Planning a trip to NC

[zoebartlett]

We''ve decided to visit NC in the spring and check out a few areas. I''ve mentioned how my husband and I are considering moving to NC, and we wanted to visit a few places to get a feel for them. So now I have a few questions, and I was wondering if you could please help me out.

1. We have no idea where we''d like to potentially move. We''re planning on hopefully checking out the following towns/cities: Greenville (NC), Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Ashville, and Wilmington. I''m thinking that this is way too much to do in one week, which is the time we''d have. How should we narrow it down? We''d most likely plan more than one trip down there, especially if we end up being really serious about moving, but we want to get as much out of our time (and $ spent) there as we can.

If it is possible to do this in one week''s time, is there an itinerary you''d suggest? We don''t want to rush through any one town, but we do want to get a good feel for as much as we can while we''re there.

2. Flights in and out of Charlotte right now are at about $620 for both my husband and me. Do you think that''s a reasonable rate for April or should we hold off?

3. Should we consider flying into one city and then flying out of another city? We''ll be renting a car for our trip.

4. Are there any specific hotels that we should look into staying at in any of these cities? I''m not sure if it makes sense to use one of the cities as our home base and plan day trips from there, or if we should book a hotel in a few cities so we''re not always backtracking.

Sorry for all the questions, but we''ve never done this before, and I want to make sure we think of everything and do this in a somewhat organized way.

Thanks in advance for all your help!!

 

[BeachRunner]

NC is a beautiful state, but the cities you''ve chosen are all over the state, and vastly different from each other. First, I think you and your husband need to decide what is most important to you: coastal city, mountainous city, college city, etc. Secondly, you have some very big cities listed, then some smaller cities. My FI and I checked out Asheville as a potential city we''d like to move to and absolutely loved it, but a lot of people would prefer Charlotte for the bigger city feel.

If you let me know a list of importance things you''d like out of your city, I can help you narrow down your search. A week for all of those cities would be a BIG stretch, as Asheville and Wilmington are on opposite sides of the state.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Also I know you are a teacher so can go anywhere but you might want to look at your DH''s career plans b/c some of those cities might be better for those goals than others.

 

[Tropicmaster]

Beachruner said it first and I will support what she said with some additional comments. It is a little over 400 miles from Asheville to Wilmington! You really listed 4 separate and distinct regions of NC, although several of the towns you listed are pretty close to each other.

Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/ Cary are really one very large metro area, rather than 4 different towns. Even though each has its own flavor or feel, they are right on top of each other. From the RDU airport you can drive to the center of any of the 4 in less than 15 minutes. Raleigh is all about state government and associated services. Chapel Hill is all about college life and UNC along with a fair amount of liberal politics and some arts. Durham is still a lot of old timey, small town, Bull Durham (movie) deep south. Cary has not really decided who they are yet. 5 years ago Cary could be missed if you were driving very fast, and now it is 12 miles of 200K homes built on top of each other. Those homes are filled with people who pile in their cars and drive 45 minutes through god awful traffic into Raleigh to work.

Charlotte is the pulse of the region, and rivals or exceeds Atlanta in most ways other than traffic(so far). Lots of money and lots of opportunity in Charlotte. Charlotte has not planned wisely for expansion and is starting to show some problems related to sprawl, although it is for the most part still a great place to live. Geographically Charlotte is probably the most desirable. Charlotte does not get the terrible heat of the coast nor the terrible cold and snow of the mountains. Also from Charlotte you can be at the beach in 3 hours, or in the mountains in 2 1/2 hours. Charlotte is big enough to have anything you could possibly want or need retail wise, but not yet so big that it sucks to get to it.

Asheville is a unique area. Asheville has an exceptionally diverse cultural foundation. There are 'granola's" which are organic,PETA, fruit loop, back to earthers. There are also a lot of "check out's" People who have temporarily checked out of society, and are living in the moment and on the land. Not homeless bums, but people who don't have a need for society at the moment. There are a lot of artists and entertainers as well. There is a small contingent of big time horse breeders (think Kentucky derby) just south of town. Asheville also has a fair amount of tourism and even some business! Oh and there are also at least 4 colleges in town including one of the NC state campuses. Asheville is not really in the mountains, but more on the edge in the foothills.

Wilmington and Greenville are in the same vicinity and are a little over an hour apart. Greenville is a pretty small town and has nothing going on other than Eastern Carolina University. Greenville is unbelievably hot in the summer, but it is also fairly mild in the winter. I cannot say much about Greenville because there is really nothing there if you are not 19 and going to ECU. Wilmington is a town I am not real familiar with. I have been there 10 or 12 times but never for very long. It is small and almost on the beach. There are a couple of colleges, and some mid level retail.

If I just had to look at all 4 of these areas I would use Charlotte as my base. I do not know where you are coming from but Charlotte is probably the only airport you will be able to get a direct flight to or from. Charlotte to Raleigh is 2 1/2 hrs driving. Raleigh to Greenville is 2 1/2 hrs. Wilmington to Charlotte is 5 1/2 hrs, and Charlotte to Asheville is a little over 2 hours. Tacori makes a good point about your husband. I don't know what he does, but some of these areas are pretty limited professionally, especially Greenville and Asheville.

I live in Charlotte and travel all of these areas extensively, and weekly so let me know if I can be of any help at all

 

[Mrs. Tropicmaster]

The Carolinas are a beautiful and wonderful place to live. I grew up in Myrtle Beach and have lived in Greenvile (SC), Charlotte and Hendersonville (15 mins from Asheville). I agree with what the others have said.

Charlotte city population is around 700,000 and the Charlotte metro area is 1.6 million. I never cared much for actually living and getting around in Charlotte, but I''m not really a big city girl. It has a lot to offer. Career, arts, sports, entertainment, shopping and just about any cuisine you can imagine. The traffic is managable depending on what you''re used to. A lot of people commute in for work. If I were to live in Charlotte, I would pick the city instead of the suburbs. And depending on where you''re coming from, real estate is pretty reasonable.

I''ve spent a lot of time in Asheville and lived in Hendersonville for 4 years. It''s a beautiful mountain city with a small downtown area. Tropicmaster stole my term "granola''s". I used it to describe the new age hippies that are abundant in Asheville. He gave an accurate discription. Very artsy, progressive and eco friendly. Several years ago I attended a "Fire in the Belly" seminar at someone''s house and they asked their guests not to flush the toilet if you only peed. Think- Deepak Chopra. If you like meditiation, yoga, alternative medicine and the like then this is the place for you! I actually enjoyed my years living there. I''m not sure what it offers in the way of careers. It''s a wonderful place for your relatvies and friends to visit. You would have no trouble filling their days with wonderful things to see and do. The Grove Park Inn, Biltmore House, Blue Ridge Parkway.

Greenville, NC- there''s not much there. I visited once and all I remember is a yummy B-B-Q place that President Herbert W. Bush once visited.

Willimington- I''ve never spent much time there. In recent years it''s become known for it''s television and movie industry.

I personally would not like to live in the Raleigh/Durham/Cary area because I couldn''t deal with the traffic. It''s highly respected for its engineering, pharmaceutical industry. And politics.

Depending on what you are looking for you should defintely put Greenville, SC on your search list. But, I am biased because I lived there for 10 years and LOVED it. It is a great medium size city in the foothills of the mountains. The city''s population is around 60,000 with a urban area population of about 300,000. It''s an hours drive from Asheville and 1.5 hours from Charlotte. 4 hours to the coast. Not too hot and not too cold. It has a beautiful downtown with outdoor dining and shopping and cultural arts. Great for careers.

Good luck with your trip and if you decide to join us, Welcome! We''re glad you''re here!

Shout out if you need any more help with the details.

 

[gailrmv]

Mara had a thread quite a while back when she was planning a trip to NC. Several people gave her specific recommendations of things to do in the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham area), places to stay, where to eat, even some notes about real estate and where to live. If you can find that thread you might find it useful. Enjoy your trip and best wishes with your decision!

ETA Not to add even more places to your list, but have you considered the Triad (Greensboro area)? If you are interested in the Triangle and Charlotte, I think you should also give the Triad a look. I agree with what someone else said that you may want to decide what city size you like and whether you prefer beach, mountains, or in the middle, because the cities you mention are quite different from eachother.

 

[zoebartlett]

Thank you so much for the advice, BeachRunner, Tacori, TropicMaster, and Mrs. TropicMaster! I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to write as much as you did, especially today. I hope you''re having a good Thanksgiving.

I was embarrassed to go back and reread my first post and see how many cities I listed for one visit. I know it''s a lot. I guess I figured that since a few of them are so close together, it might not be THAT hard to do it all in a week''s time. Our state (NH) is pretty small, so I think I forget how large other states are sometimes. For example, we can go from one end of our state to the other (east to west) in about 2 hour''s time. North to south is about 3 hours or so, maybe. So yeah, there''s a big difference between NC and our state.

Mrs. TM -- you mentioned that you''d prefer to live right in downtown Charlotte (uptown?) than the suburbs. Why is that?

Is it wise to rent instead of buy a house right away (say, for the first 6 mos. to 1 year)? I think it is but my husband is hesitant about that. He''d rather buy right away so our money isn''t being "thrown out the window" every month.

After reading all of your thoughts on each region (THANK YOU TM and Mrs. TM!!), here''s what we''ve decided is most important to us:

Deal Breakers:

-- good schools (we don''t have kids yet but we plan on it someday)

-- good jobs (my husband is a data analyst and a database administrator and I''m an elementary teacher)

-- We want to live in an area that doesn''t have a big city feel, but we do need convenient access to the city for commuting purposes (if my husband finds a job in the city)

-- If we do live in a larger city, we''d like it to be in a more residential part of town. No sky scrapers outside our windows, please.

-- Welcoming, friendly atmosphere

-- Not too hot, not too cold -- mild weather (but we still would love to have all four seasons)

-- Things to do like going to the movies, theater, good restaurants, shopping, parks


Nice to have:

-- Character, historical, and architectural details (charm -- not one strip mall and condo complex after another without any character)

-- The closer to the water, the better (the ocean, preferably -- we''d prefer water to mountains)

-- We''ve lived in a small college town before and have really enjoyed it. We''d be open to that again.

-- History and great architecture, museums, etc.


NC has been where we''ve been focusing our search, but we''d welcome suggestions for other places if they seem like a good fit.

Thank you SO MUCH!

 

[elsie]

I lived in Wilmington for a little bit, so I can give you a bit of information on living there:

I enjoyed living in Wilmington -- it has most of the good aspects you said you wanted in a town (beach, historical, friendly, small/college town, lots of things to do because it''s a "tourist" type town). If you live in Wilmington, you''re within 5-20 minutes of 3 beaches, and the weather is great most of the time (except for the threat of hurricanes). Quality and diversity of food is good (especially seafood), although cultural diversity is just recently getting better (hence not as good Asian/Indian food as the larger cities). It''s within 2 hours of Raleigh and about 2 (I think) hours from Myrtle Beach.

The only things I would hesitate on are the schools and the jobs. I think the schools in the Raleigh area are probably better than those in Wilmington. Raleigh also has UNC and NCState, if you''re interested in taking classes or going back to school (Wilmington has UNC-Wilmington, but I would say its strongest program is Marine Biology). Also, when I was there (around 5 years ago), there was a lack of technical jobs in the area (I work in computers, like your husband). There are only two large companies (GE and Corning) in the area, and if they are doing badly, then it will be hard finding another job unless it''s with a small firm.

Overall, Wilmington is a very nice and fun place to live, probably a good place to raise a family. I moved because I wasn''t too happy about the lack of cultural diversity and the lack of technical jobs in the area.

I hope that helps!

 

[Tropicmaster]

I cant answer all of your areas of desire, but here is what I know

Schools- Charlotte schools are probably better than about any comparably sized city, but they ARE big city schools with all the attendant problems. One of my good friends was a teacher here and left because of the violence and lack of parental concern,upbringing. He was in the center city and I suspect the outskirts are not like that. Cary is known for really good schools although they are very crowded due to the explosive development. Raleigh schools have the reputation of being a disgrace. Asheville schools are pretty good from what I hear.

Jobs- Charlotte probably has more data type jobs than all the other cities combined. It is not widely known but Charlotte is second only to NYC in banking, and that means LOTS of those types of jobs. Raleigh with all the government will have plenty of those jobs as well, although a lot of them would be civil service and not pay much. There is a really small area within Raleigh/Durham called Research Triangle Park (RTP), that is very heavy in research and engineering and it would have a lot of those jobs as well. All of your other choices would pretty limited, with Greenville NC and Asheville being pretty well non existent

All of your choices will be very southern and welcoming. Charlotte would probably be the least friendly, but it will still be far beyond anything you have likely seen in NH. Even in Charlotte you don''t change a flat by yourself unless you wave off the 4 people who stop and ask if you need help. Asheville would probably be the friendliest of your cities. Asheville has the best climate of your choices, with Charlotte close behind. Wilmington and Greenville are very hot and humid, although warm in the winter. I do not like going to that part of the state in the summer and I am from here! Charlotte will have by far the most entertainment with Raleigh not too far behind. The rest of them are fairly limited.

All of your cities have a lot of history, character, and atmosphere, although each has different types. Old Charlotte, especially in the Myers Park, Dilworth, and Wendover areas has some amazing old money mansions and architecture. Durham has classic architecture, and I love just riding around downtown. Asheville has some exquisite old homes and office buildings. Other than a couple of buildings downtown nothing in Cary has been there much more than 10 years, and most of it less than 5. Greenville does not have much of any of these, but it is not hard to on the eyes by any means.

In looking over your list of important qualities I would have to say that my FI is probably right about Greenville SC. It would be the best choice for all of your priorities except closeness to the water. I love Greenville SC and would move there in a heartbeat if our jobs here ever went away. If it has to be NC I would rank in this order based on your list.
Asheville
Charlotte
RDU
Wilmington
Greenville NC

 

[Mrs. Tropicmaster]

Charleston, SC jumped out a me when I read your second list. Although, it can get very hot and humid in July and August! It''s historic, on the water and friendly with lots of cultural diversity. It is second only to Greenville, SC in my top places to live.

Overall, SC is not highly known for outstanding education, but Greenville has several magnet schools as well as the Governer''s School. My friend is a teacher in the area and is very happy with her teaching experience. She teaches music at the elementary level. If you were to get serious about considering Greenville, SC I would be happy to facilitate you two talking. I was educated in the public school system in SC and I did just fine. Greenville also has Furman University.

I said I would rather live in the city (Charlotte) versus the suburbs because if it were me I would pick one of the nice developments near the downtown area. That way I would be close to work and play without the Charlotte commute. Charlotte area traffic and get pretty sticky. That said, I live in the country and drive 45 minutes to work each way. My commute is all interstate with little traffic concerns. I love our small town. No Wal-Mart or Target (just the way we like it) but a few restaurants and grocery stores. I''m 15 minutes from two good sized cities and 30 minutes from Charlotte, which has everything I could ever want.

 

[moremoremore]

Hi Zoe...We've been here for about one year and on the whole, really like it...

My first and and most important piece of advice is that husband really needs to find a job before moving...and if your income is necessary, you do to. The market here is horrible and the unemployment rate in NC is 7%...don't assume you'll find something...trust me on this....I would think (although please correct me natives) that most employment is going to be in Raleigh or Charlotte with least bet being Asheville...WIth unemployment being how it is, I don't even see a point to looking for work outside of Raleigh or Charlotte since the market in general is unstable and this is where most jobs are (imo..i think lol)...

I don't know where you're from, but my girlfriend was a teacher in NY and made about 85k and made 40k here...the tech field jobs are pretty much the same pay scale as NY..maybe a little less...I didn't want to deal with the more humid raleigh climate but the main thing was that we had friends in Charlotte so that made it easier. Housing prices are much cheaper and so are the taxes, but the general cost of living is the same (although the major cost of living expense is housing). Our hosue cost less than our 1100 sq foot coop in Queens.

Second piece of advice is to rent an apartment here before you buy. Rent an apartment with an extra bedroom and leave all in storage. Don't unpack. It took us months to find the right house and for me to get a feel for the Charlotte/Matthews area. This also let us to renovations before moving in. It's not throwing money away. How would hubby like to rush into it and move into an area that you turn out not to like? THAT'S the real waste of money!!

Unless you're talking about a lake, it's at leat 2.5 hours to the shore from Charlotte....you can't have it all dearie If it's that important, maybe Raleigh is more your speed...Oh, as for traffic, traffic inside the city is NOTHING like NYC traffic, but traffic getting to Charlotte on the main highways is just like NYC traffic. I would say it's worse at times.

Best of luck with it!

P.S. It takes me about 5 mintues to drive through the city of Charlotte....coming from someone who lived outside of NYC....there is no big city feel here anywhere or any sort of view of skyscrapers...LOL...but Charlotte is no hick town ...there is so much shopping here...and many more cosmopolitan people than it sounds like you're expecting...In my opinion, there is the actual city of Charlotte...maybe some condos surrounding uptown...and then 5 minutes down the road you're in some of the most amazing, old, and EXPENSIVE areas to live...so you're either IN the city or not. It's not like NYC, where there is Manhattan and then Queens which still feels like a city.... and then more suburban Nassau County/Suffolk county...


P.P.S. Check out City-data.com and the NC city forums..packed with good advice...

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I find Charlotte very friendly. When I slid into a ditch a few years ago (during an ice storm) THREE groups of people stopped to help me. The last gentleman had chain and actually pulled me out. Also I love living in the 'burbs. With the new light rail if your DH has a job uptown he can always take that. My neighbor does and loves it. He answers all of his work e-mails before he even gets to his office. I guess it is all what you are looking for and what you are used to. I have a friend that lives uptown and loves it but she is still in the bar scene.

ETA: it is mid 60s and sunny here today

 

[zoebartlett]

Thank you so much for replying, TanDogMom, Elsie, MMM, TM, and Mrs. TM (again)!

We''ve been talking about finding jobs down there, which, obviously, is important to do before moving anywhere. Since my husband is out of work right now, he''s considering applying for different contract jobs and that way, he can travel and check out different areas before we make the big move. Ideally, we''d both find jobs down there at around the same time. I''m not planning on looking for a job until the late winter when positions may start to open up for the following year. I still have to look into the process of becoming certified in another state. Oy. One of our biggest problems is that we own a condo up here, and since condos don''t tend to sell as fast as houses and NOTHING''S selling right now, we may be here until we can sell. I have no idea how people time things like this.

Depending on what my husband is able to find and what his salary is, there''s a chance that we could move and then I''d find a job (subbing or working as an aide if needed until I find a teaching position). That would make me nervous though.

MMM, I''m from NH, and I don''t make anywhere close to $80K. I don''t expect the cost of living to be much different than where we are. Even though it''s definitely a consideration, we''d make the move just for a change in other ways.

I was able to convince my husband that renting first is the way to go. I was surprised he disagreed with me at first, but he came around.

MMM, I''m quickly realizing that we can''t have it all. I''m not sure if you saw my post above but NH is so small -- we''re not too far from the lakes, ocean, and mountains . I forget how big other states are.

It''s funny you should mention city-data. I posted there as well.

 

[zoebartlett]

TanDogMom,

I did see the thread that Mara had. I''ll go back and reread it. Thanks for the reminder. I think we were posting close to the same time last night. We''re spoiled being close to everything here, but if we had to choose one place to live, it would be near water. So as far as checking out Greensboro goes, we may skip that since it''s further away.

Elsie, thanks for your thoughts on Wilmington. It sounds like it might not be the best place to be if the tech jobs aren''t there, but we''re looking into it.

TM and Mrs. TM -- I can''t tell you how much I appreciate your thoughts on the rambling things I said in a post last night. Thanks for reading it all and going into such detail in your reply!

We hadn''t planned on looking at SC at all, but Greenville, SC sounds nice. If it includes the things (or the majority of things) from our list, even better. We''ll begin looking into it, and if it looks like it''s on the list, I''ll let you know, Mrs. TM. I''d love to talk to someone who''s teaching down there and get his/her perspective and advice. Thank you!!

It sounds like there are a lot of pluses and some minuses to each of the areas we''re considering. I''m pretty sure that we''ll focus our search for now on Charlotte and begin there.

Tacori -- it''s in the 60s there today?! We have rain with a few periods of sun, and it''s about 45 I think. About the friendliness of an area -- I think it''s so subjective. I happen to think that people are very friendly here, too, but New Englanders have a reputation for not making eye contact and keeping to themselves. I do see that but I''m not one of them.

It''s funny, mentioning all the things NH has to offer made me wonder why I''d want to leave. I can''t honestly say that I *want* to leave here, but I''m looking forward to the possibility of learning about a new place. It''s SO scary for me though. I''m one of those "in the box" types.

 

[deegee]

This is of no help to you, but hubby and I take quite a few long weekend trips to NC a year. Last weekend we were in Greensboro for a concert and to do some shopping. Wow-it was crowded! One of our favorite trips is staying at the Omni in downtown Charlotte. I love the downtown area. However, one day I''d love to relocate to the Lake Norman area. When hubby and I were looking to relocate a few years ago, NC was on the top of my list. In the end it was just too far away from family.

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks Deegee! We''re now thinking of driving down there over my next vacation and check out a few areas. I''ll look into the Omni Hotel. We''d like to stay somewhere with easy access to other places we''d like to see. That shouldn''t be hard to figure out with a few searches online.

I''ve heard of Lake Norman but we haven''t looked into it. Maybe I''ll add that to the list.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Lake Norman is nice. It is where all the Nascar drivers live. It is north of the city.

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks Tacori! It looks nice from the photos I''ve seen online.

We''ve decided to take a road trip down to your neck of the woods over Christmas vacation. We''re so excited! My husband hasn''t found any job prospects down there yet, but as I mentioned, he''s decided to try getting a few short-term contract positions in NC. Since I have a longer break than usual over the holidays, we decided to head to NC for a few days.

I really appreciate all your help (and everyone else''s!), by the way.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Zoe hope you have a great trip! Let us know if you have any more questions. I do believe the medium home price is MUCH higher in Lake Norman (FYI). I believe Dianne is familiar with the area so hopefully she will chime in.