S.o. wants us to move to Florida, Jacksonville area, after we marry. Florida is a nice place to visit, but I don’t want to live there, especially in the summer. We’re now in the D. C. area, and I want to move south, but North and South Carolina appeal to me. (We’ve visited both states and Georgia, but very briefly, on our trips to Fla.) I defintely do not want to live in a huge metropolitan area like D.C. I’m interested in a smaller, well established city, preferably of some historic interest (e.g.,Charleston), decent job opportunities, near water (doesn’t have to be the ocean - river or lake will do). Any suggestions?
What do you do for a living and have you considered eastern Tennessee?
Before I settled in North Alabama, I seriously considered Greenville SC. It’s a really nice place, and the economy (5 years ago) was really starting to grow. I also checked the Knoxville area.
If you don’t have any place in particular in mind, and you’re either military or in a tech field, Huntsville AL is very highly rated, and right by the Tennessee River.
Sycorax, I think this thread will get a better reception and more and better opinions in In My Humble Opinion, so I’m going to move it over there.
I recently visited a friend in Concord, NC. It is a nice quiet medium sized town north of Charlotte. It is close enough to Charlotte to be able to take advantage of the job market there, but is far enough out that you don’t seem to have the hustle and bustle associated with the city as much. It is within a few hours of the coast, not as close to water as you mentioned, but there are a few lakes within 30 miles or so, as well.
If I were going to move to the Carolinas (which I’m not), my first choice would be Charleston, SC. Wonderfully funky city - lots of old houses and Spanish moss, and great restaurants. Got the Spoleto festival every summer, and it looks like a lot’s going on with music, art, etc., in between.
The only place really worth living in SC is Charleston. It has history, culture and class.
NC has some great stuff–The Triangle area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill), even though I’d avoid Durham; Wilmington at the beach–Beach, College town, East Coast Hollywood; and the mountains are really nice too.
I love Wilmington NC. Here is my list of reasons why Wilmington is the best place to live.
Fastest growing city in NC
On the ocean and a river
Local and professional theater
AAA baseball team
A University and community college
Historic down town district
More resturants then you can count (even a few really good ones)
Plenty of job opportunites (several big plants like GE and Corning)
1 hour from Myrtle Beach SC
Screen Gems motion picture studio (currently home to Dawson’s Creek, a Martin Lawerence movie and next month a John Travolta movie)
If you want to live in North Carolina, you must live in Charlotte. It has parts that are like a big city, and other parts like a small city. Anyway, I lived there for 4 years, and I liked it.
I moved away in horror from Wilmington to the Triangle region a few years ago, so I’d like to make some responses to Zumba the Cat’s comments.
Really? I wouldn’t. I live just south (5 miles) of Myrtle Beach and really don’t like it. I’m from the D.C. area originally, lived in Salt Lake City, then Raleigh, now here. I’ve been here 3 years and have had a lot of trouble adjusting. (We’re hoping to be out of here in 24 months…I’m counting the days.)
Issues I have:
- Rampant pushy, fundamental Christians. My company says prayers to Jesus during conference calls. At a business meeting last week, a woman I had never met asked me where I went to church. When I told her I didn’t, I got the you’ll-realize-the-error-of-your-ways-soon-enough lecture. The Carolinas are, of course, part of the Bible Belt. If you think that will bother you, don’t move here. Raleigh was a lot better, and my experience of Charleston shows it’s not as bad, either.
- Good ol’ Boy network. If you’re planning on working here, the network of locals is a tough nut to crack, especially if you’re in any sort of sales-related business. You need connections and you need to play the game.
- Blatant racism & homophobia. I am consistently shocked at how open the people I’ve met seem about their racism…racist jokes, racist comments, racist commercials. Homophobia is worse. There is a very small-town, insular attitude here. I’m sure in a bigger city (Raleigh, Charleston), you wouldn’t encounter this as much. In big cities, I’m sure it exists, but you don’t have to listen to it every day.
- Jobs are few and far between. If you’re not in the hospitality industry, it’s difficult to find a job here. Unless, of course, you’re a physical therapist…my husband’s looking to hire!
I’d recommend Raleigh or Charleston. I’ve also heard great things about Columbia and I love Greenville, although I’ve never lived there.
Grew up in Knoxville and can highly recommend it. But, that isn’t really what you’re looking for. If you are looking for a cool, kind of artsy town, you simply cannot beat Ashville. I used to drive through there on my way down to Hilton Head. Ashville is absolutely beautiful. I can’t say too much about it other than that, but it was great to drive through.
The only place in either state I would consider living would be the mountains along the N.C.-Tenn. border. I like mountain and hill country, rural settings, and especially, cold weather. I once found some climate information for some small town in western N.C. and it colder than where I live now, in Maine. I’ve never been down there, but I’d love to go. My sister has visited Asheville N.C., the Great Smokey Mountains, and Knoxville Tenn. She loved it.
I also went to grad school in Clemson, S.C., about 30-45 minutes from Greenville. When we’d drive into town, we had a great time. It seemed really nice. Kind of a homey feeling larger sized town.
Clemson was great, but you better be a student or work for the university, because there is NOTHING else there.
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I just moved from Myrtle Beach…trust me, MB is a hole. A cultural wasteland and and intellectual desert.
(Hi, C3–still sucks up there I see. Glad nothing’s changed)
It is a tourist town with tourist values. Each intersection has at least two beachwear stores and there are more strip clubs than bookstores. Avoid it. Avoid it like the plague.
Jacksonville, FL is in northern Florida, and isn’t that much hotter than the Carolina coast, in my experience; maybe 5 degrees fahrenheit. For a cooler summer, you could try some place inland. If you like snow, Ashville, NC, in the Smoky Mountains, is a beautiful place to live, and cool in the summer. I have friends living in the area who love it.
I, myself, lived in Charlotte and Chapel Hill (in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park) and enjoyed living in both areas. Both would be great areas to start a family, IMHO. Charlotte is a big city, but, as supersaiyan notes, it doesn’t have a big-city mentality.
I don’t know much about good South Carolina areas, though, except for feeling that, as others have noted, Myrtle Beach is a pit.
We have spent some time in Myrtle Beach and I wasn’t impressed - never considered it as a place to live. A co-worker told me she lived in Wilmington for a few years and experienced the “good 'ol boy” thing and couldn’t take it – moved back here. Visited Charleston only long enough for the Ft. Sumter tour and a quick drive thru, but liked what I saw. Have driven thru some of the others mentioned.
We’re going down in February for our annual vacation and I’ll make it a point to see more of some of these places mentioned. Thanks much everyone.
Yep, It’d be Charleston for me, too. Get me a big-ass house on Tradd Street with those huge open second-story porches, and tend my garden all day. Azaleas as high as an elephant’s eye, man. Eat rice and worship my ancestors.
C3: rampant chrsitians? Sounds like my kind of place.
I’m thinking of anywhere on the east coast, except Florida, myself.
Hows Virginia Beach? Anyone?
Charlotte is my choice. I’m thinking of moving there now. Of course, all my family already lives there or somewhere in NC. I love it down there, especially compared to DC. As far back as we’ve been able to trace our family (early 1700’s), they’ve lived in NC. Mostly the mountains, and I still have family in Marion. My dad is quite proud of being a mountain hick, and being Southern, even though he now spends weekends on his yacht. shrug smilie
This happened recently to me. Over xmas, I was visiting my mom and grandparents, who live next door to each other on Lake Norman outside Charlotte. I was talking to my grandmother about daytime tv for some reason, and she straight out says “There’s no more good shows on during the day. All they have are blacks. Blacks taking over everything on daytime tv”
:eek:
I have an aunt in Wimington, but haven’t been there since '89, so no idea what it’s like now. But I’ll always have warm feelings of it cause thats where I got my first real kiss. 