so friends, i assume most of you live in north carolina. i've actually thought about moving to north carolina (asheville or charlotte specifically but i'm open to other places too) after i finish optometry school (which is 6 years away so of course things can change ). can anybody let me know how it is living in north carolina? how's the weather, how much do apartments and houses cost, stuff to do, etc. thanks =)
so friends, i assume most of you live in north carolina. i've actually thought about moving to north carolina (asheville or charlotte specifically but i'm open to other places too) after i finish optometry school (which is 6 years away so of course things can change ). can anybody let me know how it is living in north carolina? how's the weather, how much do apartments and houses cost, stuff to do, etc. thanks =)
Well it depends on what you like to do in your spare time. Asheville is cool in an arty-funky way. Great place to visit but I'm not sure about how an optometry practice would do there. Charlotte's got all the benefits of a large metropolis but still manages to have a small town feel to it. The mountains and the coast are beautiful. You're a few flight hours from all the east coast cities. There are 4 seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Late Fall. Other than the mountains we normally get one snowfall a year, if that.
You should come out on one of your breaks and maybe crash with LOJ in Winston-Salem and let him show you around.
Asheville is cool if you're into weird artsy hippies. Basically anywhere from Charlotte to Raleigh along I-40 and I-85 is the nice part of the state, generally pretty clean, sophisticated. It's where I want to be.
Everywhere south and east of Raleigh until you hit the coast is backwoods racist redneck country, slightly less clean, not desirable to raise kids. Especially Fayetteville, easily our murder capital I do believe (Charlotte may be the capital, but its too nice for that to matter).
As for the coast, your best bets are Wilmington, Beaufort, or Manteo. Jacksonville is full of gearhead Marines, so go for it if that's your thing. Everywhere else is actually a lot like the rest of ENC, backwoods racist rednecks.
I live in Greenville, and while it is almost a little civilized with it being a university town, its short-lived. Like I said, your best bets are Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, or Charlotte, or a suburb of any of those cities.
Our seasons are 3 months of cold, cold winter, 8 months of brutally hot summer, and 2 weeks each of what people would consider spring and fall.
Asheville is cool if you're into weird artsy hippies. Basically anywhere from Charlotte to Raleigh along I-40 and I-85 is the nice part of the state, generally pretty clean, sophisticated. It's where I want to be.
Everywhere south and east of Raleigh until you hit the coast is backwoods racist redneck country, slightly less clean, not desirable to raise kids. Especially Fayetteville, easily our murder capital I do believe (Charlotte may be the capital, but its too nice for that to matter).
As for the coast, your best bets are Wilmington, Beaufort, or Manteo. Jacksonville is full of gearhead Marines, so go for it if that's your thing. Everywhere else is actually a lot like the rest of ENC, backwoods racist rednecks.
I live in Greenville, and while it is almost a little civilized with it being a university town, its short-lived. Like I said, your best bets are Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, or Charlotte, or a suburb of any of those cities.
Our seasons are 3 months of cold, cold winter, 8 months of brutally hot summer, and 2 weeks each of what people would consider spring and fall.
I grew up in Fayetteville. We called it Fayette-nam or Fatalberg. Aside from the occasional trips to Greensboro and Raleigh for concerts or to the beaches in the summer I had never seen much of the state until I went off to Chapel Hill and met people from all over. That's when I discovered that this state isn't that bad after all.
I really love the Boone-Blowing Rock area and own a house there. Charlotte has the problems any city has but I absolutely love living here. The outer banks are stunning and definitely worth visiting before they disappear.
Like Timmeh said, the stretch of the state from Raleigh to the coast is no-man's land.
Quizno--
I grew up in Los Angeles--spent nearly 50 years in southern california. I've been in North Carolina for 8 1/2 years, and now am visiting LA once again. If you'd like a perspective such as mine, which can compare life in SoCal with the various areas of NC please send me a PM and I'll give you my take.
thanks a ton for getting back to me guys, i didn't expect to get so much info but it's really appreciated. my bobcats homeboys always come through
and rufus... at the LOJ comment. i guess you know that's my bff.
i've heard lots of bad things about fayetteville. some rapper by the name of j cole who's recently become famous always talks about it and he always calls it "fayettenam" haha.
charlotte sounds like a really amazing area. i'm from long beach which is a big city and i really love the big city feel, i get a lot of energy around being in a metropolitan area with stuff to do but i also really enjoy nature and taking scenic walks and stuff like that. it sounds like charlotte has a pretty nice mix of both.
by the way, about how hot is it over there during the summer? i'm used to it being around 85 or so during the summer and i don't really mind the heat but i prefer temperate-cool to temperate-warm. but i'm really not that picky.
and rufus, what are the demographics like in charlotte? in long beach you get a mix of everything. asians, hispanic, whites, blacks, literally everything. it's really culturally diverse and i love that. i'm guessing it's mostly white people in charlotte but is there at least a decent bit of diversity? i love asian girls
also how are the people politically? this isn't that important at all but i'm not sure if i could live in a place that's super conservative. i don't really care about politics but i can't stand close-minded gay-hating people. only person i've ever met from charlotte, even online, is rufus i think. but everyone here seems to be really open-minded so that keeps me pretty hopeful!
and owl, i'll definitely send you a PM with some questions (and i'll give you the login and password to my NBA league pass, i think i remember you needing it if anyone else wants it just send me a PM and i'd be happy to hook it up). whereabouts in LA are you staying right now? i think i remember you mentioning you grew up in the long beach area
thanks again guys for all the useful info. i'd rep you all but it always says i must spread reputation before giving it again
I don't know about Charlotte specifically, but here's some generalizations:
Summer temps are hot. HOOOOTTTTTTTTT. Even though it's not like the Southwest desert where its consistently 110+, but when it gets hot here, it gets into the upper 90s on a regular basis. The killer though is the humidity. It's a heavy, dense, wet heat, which just makes it worse.
Demographically speaking, the higher metropolitan areas like Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh are going to be a little more diverse. I don't know how it is in other states, but generally in NC you have your basic inner city areas where the majority of the black populations live. They're generally poorer than average. A lot of the white people live in the subdivisions on the edge of town. The Mexican population is growing, and you'll typically find them in trailer parks on the outskirts of town.*
*Granted, there are a few minorities that are successful that intermingle with the white folks. God that sounds so racist for some reason, but let's be honest here, white people in NC are generally more well to do for whatever reason.
I'm not sure about Asians. I can guarantee you there aren't as many here as on the West Coast, but outside of the children of restaurant owners and the like, I'm not sure how many are here.
Politically, it's mostly conservative, but the metropolitan areas are much more open minded. You'll find most of NC's (small) gay population more or less in the higher metropolitan areas. Also, the metropolitan areas lean a little more democratically. Of course, this is compared to the redneck, gun carrying, minority hating, homo bashing, slightly inbred inhabitants of EVERYWHERE that isn't a city.
I know it sounds like I'm bashing the entire state, but I'm just trying to be realistic. I can give positives when needed.
Ok, I'll give you some positives because, frankly, it's actually on my mind and I really don't have anything going on right now.
Compared to South Carolina, NC is much cleaner. Sorry BC4E, I know you're from the Rock Hill area I believe, but its true. Outside of Myrtle Beach, and I've been to Charleston, Florence, Georgetown, Darlington, Dillon, Columbia, Aiken, etc. and I haven't seen much in the way of cleanliness. The western part of SC is a bit cleaner, but I'm getting off track.
Even though Virginia is cleaner, everyone I've met from there is kind of pretentious, and though that may not be accurate of everyone, it seems to be a fair generalization. Virginia also seems to have a lot of stupid laws.
The NC mountains, though not really comparable to the California peaks, are the highest on average east of the Rockies, so there are a lot of nice waterfalls and hiking trails. The beaches, expect from Florida, are probably the nicest on the East Coast if you like your beaches not overrun by tourists attractions and what not. We don't have any Jersey Shore or Myrtle Beach type places. They are remote and serene and just nice in general.
Our public school system SUCKS. But our universities are nice and the college atmosphere is king here. BBQ is king, and even though Lexington is supposedly the BBQ capital, I call bullshit because western NC BBQ is disgusting. ENC BBQ is where its at. Wilson, Goldsboro, and Greenville (the latter 2 cities are where I am currently living) are home to legendary BBQ restaurants.
We're not too heavily taxed. I think we're on the lower end from the last I heard. Other than that, that's about it.
Ok, I'll give you some positives because, frankly, it's actually on my mind and I really don't have anything going on right now.
Compared to South Carolina, NC is much cleaner. Sorry BC4E, I know you're from the Rock Hill area I believe, but its true. Outside of Myrtle Beach, and I've been to Charleston, Florence, Georgetown, Darlington, Dillon, Columbia, Aiken, etc. and I haven't seen much in the way of cleanliness. The western part of SC is a bit cleaner, but I'm getting off track.
I think that is a fair assessment. I don't think it's any secret the upstate of South Carolina is the nicest part of the state. Greenville (SC), in my opinion, is one of the best places to live in the entire south. Great schools, beautiful downtown, great social/night life. I think York County is a good county to live in. Rock Hill/Fort Mill are great places to live.
I go to a BBQ festival right down the road from my house in Tryon, NC every year and there is some great BBQ there, granted its probably from out of state. As far as SC goes I just recently went to Spartanburg, and thought I was going to be in a rendition of the movie Boyz in the Hood.
As far as Asheville goes, I have lived there my entire life until recently when I moved to Tryon/Saluda (still only 45 minutes from Asheville). You will find plenty of diversity in downtown Asheville thats for sure.
Re: Bobcats Off Topic Discussion Thread
). can anybody let me know how it is living in north carolina? how's the weather, how much do apartments and houses cost, stuff to do, etc. thanks =)
if anyone else wants it just send me a PM and i'd be happy to hook it up). whereabouts in LA are you staying right now? i think i remember you mentioning you grew up in the long beach area
