Oh yeah, I've been to those cities.. a good test to live there would be to suck on a muffler while being mugged.
I live in the Raleigh area and my favorite place is Chapel Hill where house prices doubled in the past few years, so I'm stuck in Pittsboro (south of Chapel Hill) where prices haven't moved since 2000.
live in wilmington...... love the city, love the life, love the beach, love the weather, love the schools, love the real estate (I own rentals in town) love the shopping, excellent choice of cuisine, big university, good sports......... houses are not as cheap as they used to be. I am currently building one that is running about 180 sq.ft on a 1 acre lot. Taxes are cheap, traffic is getting worse, but not nauseating....
Kinda off the vein here but I'm wondering if there are any traders in NE NC (Elizabeth City, Moyock, etc.) or the Outer Banks...
we own property in n.c. and are going back there to live. it is a lovely place and the crime is not bad. lotsa poor folks in some areas and that can be a little depressing if you're not used to seeing it. also you could cut the humidity with a knife; if you're used to california and other western states' dry atmosphere, that may be somewhat daunting. but n.c. is beautiful and folks are friendly there, including some who are really salt of the earth. i have lived all over, and i find folks from north and west to be little phony and pretentious for my taste, especially the affluent. a little more down to earth in the south, although you do have your incredibly pretentious southern belles if you associate with that crowd. overall, my likes about the area include warmth of the people and friendlier culture. also, the weather is nice if you don't mind hot, humid summers (everyone into the pool!). cost of living is great except for a few hot areas like chapel hill and asheville, where housing costs can be pretty high.
I've lived near the moutains of NC for 32 years. The Blowing Rock area is very nice, lots of nice homes and no crime. Like someone mentioned, Asheville is neat but a bit too "artsy" for me. The proximity to the beach and the beauty of the mountains is just too nice for me to move anywhere else.
is nc like sc? i went to myrtle beach and thought it was highly unusual to have to drive 10-20 minutes on very long roads just to find a u-turn/intersection. wastes a lot of time if u dont know the area and need to backtrack... and u cant do a k-turn because there is a big grass median. and driving from the home to the mall seemed like travelling from an island to another island... it seemed so isolated with very large patches of nothing but trees and looooooonnng straight roads. wow. btw anyone been to that "south of the borders" place? lol, saw like 50 signs...
Once you're outside of cities, there can be some long stretches. But usually, you should be able to find a driveway to pull into. Go to Charlotte and you'll get all the turns and traffic you want. I also dealt with culture shock. I was in the Carlsbad area the other morning and the traffic was so bad on I-5, it took me a half hour to go 5 miles!!! This was at 7:30am!!! How do they live with that everyday??? Talk about your waste of time! South of the Border was built as a halfway tourist to fleece yankees going to Florida as it was at the halfway point. 40 years ago, it held some interest for kiddies. Today, it pretty much looks just like it did 40 years, but without the upkeep :eek: . Cash