NC: The good, bad and ugly?
 

We are considering a move to NC from OH, specifically Greensboro or south of Greensboro. Apart from the obvious weather advantages what other advantages/disadvantages are there? I have applied (not accepted yet) for a college in Troy and my wife's current employer is based in Greensboro.

what's it like where you live now?

booming..
growing faster than a puppy..

Rika

Live in central Ohio, not far from Mid Ohio. Apart from the weather, it is not too bad. I am unemployed right now and looking at a career change. The college in NC will allow me to study from home. The only other schools that offer the program I want is in Pittsburgh and Denver. Neither of those is a good option from both a financial and/or logistic point of view.

We anticipate that a time will come in my wife's career that it would be better for her to be in Greensboro as opposed to their Columbus, OH office.

I moved here from NY then to NM then to Raleigh in 1996

Love it here
Got the NHL - Canes

NC State
Duke Unive
UNC Chapel Hill
Wake Forest Univ close by


Only issue is NJ drivers

Spent some time in that area over the summer. It is a great place with plenty to do. The downside is that it is a new and desirable location, so housing prices are going to be higher. Hot as hades in the summer also. The other issues I have with cities like Greensboro and Charlotte is that all the construction is cookie cutter. New malls, new housing developments, not enough roads and highways. I like the differing architecture that olde cities have. When I go to places like NC, I feel like I am always on vacation and couldn't picture living there. That being said, I'm sure I could adapt real soon.

Only 3 hours to the Dragon.

NC is about the nicest state in the South

E. end has great beaches & barrier islands

W. end has the Appalachians - maybe not dramatic mtns. but very pretty

in between -- you have research triangle park, surely the intellectual crown of the South

this is from a guy who grew up near New Orleans, so accolades to other parts of the South are not given lightly...

^ This. I'm in the winston area, though i work in greensboro and been here most of my life. Traffic flow is getting much better here in G-boro now that they're creating the loop around the city.

Yep, It's hot here, expect low 90's here in the summer, with humidity to boot, but we don't have to deal with salt/snow and yet we do have 4 seasons. When we do actually get snow(about once a season) EVERYTHING shuts down and everyone gets a vacation day.

As far as driving goes, we're 3 hours from the dragon, an hour from some other GREAT roads, an hour from VIR, 5 from Road Atlanta and Summit Point. Here in the triad, we're 5 hours from the beach and 3 from the mountains, the beach is a great weekend trip and the mountains a day trip.

Give me a PM with any questions and I'll help out with whatever I can.

My wife went to UNCG back in the early 90's and it was not bad then. NC has a lot to offer for a good place to live.

Only issue is NJ drivers +1000000:D

The bad: State law that you can't order a burger cooked any less than medium well unless the meat is ground on site.

Thanks for the comments!

Um, yeah. About that. uh. I think I'm going to have to disagree on that one.

If your into racing, cars, the track, etc. VIR is an hour away. A world class track.

Welcome to VIRginia International Raceway

I say if you are into racing its a pretty good place to be. Lots of local stuff to watch or get into, and with Charlotte on its southern border you have a ton of NASCAR teams in the area. I've gotten to rub it with several NASCAR drivers at a local kart track I frequent, always fun.

Did a lot of growing up there- in western NC. It's God's country. I loved the weather- beautiful long Springs and Falls, not too hot in the Summer- (Kansas is worse for crying out loud and Houston is truly Hades) and winters that warranted a fireplace but just barely.

My HS friends had names like Earnhardt and Isaac and the Earnhardts still have a Chevy dealership in Newton (although Jr. is not near as popular as his poppa was).

It is growing by leaps and bounds- too many people have caught on. Taxes are also low- when I was growing up GE moved their plant there from Massachusetts. Others are following suit.

The only bad thing I can think of is the Edwards family. And US Air.

Do they have shall issue concealed carry permits in NC?

Already checked. It is. A few weird (really more inconvenient) gun laws but some of them is under review.

BTW, the college I applied to is Montgomery Community College. I am hoping they still have spots in this years' gunsmithing course.

If i had it to do over again i think gunsmithing is the career i would have pursued after the army. I am pretty good with repairing firearms now, and i don't even have any training. Seems like the kind of job i would really like...as long as it was just part time. ;)

We bought a house in the University area (far north side) of Charlotte several years ago, but maintained our residence in western Central NY state, with no intention of being here full time(planned on summer in NY and winters in NC. However, NC is so nice and the summers aren't that bad after all, that we just sold the final property in NY and since the 1st of this year are full time NC residents. There are many new houses, but in areas to fit any pocketbook, and in our area we are mixed with true Southerners and masses of folks from NY, NJ, Ohio, Michigan, PA and Mass., and yes, gasp, even some uprooted Californians. The nicer older homes are mainly on the south side of Charlotte and tend to be quite pricey.
I would say the best part is the people(almost uniformly friendly and respectful), the weather(sunny many days) and the relatively low cost to live here, and all the recreational opportunities. The consensus around here is the Char-Meck schools(city of Charlotte) are a mess and are not competitive with the NY public schools all our kids attended, but there are lots of fine private schools and magnet type schools in Charlotte.
To sum it up, we ain't going back to NY state, except to visit.