There's a couple threads like this every year. Both in here and in the conversations side. Not sure how far back the archives go, but it'd be worth a search!

here is one thread

Here is a link that might be useful: places to live in nc

Have you looked at the North Carolina tourism website www.visitnc.com. There's a lot of information there and then links to individual city websites where you can gather more details for the areas that are of interest to you.

We moved here in 2002 from Atlanta but I am from MA originally. We live in Stokes county about 30 minutes North of Greensboro. We love it here. We grow stuff March through December, can't beat that. We have great schools here in Stokes county and homes are very very reasonable with low low taxes. We have a Wal Mart and all the fast food places you could need 10 minutes from us and Hanging Rock State Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway about 20 minutes from us.

Hope you move close to us we can be gardening friends!

Best Wishes,
Susan

Welcome! I moved here 9 years ago from Oklahoma City so to me the summers are mild and I love not having to deal with wind every day.

My favorite town in this state is Manteo out near the Outer Banks. I'm not much of a beach person but there is something about that town that I always enjoy. I like Wilmington but there are other towns that are more 'beachey" but none of them are as big as Wilmington.

My favorite city is Asheville over in the mountains. I hardly spend any time there now but it is one of those dreamy, got-to-live-there-someday kinda places. I prefer cooler weather and I enjoy snow.

I live outside Raleigh in Garner, nothing special - just your typical bedroom community 10 minutes south of downtown Raleigh. It's quiet and manageable, it doesn't have everything that the big city has but thats ok by me. I work in Cary which is pretty congested traffic wise but there are plenty of things to see and do. All in all this is a great place to live and work. I think you will enjoy it.

Hi and welcome to NC! Born and raised in Salisbury, NC. It's exactly halfway in between Charlotte and Greensboro/Winston Salem area. It's an old historic town and a very rich/culturally area old county, too. If you prefer "country living" Rowan county is very cost affordable, but easy to commute to larger cities. We are designated as the "rolling hills" or Piedmont. Clay soils, but many plants thrive in them, or you can amend the soil or do raised beds/no-dig beds, or "lasagna" gardening. There are many farms throughout the area and lots of produce stands, farmer's markets, feed/seed/nurseries. Good luck in your quest. (Fyi: piedmont of NC is middle of the state: halfway to the beach and mountains.)

Wow, thanks everyone. This is not going to be easy. It's like going to a candy store and deciding on what type of chocolate to pick...it's all so good! I should have mentioned that if we can't be near the ocean we would like to be near a lake. my kids love to swim and go on the boat and basically do everything around water. This may sound like a funny question but my daughter asked if there are alligators in the lakes?!! Maybe that's not such a sill question! So countryish living, lake or ocean, good schools (or we will home school) churches, and last but not least, a longer gardening season.

Not to much to ask, right? hehe

-Lucy

There are indeed alligators in some parts of eastern NC. However, alligator attacks are extremely rare, and usually the result of someone attempting to hand feed alligators!

I have lived here 7 years now and have NEVER seen an alligator! Lots of deer and had 9 turkeys in my yard last week. We have some nice lakes here in our area.

Susandonb, what part of the state do you live in? Where are the lakes? Are they good for swiming/snorkling?

Each area of NC has its own charms. The more features you're seaching for, the likelier it is that translates into higher taxes. Charlotte offers more but costs you more. There are smaller surrounding towns with lesser taxes but proximity to the big city and highways/airport tends to make them bedroom communities with small lots and subdivisions(and traffic and crime).
We moved just over the line between Charlotte and Union County mainly to escape the high property taxes. We've been down here long enough that the comparison between Northern taxes and cost of services to Southern ones are not the big surprise bargain anymore.
Schools..it depends upon what you define as 'good'. In the outlying areas distant from the bigger cities where most of the population is local rather than transferees, the schools naturally have less funding and neither of the Carolinas are known for academic excellence in public schools anyway. Schools closer to the bigger cities where a larger percentage of students are from other states tend to show higher test scores and offer a wider array of studies.
In that, Charlotte/Mecklenburg..certain areas..is notable for its magnet,charter schools and public schools on the south side of town. Lake Wylie and Lake Norman are your boating lakes or you can tow your boat east to High Rock,Tillery and Badin lakes of the Pee Dee system. Nice swimming there.
Churches? What denomination? Catholic churches aren't as hard to find as they used to be 25 years ago thanks to the number of people moving from other states. If you're Baptist, all you have to do it walk out your front door and to the end of the street and you're there. Hardest denomination for me to find was Congregational. Charlotte has all the denominations and all the religions well represented (and multiples of them). Non-denominational churches are big here too and often have schools K through highschool attached.
For the most part you'll find North Carolina welcoming,less expensive and a nice place to raise your children.

What you will adore are the Carolina beaches !

I came down from PA when I was a kid when Reagan closed down all the coal mines up there. I still haven't gotten used to the heat. However, I have come to love NC in many ways. I grew up in Charlotte but that city has little to offer as far as outdoor recreational resources and a lot of traffic problems. I went to school in Asheville and the mountains call me back at least a few times a year, and I answer the call. I spent lots of time at the beaches here and they are all wonderful. Quiet beaches with family oriented strands are easy to find. I work in Raleigh but live in northern Durham County. Its the best of both worlds. My commute is long but I come home to peace and quiet in the country. We have several lakes nearby to choose from and a river we kayak in (Eno River). The swimming hole in the Eno River is just a few miles from our house. I swear the waters of the Eno flow through my veins!

https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/thomis

Thomis, where are the quiet and family oriented beaches? Sounds wonderful!

Google fort caswell, thats a good one. Holden Beach is another. Salter Path. Sunset. Oak Island. There are dozens.

If you go over to the true Outer Banks, most of the beaches will not be crowded. The bulk of the tourism out there is for deep sea fishing. Any of the public beaches with easy access will have a few families or some people surfing and maybe surf fishing but for the most part a simple walk will give you an entire beach all to yourself. Certain holiday weekends will draw a large crowd but the rest of the summer it is empty. I tend to go in the winter when I have the whole place to myself but a lot of restaurants and such are closed also. Another trick is to go during hurricane season (late summer - fall) I can never get any of my local "born-and-bred" friends to even think about going to the beach then, even if no hurricanes are anywhere near us.

The beaches around Wilmington are just as nice but more crowded - but still nothing like other touristy hot spots, you can always find the space to stretch out if you are willing to walk a ways from where you park the car.

If you end up in Raleigh, keep in mind that Wilmington is only 2 hours away; the Outer Banks are around 4 the mountains are 4.5.

What about the towns outside of Wilmington? Are there any quiet 'beachy' towns commutable to Wilmington?

That's what I was wondering, Pequa.

Please anyone with information about the outlying areas of Wilmington?

thanks so much!

-Lucy

Well we're heading down tomorrow! The kids are so excited. We're going to be looking at the towns around Wilmington and staying in Southport. I even think we'll make a day trip in Myrtle Beach on Friday. Hope the weather is nicer than New York. It's cccold here!

Wilmington itself is pretty quiet, while also being arty and funky. Its not a big city but the downtown has just about everything you could want. The movie industry has a big presence there so there is a constant influx of hollywood types around. It is on the river, so its waterfront is not beach. Wrightsville Beach is maybe 15 minutes away and it is the big touristy town, where everybody goes when they say they are going to the beach. It is full of young people, lots of surfing and such and it stays pretty busy except in the dead of winter. There are small coastal towns in either direction that would be an easy commute into Wilmington. They would be a fine place to live but shopping could be a problem, you would have to drive into Wilmington to buy stuff. To me, those areas are a lot like the small towns of Long Island NY. Small, sleepy, quiet with rows of large beach houses that get rented out to tourists. There isn't a lot of fishing which is what the area is known for historically.

Well, we're back! We saw so many beautiful areas. We were a bit surprised at Myrtle Beach. It's soooooo commercial. It reminded me a little bit of Las Vegas. I guess we expected it to be a little lower key. But we did make it on to the beach and it was lovely Friday. We also toured Wilmington and went on a tall ship and a coast guard vessel. Ten we made our way up to Raleigh and I think that's where we're going to focus our search. As long as we find jobs (and that area seems to be where the jobs are) we hope to find something a bit out of town where it's nice and quiet. 2 acres would be perfect! While we were in Southport, we visited a nursery and bought a Windmill Palm Tree. We re-potted it yesterday and have it by a southern window here in New York. We hope to plant it outside someday! (Either in Raleigh area or Charlotte area!)--wherever God wants us. Yes...we're praying!

Thanks so much all!

-Lucy

Sounds like you had a good trip. I was in Wilmington myself this week, the kids & I went down for their spring break. My parents moved to Sneads Ferry, on the mainland across from Topsail Beach, when I was 9-I'm amazed that the trip down to Wilmington, about 45 minutes, is MUCH more populated than when I was there-it's pretty much nonstop, from Hampstead to Holly Ridge.
I went to school in Wilmington & Chapel Hill, both beautiful parts of NC. Good luck with your search for a Carolina homestead...

I would avoid Charlotte, it has become a haven for yankee transferees, and though most moved here to escape high taxes, they continue to vote for canidates that raise taxes (infer party affiliation here) and the crime is terrible, mostly because the DA will not prosecute because he is too busy plea bargaining them out. Schools are terrible and overcrowded. And now the jobs are leaving because the government has taken over the banks. H

Some of the pictures and things we've read about Cornelius and other areas around Lake Norman look so positive. Small town-ish yet close enough to a metro area.
Anyone from around there or know it?

-Lucy

Dirtdigger is being a bit harsh on Charlotte/Mecklenburg I think. True, it's a haven for transferees but from everywhere in the US and the children they bring along , having been primary educated in states with better schools, have only improved the ratings of schools (particularly So. Charlotte). Ratings yes, level of teaching..no)
Unfortunately, Cornelius/Davidson are within Mecklenburg county controlled by Charlotte policies but the taxes are town/county instead of city/county. Not a big issue in comparison to Northern taxes. Each county surrounding Mecklenburg has its own issues/faults and not enough money (in taxes) to deal with them.
One big issue is water service/water quality. We had two really extreme drought years (07/08) and the further you get from the Catawba/PeeDee etc river sources the more the water fees cost and the limits on use get more strict.
I only mention this because this is a forum for gardeners and water is a critical need.
We're in Union County now, just over the line from Charlotte-Mecklenburg and a different,more expensive water system for a county that was growing faster than any other county in NC (in population). Schools are ever over-crowded and roads are ever needing widening and that costs taxpayer money..still cheaper than Northern taxes but when you're getting Southern wages it's all relative to that.
So, like I said before..find the job, then find the home.

And, i have to say that all the same things can be said of the RDU area, too- melting pot for tranferees, overcrowding, schools constantly being reassigned, water woes, etc. But it's still a great place to live and work, and close to lots of recreation opportunities. I'd guess there's good and bad about just about anywhere. It's all in what's acceptable to you and what your priorities are. Best of luck!

Hi and Welcome to NC. NC is as diverse as it's gardens. One garden will be rigid and unwelcoming to transplants for fear they will upset it's order. Another garden will be filled with color and texture that will rock your senses. Horrors, yes, right down the street might be a rocky, dried up, unattended, weed filled, litter strown, sorry excuse for a garden that is the embarrassment of the neighborhood. For the most part, you will find well tended, loved gardens that give pleasure all over the state. I live near the Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville area. and find the area diverse, filled with good shopping, schools, restaurants, and recreation. We also have a longer growing season than NY ;)! In Huntersville, I would recommend you check out Vermillion development. I would also urge you to explore Mooresville..a hop skip and jump from Davidson, but in Iredell County.(good schools and perhaps lower taxes than Mecklenburg Co. Good luck with your search and again WELCOME!

We'll take the good with the bad. From what we've seen there's so much more good! I'm so looking forward to the longer growing season. Much longer! We will check out Mooresville. From what I've seen on realtor.com some developments around Davidson have small properties. Ideally we'd like to find something with 2 or more acres. We're willing to travel a bit for that to the outskirts. What are the names of some other towns in Iredell County? You can't search by county on realtor.com.

Thanks so much for your patience and welcoming!

Lucy :-)

Davidson is a lovely,diverse town with excellent schools. 4hrs from Wilmington beaches,2 hrs. Boone mountains, 30 min Charlotte, l5 minutes Mooresville, l5 minutes Cornelius, on Lake Norman. You just need to come down and explore. Good Luck!

Statesville, Troutman,Mooresville,Harmony (might be more but Harmony is where my mapbook stops) One of my husband's employees lives in Mooresville and commutes to SouthPark(middle of Charlotte) daily. You'll probably need a local Realtor rather than one from the Lake area. Check around Mooresville first then branch out from there.
Oh , what you're missing today. One of those rare cool,purely sunny but no heat days (probably sunburn in 5 minutes) and the soil is absolutely perfect for planting..right amount of moisture for digging and tilling.
Bye and good luck..I'm going back outdoors!

Thanks! We're going to head down to Greater Charlotte in June. We're definitely interested in the Lake region. We're near the ocean now, so maybe being close to the lake will help us ease into not being near the ocean. Just a thought. Once we settle on a region, we can concentrate job searches in that area. Hopefully we can find something with an acre or so. It's 45 and rainy in New York today. Blah! Get Me Outta Here!!!

Lucy :0)

Also we were wondering if there is a nice little 'quaint' type of village around Lake Norman. Something that conjures Americana. A cute little downtown, town square etc. Some place to go for walks or ride bikes.

thanks again (and again :0)

Lucy

Lucy, down here..cars rule. Even pretty little McAdenville that at Christmastime is so quaint-looking suffers from interminable traffic from people looking for 'quaint'.
Proximity to the lake translates to higher real estate prices and Lake Norman doesn't have as much public access as you might wish.
Down here, so much is so new and real estate development is defined into named neighborhoods rather distant from town centers. Finding that precious acre convenient to the lake and within biking distance of quaint town greens and shoppes is either unlikely or very costly. The center of Davidson is quaint looking with Davidson College (is it a University now?) central and scenic.
Matthews used to be quaint and scenic(sorta) back in the early 80's but the entire area has grown so much in population from transferees that much of the scenic is under parking lots and houses on 1/4 acre lots.

My point is that what you see in your mind may have existed here 25 years ago. To find it now, you have to search farther away from where you will work and you'll have to make some concessions on things like quality of schools and other services that big city taxes pay for.

I think Dottie just answered my questions as well. I would love to find that little slice of american pie down south. Here, I coach baseball and basketball and am very much involved in the community. If we moved, I'd want to be plugged in as well wherever we end up.

This is a great thread. Thank you Dottie (and everyone else!)

One of the things I really liked about Matthews (besides its not being Charlotte) was the town had its own flavor,its own activities and it had a history. I just drove through there this morning and realized that there are many places near the center of Matthews that have slightly older homes on larger lots. Matthews made its own town green across from the elementary school and there you will find lots of activities. Summer night picnics on the green while the bandstand hosts live music, spring and fall arts and crafts shows (Matthews Alive carnival too). The MARA fields (Matthews athletic and recreation association) just beyond the center area is where all the kids play baseball/t-ball/soccer. A bit further out on the same road you have the Siskey YMCA. Center of Matthews you'll find Renfrow Hardware ..a real ole timey hardware/everythingware store and in the same block you have your Saturday morning spot to buy plants,fresh vegetables,fresh meats and eggs from organic farmers. The Exxon gas station is a real one..doing car repairs and they have both self service and full service gas pumps.
Plenty of shopping in the area,some of the best public schools in all of Mecklenburg and easy access to I 485 to get to the airport and the perimeter of Charlotte area.
Lower taxes than Charlotte(that's for sure).
A little further on from the Siskey YMCA is a huge wonderful park with a nice but small lake.
I've found that using Google Earth is a wonderful way to zoom in to areas you are investigating as possible new homes.

Hi...and then there is Salisbury, old historical homes, on 85(straight shot to Charlotte), lovely parks, am not sure about schools...OR...Concord, great schools(I'm told), Young couples redoing old homes, GREAT shopping(Concord Mills), 20 min from Charlotte....Just get a map of NC and throw a dart towards Charlotte and you will find lots of lovely towns surrounding all our major cities...and we are now planting annuals(with our fingers crossed).

When y'all say 'diverse', is that code for something?

"Diverse"..not a code..at least for me and my posts. What you're going to find is that transferees are almost the majority around here and it's not because we drove the locals out but there weren't that many of them here to start with.
When we came down from Connecticut in 1985, we looked all around Charlotte but selected Matthews for the 'feel' that was more like what we knew up North. Back then, Matthews had around 5000 pop. I think,last I looked it was around 17,000. It grew some.(LOL)

I don't think it's a code for anything...When I use the word diverse describing a community I mean there is a good blend of interests such as business, arts, academia,politics,religion, and cultures. People from all over the world now live in North Carolina and they bring with them different backgrounds and interests. For instance, I live in a small town about 40 miles from Charlotte and am Tar Heel born and Tar Heel bred. My town has pros and cons...one of the cons is shopping. So, I went to Davidson, stopped by the Home Economist(like Whole Foods and sells arugula;)), went to the Habitat for Humanity restore and found a great rusted chandaliere(sp)for my garden, went to a shop that has local arts and found a sunflower plaque for my garden fence, came back home and went to a pottery that makes concrete statutes etc and bought a cute frog to sit by the pond and then to a Farmer's Market and bought organic herbs,homemade bread, and homemade lavender soap, then went out in the country and watched my Grandson play soccer at his really rural school that has cows across the road.I would call that a rather diverse day and 10 yrs ago would not have been available to me if not for different people from different places bringing their skills to NC. Did I tell you how excited I am about the chandaliere...$l5 and now if I can just figure out how to hang it in the tree.

I was born in NC and will most likely die in NC. Our state is truly great, the scenery that is. Gardening I do enjoy very much, just in the last few years got back into it. The soil on the other hand, is very, very uncooperative. My property is red clay with tons and tons and still more tons of rocks, the rocks come in all shapes and sizes, very small to the size of a bowling ball and some larger. Amending the soil is very intense and can be expensive. But we spend time doing the things we enjoy.

Where does the name "tar heel" come from? I know it's UNC schools name and logo, but what is the origin?
I think that we're coming down in the fall for a look around. Just to get the feel of an area. My husband is applying for jobs in Charlotte so anything within about 30-40 minute commute will work. My job is to find good schools and good fishing!

Lucy, what kind of job is "Linus" seeking? I've always heard that networking is more productive when the unemployment rate is high.
Charlotte is huge in retail and this is currently dumping a lot of folks into the job market as retailers shrink their labor force and closing excess locations. Then, you have the banking industry workforce and the auto dealership workforce contributing to the high unemployment rate. But, it will turn around in a couple years and the South will still be an appealing place to live,work and raise a family.

His main job is in computers. Networking; Support Management; Planning...that kind of thing. The good thing is that type of job scales across all kinds of business. Also, he's a photographer on the side. Spot news, sports, weddings. You name it he does it!

-Lucy

linus n lucy, here is one story of tarheel........

Historians have recorded that the principal products during the early history of North Carolina were "tar, pitch, and turpentine." In 1862 "tar-heel" was introduced as a term of ridicule. It was during one of the fiercest battles of the War Between the States, so the story goes, that the column supporting the North Carolina troops was driven from the field. After the battle the North Carolinians, who had successfully fought it out alone, were greeted from the passing derelict regiment with the question: "Any more tar down in the Old North State, boys?" Quick as a flash came the answer: "No, not a bit, old Jeff's bought it all up." "Is that so; what is he going to do with it?" was asked. "He's going to put on you-un's heels to make you stick better in the next fight." Creecy relates that General Lee, upon hearing of the incident, said: "God bless the Tar Heel boys," and from that they took the name (Adapted from Grandfather Tales of North Carolina by R.B. Creecy and Histories of North Carolina Regiments, Vol. III, by Walter Clark).

What if someone wanted to live near the ocean? I'm in finance, living outside of Philly. But I'd like to move down the coast. NC, SC, or Georgia. Are there nice cities near the water that anyone has experience with? Thanks.

Garden Monkey, we visited Wilmington in early April (or was it late march?) and we loved it. It's a small kind of funky city right on the water. We also visited a little town called Southport that is very picturesque. We took a ferry over to Oak Island and drove all around. It's really very nice. Good Luck!

-Lucy

The only thing I have noticed about life 'on the coast' is that you give up property square footage. When I look online at houses around Charlotte or Raleigh, there seems to be more offerings with property above a half acre. Ideally I'd like to get 2 or 3 acres so I'm not on top of my neighbors like I am here. Is that true...generally speaking...about houses inland?

I just saw a blurb on the news that coastal property owners are getting slammed with 30% increases in property insurance. It's only going to get worse in the coming years (costwise).
gardenmonkey, your Realtor isn't showing you the right properties. Get out of Mecklenburg and other bigcity counties and look in the surrounding counties. Union has plenty to offer in properties the size you want. The west side closest to Charlotte is going to be more costly per acre but you balance that with the proximity to major highway access/airport access/shopping variety,hospitals and healthcare, etc.

For a while, we searched for beach property too but I have to conclude that the negatives outweigh the positives and renting is preferable.
You may not believe in global warming but you have to believe that NC/SC coast gets whacked by both hurricanes in summer fall and northeasters in winter. Sand is hard to plant and freshwater supplies are destined to become more brackish. Drive to the beach, live where it's safer and gardening is unlimited.

I guess what we're looking for is a small town, community minded village. We know a place like that up north called Kennebunkport, Maine but we don't want more cold...we want less! A place where we can shop at local merchants and get involved in Little League and the community.

Well, if you're looking in Mecklenburg county, look at Matthews. There you have the Little League,the Farmers Market,local businesses,access to I485,strong town leadership,a town green where they hold spring/summer/fall concerts/arts and crafts shows/childrens carnival. Matthews is very independent of Charlotte. They even repave their own roads. Taxes are cheaper than Charlotte and the town has plenty of corporate and manufacturing tax support. Good banks..BB@T is the strongest most solid bank in North Carolina (no TARP funds needed). Local theater for plays. Lots of church variety to choose from. One church has its own K-12 school (Covanent). Matthews School (elementary) is still excellent. There are actually multiple elementary schools,middle school and high school although assignment is determined by your location and schools are part of Mecklenburg County public school system. Big, new, town library. Presbyterian/Matthews Hospital. Marios Pizza, Carrabas and tons of other good eateries.
Siskey YMCA (huge indoor outdoor facilities)
The weather is a micro climate in most parts of Matthews. It can be a touch cooler/colder than Charlotte and Pineville but in 20 years and one hurricane (Hugo) I found the worst of the weather skips west of Matthews. Water quality is good, better than what we have in Union County (different source).
Of the Mecklenburg towns, including Charlotte, I'd say Matthews has best adapted itself to accommadating northern transplants while retaining the Southern flavor and hospitality.