Hi and happy almost birthday!! I love to see friends getting their friends to move down here. I have a whole gaggle in PA I'd like to convince! I have two little ones and love gardening so our concerns are similar enough that I thought I'd chime in. I am partial to Greensboro(in Guilford county) and Cary/Apex(in Wake County). Most anywhere in NC is going to help you from a tax and mortgage standpoint over the Northeast. The land for gardening might be more difficult to find where the great schools are since the good schools tend to generate neighborhoods where they pack in the houses so as to keep up with demand. I hope that you'll agree that the length of the growing season means you can really garden almost all year long so maybe that will help make up for less elbow room.

I'm sure that someone will ring in about sprawl in the areas I've mentioned and the influx of us "yankees" to those spots but everyone is so delightful here in NC that they quickly learn to overlook the crazy accents we bring.

I found this site helpful when we were house hunting. It is only one way out of many to evaluate a school and/or system but it's a place to start. http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/

Good luck and as they say on the Price is Right...come on down!

Meredith

Pros and Cons of our move to N.C. from upstate N.Y. 7 and 1/2 years ago.
First the Cons because we did a few things wrong, that if we were going to do it all over again, I would make sure I'd do some things differently.
1. The move was extremely stressful so much so that it ignited a hidden propensity of osteo arthritis in me.
2. We knew noone at first so it was very very lonely.
3. Our youngest was still in school, he was 15 then and he became very angry and bitter towards us for moving him away from his friends. He went from being a popular football player with lots of friends, to a nobody.
4. We made the mistake of not checking out the schools first so above mentioned already angry teenage son ended up having to attend a city school where he was one of very few white kids. Mix in anger with being the new white kid and ya get your kid being sent home for a few days for getting in a fight.
Lessons learned the hard way that you may want to avoid:
If you have teens, you may want to wait until they are out of high school. Thoroughly check out the schools in the area where you will be living. If there are no good options, consider home schooling. The schools around here are very crowded and they have trailers for a lot of the classes. One reason for crowded schools are all the Mexicans that have and are still moving into the area.
Can you handle the extreme loneliness? If not then don't even attempt the move. Can you handle the stress it will put on your marraige? If not, don't attempt the move. Can you handle dealing with very unhappy children at first? If not, don't attempt the move.
Pros that just may outweigh the Cons:
1. The weather, except in the hottest months is wonderful. In the peidmont area, which is where we are, the winter seems like only a couple months long compared to N.Y. winters. Even if the air is chilly here, the sun is shining brightly most days. If you are a sunlight deprivation sufferer, you will really appreciate that!
2. A longer growing season definately but it takes a while to adjust to what grows well here and what won't. Different soil (red clay) and a lot more bugs make it more challenging.
3. People are nicer and not so depressed as they are in N.Y.
4. Decide way ahead of time which part of North Carolina is drawing you because if you like the mountains, be advised, the weather is not that much different than in N.Y. especially the winter. The coast has it's own set of pros and cons, the biggest con being the hurricane season.
The Peidmont is nice weather wise but the landscape is boring. I still miss the hills of the Fingerlakes!
5. Decide way ahead of time if you like to be around lots of people because most places around here are booming, prosperous and crowded. Land is very high here, unbelievable in some areas. But a prosperous area has it's own benefits such as lots of job options for you/your family. If you want a place in the country, be advised about the cost of land.
Hope this helps, I could write more but this is not the place for it.

Both my children attended public schools here in South Carolina (the schools are worse than North Carolina's) and fared very well. One attended the University of South Carolina's Honors College and went to graduate school at Harvard on a full scholarship. My daughter worked her way through college and is now self-employed as a producer. Family life plays much more of a key role in education than many folks realize, and even in both Carolinas, there are pockets of excellence in public schools.

You're apt to find jobs in the population centers, but employment in manufacturing has really taken a nosedive in recent years. I really liked living in the Raleigh area. If commuting isn't too much of a problem, housing may be cheaper in nearby Cary and Sanford.

And gardening is definitely a year-round activity here. Just don't be too put off by the heat if you visit in the summer. Bodies have a way of adapting in time.

You might want to consider Gaston County! I've been here right at 2yrs now and really, it's not bad at all. In the piedmont close to the mountains without actually being there. On the S.C. state line... Close enough to Charlotte to commute if you're looking for a large-city firm for employment (though Gaston Co has it's share of potential employers too). Housing costs are varied from extremely reasonable for established homes to pricier for the newer compacted subdivisions. Taxes are reasonable. The schools, from my experience, have a high interest in seeing their students excell. The people I've met so far are generally friendly. I honestly can't think of any one thing to warn you of in this area.

Good luck with your decision and have fun with it if at all possible. Drive around and "feel out" a town that catches your attention..you might just fall in love with a place that only seemed "ok" at first glance.

Schools make a big difference in the Carolinas in how happy you will be and they also affect home/land prices. Remnant unfairness means that even within the same district there will be schools of greatly different quality. We were lucky, despite being old (1930s) inner city schools they were excellent for my kids and for many others (saving me a bundle already with an academic scholarship). But you will have to check on them yourself.

I just moved to the Raleigh area from Maryland. The homes are extremely reasonable here. Only 1/4 of my MD house and more to offer. People are so nice and are interested in something other than "keeping up with the Jones". You get a little of that everywhere). I'm in a small town 10 miles outside of Raleigh (Wendell) and close enough for the city life when you want it but rual enough for most family concerns. The values here are more in line with the way my generation grew up. More morels etc. I moved here by myself and didn't know anyone. Joined a garden club, church and have found people to be extremely excepting. Don't have the school issue to deal with but the triangle does have the major colleges right here. My children all went to carolina colleges. Duke, Carolina, Wake Forest and East Carolina. Good luck and I hope you find your experience as nice as I did. You will LOVE the weather and as for the dirt, you always amend your soil before you ever start planting. Taxes are low and the general cost of living is very reasonable compared to MD.

Kernersville is in the middle of the Piedmont. We are a small town between Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem.

Schools are among the best! You can choose which school you want your child to attend here. All the schools teach the basics, but then each one will have a different "theme". One pushes math/sciences, another music/arts, another something else. You will be able to place your child in the school that most appeals to him/her.

My daughter's boyfriend has been ranked as one of the top students in the country and has been accepted into the Air Force Academy. My daughter will be attending the University of North Carolina in the fall and is in the National Honor Society. Schools here want your child to succeed in life and will do all they can to prepare them to do so.

Kernersville is a very kid friendly place. There is so much a family can do here. The town is family oriented with almost everything a child would want to be involved in. Every kind of sports, clubs, programs, activities, parks ...
It's a great place to raise kids.

I grew up moving all over the world with my father in the military. I lived in Japan several years and other places overseas. I have also lived in many different places here in the United States. Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, California, well, you get the point. Out of all the different places I have lived with my folks and my husband, I love North Carolina the best. Yes, the people are kind and family driven, conservative in values yet progressive in their thinking.

When we moved here, my oldest daughter was in high school. It took a little time for her to adjust to the smaller, less hectic life style, but once she made friends, she was much happier than she was in Florida. Safer too. Florida school are DANGEROUS!

I feel blessed to have lived here the past ten years. I have a choice between the mountains, the beaches, and everything in-between. Even though I can't grow all the plants I did in Florida, there are others still just as beautiful or more so, and it was fun to learn all about them. I love it here.

Good luck in your decision!

Consider Hillsborough, Creedmore, Mebane, Oxford. Do you need to be near a metropolitan area for work?

Brunswick County is growing at a very fast rate. I enjoy it here, I've lived here the past 5 years and the small community isn't so small anymore. Summers, the beaches are packed with tourists...and even this past winter, the community was busier than in the past. I've heard this county is one of the fastest growing in the country. Weather is great winter wise....hurricane season isn't fun but a tradeoff for "hot ocean breezy weather and the beach". Housing is a sellers market. A golf course closed, and was sold as homesites at $300,000 a piece a couple of weeks ago. Housing is going at a top dollar rate and has skyrocketed in the past 5 years. As far as schools, elementarys are decent, middle school is questionable, and high school seems ok. Boiling Springs area isn't quite as developed as some of the other locations (Shallotte, Holden Beach, Southport, Ocean Isle, Sunset Beach). A very large port is being built in the Southport area. Be sure to check the job market....with 2 major cities (Myrtle Beach and Wilmington) affording better paying jobs for the most part. Here's a link to the local paper, www.brunswickbeacon.com.

As far as gardening goes, get ready to amend your soil! Having come from the midwest, I'd give anything to have a truckload of dirt from "home"...but it can be done! Do your research! I traded my lilacs for crepe myrtles!

About 15 years ago on the way up from Key West, I stopped in Gastonia to visit a GF. They day before we were to leave to go back to PA, I found a job that paid $2 more on the hour. Needless to say, I quit my job in PA & stayed here.

After staying at GF's place for about a month or so, found a place in Cleveland county, Kings Mountain to be exact. Lived there for 13 years until meeting my fiance' and moved to Concord, Cabarrus county. I miss Kings Mountain more than I can say.

I hate living in Concord, right smack in the middle of the city, taxes are the highest around I'm told. This area is like "little Mexico", ever hear a "Kmart blue light special in spanish????" I have!!! Not only that but we're one exit away from the raceway, (yes NASCAR, EWWWWWWWW!) and the race fans have once again converged by the thousands to this city!!!! You DON'T want anywhere near Charlotte!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kings Mountain is right at the Gaston County line and Gastonia is a nice city. Taxes are higher than Cleveland county.

When you transfer your vehicle titles, there is a "highway use" fee, mine for an old P.O.S Mercury Grand Marquis was $100 and something. Then there's an annual "Personal Property" tax, cars, mobile homes, houses, property, anything with a title. Taxes on my '98 Chevy Silverado 4x4 are about $130.00 (yearly, drops as vehicle depreciates). Even old "un-tagged" vehicles are subject to this tax. There's no school tax, but the schools don't buy the childrens school supplies either, pencil's, paper, notebooks, etc.

If your DH hunts or likes to fish, he'll be happy to learn that he can get a "Sportsman's License", good for hunting & fishing. You can also fish in your county with no license using "live bait". Some places may charge an "access fee", $5-10 roughly. The deer are way smaller than up north, tho.
You can also buy a permit to purchase & carry a hand gun "un-concealed" loaded. I carry a .38 snubby for protection. Or you can take a course, take a test and carry a "concealed weapon", but most places have a sign, "No Concealed Weapons" I've driven through 3 license checks and laid my .38 on my dash and I tell the officer, "I have a weapon" and point to it and they just nod in acknowledgement.

I lived up north for 32 years and I've been all up and down the east coast, from NeW England states to Key West, FL. You WILL NOT find finer folks than in the Carolinas!!!! When these folks say "Stop by anytime" and "Ya'll come back & see us", THEY MEAN it!!!

Oh yea, when driving down to SC (Kings Mountain is 1 mi up the rd from SC), I got a ticket for "Obscene stickers" on my truck. I have Kalvin (the little guy who pees on everything) peeing on 'Bin laden', (right after 911). Trooper also didn't like the other two bumper stickers that had a** on them, "Cowgirls kick A**" and the other read "Hey dumb A**, it's lack of Parenting, NOT handguns". Those cost me $65!!!!!! Now mind you, they'll say A** on the radio and on tv, you just can't put it on your vehicle.

SC also has "common law marriage", NC does NOT!!! (thank goodness, it saved my butt).

It's a slower paced lifestyle than what you're used to up there. When you're standing in a long line at the Family Dollar store, there's a fella up ahead in line who knows the cashier... they got to chit chat for a few minutes while you stand in line.... get over it quick, cuz that's the way they do things here! It'll take a year for you to adjust to it, but you will. There's lots of work, for those who 'want' to work.

So pack you bags and get the he** out of there!!! "I wasn't born in the south, but I got here as fast as I could", lol! Good luck!!

Nancy

I can't stress how much we love Weddington. The schools have been fantastic, principal is actually from NY, there is the elementary, middle and high school all within walking distance from each other. SAT scores were extremely high - and other school test scores were great as compared to other areas of NC - if schools are what you are looking for, I highly recommend Weddington. Now, there are a LOT of people moving from up North to NC and you will see lots of building, etc. The shopping centers are fantastic - everywhere you turn, there are loads of stores and if you are into shopping, many are upscale. What I like the most about the area is the climate, people and the convenience of everything. Downside, traffic is crazy at times, they may have to add some trailers to some of the Union County schools, if they haven't already done so. We have never regretted moving here. Carrie

How about instead of NC you consider northern SC? I live in a small city called Tega Cay which is just south of Charlotte, NC. The advantage to this is that you are close enough to Charlotte to enjoy the theatres, shopping and dining while being just far enough away to avoid the pitfalls of city life. Taxes are doing nothing but going up in NC (especially in Charlotte and surrounding Mecklenberg County) while down here, just over the state line things are a bit more sane. Kids here go to Fort Mill Schools which are consistantly rated as one of the best in the state.

Tega Cay is located on Lake Wylie which is a 25 mile long lake. We also have a city owned 27 hole golf course that is gorgeous with a brand new clubhouse and a beach club with a pool....all reasonably priced. The city is growing right now....new houses are available in a pretty wide price range as well as older more established houses. The crime rate is low...we can still sleep soundly at night with the windows open. Most people who live in this city are "from somewhere else" and most swear they'd never go back (me included!). I grew up and lived in the NY/NJ area (born in LI) and they haven't printed enough money for me to go back.

I love gardening here....I can pick fresh tomatoes from my garden from about June to Thanksgiving. The last frost date is April 15. My soil although basically red clay is full of organic matter and has required very little amending. My roses and most everything else out there are thriving.

Here's a link to the city's website.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.tegacaysc.org/

I wrote eariler about Wendell (just outside of Raleigh). Today at work they were giving out magazines about Wake County. That includes the Raleigh surrounding areas. Has a lot of information in it that you might find helpful. If you feel free to send me your address I'd be glad to send you a copy. Nice maps of areas, houseing, schools etc. I grew up in Charlotte (until I married at 21) then to MD and couldn't wait to get back to the southern slower, type of living. People actually like each other and the attitude is entirely different. Again, good luck

I second Carrie's opinion on Weddington but if schools are really important, know that schools are county run. Given that Union County is presently the fastest growing county (population and new housing) in NC, new schools are going up right and left and that means 'redistricting'. Unless you situate yourself almost within walking distance of the school you want, you're not guaranteed to be assigned there. It's tricky. Not like up Nawth where schools are town run (so taxes are higher).

Also, just wanted to clarify that those malls and shopping areas aren't in Weddington,they're in Charlotte. Strict zoning here keeps retail development minimal. Charlotte has more than enough shopping for the whole region.

The thing you'll quickly realize is how big this state is.
You spend a LOT of time driving. There's no handy "LIRR" to get you into the city and buses are few outside the city.

Expect to miss your sandy loam. This is a whole different geologic area. Union Cty. is weird in that we have this streak of nasty,useless, dig it up and replace it stuff called 'bull tallow'. Not everywhere but if you have it, I'm not kidding..you have to replace it with better topsoil. Otherwise, expect clay which, when mixed and amended, yields wonderful results.
We've been down here from So.Ct. since 1985 and NC/SC still rank in the bottom 10 of public schools in a high school national comparison.
In '90, SC was #47 and NC was #46.
Just keep that in mind when you read stats on the better schools. None of them comp to the grade level achievements of schools in the top 25 states.

Weddington schools are top ranked in the area ONLY because of demographics. Highest per-capita income and highest percentage of parents with college and grad school educations. Also, many newcomers here brought children who had received their core education in states with much better academic systems.

If you like the small town feel but with proximity to a large city, try Matthews (west of Hwy 74). We loved it there for nearly 20 years. A very independent town that refused to be bullied by the big city.
All the property taxes down here are lower than up North. The cost of living is much lower so the wages/costs are lower anywhere you decide to situate down South.
It's the quality of life that is higher and that doesn't cost you a penny more for deciding to move here.

Hi PequalFrog,
My DH 4 children and I relocated to Cabarrus County (Just North East of Charlotte) almost 10 years ago from Long Island, Suffolk County. We have been very happy with not only the home prices and taxes but the schools here have exceeded all of our hopes and expectations. We are in Concord and before that we owned a home in Midland (really rural) When we came down our kids were 15, 14, 10 and 5
The oldest three have all graduated from Central Cabarrus HS and I truly believe their education was as good as any they would have received on the Island. I grew up in Valley Stream and went to school in Hewlett so I can admit to being a bit of an education snob LOL.
Taxes here are a 10th of what they were when we left so I can only Imagen what they are like now. I dearly miss my friends up there but not the life.
If you are interested in talking just drop me a line.
Cindy

dottie - thanks for the clarification. I got "carried away" and forgot to mention that the shopping is in Charlotte (not Weddington), but since we are two minutes from the "line", I tend to forget. We have had wonderful experience with the schools, but they are getting crowded - so dottie did bring up a good point. Good luck- Carrie

Property taxes can be high here in NC too. I think Gaston county has a lot of crime. Charlotte is wonderful, that's where we go to do decent shopping/dining. Charlotte is definitely where it's at as far as I am concerned. Wilmington is nice but too close to coast, hurricanes. Personally I like Asheville a lot. Lots of art and culture there including hippies. I don't have a clue about the schools in any of the areas I mentioned. I live in Hickory, NC, small city with the traffic of a large city, yuk. Winston Salem is also nice. Greensboro is near and High Point although I don't know what High Point has to offer.

Carla

We would love to know what you decided to do. I live in Lewisville, just outside Winston-Salem. Jobs are hard to find here unless you are in the medical field or happy being a service worker. But the climate is superb when compared to the coast and the mountains, both of which are too extreme if you want comfortable weather year round. But Lewisville is a lot like Mayberry.

Post's like these make me homesick. lol I grew up in the Asheville area. Been in Florida for the past 8 years. Have lived in South Florida the past 2. 5 years. Before that, Orlando. I loved Orlando.
Then with the real estate market the way it is and taxes here,
wasn't uncommon to hear of people heading to the Carolina's where the people are nice. They are and I am very happy to say that I haven't forgotten my roots.

I know this post is a little old, but saw it and wanted to throw in my 2 cents. I hope you decided to move south and enjoying it.?

Cliff

Lots of good, thoughtful posts here - too bad the OP never came back or responded.

Tropicalfreak, did you know that there's a term for those moving up from FL to the Carolinas? Since many were originally North to FL 'snowbirds' who tired of the heat and whatnot of FL, and the Carolinas are half way back North - some clever soul coined the moniker of "Halfbackers" - half way back North ! Cute, huh?

I'm a Yankee transplant too, 15 years here loving every day and so glad y'all let me in ! :o)

LOL....."Half-Backers"...lol funny.

Tropicalfreak

A quick search on her name shows she also really loves Maine and Pennsylvania so who know what they did.

Yeah, well I vote it's getting too crowded here in my-dream-always-to-live-in-Carolina, so let's make a pact to tell everyone that it's hot, sticky, red-necky, and they should stay wherever they are.

LOL Brenda!! I heard somewhere that the population in NC is expected to double in the next 10 years! Sheesh!! Talk about crowded. Many are moving this direction due to winter heating cost in the north, but they neglect to consider that our summer cooling is not going to be cheap either! Double our population and we think water issues are a problem now, we haven't seen anything yet!!

Yup, North Carolina is THE place to be. SC is for hicks.