Any property still affordable in the area? We both like something away from the madding crowds, with a small amount of land -- an acre or two.
We'll be moving from SW Ohio, and other than the NC BBQ, I know nothing about the state.
Mods, feel free to move this if I've put it in the wrong place.
Thanks to all!
ping
Good luck with your move, LuLuLuLu. :)
Welcome to NC. You might want to stay away from Asheville, though. I’m swimming in hippies and taxes here. Aside from that, beautiful country.
cheers
I just landed in NC myself... Fayetteville, actually. was thinking about seeing what all the fuss is about Cameron Indoor Stadium. Is scalping legal here? What’s the best way to get a solo ticket?
I’ve been anti-Duke most of my life (always root against dynasties), but I’ll be polite, since I’m there to see just how crazy the Crazies are.
NC State is a quasi-rival (but not really in the same league as Duke, of course). Would that be a good game to go see? I know there’s now way to score tickets to either #3 Duke vs #4 UNC game (home and home in the next few weeks).
Howdy, Lu^4. I’ve lived in beautiful(?) South Nifongville for a year now, and we are looking to move out and head to Atlanta, Charlotte, or possibly Tennessee as soon as I can dig up a job in my field. Other folks have already covered things pretty well, but here’s my advice, starting with the bad things first:
- Stay away from Durham or Durham County. Durham is run by a clique of old-school civil rights leaders and “community activists” that specialize in guilting the productive citizens into higher and higher taxes to fund their crazy spending schemes. Race relations here are worse than anywhere I’ve ever lived (South Carolina included) and most of the problems come from the “other” side of the divide. I am not kidding when I say that Mike Nifong—disbarred, disgraced, and bankrupt—could still get 40%+ of the vote in Durham County if he ran for DA again.
- Stay even further away from Chapel Hill or Orange County. It’s the Berkeley of the South.
- Learn Spanish. Durham is basically a sanctuary city for illegals and I’m not sure if Raleigh or Wake County are handling it any better. We are overrun with them—virtually every fast-food worker, construction laborer, or hospitality-industry worker is Hispanic and speaks little to no English. We average about one fatal illegal-alien DUI every three months in the Triangle. Carolina del Norte is the most illegal-friendly state in the South; you can actually use a matricula consular card or Mexican military ID to get a driver’s license.
- Traffic is bad in spots, not bad in others. That’s more due to a poor road layout than gobs of people. When you only have one Interstate highway (I-40) tying the entire area together, it’s not hard to jam up. Traffic flow here is bizarre because rush hour is actually OUT of Raleigh in the mornings and back IN in the afternoons, with everyone heading to and from RTP.
- My wife swears that groceries here are 10-20% higher than South Carolina or Virginia, where we lived previously. I have no clue why, the sales tax isn’t excessively high, it’s 6.75% in Durham County and less on food.
Now the good stuff:
- The economy is still very strong, especially in the tech sectors. I’m looking to move but I’m turning aside job offers in my field here in the Triangle left and right.
- The cost of living aside from groceries isn’t bad. Rents are high but not outrageous, and salaries match. If you can deal with the traffic, there are many good places to live in the area; other folks have covered those better than I can.
- The upside of having several major universities very close (UNC, Duke, NC State) is that there’s a lot of cultural stuff, and some very neat attractions like Duke Gardens and the UNC Planetarium. Lots of sports too.
- Four distinct seasons, and the winters will be a lot better than what you’re used to in Ohio. Of course, when it DOES snow, stay off the roads and away from the supermarkets.
Hope this helps!
}:-)4
Forgot one more thing: taxes. Taxes are high here. Gas tax is the highest in the Southeast (around .32/gallon now) which pushes gas prices here to bump $3.00 a gallon. Bringing in a car from out of state, you will get hammered for a “use tax” of 3% of the assessed value when you re-title it (up to $150), plus registration fees, plus tag fees, plus “transportation infrastructure” fee for Orange, Durham, or Wake Counties—we’re talking easily $200+ per car just to get it licensed in NC. Personal property taxes, at least in Durham County, are not as bad as they were in South Carolina, but still harsh. I don’t know how bad the income tax is, I just got my W2 and will be filling those forms out soon.
}:-)4
I don't know what you mean by "affordable", but Johnston County is the latest area to fill up pretty fast, and still has houses on lots larger than a postage stamp. I've lived in Johnston County for over 10 years now, originally from coastal NC and work in Raleigh. I've heard good things about Willow Springs in Wake County, too. I would keep south of Raleigh, not north, because then you have to deal with the traffic between Raleigh and Durham, which can be pretty hectic.
We've got all the college basketball and football you can stand, minor league baseball, and professional hockey (Stanley Cup champs 2006!) in the area.
Welcome to NC. I live in Raleigh, having graduated from NCSU in 1970. Go Pack! :-)
Anyway, as others have said, rent a place for a while to get the feel of the area and the traffic, which while nothing like Atlanta or other large cities, is also nothing to take for granted.
North Raleigh is probably the priciest, and current growth is to the east. There is talk of annexing 6000 acres for another 25000 homes on that side. I-540 is a new partial-loop from US 64 East around the north and west to I-40 West, giving a quick route to Research Triangle Park. They’ve extended it past I-40 to NC 55 as NC 540 as from that point on there is talk of making it a toll road when built. The existing highway cannot be made toll as it was built including Federal funds.
The winters are relatively mild, rare snows, sometimes ice storms though which with the pine trees are nasty. The summers are hot as heck and humid. I grew up in Asheville in the west of the state and it took me a few summers to get used to it as best I could.
Good luck and welcome to the Raleigh area!
Anyway, message me if you don't get enough other help!
Go to Greensboro sometime and eat at Stameys.
The Biltmore House is awesome.
If you like to see John Deere tractors, you are going to the right place.
they have tons of tractor pulls. They use the real unmodified tractors. My wife’s cousin and his mother do it.