Moving to the Carolinas? Anyone up there?

[technocoy]

A trip up 85 would do you good to see everything for yourself... obviously thats just my opinion.

But I'm also the creative designer/southern guy who seeks culture type, lol. Charlotte is just sterile to me where it should be inviting and shady where you should be able to live with peace of mind (of course, durham probably has a higher crime rate, but i doubt you would move there anyway, i just like to visit for the historical value). It's like one of the largest financial centers in the country. Of course you could always live in mooresville or concord for a nicer home life.

As a designer/artist raleigh/triangle area seems more enriching to me as a whole. more history, variance, and intrinsic value.

like i said, if you like atlanta, you'll like charlotte, only charlotte doesn't have as interesting of architecture.

Check it out on the way up and then give me a call and we can meet up and I'll (maugan too?) can show you around the triangle.

it's all relative!

Good luck with it all!

technocoy

[technocoy]

the nightlife is pretty good if you're into that. It does have the Panthers. It also is closer to ashville than raleigh. It has dicovery place. and one of the larger comics conventions in the area, heroes con.

[mbeach]

I can't help but notice how helpful the members have been in this thread -what a good bunch.

From my experience (after living in NC for 6+ years), it's been my favorite state. I love the weather, foliage, culture (except Nascar), and all of the quaint little towns/suburbs. I was actually looking for a job in NC when I was contacted about my current position.

The Triangle will put you comfortably out of range of all but the most devastating hurricanes -which could be comforting.

[Maugan_VX]

If you are into the arts and culture then I would definitely choose the triangle over charlotte, only because that town is all about its sports.

I'm in Cary right now, which is about two minute's drive away from Morrisville (I'm about to go get some sushi in Morrisville after I complete this posting) which is about a 15 minute (no traffic) commute down I40 into downtown Raleigh. You're also not very far from Durham either.

One drawback is that Morrisville is directly across the highway from RDU. You can't escape the planes. Although the airport shuts down at 11pm, it starts up again at like 5am.

Wish I could help you out as far as finding a job, but it looks like technocoy's better connected in your area of expertise. Unless you know something about Oracle or have worked in the Pharma industry, I can't help ya

[JimRori]

Yup, we'll definately be up there checking things for ourselves, but it is good to have input from those who have been there already. I'm pretty busy with work but I might be able to squeeze in a long weekend in early Dec. If not, it will be late Feb. before I'll have any real time. I will let you know if I'm gonna be in your area.

I ment to ask about the weather too. About how hot in the summer and how cold in the winter? Is there much of a difference in temps. between Charlotte and Raleigh?

What's the deal with basements? Don't they build 'em up there? I've looked at a few realtor websites and there seem to be some nice/big homes but no basements.

[JimRori]

Also wanted to ask - what's RDU?

[Mikeys00vx]

RDU is the three letter identifier for Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Mikey

[technocoy]

not sure about the basements question, there are lots of houses with them, maybe you just haven't run across any yet. They aren't as standard here as I hear they are up north, but it's a common thing.

as for the weather... pretty mild except for summer (but i hate the heat) and the only reason thats bad is because of the 98degrees combined with the 100% humidity. Of course, coming from florida, you won't be to out of your element. ha! usually get one to two small winter storms, very rarely anything huge. the fall months are beautiful especially in the mountains.

[Maugan_VX]

the reason why there are no basements around here is because the soil in which the foundations for homes rest is mostly red clay. Its the nastiest stuff on the planet, but its also known for not providing the best foundation support, therefore basement walls tend to crack when the house shifts.

So instead they just lay footers in the ground with a crawlspace and no basements.