From just east (~1 mile) of the Research Triangle Metro Area:
Hot from June through August – temperatures in the 90s. High humidity.
Nice warm weather in spring and fall – mostly shirtsleeve weather.
Winters are definitely cold weather, but that’s below 55F (say below 12C). It goes below freezing at night for about a month in the heart of winter.
Most years there’s a dusting of snow one night, evaporated away during the next day.
The countryside is … pleasant. Rural, some old structures that would be picturesque if they weren’t going dilapidated. Urban sprawl, however, is attacking this.
Canada used to have a party called the Progressive Conservatives. Though it was a fusion group in the Great White North, that nicely describes local sociopolitical attitudes. Nobody is opposed to change and innovation, but they prefer to take things slowly, not jump on the latest :in" bandwagon.
The last paragraph describes my own area. East and south of us this trends into “Jessecrat” country, people who sincerely support the values of the late Jesse Helms.
The Triangle and Piedmont Triad are about as liberal as it gets in the South, by and large, with a small admixture of Bricker/Moto style conservatism.
Race (i.e., black vs white) can still be an issue, but by and large most people have long since gotten by it. There’s the usual mix of acceptance and resentment of the growing Hispanic community.
North Carolina to my mind is proud of what it is, but not pretentious. It’s laid back and welcoming, while at the same tie prosperous and growing. I moved here from rural Upstate New York, and have grown to love it.
