I really need input from NC fans - please!

[tar heel]

It's true your housing and taxes will be less, but I think you may have bad information about the gas prices. Ours are actually among the highest in the nation and the gas tax at the pump goes up in January.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

Cary is a wonderful and safe place to raise a family. Very "yankee" friendly, too. Heck, people often joke that Cary is short for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.

The public school system in this county, while very good compared to the state average, does tend to favor moving kids around to different schools to help balance the numbers. While this is a noble goal, it can be frustrating if your kid is the one who has to attend three different base schools in three years (extreme example, but it has happened to some). I believe the public school system in Charlotte leans more towards neighborhood schools.

What type of jobs will you and/or your spouse be looking for? That, too, can play a factor.

Feel free to PM me if you are trying to narrow down neighborhood choices in the Cary area, btw. Been in this area for over 30 years (family moved down from Kingston NY when I was a child)

 

[DisneyTarheel]

It's true your housing and taxes will be less, but I think you may have bad information about the gas prices. Ours are actually among the highest in the nation and the gas tax at the pump goes up in January.

Filled up for around $2.10 a gallon for regular yesterday morning. Is that really among the highest in the nation?

 

[tar heel]

Of course there are bad things about living in North Carolina!

1. The state is growing rapidly and this has caused political upheaval in a lot of communities. Some old-time residents, especially those with lots of land who are not planning to sell, are not happy about paying for services for newcomers. These people tend to be much more active in local politics than the newcomers.

2. Because of that growth, a lot of communities are behind in building schools. This is both because the sheer number of newcomers is even larger than projected and b/c getting the getting the funding as quickly as possible can be difficult (see item 1). This means schools are overcrowded.

3. Districts deal with the increased numbers of kids a variety of ways. One of the things mine has done is to build very large schools. We've opened something like 10 new elementary schools in the past five or six years -- all built for 1,000 students. The school in my district has 1,200 students. That is a huge elementary school. It is an excellent school -- I wonder what it could be with half that many kids.

4. When an area is growing quickly, don't expect to remain at the same school. We built our house in 1997 and a new school at each level has opened since.

5. A serious teacher shortage is looming. Our district recruits heavily from New York and has been mostly successful at continuing to hire good teachers. We've had a couple of weak high school teachers, however, and I fear that may get worse in some academic areas.

You're going to find a number of things that are just DIFFERENT. Barbecue equals the best pulled pork you've ever tasted -- my next door neighbor from New York aid he wished he had known how good it was sooner! We have large school districts (usually a whole county), which is very different from the one high school towns in New England. Expect your community to have one Catholic Church and either one or no Jewish congregation. This is the Bible Belt and there are lots of fundamentalist/conservative churches. There are lots of people who consider drinking a sin. There are still dry counties, but not many. Smoking is more acceptable here. There are people who don't believe in gambling, too, but a state lottery is starting in April.

I'll probably think of some more things!

 

[tar heel]

Maybe it was just post-Katrina that we were among the highest in the nation, BUT we're not 50 cents less for most people and we may be the highest in the South even before next week's tax increase.

 

[reeddi]

Some Cons I have found living in NC. I grew up here moved to IL and came back.
-people can't drive - in the rain, in the snow and sure as heck can't merge
-some will disagree but racism is more open here than other places I have been
-it is a farm state with tabacco being one of the biggest crops - so definately more smoking
-it is the Bible belt so there are more conservative churches here along with more judgemental people
-if you are a "yankee", there are still SOME people that will judge you on that alone
-we don't get much snow but the ICE sucks

Pros
-distinct seasons
-lots of places to live that have a small town feel next to a big city (I live in one Lewisville next to Winston Salem)
-most people are helpful to a fault - sometimes a little nosy too
-mountians and beaches in the same state
-some really good schools

Now between Raleigh and Charlotte - I would pick Raleigh. Less crime, less traffic (except to RTP), great doctors and hospitals and Wake county has a great school system. (although they do move you sometimes)

Good luck in your choices. I say come down for a week of so and just look around at both if you can.

As for the person moving to Charlotte asking about house prices. You will see a little bit of a jump as Spring is when people start making deals on houses. They will look at moving in June as kids get out of school. Just keep that in mind.

 

[stm61]

we're moving back after being up north for 7 yrs. A few things you might want to consider, if you haven't already. 1) the school yr runs differently in the south. I think NC now starts after Aug 25, but has started the first wk in Aug before. 2) have the kids practice "yes sir and no mame" now. 3)unless you've definately decided on NC, check housing prices in SC. I have to be within 30 min or so of Charlotte for work. We've found prices in SC are lower and so are the taxes. Rock Hill, Ft Mill, Clover, Lewisville, and Indian Land are all within 30 min and the further out you go, the cheaper the prices. 4) the property taxes on housing are alot lower but you're going to pay a tax on your vehicles every yr. I'd forgotten that the last time we were based in SC and got quite a surprise when I went to switch the registration and my license.

 

[tinaluis]

How much of a vehicle tax are we talking in SC?

 

[jennifer293]

Filled up for around $2.10 a gallon for regular yesterday morning. Is that really among the highest in the nation?

Lord I filled up yesterday in Cleveland, TN and paid 2.15 a gallon....It is 2.18 in some parts of our town!!

I guess you should not consider TN. Can I move with you I hate Tennessee??

 

[momtokendantom]

Perfect timing for this thread! I am heading down to Raleigh next week to look at homes. Can anyone recommend a good hospital for a Nursing career?

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[DisneyTarheel]

Perfect timing for this thread! I am heading down to Raliegh next week to look at homes. Can anyone recommend a good hospital for a Nursing career?

Thanks,
Michelle

UNC and Duke are the "prestige" hospitals in the area, but there are other very good hospitals around, too. What type of nursing?

 

[dferr]

I paid $2.29 last week and that was one of the cheapest in the area!

 

[Muushka]

Cary residents here . We moved here for S. FL about 9 years ago. We like it here. I would say that compared to many other parts of the country the housing is still pretty reasonable. We don't have kiddos so I can't comment on the schools, but neighbors seem to like them for their kids.
Our property taxes are reasonable. PM me if you would like more specifics.

Good luck!

 

[jjohnson]

Cary is a wonderful and safe place to raise a family. Very "yankee" friendly, too. Heck, people often joke that Cary is short for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.

The public school system in this county, while very good compared to the state average, does tend to favor moving kids around to different schools to help balance the numbers. While this is a noble goal, it can be frustrating if your kid is the one who has to attend three different base schools in three years (extreme example, but it has happened to some). I believe the public school system in Charlotte leans more towards neighborhood schools.

What type of jobs will you and/or your spouse be looking for? That, too, can play a factor.

Feel free to PM me if you are trying to narrow down neighborhood choices in the Cary area, btw. Been in this area for over 30 years (family moved down from Kingston NY when I was a child)

Another change in schools would be hard since they'll already be leaving all their friends here. I hope that wouldn't happen.

My husband's a carpenter & already spoke with alot of workers in the subdivisions when we were there in November. I don't think it will be too difficult for him to find work. I on the other hand have my own petsitting business that I would have to start from the bottom up again. I already researched the triangle area & there isn't much competition so I'm hoping to get it off the ground again after the move. I was surprised the rates I charge are comparable.

Thanks for the help.

 

[jjohnson]

I paid $2.29 last week and that was one of the cheapest in the area!

I paid $2.49 this morning at the cheap station!

When we went to Cary over Thanksgiving the gas price was $1.95. I guess it's gone up a bit.

 

[DawnM]

We had wanted to move to Raleigh but DH got a job offer in Charlotte. We took it and I think it was the best thing for us! I didn't really know much about NC until we moved here this year but I think it is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Charlotte has so much to offer and I have been very pleased.

We moved from CA this year. It is funny because I expected it to be very "Southern" but 95% of the time I don't feel like I am in the South at all. I think it is because so many people are not from here.....it is a really nice mix of people from all over.

Dawn

 

[marthachick]

Living in NC is great. I've lived here all my life. Sure, there are con's, but isn't that so anywhere? As far as I'm concerned the pro's far outweigh them. We have the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountians and the wonderful Atlantic coast. The people are friendly. I work in a local government office for a very small county. We have people coming in all the time from up north, and lately, from Florida and they comment on the friendliness of everyone and how our housing prices are so low compared to where they came from.

So you might want to check out some of the small towns also. They can be great places to raise a family and sometimes just a short drive to "the big city".

 

[DisneyTarheel]

My husband's a carpenter & already spoke with alot of workers in the subdivisions when we were there in November. I don't think it will be too difficult for him to find work.

With the building boom going on in both this area and Charlotte, I suspect your husband will find plenty of opportunities. Keep in mind that there is not much union presence down here, however, if that matters.

 

[jjohnson]

With the building boom going on in both this area and Charlotte, I suspect your husband will find plenty of opportunities. Keep in mind that there is not much union presence down here, however, if that matters.

Thank you. He's not in a union. My DH is wondering about the surrounding towns in the Apex/Cary area. Since your from Cary I was wondering what your thoughts are.

Joyce

 

[gopack]

I have lived in Charlotte and Raleigh. In between, we lived in Annapolis MD for 11 years.We live in Wake Forest now which is just north of Raleigh. I think they are both great places to live. Charlotte definitely has more of a big town atmosphere than Raleigh. Charlotte has the professional sports teams which are fun and exciting! However, it also has more of the problems and crime associated with a larger city. Overall, I think the schools in Wake County are much better than the Charlotte-Mecklenburg. My kids have been in year-round schools since we moved here 6 years ago. We love the schedule, but my kids will have different schedules when my daughter reaches high school and my son is still in elementary school. Most of the families I know take this all in stride because they have been so happy with the year round schools their children have attended. There is a great year round middle school in Wake Forest, but I am not sure about the Cary/ Apex area. If you are against year round I would not advise moving to Wake County. Also, they are reassigning children yearly (that does not mean your child will be affected). Good luck! I will be happy to try and explain the Wake County school options if you need more information. It can be very confusing with the traditional, year round, and charter options.