TonyV

iTrader: (17)

So due to recent events, my wife and I are making some actions towards moving back to NY to be closer to my family.
In passing I happened to mention to my father in NY, that I hear alot of good things about NC, and that alot of people I know are looking to move there.

So long story short we're thinking of checking it out for a few days next month...see what its all about, if its too good to be true, not what we expect, etc... With the possibility of BOTH families moving there...

Been checking out Raleigh alot, cost of homes seems super affordable...seems like beautiful scenery, etc..

I'd like to hear about the day to day stuff, and real world opinions....
Tell me about the economy, about the schools, about the people, things to do, way of life etc...

My wife envisions a very country style setting, vey different from the suburbs of Miami/NY. In short, no offense but her words are "hick town". Neither of us are looking for "big city" settings, but neither of us are really ready for the country style either... I;m kinda picturing suburbs, some downtown, etc...and plenty of backroads and whatnot.

Talk to me, tell me about the good life...to me it seems great, almost too good to be true...so thats why I turn to you guys who I know can voice an honest opinion...

Thanks in advance

Saml01

iTrader: (9)

NC sucks. 1 reason. I'm not there.

Otherwise, can you imagine your kids growing up in NC? If its anything like New Jersey youre gonna be setting up play dates because the nearest other child will be 15 minutes away. Staten Island man, think of your kids. Schools are a plenty, at least walking distance, and kids everywhere, and stuff to do to keep em busy.

KPLAFIN

iTrader: (1)

If you're looking for a "hick-town" setting that's also not too country, I'd recommend looking into Central Virginia too. Schools are great, housing is a little more than NC but still pretty cheap. Emissions laws are pretty slack as long as you can pass a 'safety inspection" you're ok. From what I've experienced in NC though it's a pretty nice state.

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

Heh, for a sec I thought you were thinking about buying a 2006 MX5.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

Tony, make one of these on CR also. Theres quite a few people on that forum that live up there.
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SeanE

There's a good website to check out. city-data.com they have forums for all 50 states and you can look specifically at NC and by doing a search can find anything about questions you may have about an area.

BTW, most of NC is not like Mayberry RFD since so many people are moving there from the states in the Northeast as well as Florida, you're finding more rural areas being populated. So you won't have to drive 15 minutes to find a play date for your kids. Also NC has some of the best school districts in the country. And there's plenty of things to do, it depends on what you like doing.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

I cant wait to get up there. Unfortunately I cant afford 2 mortgages and homes just arent selling here. Sean, hows it goin with selling your place?
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TonyV

iTrader: (17)

Thanks guys, an dlol at buying an '06...didnt realize...

Anyway, I'm not looking for a "hick town" (again no offense), its just want my wife envisions...in other words us not fitting in

I'm gonna check out that site, Phil's been brainwashing me for a while so I got some good info. I saw the school district is within top 5 of the country, and crime rates are low...thing is thats prob not the latest info, although still a good indicator.

I wanna know more about day to day life. How far things are, are there big name stores or just mom/pop places. Do you go to a huge supermarket, or (again sorry for this) more of a general store. That kind of thing.

I did some messing around with google maps last night, looking up things like HD, movie theatres, restaurants, etc in Raleigh and it seems that its plenty populated. So I'm thinking its a mix of both mom/pop & big name stuff. Just curious if you gotta really go out of your way to get to those places...

My only experience in this kind of setting is in Italy (picture Godfather local) and Upstate NY. In upstate, things are pretty far apart, and no brand name stores there. You'd have to drive like 20min to get to "town" which has very few things. Or you can drive about an hour, and get to "civilization"....

Like i said me and my father personally, dont mind a "upstate" type of setting. The wife is another story...and for that matter so is good ol' mom. I guess the women have different needs.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Depends what part you mena by upstate. If you check out the Rochester/Buffalo area, you can live in the burbs, be ~30 minutes from the city, and 20 minutes to rural open country.

TonyV

iTrader: (17)

I was thinking more along the lines of Lake George area...

Like I live in Miami, but I'm on the outside/suburbs. I'm prob a good 35min from Downtown/South Beach. I commute 50miles (roundtrip) for work.
BUT, I have everything I need within 5-10min from my house. I have plenty of restaurants, schools, shopping, car care, HD, movies, etc etc etc...
And i love it. There's no traffic in my area, when I got to the supermarket I dont need to wait on line for an hour, there's not alot of noise and whatnot, its safe, etc.... So I have everything I WANT/NEED closeby, BUT if I want the hustle/bustle I can go and get it....
However if I had to drive 20min just to go grab a cup of coffee or rent a movie, that would suck. If I had to drive 30min to go to the mall and grab something, that would suck.

Hope this helps at all....

Milton Tucker

iTrader: (2)

North Carolina is closed; we have exceeded our limit of Yankee FL transplants kindly chose another state to move to.

That said, the best areas I can suggest are Raleigh, Charlotte, and Ashville. All of these areas will give you the large city feel you are use to, (read that as all the amenities you can not live with out) yet small enough that you can feel you have escaped the mega cities of NY, and Miami. Cost of living is considerably cheaper. Public school systems are adequate, private schools are top notch. Employment opportunities in the larger cities are good, but expect a considerable reduction in pay, but this drop will be offset by the reduction in cost of living expenses.

TonyV

iTrader: (17)

lol, verrrrrrrrrrry funny!

and thanks for the info...Raleigh was where i was focusing my search on right now....heard a couple people mention Asheville too, gonna look and see...

Thanks for the info regarding amenities and whatnot, thats kinda the feedback I was looking for...

How are property taxes and homeowner's insurance down there? I'd imagine alot less than I pay now...
Totally diff cities, but fwiw my taxes are like 7500+ a yr (4500sq ft lot) and insurance is a whopping 3600 a yr (hazard, wind, and flood)....
And what do u guys pay in payroll taxes? FL is only Fed and state...NY is Fed, state, local, AND city (friggin aye)...
I saw the sales tax is 6.5% i believe...

Milton Tucker

iTrader: (2)

My Home is located in a rule area (not hick ville, but you can see it from here) if you where to draw a line from Ashville to charlotte, you would draw over my home, my property is valued at $80,000 it is a small (2600SQ FT) manufactured house on 4.25 acres of land. Property tax this year county and city combined is $557.00. Insurance is $400 a year, but my house is not in a flood zone, and I am located with in 1 mile of a fire station. As far as payroll tax, I can not be of much help; I have been working over seas over 4 years.

SeanE

It's not going at all. The summer was dead. I'm hoping that things will pick up after Labor Day. BTW, I'll be in Charlotte over the weekend to visit the wife and dog that's why I didn't respond to the drive to the Lake on Sunday.

TonyV

iTrader: (17)

Milton appreciate the feedback, thats gives me a decent idea i guess....and very affordable too.

I'm trying to find some bad things, btu the mroe I look the more the good things are being reinforced...

96rdstr

iTrader: (4)

My wife and I looked into the Western Part of S.C. Near Greenville, SC. Taxes are cheaper in SC than NC. The countryside in either state is awesome.
Another nice area is the Eastern tip of TN. Also, TN does not have a state income tax like the Carolinas do.

Zabac

iTrader: (39)

Tony, seems you are set on Raleih...nice area, but I am biased though, I really really like Charlotte. It fits the bill as far as what you stated you wanted. Plenty of jobs, people, schools malls etc. I recommend you check out S. Charlotte area, places like Waxhaw, you feel like you are in the country side, and in 5 minutes you are right in the fastest growing part of NC. Also check out the Ballantyne area, very upscale yet rural feeling and only 15 minutes away from downtown.
Can't tell you too much about Raleigh other than it is nice as well from what I have seen...man, I miss visiting my cousin at NC State, some of the best keggers I've ever been to.
Asheville is also very nice, I love going there to visit, but I can't imagine living there myself. But it's only like 2-3 hours away so you can always just hop in a car and be there for the weekend. Once there, you have Deals Gap in very short driving distance, Biltmore estate is very very awesome, and you have Belle Chere festival every summer, entire Asheville downtown gets closed off and people party for days.

Good luck in whatever you decide, but this is a fast growing state.

TonyV

iTrader: (17)

Holy crap Dan, didnt know/notice u were in NC!

Thanks for the recommendations guys...really appreciate it. I'm focusing more on Raleigh because seems like a good trade off as far as bang for the buck... seeing most homes are in the sub 200k range. I have a 500k noose of a mtg around my neck right now, along with those tax/ins payments...

So far looks like the family is down for checking it out next month. Prob towards the 20-22 of Sept.

I keep using googlemaps to get a feel for the locals, and I guess I just have to see it to believe it at this point. Could it really be this nice? I've already read alot of info on Cary being very "cookie cutter" esque, and although prob very nice dont think its what I'd want. However, I also dont want to be on some dirt road an hour out of town, with very few amenities...
From what I see on Googlemaps, alot of good areas about 15-20miles/minutes outside of Downtown Raleigh. And in searching for "stuff" in those areas, seems there's no where Starbucks and HD have not explored. Found lots of things closeby (HD 2miles, Starbucks 2miles, Food Lion 1miles, etc...) So at this point it seems that you can have your cake and eat it too...because the properties in those areas are ranging in the 150k-180k range, WITH at least 1/2acre and no HomeOwner's assocations....

Seems like NC is the place to be so far....I also have seen that the schools are top notch, crime is low, people are supposedly very friendly, BBQue is HUGE, and a few other things...
I've also heard alot of talk that they have had a hard time keeping up with the growth...such as traffic is starting to become excessive, kids get transferred to diff schools from one yr to another due to supply/demand, etc....

Keep the info coming guys, much appreciated!

Zabac

iTrader: (39)

I agree with the statement that they have a hard time keeping up with growth, even here in Charlotte traffic can suck but it's still better than Raleigh IMO.

When in HS, I was asked to transfer every single year, but always got out of it by going down to the county office and talking with them about it. So don't let that stop you.

TonyV

iTrader: (17)

Good to know bout the schools and whatnot...
Talk a lil more about traffic...ever lived in a NY or Miami type of setting? I currently commute about 30-40min each way to/from work (depending on time) which covers 25miles...I can handle that...is it worse?