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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 12:53:54 GMT
We're thinking of doing the same thing and my cousin and her family just up and moved there 1.5 years ago from MA and LOVE it. They moved to Mooresville (NASCAR central and 1/2 hour north of Charlotte) - it's nice and they seem to have everything you could need within a reasonable distance. They have not regretted the move and really like the area they chose. After a little exploring, we are thinking of looking along the I-40 corridor between Winston-Salem and Boone. But I still think we need a couple more exploring trips looking at the coastal area and the southern part of NC before we decide. Personally, I would like to live in either Meat Camp (tiny town little mountain town) or Cape Fear because I want to have a fun address LOL! Cape fear is us...let me know what questions you have. We are known as Hollywood East. Movies and TV shows are always filming here around town. Good behavior was shot all around here and it's still funny to watch it and know where they are.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Aug 27, 2017 12:55:51 GMT
The giant flying roaches are palmetto bugs. One thing i was glad to leave behind when I moved away from NC.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 12:58:50 GMT
I was born in Charlotte, lived with my mom in Charleston and once I finished school, I lived in Charlotte up until 2013. I have watched that city grow from it being a two lane highway that is now Independence Boulevard. I agree 100% that traffic is a HUGE problem there. You must always factor drive time when planning activities.
Where you want to live depends on what lifestyle you are looking for. Charlotte has soooooooo much to offer for everyone. There is almost always something happening uptown. There are great concerts and theater shows that come to that area. The Greek Festival that is each September is reason enough to move there!!!!!! Just like anywhere else, it has it's pros and cons.
If you need to be close to Charlotte or UNCC, consider Matthews, Indian Trail or Waxhaw. Nice residential areas with good schools. Union County schools were rumored to be better than Mecklenburg County. Huntersville and the Lake Norman area are nice, Concord too, but again, if working in Charlotte, you will have to deal with the Interstate traffic which is a beast.
Is your family more liberal arts? Sporty? Conservative? If you can give me an idea of what you and your family like, perhaps I can direct you even better.
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Post by Yoki on Aug 27, 2017 12:59:19 GMT
A few more thoughts:
We do have four seasons & some winters we get a few measurable snow/ice events. But some days are just really cold and some days are in the 70s. Spring & fall are my favorite, but both can honestly feel like summer minus the worst of the humidity.
Our worst bugs here are mosquitoes (our house backs up to woods with some areas that are a watershed and they don't drain well) - if we didn't have a beautiful screened in porch, we wouldn't be outside much. I'm not a fan on the fire ants, either.
Traffic can be a headache, for sure. I'm dealing with it more now than ever before due to where my son is going to high school, but it's still nothing like major urban area highways.
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Post by meriannj on Aug 27, 2017 13:20:02 GMT
I grew up in Illinois, but the Marine Corps brought us to NC 20 years ago and we have moved around and around and finally retired in the OBX. NC became home to us very early on so going back to IL after retirement just was never considered. NC has a little hit of everything with just a few hours drive. Sadly after 4 years my husbands post retirement job is dragging us to NOVa I know we will end up back in NC one day. It's our home!
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Post by Patter on Aug 27, 2017 14:33:02 GMT
We have friends in northwestern NC and they have a lot of mosquitoes. They're not big but they bite big. I was astonished by the cockroaches in Louisiana when I spent a summer there, I stayed just outside of New Orleans and some of the roaches we saw were huge and you couldn't squash them with a broom. When I hear about bigs that could snatch a toddler I think of those roaches, just terrible! They don't call them cockroaches here they call them water bugs. Don't care what anyone calls them, they are huge! I freaked the first time I saw one had the extermination company come out. He actually laughed and said they are common and will find the smallest cracking and squeeze in. Well hell bells, hubby was outside that day and made sure everything was seal tighter than...well you get the idea. Freaky things....ughh.... We do have dragonflies bigger than your hand and a ton of them. They will land right on you and they love to hover above our pool. Yes, in South Carolina we call them Palmetto bugs so that's what I call them even living in NC. When we go to Hilton Head, they are everywhere. I don't think I have ever seen them at our house here. If I did, I would die and couldn't tell you. LOL!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 15:26:01 GMT
Bugs that can carry off a toddler is the main reason we did not move to the south. I have no idea where you get some of these pronouncements you make. I've lived my entire life in the south in five different states never experiencing bugs as an issue. I am not sure how you could miss those gigantic flying terrors, and the spiders.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 15:50:42 GMT
Oh my god the lizards and the skinks... those things are all over. They are always getting in the house. You would think after 20 years I'd stop freaking out...ummm nope. They are fast lolittle critters.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Aug 27, 2017 15:52:44 GMT
Honestly, I have that certain body chemistry that doesn't attract mosquitoes - lucky, I know! They're around, but we use screens, burn citronella candles, stay away from the edge of the woods at twilight, and take other reasonable measures to deter them. I just don't consider them a big deal.
There are palmetto bugs which are generally found more around the coastal areas. If you see one around the upstate, it's really more of a traditional roach. Roaches are a clean vs dirty house issue, in my opinion. Palmetto bugs will get in even clean homes, but they can be made virtually non-existent in your home with responsible pest control. They can get several inches long, but they are harmless as far as bothering you in any way like getting on you or biting - they don't do that. They generally scurry away as fast as they can when you turn on a light or walk into a room. The biggest issue with them is just that they are an ugly bug and could spread germs - hence... pest control.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Aug 27, 2017 17:43:26 GMT
I have no idea where you get some of these pronouncements you make. I've lived my entire life in the south in five different states never experiencing bugs as an issue. I am not sure how you could miss those gigantic flying terrors, and the spiders. It really depends on where you live. I have lived her for over 6 years and never seen one. Hardly any mosquitos either.. only when near a lake.
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Post by lisae on Aug 27, 2017 18:40:03 GMT
thinking of looking along the I-40 corridor between Winston-Salem and Boone Beautiful area, low cost of housing/living, mild climate. It is one of the most politically conservative areas of the state until you get into Boone.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 19:29:55 GMT
I am not sure how you could miss those gigantic flying terrors, and the spiders. It really depends on where you live. I have lived her for over 6 years and never seen one. Hardly any mosquitos either.. only when near a lake. We mainly went to close to the coast areas. But bugs and humidity aside , The south is a beautiful. ( as well as the southwest, Midwest, upper northern states, northwest west coast).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 0:13:47 GMT
This is GREAT information! I'm from NY (LI) and DH is from NJ. We moved to FL 6 years ago and I immediately hated it, but gave it a whirl for him. This was his dream to retire down here. I can't take the humidity and just about everything else here. It's too much of a culture shock. The most important thing is that my surgeon (a specific field) operated on me and moved to Duke so I thought we'd move up to NC (baby steps towards moving back to NY). I love the idea of 4 real seasons and I'm hoping to find a Democratic area/liberal thinking area with decent medical care. Traffic doesn't bother me. I worry about the layout of roads/highways. I hate parkways and loop-de-loop roads (like SC has). I have vision issues and can't handle roads like that...... NC sounds great (near Duke--maybe Garner or Raleigh?). It'll be our next move. Good luck anniel, when you do move! You might want to look at Asheville. It is much cooler than the Raleigh area. A lot less humidity. Thank you mountains! Also has excellent health facilities. I think it gets overlooked because of Duke, but Mission is excellent. The politics in Asheville are very liberal. I know someone said Asheville is expensive, and right in Asheville it is. But if you go outside of town it can be quite affordable, Black Mountain, Hendersonville & Brevard are all gorgeous towns with a lot to offer, close to Asheville and more affordable. We get a lot of people retiring here who went to Florida and found it too hot and came half-way back to the Northeast. DH's DD35 lived in Asheville for over 10 years!! She taught Science in high school there, but moved down here to FL to live with her mother. She loved it there. I would truly need to be near Duke to have my surgeon there. I have a really specific case that only a handful of surgeons would be willing or able to take on. There's literally NOT ONE surgeon her in FL anymore who could handle it (which is downright scary!). But, thank you for the info......... I'm sure that all of NC can't be as humid or hot as FL, so I think I'd be in better shape!!
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Post by MaryPea on Aug 29, 2017 23:18:27 GMT
You might want to look at Asheville. It is much cooler than the Raleigh area. A lot less humidity. Thank you mountains! Also has excellent health facilities. I think it gets overlooked because of Duke, but Mission is excellent. The politics in Asheville are very liberal. I know someone said Asheville is expensive, and right in Asheville it is. But if you go outside of town it can be quite affordable, Black Mountain, Hendersonville & Brevard are all gorgeous towns with a lot to offer, close to Asheville and more affordable. We get a lot of people retiring here who went to Florida and found it too hot and came half-way back to the Northeast. DH's DD35 lived in Asheville for over 10 years!! She taught Science in high school there, but moved down here to FL to live with her mother. She loved it there. I would truly need to be near Duke to have my surgeon there. I have a really specific case that only a handful of surgeons would be willing or able to take on. There's literally NOT ONE surgeon her in FL anymore who could handle it (which is downright scary!). But, thank you for the info......... I'm sure that all of NC can't be as humid or hot as FL, so I think I'd be in better shape!! you might consider Chapel Hill....close to Duke and more liberal. good luck!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 23:22:19 GMT
Thanks so much!! I'm taking notes! I appreciate it.
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Post by genealopea on Aug 30, 2017 1:07:25 GMT
I'll be the dissenting opinion here. I live just outside of Charlotte, and love the area. I really don't consider it much of a southern city, though, even though it's geographically in the south... in the six years I've lived here, 75% (or more) of the people I've met are from somewhere else. Many from the New York area, many from California, some from Florida, and several mid-westerners. It's a fun mix of people. The weather is great... no heavy snowstorms. It snows enough to be pretty for a short time, but a few hours later it's all gone. Lots of people commented on the traffic, but I think it was much worse when I lived up north. Traffic near any city is going to be slow at rush hour. I time my commute so that I avoid heavy times, but even those days when I can't avoid it, it's not that bad. At least it moves, albeit slowly at times. Schools are decent - we live in a county with highly rated schools, but my kids found they weren't as challenging as up north (YMMV.) Teachers are not paid well, but I have to say that they are some of the most caring and enthusiastic teachers I've ever seen. (My three kids were in three different high schools; two in CT and one here in NC.) The only thing I really dislike is that the schools are county run, not governed by towns. Our county is growing quickly, which results in "realignments" every few years. Our house has been in three different school districts since it was built in 2007, and now they're planning another shift next year. That takes a little getting used to. It's a great area to raise a family; lots of family activities (the shopping centers all host concerts and movie nights on weekend nights), most neighborhoods have swimming pools and other amenities, and there are lots of walking trails. I love Charlotte's location; right between the mountains and the beach, and a couple of hours from Greenville, SC (my favorite city to visit.) As a city, Charlotte is immaculately clean and well cared for (it helps that it's a fairly new city.) There are several museums, the Nascar Hall of Fame, the Speedway, baseball and football teams (decently priced for families), some entertainment venues and several universities. There are lovely parks throughout the city, plenty of restaurants and local breweries. There are large lakes nearby (Lake Norman and Lake Wylie), and our international airport is easy to navigate. Anyway, don't rule Charlotte out - it really is a great place.
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