk]

8. Hey TriadLeftist

I'm thinking of moving there. How's a lefty going to like life in Winston-Salem?

[StopTheMorans]

9. thanks!

I'm very well aware of the wingnuts and religious zealots, but I think I can handle it. It's better than dealing with the traffic, the weather, and the coldness/distance of people in a large city (not people on an individual level; rather, the way that people you don't know and meet in everyday situations interact with you). And I know about the "Right to Work" provisions too, I actually think that Mass. has the same thing. Thanks for the welcome:)

[carolinayellowdog]

10. Wilmington is much warmer than most of NC

and from what I've seen it's a charming city with splendid beaches nearby. Can't comment on what it's like socially; I have heard that real estate isn't cheap though. In general Carolinians are warm and welcoming. The eastern part of the state is more Democratic than the western.

Good luck deciding!

[StopTheMorans]

11. oh I know, I've been checking the weather for the last 1/2 year

and it's typically 10-20 degrees warmer than the mid-to-western parts of the state. I love the beaches too. I had an incredible time there both times I was there, it seemed like a fairly "happening" place to me (I'm 24). I've checked real estate too; it all seems cheap to me seeing as the average price for a home in Eastern Massachusetts is around 400,000 :(

[supernova]

12. Who doesn't like NC beaches?

:D

I'd live there myself if I could. Stoptheinsandity, you could buy the place next to John Travolta's. ;-) You could also consider places like Morehead City, Ocean Isle, Sunset Beache, etc. It's very quiet down there. Not quite as developed as Wilmington.

[StopTheMorans]

14. yeah, the place next to John Travolta's would be nice

I'll just have to win the lottery before August, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm eventually looking to live in a place that I can buy, but will be renting for the foreseeable future and I can get a nice 2 bedroom place in Wilmington with a friend for (literally) half of what I pay to live in a crappy apt. here with 3 people whom I don't even know. I do want some "development" tho, don't want to get too quiet:)

[Rockholm]

13. Random Thoughts For You Sanity....

I live in Boston and have been thinking of moving back home for a few years. Although I am from Charleston, SC, I have seriously thought about moving to NC. It seems now that it would be a toss-up between Asheville and the Triad region.
Every post regarding Asheville is right on the money. Liberal, beautiful and a good mix of the seasons.
Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are awesome! You are not THAT far from the coast.
Wilmington has experienced a rebirth like many places in the last few years. I am not sure their political leanings, tho. As a rule, the coastal areas of both Carolinas tend to be more liberal.
Maybe you could consider the SC coast?

[StopTheMorans]

16. rockholm, thanks for the advice!

I loved the SC coast the only time I was down there 5 years ago. The real reason I want to live on the coast is that I find any time that I decide to live somewhere "not that far from <insert place name here>", I never end up visiting that place. So i figure why not live in the exact place I want to visit all the time:) I'm not really sure of their political leanings in Wilmington, but from when I was there it seemed fairly liberal (at least by Carolina standards)

[carolinayellowdog]

26. Triad vs. Triangle

Hey Rockholm,

I think you meant the Triangle, which is Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill. (Although Cary now has a larger population than CH. Local joke is that it's an acronym for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.) The Triad is Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point. The Triangle is more liberal and happening than the Triad, but the cost of living is much higher there too. I prefer Winston-Salem because of its proximity to hiking, paddling etc. in the nearby mountains.
Traffic is worse in Raleigh and Cary than elsewhere in the Triangle or anywhere in the Triad.

Just as liberal as Chapel Hill and Durham is nearby Carrboro; generally the western Triangle is more liberal than eastern. Durham and Orange counties went for Gore but Wake and Johnston went for *.

CYD

[Rockholm]

28. Thanks for the Correction, Carolina.....

My brain was thinking Triad when I meant Triangle. You know, when you mention all of those communities (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point), they all seem to have more plusses than minuses. When I was groing up, SC was more liberal that NC, but man, have things changed. G'boro and W-S seem to be pretty neat towns. My dad was a company man for Reynolds (until he died from lung cancer, go figure).

[SiobhanClancy]

17. If you go to NC....

I'll never be able to introduce you to my lovely daughter:)Seriously...I'm sick of the winter too,and the Keys are calling me back,so I'm trying to reduce the sound of that siren call. I KNOW if I leave Boston(actually,Cambridge)I will greatly miss it. Don't you think you will,too? NC is a great state,though...I'd be going to the mountains myself,instead of Wilmington.

[citizen snips]

18. North Carolina is growing in population.

I live in Raleigh but remember while you complain about how cold it is in Boston we have some hurricanes hit our state ever so often.

But other than that I think you will love it here. There are a lot of nice places to visit like the Outer Banks.

But other than that I urge you to move down here.
After all I am tired of NC going to the repukes every presdental election.

[bleedingheart]

20. Do you have allergies?

The south can be a big problem if you have allergies, also for as much as you hate the cold in Boston you may not adapt well to humidity.

My husband hates cold weather but every year we vacation in NC and he is almost made ill by the humidity... however I on the otherhand could care less.

Either state is beautiful...

[StopTheMorans]

22. only if "bitching about the cold" counts as an allergy

other than that, dust is the only thing that bothers me, so I think I'll be fine (I hope:)

[Lindsay]

24. Hey, y'all come on down!

I'm in western NC, near the SC border (came here to be close to family...certainly not for the job market...ugh!) and I figure we can use all the Dems we can get!

My sister, who moved here about 5 years ago (for the climate, now that her husband's retired), says she'd avoid SC like the plague...the politics are that much more screwed up (i.e., conservative).

[StopTheMorans]

25. oh, I completely forgot to add

I LOVE THE ACCENT:) all the girls I hung out with at my friend's wedding last fall completely slayed me with the way they talked. I don't know why, I'm just such a sucker for it:)

[Bossy Monkey]

27. Not in AUGUST!

October, maybe. Wilmington is very groovy, but a spectacular comedown from Boston in terms of cultural opportunities, as you no doubt know already. Also every damn hurricane hits eastern NC. Consider Beaufort SC (pronounced Byoofort, unlike Bo-fort NC, go figure) or Savannah. Both nice towns with warmer winters than Wilmington and fewer hurricanes (so far).

[Rockholm]

29. Beaufort is Beautiful...

Very expensive, though. Georgetown, SC is rapidly becoming the "IT" place on the SC coast. Close enough to Charleston and Myrtle Beach, but far enough away too. Very historic, relatively inexpensive.

[Flaxbee]

30. doesn't Georgetown have a paper mill, though?

Last time I went through that area, it was kinda stinky... maybe that was old technology? It sure is a lovely little town, though.

[Rockholm]

31. I think they are going to close it. Yes, it does stink...

but that is the only way to know when you reach Georgetown! Maybe it was the steel mill they were going to close. In any event, it is a lovely town.

[midnight armadillo]

34. Too cold??

What's wrong with the winter? It makes the other seasons so much nicer.

I hear you about the cost of living though. I want to move out of state in two years but my wife wants her family nearby. I'm thinking (shudder) New Hampshire.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

36. Cow Hamster?Oh No!

Actually, I like NH but expect very high property taxes. My parents pay more for a condo in NH than a house in Cambridge.

[geniph]

35. One of my sisters is moving to Durham

she just told me today they sold their house in San Diego and are moving to NC to be closer to their kids...one is working toward tenure at UNC, I think, and the other is doing ... some military thing or other (he graduated from VMI and is an officer now).

Maybe someday I'll visit her there - although I never visited her in San Diego, and always meant to.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

37. Sean, we'll miss you!

I hate the winter too, and yes, Boston is terribly crowded and expensive. But there's a lot of plusses here, but the trade offs are crappy winters and an exorbitant cost of living.

We'll have to party before you go! Hopefully we can get together for a DU gathering in Feb.!

[JanMichael]

38. Let me get this straight, you lost a tooth so now you want to move to NC?

I'd suggest staying in Boston if you wish to keep that sense of humour AND the rest of those pearly whites:-)

Other than that I suppose that I could only say good things about NC, go for it!

My whole family is there so how bad could it really be?