What can anyone tell me about North Carolina?

[MrsMatt]

My husband is up for a job in Winston-Salem, and if he is offered the position (which seems very likely), we will probably be moving there.

He'd go this fall and be there by himself for a year, and I would follow with the kids (and cats) in 2009, in order for our oldest can finish elemetary in her old school.

Currently, we live in St Paul Minnesota, and I'm very comfortable here. Can anyone give me a sense of what we could expect if we moved there?

edited for misspelling

[TexasLady]

1. I dont mean this post to be morbid in any way

but before my little brother passed away, he begged his wife to throw his ashes there if he died, because he said it was so breathtakingly beautiful there. He saw many parts of America and the world, and of all places, he chose to rest there.
:)

[tekisui]

9. I've travelled the US, and some places outside the US.

The mountains of Western NC are the most beautiful I've seen. It's home, and I will always come back here.

[stuntcat]

2. it's beautiful, in many ways :D

the whole state, and Winston-Salem is a great part! The big cities are a lot of suburban sprawl now but even those places are pretty, and full of interesting stuff. I could rave all day but I don't know how much help that would be. Whenever I go back there I notice how many people there are from all over the place.. where I grew up we only had 3 sorts of people, and all Southern of course. It was a tiny town in the southern point of the state, a world away from the Research Triangle for sure!
I'm in VA now but if I ever had the chance to go back to NC I'd take it :D

[Frosty1]

3. Much nicer winters

:hi:

[littlebit]

4. What would you like to know?

I live about 20 miles from Winston Salem. The weather is going to be a big change for you. It rarely snows here. The summer time is miserable. It gets very hot with close to 100% humidity. Winston is a mid size town of about 400,000. You will be 3 hours from the mountains and about 4 hours from the coast.

[MrsMatt]

7. Any information is helpful

as I have never been there (closest I've been is Virginia). Quality education is a big concern, as is political climate, religious tolerance, etc.

The only other person who I personally know who's lived in NC categorically stated that it was the "Armpit of the Universe". He is somewhat cynical and bitter, so I tend to take his pronouncements with a grain of salt.

[quadriga]

5. It's geographic center

Is in Chatham Co., 10 mi. NW of Sanford

[supernova]

6. Native Tarheel here..

:hi:

Welcome!

Winston Salem is a medium-sized city here. They used to be the home of big tobacco in NC but now you are more likely to find furniture, medicine, and the arts. It is very close to the NC and VA mountains. :-) In the beginning, W-S was settled primarily by the Moravians from Germany and the Czech Republic.

The weather is subtropical, averaging about 45 inches of rain a year, though we are in a serious drought at the moment. Winters tend to be mild. We do get the white stuff, but it rarely hangs around more than an afternoon or two. Sometimes we have ice storms rather than snow. The up side, is that before the end of February, you are likely to be tempted to break out your shorts. B-)

We are still semi rural and have a proud agrarian sector and tradition. Small farmers are switching to organic practices and profiting from it. We have lots of farmers markets and places like that to take advantage of.

Summers are hot and steamy. :evilgrin:

[MrsMatt]

11. I think I can handle the summers

as it can get very hot & humid here (July & August can be very brutal!)

Semi rural shouldn't be a problem either as both my husband & I grew up in rural rural Minnesota (we're both children of farmers), although my citified oldest child may have a bit of culture shock.

Glad to know that the small farmers are embracing organic - we have a great farmer's market in Mpls & St Paul, and I personally know many small farmers where I can purchase foodstuffs so the localvore movement is very dear to me.

[tekisui]

8. My dad moved from St. Paul to Asheville, NC

in 1979. He has stayed since. NC is a beautiful state. I haven't spent much time in W-S, but the Western Mountains are the greatest place on Earth.

Really. If you move down, a mountain vacation will be only 4 hours away, and worth the drive. I promise, especially in the Fall.

[mikita]

10. actually if you're in W-S

you're only 1.5 hours from the blue ridge mountains in Ashe County.... and the elevation is higher than that of Asheville (I split time between both places). So you don't have to go 3 or 4 hours to get out of the summer heat...

I've been in NC (Chapel Hill, Jefferson, Asheville) for 40 years. We have warts, but you can find people of all stripes here, and from all parts of the country.

Best of luck and a pre-emptive welcome!

:hi: Mikita

[struggle4progress]

12. Politically the state is a mixed bag: rule of thumb, the eastern parts

are more liberal than the western parts -- despite some survivalist wackos in the mountains, Asheville is an exception in the west, while Durham and Chapel Hill are also reliably liberal (RDU has one of the highest per capita concentrations of PhDs in the country, though the state as a whole doesn't seem terribly well educated, despite having a very finest state university system). Dems often in charge of state government, Congressional delegation about evenly split, Publicans usually win the Presidential vote.

There are some oddities of Southern culture: "Ice tea" almost always means "sweet tea" which IIRC contains approximately ten pounds of sugar per gallon of liquid. Depending on exactly where you are, people may stop their car in the middle of the road to chat with passing friends. When walking in your neighborhood, remember to wave and smile at anybody passing in a car

NC in particular: As a group, NCers are some of the most habitual litterbugs I've ever seen. Also, there seems to be some strange unwritten rule that if the car in front of you ran the redlight, you can too! (which sometimes leads to strange scofflaw processions of six or eight cars through the redlight). I've heard marijuana is our #1 cash crop but don't know if that is true. Substantial growth of Hispanic population in recent years generally well received