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Tell Me About (Northern) North Carolina


Acantha

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1 minute ago, Acantha said:

I love the Blue ridge, lived right in the middle of them for a few years during high school. While I don't normally mind winter, this year has been abnormally snowy here and I'm ready to be done with it! Thanks for your help.

My mother moved to Charlotte about 12 years ago, but didn't like the city so she moved to York, just up the road from Rock Hill. Nice area around there.

An Asheville type area is way more my style, but I'm restricted to living closer to some population centers and a decent airport.

 

Thanks, I appreciate you taking the time. I think Mooresville and Salisbury might be a little too far from everything, but I'll start looking into them. Pretty sure I have a cousin in Mooresville.

Salisbury is 30 minutes from downtown Charlotte at the most. 20 min to stadium without traffic.

 

Mooresville is about the same. There is usually traffic. But there is a lot more around Mooresville. 

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Salisbury is 50 min from Charlotte Douglas and PTi/Gboro

You also have the train in Salisbury

 

Mooresville is 30 min to Charlotte Douglas I believe. @aristocrat, that would about right?  

 

Mooresville is really doing well in that are. Kannapolis and Concord do a lot in the summer, free concerts and such that can outshine all of the events that occur in Charlotte. You'll never be bored in Charlotte and if you are you don't know where to look to enjoy life.  It's got a lot.

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Not to distract from the OP's questions... But along the same lines. I've been considering the area as well, but the wife is scared shitless of creepy crawlies (frankly, I don't care for them either). How big of a deal is it truly in the suburbs vs rural areas? Are you cleaning brown recluse out of the house regularly? I know the snakes can be an issue with dogs etc... Am I checking my shoes etc? Walking in the woods like upstate NY I take it is not the same deal?

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32 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

More...

 

Salisbury is 50 min from Charlotte Douglas and PTi/Gboro

You also have the train in Salisbury

 

Mooresville is 30 min to Charlotte Douglas I believe. @aristocrat, that would about right?  

 

Mooresville is really doing well in that are. Kannapolis and Concord do a lot in the summer, free concerts and such that can outshine all of the events that occur in Charlotte. You'll never be bored in Charlotte and if you are you don't know where to look to enjoy life.  It's got a lot.

 

30 mins with no traffic but it's probably closer to 45 or even an hour in traffic.  with all the people moving down here traffic is getting a little nuts

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2 minutes ago, SmokinES3 said:

Not to distract from the OP's questions... But along the same lines. I've been considering the area as well, but the wife is scared shitless of creepy crawlies (frankly, I don't care for them either). How big of a deal is it truly in the suburbs vs rural areas? Are you cleaning brown recluse out of the house regularly? I know the snakes can be an issue with dogs etc... Am I checking my shoes etc? Walking in the woods like upstate NY I take it is not the same deal?

I live on a farm and I see less than 12 snakes a year. The copperhead covers the whole state. Rattlers up in the mtns. Water moccasins are not that prevalent, despite people think every snake by the water is a water moccasin. 

 Snakes are not that common in the suburbs coming but to show up. Black snakes and garter snakes. You will get some king snakes and other pit vipers, but they are not aggressive nor venomous. Never kill a non venomous snake. Ever

 

The creepy crawlies are not that big of an issue, there are spiders and what not but nothing out of the ordinary. Chances are the average person will never see a brown recluse in their life. The word recluse is not in there by accident, they don't come out that often and when they do it's normally in the dark and you'll never see them.  

 

There are a few areas down that way around lake Norman that I really like and there are some that no one should go near. Anywhere near the airport or North lake Mall can be a rough area. There are a lot of thefts in those areas, break ins and car jackings.  The city began purging itself with taxation levels increasing, etc to push the lower end folks out to the suburbs and they went west and north west-ish. None went Kanye west, though. Thatd be a ridiculous because he is a person, not a place.  The cheap overnight neighborhoods of cookie cutter houses were cheap and a good buy for families looking to start out and have turned in to rather dangerous places, as I've know a dozen folks who have lived in these places and had things from home invasions to car break-ins and various things taken from porches.

 

If you can afford it and don't mind living in a suburb as you infer, Matthews, ballentyne, south end is quite nice.

 

Even @Acantha could consider Wadesboro east of Charlotte as a chance. It's country af but close to things. Monroe is also an option down that way.  

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17 hours ago, Acantha said:

I'm going to be relocating in about 6 months and I'm looking at northern North Carolina, somewhere between Winston-Salem and Raleigh.  I'm leaning toward Winston-Salem or Greensboro due to lower cost of living, especially housing, and also because it's a little more central to Charlotte and locations I may travel to in Virginia.

 

I prefer to live more rural, but close enough to one of these cities to get to easily when needed (around 20 - 30 min drive).  Not sure if that's realistic based on how far out the suburbs go out from these cities?  I like renovating, so my plan is to buy a fixer upper on small acreage (1 to 5 acres) and work on it.

 

I have a 4 year old that will be starting school in 2019, so if there's a big difference in schools or family atmosphere, that will be a part of my decision.

 

I have family that lives south of Charlotte, just over the border in SC, and I used to live in central Virginia, so I have a general awareness of the region, but I've never spent any time in these cities.  Plan on narrowing my focus and taking a trip in a couple months to check it out.  I'm pretty sure I remember there's at least a few board members that are from the area, so really any basic info about it will be helpful (do's and don'ts....pros and cons).

 

check out gastonia area west of charlotte.  real estate still fairly cheap and a bit rural but can get to charlotte and the aiport real quick. 

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3 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

 

30 mins with no traffic but it's probably closer to 45 or even an hour in traffic.  with all the people moving down here traffic is getting a little nuts

And i85 and 77 will never be finished.  485 is already outgrown.

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13 hours ago, Augie said:

Sounds like we have family in the same parts, my wife is from Rock Hill, SC just below Charlotte. I spent several summers visiting Chapel Hill for my kids basketball camps. Loved Chapel Hill but I don’t know about the rest of the area. Went to Raleigh for some science museum, didn’t love the area but hard to tell by that. Where is @Boyst62 located? 

 

I lived in rock hill, sc. lol sold and lost my shirt. 

Mooresville is so crowded now traffic sucks. 

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12 minutes ago, Helpmenow said:

 

I lived in rock hill, sc. lol sold and lost my shirt. 

Mooresville is so crowded now traffic sucks. 

As much as I loathe the NCDOT (NC has the second largest highway system in country), they are working their tail off to fix congestion. They're building at a ridiculous pace. 

 

If you've been to Winston they are literally taking out 240 and replacing it entirely.  Imagine taking the beltway of buffalo. Shut it down for 4 years and replace it completely.  The entire system. From kernersville to clemmons is being shut down essentially.

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29 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

As much as I loathe the NCDOT (NC has the second largest highway system in country), they are working their tail off to fix congestion. They're building at a ridiculous pace. 

 

If you've been to Winston they are literally taking out 240 and replacing it entirely.  Imagine taking the beltway of buffalo. Shut it down for 4 years and replace it completely.  The entire system. From kernersville to clemmons is being shut down essentially.

There is a joke in here somewhere, I just don't have the energy to mine for one.

 

I don't want to get negative on my birthplace.

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Lived in Concord for a bit.  Nice place just north of Charlotte with quick access to the city.  Cabarrus County schools amongst the best in the state, IIRC.  Stay away from Mecklenburg County.  I frequented Greensboro when I lived there, as I dated a girl who went to the university.  The place is a real dump.  I’ve heard really good things about Wake County and the Raleigh area in general, but never spent too much time there so I’m not sure if there are nice rural areas.

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Thanks everyone, the discussion all helps.

 

I'm in an odd situation, and unfortunately I don't really control my own destiny here.  To expand a bit (just in case it helps):

 

I'm retiring from the Air Force in a couple months, and I'm trying to figure out where to settle down.  Complicating matters immensely is that I just recently got divorced and we have a 4 year old that neither of us will leave (we have 50/50 custody and I won't be without him for months at a time).  So that means having to come to an agreement on where to live with my ex-wife.  While we're on relatively good terms, trying to figure something like this out with an ex is not at all a fun time.

 

While I prefer rural living, due to her business she wants to be near population centers and wants easy access to an international airport.  So really I'm just trying to hunt down what can be a good enough compromise.  I only want to work part time from here on out (I want to spend a lot more time with my kid than I have been able to so far in his life), so a lower cost of living is important to me, but in the end I'll do what I need to do to be near him and give him a good life.

 

That's it in a nutshell.  Again, I appreciate humoring me with the thread!

3 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Lived in Concord for a bit.  Nice place just north of Charlotte with quick access to the city.  Cabarrus County schools amongst the best in the state, IIRC.  Stay away from Mecklenburg County.  I frequented Greensboro when I lived there, as I dated a girl who went to the university.  The place is a real dump.  I’ve heard really good things about Wake County and the Raleigh area in general, but never spent too much time there so I’m not sure if there are nice rural areas.

It's funny, when I first started researching areas I was getting pretty good feedback on the Winston/Greensboro area.  Then all of a sudden it changed and I've mostly been getting warnings to stay away, including this thread.  Obviously I need to take a trip out there and check all these places out to see for myself.

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19 hours ago, Acantha said:

Do you know why he doesn't care for it?

He complains about the weather and the food.He 's the type that would move down to Key West and have issues with the wind and the tourists.p.s.- My niece has to drop off and pick up her 7 yr old son at the school bus stop since it's about 300 yards down the road. The school taxes are cheap for a reason...

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2 hours ago, Misterbluesky said:

He complains about the weather and the food.He 's the type that would move down to Key West and have issues with the wind and the tourists.p.s.- My niece has to drop off and pick up her 7 yr old son at the school bus stop since it's about 300 yards down the road. The school taxes are cheap for a reason...

 

1st in flight, 49th in education!!

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