Moving to the Carolinas? Anyone up there?

[Maugan_VX]

I've lived in both Charlotte and Raleigh and can say without a doubt that Raleigh is a better city to live and raise a family in.

I currently live in Cary which is just outside of Raleigh, comparable to South Charlotte except not as crowded and while there are tight covenants to make everything look asthetically sterile as possible, its not nearly as bad as South Charlotte.

We have the Research Triangle Park which is a hotbed for Pharma, Biotech, and general Technology jobs.

We have 1/10th the traffic of Charlotte, and 1.5 beltlines around the city, whereas Charlotte isn't finished with their first one. We're halfway complete with the 540 loop which is a huge highway around almost all of Wake County.

As for VX's in the area, I think there are 4 I could name at one point or another being on this site, but I manage to run across another in town about once every 4 months.

[technocoy]

I agree with maugan...

I grew up in concord/charlotte, and if you love atlanta, move there, as thats what it will be in ten more years, urban sprawl. they even put a moratorium on building there because of all the crappy construction being thrown up.

I now live in raleigh, and it's a wonderful area. chapel hill, durham, and several other cool towns are close by. lots more "real" culture as well. Charlotte is a giant bank with a ghetto. if thats for you go for it. he he. but i would definitely recommend the triangle area instead, and you are still only 2 hours (1.5 if you ride with me) from the beach and 3 hours from the wonderful NC mountains.

ashville: if you can find a job there, it's freakin beautiful up there. but, the job situation may be an issue... what field are you in?

also, if you like beach living (i prefer mountains myself, but can appreciate the beach life) wilmington has some nice, cool areas. especially downtown in the historic areas.

the awesome thing about the triangle is it is blowing up as far as new business and reputation as a safe and interesting place to live, so if you get here soon and buy property, it will increase in value like mad over the next five years. we bought our house downtown a little under two years ago (fixer-upper in historic neighborhood) and it has already gained about 30,000 in equity without much work at all, and the outside still looks shoddy, lol.

you'll love it here. i descovered that tax situations tend to balance out in one way, shape or form.

let us know if you have any other questions.