Moving to the Carolinas? Anyone up there?

[JimRori]

My wife and I are thinking about moving from Orlando up to the Carolinas. Where exactly depends on available jobs, but around Charlotte seems most likely based on what's posted on Monster.com. Though I think I'd rather be over toward Asheville.

I was wondering...any VX'ers in that general area? What is the cost of living like up there? Anybody know any good websites to check on cost of living? Picking up the family and moving is a big decision... at least the hurricane situation won't be a problem.

Any info would be helpful.

[Heraclid]

Can't speak to specifics really, but I have heard NC taxes are reputedly some of the worst. Nice thing about FL is no state income tax of course. Beautiful state though - I have had the same thoughts after several trips up there. Charlotte is a great town, Asheville is a much prettier area.

Edit: Found this, pretty in-depth:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp

Significant cost of living increase it appears, in housing at least.

[Mikeys00vx]

JimRori....I moved to Charlotte back in June. Its a great city. Heraclid mentioned the taxes....Well, I moved from Nashville, TN...where there was no state income tax as well. The biggest adjustment for me was opening my paycheck and seeing extra taxes being taken out. But...in TN the sales tax was 9.25%...and here in NC its 7%. The way i see it it, it evened out somewhat. The city of Charlotte is very nice. Like all big cities, it has its rougher areas. North/Northwest/South Charlotte are the nicer parts of town. There are some nice suburbs as well such as Concord, Belmont, Locust, and Ballantyne to name a few. The good thing is that it is 2.5 hours from mountains and 3.5 hours from the beach.

Let me know if I can help.

Mikey

00 Foxfire 30k

[Maugan_VX]

I've lived in both Charlotte and Raleigh and can say without a doubt that Raleigh is a better city to live and raise a family in.

I currently live in Cary which is just outside of Raleigh, comparable to South Charlotte except not as crowded and while there are tight covenants to make everything look asthetically sterile as possible, its not nearly as bad as South Charlotte.

We have the Research Triangle Park which is a hotbed for Pharma, Biotech, and general Technology jobs.

We have 1/10th the traffic of Charlotte, and 1.5 beltlines around the city, whereas Charlotte isn't finished with their first one. We're halfway complete with the 540 loop which is a huge highway around almost all of Wake County.

As for VX's in the area, I think there are 4 I could name at one point or another being on this site, but I manage to run across another in town about once every 4 months.

[technocoy]

I agree with maugan...

I grew up in concord/charlotte, and if you love atlanta, move there, as thats what it will be in ten more years, urban sprawl. they even put a moratorium on building there because of all the crappy construction being thrown up.

I now live in raleigh, and it's a wonderful area. chapel hill, durham, and several other cool towns are close by. lots more "real" culture as well. Charlotte is a giant bank with a ghetto. if thats for you go for it. he he. but i would definitely recommend the triangle area instead, and you are still only 2 hours (1.5 if you ride with me) from the beach and 3 hours from the wonderful NC mountains.

ashville: if you can find a job there, it's freakin beautiful up there. but, the job situation may be an issue... what field are you in?

also, if you like beach living (i prefer mountains myself, but can appreciate the beach life) wilmington has some nice, cool areas. especially downtown in the historic areas.

the awesome thing about the triangle is it is blowing up as far as new business and reputation as a safe and interesting place to live, so if you get here soon and buy property, it will increase in value like mad over the next five years. we bought our house downtown a little under two years ago (fixer-upper in historic neighborhood) and it has already gained about 30,000 in equity without much work at all, and the outside still looks shoddy, lol.

you'll love it here. i descovered that tax situations tend to balance out in one way, shape or form.

let us know if you have any other questions.

[geshaw30]

My mother & stepfather retired in Brevard (20 mins south of Asheville) years ago and I have been up there every summer since. The earlier post is correct about finding employment in western Carolina...it's bleek. Brevard is a beautiful town with hundreds of waterfalls within minutes but there are nearly zero employment opportunities. For the most part the areas surrounding Asheville are retirement communities (to the south anyway). Good luck & I'd suggest to follow the earlier recommendations of those that have lived there year round...stick to the middle of the state.
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[JimRori]

I started this thread not really expecting much but I always knew there were a bunch of helpful people hanging out on these boards...

I am a Creative Director or Art Director or Manager of Creative Services or Senior Designer, etc. It depends on the company. Basically I would work in or manage an art dept. either in-house or at an ad agency. I do art, shoot and edit video, copywriting, marketing, etc.

I’ve heard that Asheville is beautiful, but I haven’t seen any openings up there either. Most of the jobs I've been finding are in the Charlotte area with a few others in Raleigh. Although, there is something in Mooresville that I am pretty interested in right now, if I can get the cost of living to work out. It looks like the homes are less up there than in the Orlando area. So even if the pay is lower and there is a state tax (our sales tax is the same - 7%) I might end up with a very small mortgage.

Thanks Heraclid for the link to the cost-of-living calculator. I spent some time googling different ones and found that none of them seemed to agree much at all.

"Charlotte is a giant bank with a ghetto." Well, that's just ripe for a bumper sticker isn't it? Makes me want to concentrate on Raleigh…

[JimRori]

So, with all this helpful info, nobody has anything to say about South Carolina...good, bad, ugly...?

[shoota77]

As you can see from my location I have great insight to this question.

Two words: Myrtle...Beach. I'll visit every year...twice.

Seriously though, good luck with the decision!

[technocoy]

jim, oddly enough my company is looking for someone with your credentials... lol... check out craigslist for the area and look up brooks bell interactive or senior designer. they should be moving me into the position, but what the hell, i'm not one to stop a fellow VXer from finding work!

also send a resume to "mckinney and silver", "center line productions" and ogilvy in durham.

lol, no one said anything about south carolina because the only remotely good thing there is the beach and thats a serious matter of opinion, not to mention after living in florida the beaches here will seem shoddy, lol. oh and charleston is beautiful, but noone can afford to love there unless they are independently wealthy. ha ha.

the triangle area is booming and has great schools and a mix of taste as far as what kind of community you want to be in. not to mention the largely best part of the ACC basketball bracket ;-)

not sure if center line is hiring but they are great people to work with and mckinney seems to always need someone for an art director role. i know ogilvy was looking a while back... OH and don't forget to look up the "republik" in durham as well as "front door advertising", i hear they are doing well and growing fast....

my brother lives in mooresville, unless you love nascar and being bored, don't bother. of course, it may just not be my style.

if you are in to video/post/production check out "serious robots" and "trailblazer studios".