pros/cons to living in NC?

[Jennasis]

Raleigh and Charlotte are in the piedmont region.

http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/proj_earth/pdf/color_physiography_600dpi.pdf

Triad = Greensboro, Highpoint, Winston Salem
Triangle or Research Triangle = Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill

I think we've all established and agreed upon this. Piedmont as far as the geologic area.

The RTP area is very nice. Chapel Hill in particular!

 

[MichelleVW]

As for the snow, the first year I lived here, they forecasted a "CHANCE of snow" for the following day. All the area school closed, adn they ran weather crawls on the btton of the screen about the pending snow. The next day it was sunny and not a flake had fallen, but the kids were out of school and every store was out of milk and bread. WHY they buy milk and bread is beyond me. Do these people live on french toast when snowed in?

I moved to NC from Alaska and got there in Jan 2000. The third week I was there, the daycare called and said they were closing early and I needed to come pick up my kids because they were FORECASTING SNOW!! Then the next day I got a call at 5 a.m saying that I didn't have to come to work because it had snowed!! 2 inches of snow and the entire town was shut down!!! It was awesome!! I called all my friends back in Alaska and they couldn't believe it. Nothing stops in Alaska because of snow!


What I miss most about NC is Wrightsville Beach. I've been to most of the beaches in NC and it's by far my favorite. I could be ON the beach within an hour and a half from leaving my house....I really really miss that. No ocean for miles and mils from me now..

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

The Triangle area is growing quite rapidly. I recently heard that it will surpass Charlotte within 10 years in population.

Raleigh is bit crowded. The county has converted most of the elementary schools to year round, to deal with the issue. People say traffic is bad, but having learned how to drive in Atlanta, it's nothing to me. Most of the people from up east agree that traffic is not that bad.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I go to NC a bit for work. Only co I ever saw if the amount of scarry bugs you guys got. There like alien creatures.
I prefer the rats of NYC over some of those things.

 

[bcvgal]

Agreed on the Piedmont thing. Thank you for "getting" me.

Porter Ridge!! Noooooooooooo! Hey is Archie still the principal there?

Basden is principal now. My son starts the high school next year. Go pirates!!

 

[Minnesota!]

I think other states have spiders and snakes, too. Just so you know...

As far as the weather, we do occasionally get a hurricane come inland - Charlotte was devasted several years ago. But usually the risk is much reduced unless, of course, you live on the coast. NC can and does get major hurricanes, just like every other Atlantic coast state.

We have been having some tornadoes this spring, but they are pretty rare, really. Usually an F1 or F2 at the most. The last tornado to hit my city was in 1936, although the interstate nearby was hit last week. But again, tornadoes are really pretty rare - maybe a few days in the spring when we have warnings.

Now ice storms are a different story!! We get them all the time - and they can be a pain because it takes several days for the crews to clear and rebuild the power lines. Snowstorms are typical in winter, especially in the mountians, of course. We have had much less snow in the Piedmont for the last several years - but we can and do get 10 - 12 inches occasionally.

If you live in NC and hear a forecast of snow, better hightail it to the grocery store and get bread and milk - we stock up even if the forecast says "scattered flurries" and only a few flakes fall. And we drive like morons in it because we don't really know how to do it.

But overall, we have beautiful 4 season weather and lovely geography.

LOL - I know....but when you come from MN and you don't have to deal with that stuff....it sucks..

They were constantly battling the spiders. And had a few snakes take up residence in their garage. I would be packed and on the road same day if that happened to me. NO FREAKING WAY!!

I have always wondered about the bread and milk, too. Crazy. Even when they forcast FEET of snow here...no one runs out to stock up. We do have a lot of plows, but they don't come through that quickly. We have lost our power a TON of times due to weather and we just make due with what we have. I have a great friend in MD and she stocks up, too, when the weather goes bad. I just scratch my head.

Although I would LOOOOOVE to have work off due to 2 inches. The only time my company shut down was in 1991 - Halloween Blizzard. 29 or so inches in 24 hours. And even then, the core crew had to come in (computer operators and security..)...

 

[ilovepcot]

It's not a perfect city. I don't think any city is. but it is my favorite place that I have ever lived. I've lived in Memphis, TN, Greensboro, NC, Boone, NC, Burlington, NC, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Miami, FL, Columbia, SC, and Orlando, FL. Charlotte beats them all by a mile.

I was born and raised in NC and it will always be "home". Charlotte is my favorite city in all the world! It's where DH and I met and married. We also lived in Boone and Blowing Rock. Both nice in their own way. We've been in FL now since 1980 and I've never gotten used to it. It will never be home...never! Soon as DH can retire we're heading back to NC for the rest of our lives.

 

[Angelhalo]

I was born and raised in NC and it will always be "home". Charlotte is my favorite city in all the world! It's where DH and I met and married. We also lived in Boone and Blowing Rock. Both nice in their own way. We've been in FL now since 1980 and I've never gotten used to it. It will never be home...never! Soon as DH can retire we're heading back to NC for the rest of our lives.

I went to college in Boone. I don't know if I'd ever live there again but it sure would be nice to be able to visit there and maybe go camping in Linville Gorge again. I really didn't have any idea how much I missed NC and Charlotte especially until DH brought it up as an option to go back too.

 

[blana]

Born & raised in NC, although not in the Charlotte area. I grew up north of Greensboro & now live north-east of Raleigh. So, I'm in the "Charlotte is evil" category of NC'ers.

Weather wise, it's not that bad down here. Yes, summer gets hot, but only a few days over 100. But, the humidity sucks. Winter is very mild, at least that's what I've been told. We don't get a huge amount of snow in this section of NC, but it DOES usually coat the ground at least once a year. (It didn't this year, but I have multiple pictures of DS playing in the snow and he's only 2.)

As for memorable culinary treats, there's Cheerwine, Sundrop, barbeque (chopped pork NOT hamburgers), brunswick stew.... Lots of yummies.

We aren't the greatest at "planning" our cities, so most of them are a bit sprawly, which is a complaint from those who are from areas with mass transit, etc.

 

[Angelhalo]

As for memorable culinary treats, there's Cheerwine, Sundrop, barbeque (chopped pork NOT hamburgers), brunswick stew.... Lots of yummies.

LOL, we have that same discussion all the time. It drives us nuts down here in FL when people say, let's have BBQ and then they break out the grill and burgers. Or let's have a BBQ, or especially when they call the grill itself a BBQ. BBQ is pork, beef or chicken with some sort of spicy sauce or rub, sliced, shredded, or pulled, with beans, slaw, and hushpuppies. Anything else is "grilling"

We aren't the greatest at "planning" our cities, so most of them are a bit sprawly, which is a complaint from those who are from areas with mass transit, etc.

Well I don't know if I'd go so far as to say the cities aren't planned well but I DEFINITELY think the transportation was poorly planned. I think the area, Especially Charlotte and outlying suburbs, grew MUCH faster than they expected or knew how to deal with. So now you have people in the suburbs commuting 20-70 miles each way to work and they pretty much HAVE to drive because the only mass transit they had for a long time was the bus system which is generally just filled with derelects and homeless or seedy people. But, now that they have built the first part of the Light Rail, and have seen what a huge success it is, they are planning on spreading out towards the suburbs. They're coming along in this dept. They just should have started 20-30 years ago.

 

[crazy4dabean]

As for memorable culinary treats, there's Cheerwine, Sundrop, barbeque (chopped pork NOT hamburgers), brunswick stew.... Lots of yummies.

Please tell me it's not the authentic "brunswick stew". The one with squirrel

 

[sharlon]

Please tell me it's not the authentic "brunswick stew". The one with squirrel

No such thing as authentic brunswick stew in NC, or SC for that matter. Brunswick stew is originally from Brunswick, GA and authentic is made with chicken and pork (pig's head is cooked then removed). No squirrel. I promise.

Oh I forgot about the hurricane issue. I lived in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina and never encountered any hurricanes. I move to the MOUNTAINS and we get slammed by Hurricane Fran and Hurricane Ivan. Major damage. Go figure.

 

[bcvgal]

Born & raised in NC, although not in the Charlotte area. I grew up north of Greensboro & now live north-east of Raleigh. So, I'm in the "Charlotte is evil" category of NC'ers.

Weather wise, it's not that bad down here. Yes, summer gets hot, but only a few days over 100. But, the humidity sucks. Winter is very mild, at least that's what I've been told. We don't get a huge amount of snow in this section of NC, but it DOES usually coat the ground at least once a year. (It didn't this year, but I have multiple pictures of DS playing in the snow and he's only 2.)

As for memorable culinary treats, there's Cheerwine, Sundrop, barbeque (chopped pork NOT hamburgers), brunswick stew.... Lots of yummies.

We aren't the greatest at "planning" our cities, so most of them are a bit sprawly, which is a complaint from those who are from areas with mass transit, etc.

Just wondering why you think Charlotte is evil?

 

[Angelhalo]

Just wondering why you think Charlotte is evil?

Good question...............

 

[luvdzny]

Sorry to hijack this thread but...DH & I just returned from a trip to NC, whenever we were driving on the interstate and there was a car on the side of the road it had a towel/rag/blanket or something sticking out of the window in the driver's door. What does this mean? We sa a lot of disabled vehicles and noticed this on all of them but 1. Thanks!

By the way, we were down there to check things out to see if we wanted to move there, we decided that it may not be the place for us. After reading this thread I may have to reconsider!

 

[Angelhalo]

Sorry to hijack this thread but...DH & I just returned from a trip to NC, whenever we were driving on the interstate and there was a car on the side of the road it had a towel/rag/blanket or something sticking out of the window in the driver's door. What does this mean? We sa a lot of disabled vehicles and noticed this on all of them but 1. Thanks!

By the way, we were down there to check things out to see if we wanted to move there, we decided that it may not be the place for us. After reading this thread I may have to reconsider!

From my understanding it means the vehicle is disabled and is a sign to the tow truckor cops or whomever might need to find it later.

Do you remember what you didn't like about it? What areas did you check out. Not every state is right for everyone and thats cool but if I can help with anything, just let me know

 

[luvdzny]

We were looking around Hickory, I can't really put my finger on what we did not like, it just did not feel like "home." We did like Kanapolis but with the new campus that is being built there I am sure the atmosphere will be changing soon.

 

[Papa Deuce]

We were looking around Hickory, I can't really put my finger on what we did not like, it just did not feel like "home." We did like Kanapolis but with the new campus that is being built there I am sure the atmosphere will be changing soon.

That is the area we are looking at buy an acre of ground near. Just waiting for my SIL to find a few choices for us... She lives in CLT and is a realtor.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Please tell me it's not the authentic "brunswick stew". The one with squirrel

You may be thinking of Burgoo, which is favorite up Kentucky way. It's often cooked with opossum or squirel.

 

[tabby1881]

I've been reading with great interest this Charlotte thread. Sounds like a wonderful area! DH & I plan on a move sometime in the next decade out of Massachusetts. I have a question for the Charlotte people. Might sound a little odd...
Do the trees lose all their leaves in the winter in the Charlotte area? Do you know what I mean. We have a beautiful autumn around here. The trees are gorgeous colors, but then, they go absolutely bare for the next almost 6 months. I'm getting tired of that bleakness after such beauty!
Thanks.