Help! North Carolina!
 

My husband is possibly being relocated to North Carolina. I am sure there is information on North Carolina within CG. However, I would love to hear from those that live in/grew-up in NC. We actually have the opportunity to pick our area, if we choose to relocate. I do not want to give too much personal information out over GC. So, if anyone can help with more detailed information, please PM me. We are looking for an upper middle class area, near or on the water. I am involved with Junior League here in Boston , and would like to stay involved with Jr. League or something similar. In addition, the school system is very important or a good private school.

Are you looking to locate near the ocean or a lake? I grew up in NC in Concord, NC near Lake Norman. (Charlotte area) We moved before HS but I still have almost all of my family in that area so if you looking for info on that area, let me know and I can try to help you out. If its more about the ocean area, I only know the Ocean Isle/Cherry Grove area where we own houses on the beach there.

I don't know much about the rest of the state, but I know Charlotte has good private schools and nice neighborhoods. Plus NC colleges are the cheapest in the country. I just moved here, but if you want me to look up anything here in Charlotte, just PM me!

I also live in Charlotte. My husband is originally from Denver/Lake Norman...and that is definitely a beautiful area! I would also be willing to answer any questions you may have.

Does it have to be NC? What about SC? I'm just thinking that Charleston would be a great fit for what you're looking for.

Hey, move to Raleigh so you can help with our new North Carolina Delta!;)

I am partial to Raleigh because I've been here for 5 years now and I love it! Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hil has received lots of accolades lately including "Best Place to Live". Below are a few links to articles. All three cities have major universities as well as lots of other great things to offer. Research Triangle Park is also located in this area. RTP is home to many different pharmaceutical and IT companies including IBM and GlaxoSmithKline.
I don't know a whole lot about the schools since I grew up in Winston-Salem before moving here for college. I have heard that there are a lot of good public and private schools though.
I have considered becoming involved in the Junior League if I'm still living here in a few years, but I do not know anything specific about the Raleigh chapter. I am willing to bet that it is very good.
There's not a lot of water here though. If you want to be on a lake I agree with the suggestions for the Charlotte/Lake Norman area. And if you want to be on the beach I think the best place on the NC coast is Wilmington. It's still pretty small, but it is growing a lot.
I hope this helps a little. Feel free to PM me for more specific info on these areas.

MSN's America's Best Places to Live
1. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill has the warmth and charm of a small southern town, while still being large enough to provide all the amenities of big-city living. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill's scores are above average in nearly every category. The city has the second-best health score in the nation, thanks to great air quality and affordable health care. The citizens of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill are a smart bunch—91% of its 312,000 residents have graduated from high school, and nearly 19% have a four-year college degree. A healthy economy and a low cost of living cement Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill's ranking as America's Best Place to Live.

CNN Money's Best in the South

Triangle Accolades

move to Raleigh......youre in the central part of the state so you're only 3 hours from the mountains and less than 2 hours from the beach

i went to high school in Raleigh and it's a great area.....especially places inside the beltline and North Raleigh

I went to school for 4 years in NC and I LOVED it!! I was in the Piedmont Triad area, right between Greensboro and Raleigh and everyone is right--its the best of both worlds--driveable to both the beach and the mountains. I highly reccomend!
Also, my parents have a house in the mountains, near Asheville and that area is wonderful as well, but a little more slow.
A & A--I am in Jr. League in Atlanta and I know I looked at the Raleigh league and it looked really nice!

Move to Asheville

I live here in Raleigh-moved up from Texas....so far I'm not too impressed with the whole state.

I just want to second the Lake Norman area if a lake qualifies under the type of water you're looking for. Also the Charlotte area in general is nice, particularly suburbs like Matthews.

I would recommend maybe the Chapel Hill area, but not Raleigh. Raleigh and Greensboro are almost too... inner city? for what it SOUNDS like you're looking for. This is opposed to Charlotte, where you can spend the majority of your time actually IN the suburb and very rarely have to go into the city.

I'm trying to think of good places on the coast, and I'm not coming up with any. Wilmington has a lot of charm, but I have no clue about their nicer areas or their school systems.

Thank you very much and KellyB I owe you an extra thank you. Your links and information is perfect!

my parents live in Raleigh and trust me it's not "inner city." especially if you go out towards North Raleigh......you're about 20 minutes away from downtown but everything you could ever need it right there in North Raleigh


i live in Wilmington. the city has about 100,000 but on the weekends it rounds out to about a quarter million with tourists and visitors and such. now with school systems.....it depends where you live, just like any city. message me for more info on Wilmington if you're interested

if i were you angels, i would ask to be moved to South Carolina and then high tail it to Charleston

You are very welcome.

I agree with aphibeach. Raleigh is not "inner city." In fact, some people complain that downtown is too small and not very impressive because we don't have a big sky line. But I think downtown is fine and Raleigh is a very spread out city so you can definitely get away from the downtown area if you want. I think most families prefer N. Raleigh but since I'm only a year out of school I still prefer to be near campus and on the Durham/Chapel Hill side of the city.

Please let me know if I can be of any more assistance.

Aww this thread is making me want to go visit my friend in Charlotte.