Whoa Put on the Breaks North Carolina Uh Maybe NOT

[dumpster56]

Took a trip the past week to the Raleigh area and seriously the growth is utterly disgusting. Traffic everyplace, they are building 12 countem 12 new schools in the wake county johnston county areas for the next year. Taxes are going UP and UP and the building is being done by Mexicans that are 400,000 strong in north carolina. Not impressed with the construction of many homes , heck 95% have NO basements and the lots are small.

Again I need to rethink the move. Right now things are put on hold. I will continue to work next year at my school and start a new look at towns like Athens GA Home of the Univ of GA. And Oxford Mississippi home of the Univ of Miss. Heck maybe even Madison Wisconsin, Home of the U of Wis. College towns .

I was very disappointed at what I saw in the Carolinas!

Anyone else see what I have seen?

 

[astroboy]

What about around Chapel Hill - is it just as bad as Raleigh?

 

[TromboneAl]

Overpopulation -- a much bigger problem than people realize.

 

[madeit!]

I guess that you did not believe me when I responded to your last thread on NC.  I took my camper out  to the Outer Banks this past weekend and I couldn't believe the rate of development.  Nags Head is starting to look like the Jersy Shore or Myrtle Beach.  Beach front property starts at over $ one million.  It is just about impossible to find a campsite or even parking space  unless you line up reservations and visit off season.  The same is starting to happen in the western part of the state as well - or maybe it's just happening everywhere.

 

[youbet]

Overpopulation -- a much bigger problem than people realize.

YES!

 

[madeit!]

What about around Chapel Hill - is it just as bad as Raleigh?

Chapel Hill is just part of the Raleigh - Durham - Cary metroplex - no parking, hellish rush hour, highest real estate costs in the south.  If you can do without the shopping, medical facilities  or  "culture" of the big cities, there are still some affordable, quiet areas left in the state.  Look for towns under 20 k persons.  

 

[OldAgePensioner]

I have a brother looking to relocate to NC and he thinks the Kannapolis/China Grove area is great.

If ya ever get to China Grove look up the prettiest blonde in town (hint, her father was a professional golfer) and ask her about the young stud with the orange Mustang Mach 1 from Myrtle Beach. Yeah, I was good to the ladies.

 

[astromeria]

That's a bummer, newguy--have you looked into Western NC (outside the pricy towns like Asheville) or South Carolina? There are definitely affordable houses in the Charleston area, especially out half an hour's drive or so from the city. There are nice resale homes near me in the 200s (20-30 minutes up the coast from the city), and small homes further out (45-min to an hour) in the 100s. And condos for less. Yes, there are lots of houses in the $300-3M range as well, but plenty available for less.

Madison, WI is a cool town, but also a COLD town...brrr. How about a nice small town between Charleston and Savannah, maybe a couple miles from the coast? Athens, GA is a great idea, too. Also Columbia, Greeville, and Rock Hill SC. But it's actually hotter and more humid inland--and colder in the winter as well (can snow lightly there).

 

[justin]

Hell yeah! We scared off one more damn yankee! Gooooo Raleigh!!!

As a long-time NC resident, I'm more concerned with the cultural taint of the million or so northern invaders infiltrating our schools and neighborhoods than the 400,000 Mexican immigrants from the south.

Seriously though, if you want an area of North Carolina that has no growth, little traffic, "good ole boy" culture, and bleak economic prospects, there are literally dozens or hundreds of towns that would love to have you in their tax base. Go to the US Census web site, find NC cities, and sort by population size and growth. Check out any towns with negative population growth and size less than 50K people. Have fun driving to one of the big cities when you require retail outlets more sophisticated than Walmart or dining establishments more sophisticated than Joe's Roadside 24 Hour Diner.

Small town America is still out there, but living in a place with double digit unemployment, pitiful schools, and mass emigration may not be everything you expect.

Regarding traffic, once you are ER'd, the easiest way to avoid traffic around Raleigh is don't travel during the peak periods. That is usually 7-8:30 am and 4:45-6:15 pm. Why fight commuter traffic when your commute is over for good?

 

[astromeria]

At the height of Charleston "rush hour," it takes ~10 extra minutes to get downtown from my house. And it's not a stressful stop & go thing--just more cars moving at a slower speed. There's more traffic around mid-day near the shopping/restaurant areas my 'burb as well (workers and retirees eating lunch out!). But I have heard that rush hour is worse coming from the north & west into Charleston. The worst traffic I've ever seen here (due to highway construction related to our spiffy new bridge) was far easier on the nerves & gas usage than a good day in Bay Area traffic. Or maybe being retired and unhurried, I just don't give a hoot.

 

[justin]

Newguy88,

I think you said you were looking at Clayton, NC. Well, I went back and looked at the US Census web site with population data for NC cities. Clayton had the 4th highest growth for the 2000-2004 period, with 48%. You just happened to pick one of the most rapidly developing small towns in the state. It is popular because you can get a bigger house and a bigger yard for less than what you pay in Raleigh. Problem is you go to Raleigh to do everything (work, shop, dine).

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/37000lk.html


I did a little spreadsheet analysis, and if you want a small town (pop between 3,000 and 25,000) and no growth or shrinking population, check out some of these towns:

Cramerton town
Wilkesboro town
Spencer town
Dallas town
Elizabethtown town
Spindale town
Rutherfordton town
Canton town
Ahoskie town
Mount Olive town
Gibsonville town
Winterville town
Bessemer City city
Hamlet city
Forest City town
Belmont city
Mount Holly city
Tarboro town
Roanoke Rapids city
Kinston city

These are towns that I have had personal experience with. I've lived in them, visited, have family that live there or worked on projects in these towns.

Not much going on in general. High unemployment in general (think double digits). Low average incomes. Low average education levels. "Quaint, down-home southern values" might best describe most of these towns. Some of the downtown areas look like Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show. Many were formerly bustling, growing towns until all the textile mills or other manufacturing facilities left.

Personally, I think I would get bored living in any of these places. Maybe you should rent for a few months or a year in one of these places before you decide to relocate there.

 

[grumpy]

Our son has lived in Chapel Hill since 1992 (went to UNC & settled there). He owns a condo on Franklin Street. He LOVES living there and wouldn't consider relocating. We LOVE to visit there. Sure there is some heavy traffic but we are from the D.C. area so are used to much worse. If you are retired and don't have to commute it shouldn't be an issue. Compared to D.C., housing prices are lower there. We looked at houses in the Cary area and other places around Raleigh. We could buy a mansion for what our current house would sell for. DW doesn't want to leave friends in the D.C. area and since there are no grandkids we are not willing to move to N.C. any time soon but I wouldn't rule it out.

Grumpy

 

[Dawg52]

Although I graduated from the archrival of the Univ of MS(MSU), I can see the appeal of the location. It is a small college town that is a rocks throw from Memphis. Pretty campus and interesting small town. Boy, that was tough to type. 

 

[dumpster56]

I just maybe need not be near the wifes family. That may have tainted the water so to speak.

I did find some nice homes at a great price although I would leave almost an acre for a lot so small I could shake hands with the neighbor through the side windows.

I dunno. I need a good stiff drink, I really was disappointed at what my trip turned into. Arguments with the wife, School districts saying hey yes we want teachers but then saying oh your 50 heck we can hire two for the price we would have to pay you. But you can sub for 85 dollars a day. Maybe I feel that I need to work, when the wife says oh you are TOO YOUNG TO RETIRE!!

And her sister says the same and her parents start saying the same cr@p and all I say is ef you all I have put my time in ! Try teaching in an american inner city for 28 years!

$hit not many get it. I really just want to chill and sell kayaks or running shoes part time. Oh man I seem to be rambling again. At least I have the week off and now can decide what to do in peace away from the wifes family. Maybe I should have left her in NC!!

I see her point, she is worried about the change in life style. But money wise moving to that area and the pension and part time job would make finances from NJ to NC a WASH!

 

[audreyh1]

Vent away newguy - you need it!!!

That's so frustrating when you can't see eye-to-eye with your spouse.

Give it time - lots. I'm sure these changes are take some getting used to.

Too bad the in-laws ganged up on you. They may simply be parroting your wife's concerns.

Audrey

 

[madeit!]

"running shoes and kayaks"... Why didn't you say so earlier. Go to Bryson City, Sparta, Ashville, Boone or Hot Springs, NC. These are hip outdoor sports meccas with laid back river running, mountain biking, bluegrass music, neo hippie enviro-freak cultures. Forget Raleigh- Cary- Chapel Hill - these are sterile cul de sac burb towns full of boring high/low tech cube workers. Every subdivision and strip mall looks so alike that I get lost all of the time.
Unfortunately, the coastal areas are filling up with retired NY and NJ lawyers moving into gated "golf" communities. Unless you have a lot of money and like to wear kelly green slacks and white shoes, you will be better off in the mountains.

 

[brewer12345]

I just maybe need not be near the wifes family. That may have tainted the water so to speak.

I did find some nice homes at a great price although I would leave almost an acre for a lot so small I could shake hands with the neighbor through the side windows.

I dunno. I need a good stiff drink, I really was disappointed at what my trip turned into. Arguments with the wife, School districts saying hey yes we want teachers but then saying oh your 50 heck we can hire two for the price we would have to pay you. But you can sub for 85 dollars a day. Maybe I feel that I need to work, when the wife says oh you are TOO YOUNG TO RETIRE!!

And her sister says the same and her parents start saying the same cr@p and all I say is ef you all I have put my time in ! Try teaching in an american inner city for 28 years!

$hit not many get it. I really just want to chill and sell kayaks or running shoes part time. Oh man I seem to be rambling again. At least I have the week off and now can decide what to do in peace away from the wifes family. Maybe I should have left her in NC!!

I see her point, she is worried about the change in life style. But money wise moving to that area and the pension and part time job would make finances from NJ to NC a WASH!

You poor bastard. I think you need to change your strategy. Since the in-laws are in your business that much, you need to come up with a different way to sell all of this since it sounds like one of the keys to getting your wife on board will be to have at least a plausible story for her to tell her family. You know them better than any of us, but I suspect that a societally acceptable path is to have a "second career" after so many years doing one thing. A quick search on any search engine will bring up reams of BS articles about how the boomers are "redefining" retirement by working at a second career. This is your new angle, I think. You don't necessarily have to commit to what this "exciting new chapter in your life" might consist of. In fact, I think you would be wise to keep it somewhat vague, maybe coming up with 3 or 4 possibilities that arre A) plausible for you to be doing in the future and B) not too low status (no part time sanitation engineer). The idea is to have a good cover story.

Once you have done the sales job, retire as per normal, go find a nice place to live, and get on with your life. If you pick a nice spot, you will either naturally fall into a "second career/part time play-job" or everyone will gradually adjust to the idea that you are now retired.

I don't know if you have already done so, but it also might be worth having a frank, calm conversation with your wife in which you tell her that you are REALLY burnt out, and you WILL be leaving teaching in Newark one way or the other.

 

[Martha]

Very well said Brewer.

 

[astromeria]

Yup, it's all (or much-) in the presentation. Those of us with low EQ can only stand back in wonder...

When my husband took long breaks between jobs, he typically said he was starting a business--he even wrote a couple of buisness plans and started designing software architectures and writing code. He demo'ed at a Las Vegas convention (a trip at my expense-) software for script supervisors running on an Apple Newton  and got some interest from Hollywood producers! That helped lead to his being recruited to design products for an electronics company Another time, he and a hardwsare engineer friend developed a design and biz plan for a product that would download movies and TV shows over the Web (this was in the mid-90s). They actually gave some presentations to venture capital firms--unsuccessfully. But he also put in a drainage system and garden in the backyard during that time, so I was OK with it up to a point...not so happy to watch our Emergency/Freedom savings dwindle, though. Thanks for the memories...duh-dadah-dada-dah...

Anyhoo...newguy, how about spending your summer putting together a business plan for your kayak sales & rental and/or wildnerness trek business? Or Birkenstock franchise. Or SAT prep and tutoring service. And of course you need to scout out possible business locations throughout the South 

 

[justin]

Anyhoo...newguy, how about spending your summer putting together a business plan for your kayak sales & rental and/or wildnerness trek business? Or Birkenstock franchise. Or SAT prep and tutoring service. And of course you need to scout out possible business locations throughout the South

As part of the plan, Newguy, you should include "Obtain real-world experience in retail sales of outdoor athletic gear by working for an established retail outlet. This will enable me to understand the business aspects of retailing outdoor athletic gear, establish contacts in the industry, and develop salesmanship skills". This, of course is where you end up permanently (or as long as you want to).

 

[dumpster56]

Hey guys we had the quiet calm discussion last night, the wife really is on my side. She just has some issues from way back that as far as she is concerened will be dealt with when she talks to her sister and parents. She is behind whatever I decide to do, and really does want to move out of New Jersey.

A friend of mine told me to take a bottle of wine pour two glasses have one with the wife when the bottle is half full take out a coin call heads or tails and flip it and do what the coin says. well we did it and the coin was On the MONEY!

I will head down out of Newark sooner than later/ Heck I am gonna do MY OWN THING and seriously I can have as little contact with the wifes family, as I want. They are NOT MY FAMILY!

MY FATHER and sisters are 100% behind my idea of getting out of the stressfull crappy job in Newark.

Hey as I have always said. IT IS ALL GOOD, at least I HAVE SOME WONDERFUL OPTIONS!

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Newark Dear God!

How about this: Consider teaching overseas with the government. There used to be work for teachers at American outposts hither and yon. (I think OAP has experience in Yon.) State department, I believe. You have the credentials. (Mother Mary, you could probably teach in Baghdad!)

http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/

Run, do not walk!

Ed The Gypsy,
who used to call on a customer in the Port of Newark

 

[BUM]

Hell yeah! We scared off one more damn yankee! Gooooo Raleigh!!!

Ha! Hi justin. When my brother enrolled in NC public school (25 years ago) from NY the teacher asked, "Are you a yankee, or a damn IBM yankee?" I love that.

 

[OldAgePensioner]

newguy88,
apply for a job here. The kids have to be very disciplined or their /mom/dads get grilled by CO.

Nice place to live.

http://www.mhil-ehs.eu.dodea.edu/contact_info.htm

 

[justin]

Ha! Hi justin. When my brother enrolled in NC public school (25 years ago) from NY the teacher asked, "Are you a yankee, or a damn IBM yankee?" I love that.

Is there a difference?

I grew up in an IBM yankee neighborhood in Cary. All the IBM yankees were fine. After they had about 20 years to adjust to life down here.

My wife works for a company that is relocating tons of employees out of NYC and into the Research Triangle Park. Everyone is amazed at the half million dollar mansions they can buy down here. They go to Chapel Hill (the most expensive area of the Raleigh-Durham area) and ogle the cheap housing there. :