learn me north carolina

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: You need the state below which is South Carolina.

You definitely don't want SC. Bunch of inbred backwoods hicks here. We are libel to berkeley your dog, kennel your wife and corrupt your kids.

North Carolina is not a tropical paradise. Yes, the winters are better than New England/York/Jersey, but it does get somewhat cold. I've lived in Mooresville, Charlotte, and Raleigh. I grew up in Mooresville, went to college in Charlotte, moved to Texas (Austin & El Paso), Pittsburgh, Raleigh, and now back in Pittsburgh. Wife is from Pittsburgh, and the oil/gas business is booming so we are back here in Pittsburgh. I think Charlotte is the better city, and I wouldn't mind living there again one day. I'm not a huge fan of the North Carolina Coastal Plain. I'd prefer the Piedmont or the Mountains. The mountains is great for a get away, but I'm not sure I could handle living there year round. The climate is basically like the Northeast.

Back on topic. When people are blinded by the land of milk and honey they assume North Carolina is, I always say to do some research, and some serious soul searching. I grew up/went to school with/ and worked with a lot of New England/York/Jersey Transplants who bitched and moaned non-stop about how much better it was back up North. You really need to look at your employment, your family life, your freinds/social life, and the culture of where you are now. Can you live without it? Can you handle a change that won't annoy you? (i.e. taxes cheaper, but groceries and energy more expensive). Schools are not that great, but there are good districts. Again, research. Roads are great, newness is great, there are great outdoor activities (National Whitewater Center), weather is perfect for me, but I enjoy the extreme heat more than others. Teacher pay is a lot less, there are no unions. People do tend to be more conservative, but with more and more liberals arriving. NC is controlled by Republicans, and looks like it will be for a while. I lean conservative, so this doesn't bother me, but it could infuriate you.

carbon wrote: Good info, I googled warmer northampton mass and asheville was the only hit lol. The teacher pay thing sucks though as we are both teachers

Then stay away...

I think they just passed legislation this year to remove the additional pay new teachers with Masters degrees. Moving backward...

as far as the weather here in WNC (think Asheville) (I've lived here since 1955)

we DO get all 4 seasons … it gets hot in the summer … not hot like other places, but mid 80's hot…

we don't get the hurricanes of the coastal region

we don't get the earthquakes of Cali., we don't get the mudslides either

we get some winter cold, but nothing like the really cold parts of the country

our droughts haven't been as extreme as the rest of the country has experienced lately

we don't get the forest fires of the west, a "huge" forest fire here is a couple hundred acres

tornados are something we read about

as for snow, this yr, one "real snow" gone in 3 - 4 days. last yr the official total was "< than a trace", the yr before, the official was "a trace" … the 2 yrs prior to those we had multiple snows of 10+ inches both yrs … equalled more snow than we'd had in the previous 10 - 15 yrs

central NC … Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro … etc … seem to get lots more bad weather (in the form of ice storms) and are a lot hotter in the summer

as others have pointed out, schools (overall) suck, though you can find good ones

teacher pay sucks … but what other field can you get a bachelor's degree, start at $30k and have more than 2 mo. off each yr … you just won't have any money to spend while you're off …. lol

there are jobs … mostly in the larger metropolitan areas … think east of Asheville

someone mentioned that the Rep. control the state … If I remember correctly, this is the first time since before the "war of northern aggression" that we've had both the governor and the legislature controlled by the conservative faction (i.e. republican) … the rural areas are very much conservative, the urban areas are very much liberal …with the urban areas growing faster than the rural areas …

"yankees" are welcome … just don't come down here and start with the "this is how we did it back there"

a-x is abundant with at least 5 clubs home based within the state … VIR, RA, CMP, NCCAR, CMS are all easy drives from pretty much anywhere in the state …

wbjones wrote: teacher pay sucks … but what other field can you get a bachelor's degree, start at $30k and have more than 2 mo. off each yr … you just won't have any money to spend while you're off …. lol

I think the sad part is that after working for 10 years, with a master's degree AND a certification, you'd still only make $45k. (10 years with just a bachelor's degree = 37k)

I don't think of any of the areas as larger metro areas. One big problem many people have here is that if you AND your significant other want to get a good job, the aren't nearly the opportunities you'd find in a large metro area. I'm facing this issue right now. My S.O. can't find E36 M3 in the area, and this will likely lead to us leaving :(

well my using the term "large metro area" was a relative term … relative to NC … not trying to compare us to Atlanta, NY, Chicago … etc …

so large metro area is (imo) places like Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro …etc .. as opposed to these: http://www.city-data.com/city/North-Carolina3.html

so I'm not in disagreement with you … we're just using different definitions

but I get what you mean

I had the opportunity last fall to move to and live pretty much anywhere I wanted in the U.S. The only stipulation was that I had to be reasonably close to an airport for work, and the place had to be big enough to cover my family's medical needs.

We moved to the NC coast and love it. If you are interested in the beach, take a look at the Wilmington area.

I've mentioned Charlotte in all my post (that mentioned any particular city) other than the one about weather

Nobody is assuming Raleigh- Carbon didn't specify in his original few posts, so people from all over have chimed in with their experiences.

Thanks again for all the feedback guys! I guess I'd have to get down there to really know but asheville seems like it might be a similar area to the one I love so much up here. I think this summer we'll ride down and do the dragon's tail and stay for a week or two to check it out but it sounds pretty good so far. I dont need a tropical paradise or anything, I'm just sick of the lack of daylight, THE BERKING SALT and consistently sub freezing temps. It seems like I kind of struggle to remain active and upbeat during these long winters.

carbon wrote: It seems like I kind of struggle to remain active and upbeat during these long winters.

Same here, brother. It seems this winter has taken its toll on quite a few of us. I'm ready to move to Southwest Florida.