Quote Originally Posted by FunSize View Post
I think a good thing to know is that usually academic areas are going to be a little more liberal than rural areas. Usually, professors and academic communities try to stay forward thinking.
This is true! I was born and bred in NC and have lived here the vast majority of my life. I've lived in a bunch of different cities in the Piedmont (Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Efland, and Carrboro) over the years. I've also had significant dealings with both the coastal part of the state from having our boat down there, and the foothills/mountains from having family in that direction. We currently live in Chapel Hill, just moved back here in June, and love it.

The eastern and western parts of the state are very conservative overall. My mom (a died in the wool Democrat who lives in western NC) grouses about it all the time, and we've seen it first-hand in the eastern part of the state.

The university towns are by far the most progressive. For the most part, this is a red state with two blue counties -- Orange (where Chapel Hill and Carrboro are) and Durham. The academic community in Raleigh, of which my dad was a part when he was living, is also very blue, despite the majority of Raleigh being red.

My DH and I, like GLC, are also non-church-going and don't have kids, but we haven't had too difficult a time making friends in most places we've lived here. Chapel Hill is by far the best as far as finding a wide variety of progressive and tolerant folks, but it's an expensive place to live - housing is outrageous. Carrboro is much less expensive but has a lot of students. Both towns are great for cycling with decent infrastructure (bike paths, lanes and such) and an active bike club. On weekend rides, we see bikes everywhere -- love that! Another thing Chapel Hill has is a free bus system. We are able to have a lot of car-free days by riding and/or taking the bus. It's great, though pretty crowded with UNC students during the academic year.

Now that we live in town again, we found the motorists pretty respectful. Many stop and wait for us to cross and so forth. When we lived in a rural area near Efland, people drove a lot faster, the roads had no shoulders, and since they didn't expect to see cyclists, we didn't feel that we were treated as well by some (certainly not all). And there were LOTS of loose dogs. People in the country here just don't believe in leash laws. I fractured my pelvis courtesy of two loose dogs while riding in a rural area near our home in Efland, so that was a real issue for me. Since being in the city, we haven't been chased or even seen a loose dog. Nice!

Weather-wise, yes, it DOES snow here. Not a lot, but it does snow, and we do get ice storms. It snows less in Raleigh than just up the road in Hillsborough, which is both farther NW and also a bit higher in elevation. We had 20" of snow in this area in 2000, but that's very rare. Most snows are a dusting to 3" and are gone in a day or two. We also have nights in the single digits now and again, and the teens are not uncommon. Most winter days the high does go above freezing, though there are exceptions. There are quite a few gray, drizzly days in the winter months. The summers, as others have pointed out, are hot and humid, and generally very sunny. This summer was particularly brutal, with 91 days over 90 degrees, as well as having the most days with a heat index over 100 ever. Spring and fall are lovely with lower humidity, breezy, with plenty of sunny days.

I don't ride year round, but many do. I tend to hibernate from about mid-Nov til mid-March. Just depends on your tolerance level for discomfort. I'd rather ride in the heat than on a blustery cold day, personally.

Any more questions, feel free to ask this Tarheel.