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I thought you were interested in being by the water/beach?
Outside of Wilmington, most of coastal NC is small towns. I don't know about job availability. The economy is very seasonal in cities and towns along the coast (besides Wilmington). Some restaurants, etc, close up entirely in the off season. If you want to be by the coast I agree that jobs should be the driving factor.
South Carolina has bigger cities by its coast that are more year round (Myrtle Beach, Charleston).
I thought you were interested in being by the water/beach?
Outside of Wilmington, most of coastal NC is small towns. I don't know about job availability. The economy is very seasonal in cities and towns along the coast (besides Wilmington). Some restaurants, etc, close up entirely in the off season. If you want to be by the coast I agree that jobs should be the driving factor.
South Carolina has bigger cities by its coast that are more year round (Myrtle Beach, Charleston).
Being by the coast would be ideal, however, I realize that this is probably an impossibility with the cost and job factor. Also I would like to be close to civilization. Being from such a small, closed-minded area has gotten quite exhausting. I know it's cliche' to say, but literally everyone knows everyone here. We are just so used to having the option to go to the lake whenever we want (in our whopping whole 2 months of summer!)
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bethanyhellen
Shouldn't we nail down general areas we want to look for jobs first? I imagine looking for a job throughout an entire state would be difficult! :s
It's a very big state. People can give you suggestions all over the state. I doubt that it would help you.
As a Michigan native, I can tell you that your 1st year will be an experience from the standpoint of weather. Pick points across the state & check the weather in June & July and January & February. Then check Indeed for jobs. When you think you're on to something, by all means ask. Asking about the whole state is like playing pin the tail on the donkey.
I promise you that the heat should be a consideration. My parents moved us from SW lower Michigan to South Jersey & the first summer we thought we'd moved to Hell. I dont mean Hell, MI, either.
Location: River's Edge Inn, Todd NC, and Lorgues France
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bethanyhellen
We came to the conclusion this way:
We want somewhere farther south as we currently live in one of the most northern points of the country, we want to be near the coast, but we don't want to be SO far away that visiting family back here would be impossible. I did tons of research on SC and FL and now we are looking into NC. We don't have the luxury of traveling all sorts of places to decide where we like best, but we KNOW we want to get the heck out of here. So I am trying to do my best with research to pick areas to visit this summer. We will really not have a lot more opportunity to check other places out unfortunstely. I figure asking locals or people who know the area can give me some insight. At least I can narrow it down to some areas in a certain state that way.
Yes, definitely visit in July or August to see if you really can tolerate hot and muggy weather.
It's a very big state. People can give you suggestions all over the state. I doubt that it would help you.
As a Michigan native, I can tell you that your 1st year will be an experience from the standpoint of weather. Pick points across the state & check the weather in June & July and January & February. Then check Indeed for jobs. When you think you're on to something, by all means ask. Asking about the whole state is like playing pin the tail on the donkey.
I promise you that the heat should be a consideration. My parents moved us from SW lower Michigan to South Jersey & the first summer we thought we'd moved to Hell. I dont mean Hell, MI, either.
I'm guessing you're from the lower peninsula? That may as well be a different state haha. Upper Michigan is a completely different ballgame with weather. We get more snow than you can imagine here and our weather was colder than Siberia at one point. It would be nice to have some balance with weather, but if I have to keep seeing snow, that isn't where I want to be!
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,816 posts, read 34,834,182 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bethanyhellen
I'm guessing you're from the lower peninsula? That may as well be a different state haha. Upper Michigan is a completely different ballgame with weather. We get more snow than you can imagine here and our weather was colder than Siberia at one point. It would be nice to have some balance with weather, but if I have to keep seeing snow, that isn't where I want to be!
I'm aware of the weather difference. I also made the transition from SW lower Michigan many years ago, back when AC was not common unless you were wealthy. Much of the east coast can have very high heat & humidity is beastly when the Bermuda High comes in.
I can imagine the snow that you get. The last winter that I lived in Michigan, Lake Michigan froze solid 2 miles out.
Hey OP! I would personally recommend Raleigh. It's a relatively big city compared to what you're used to, yet doesn't have the big city traffic or crime. It's only about 2.5 hours from the beautiful NC beaches and even pretty close to Myrtle Beach and Charleston for a potential weekend trip. Raleigh has lots of things to do, anything from live music of pretty much any genre, to plays and shows, special exhibits at the museums, a ridiculous amount of independently owned restaurants (and chains too), shopping centers, etc. It has the added benefit if being right next door to Durham and Cary for additional things (DPAC, Dave & Busters, more malls and I MAX theatres, etc). Though there is a little over 1,000,000 peple in the Raleigh-Durham metro, it doesn't feel like it when driving around. It's very aesthetically pleasing. Lots of hills, trees, woods. It's nice. Weather is not too hot at all. Summer Temps range from I'd say 85-95 with the odd 96-102 day here and there. Winter high temps range from 25-70 but average out around 50. Check us out!
I apologize OP for the posters who come in here wasting your time not actually reading your post. Some members here just copy/paste generic replies to every newcomer to up their post count, or get some weird satisfaction out of telling new posters that they need to do more research first (as if going in registering for a forum, finding the locals and asking them questions is not research?)
NC has a 4 lane highway US 40 between US 95 and Wilmington, so if access is what you want to go North, and you like the sun and warmer weather, Wilmington is almost subtropical and a few miles to many beaches.
Not addressing jobs or housing costs, just weather, beaches and easy access to major highways.
Some members here just copy/paste generic replies to every newcomer to up their post count, or get some weird satisfaction out of telling new posters that they need to do more research first (as if going in registering for a forum, finding the locals and asking them questions is not research?)
I agree. The other type of response is usually telling newcomers to find another state to move to besides NC. The snarky attitude BS towards newcomers is getting old.
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