What is North Carolina Like?

[itself]

We are talking about making some trips to NC to get to know it, and perhaps retire there as apparently, the climate is mild, no snow, so riding year round would be possible.

So what is the weather like in this state? Is it bike friendly? Are the people pretty cool about different lifestyles?

Thanks for your input!

[OakLeaf]

It's a big state! What part of NC are you talking about? Asheville? Nag's Head? The Triangle? .... ?

[itself]

Any part! I would like to know about the "warmer" part of the state.

[TsPoet]

Any part! I would like to know about the "warmer" part of the state.

Wow! Check it out first. Like you, I moved from Az to NC and I hated it there. I had great friends and everything was OK in that regard, but tree trees trees trees... you can drive right by a major city on a major highway and not know you've done it.
and humidity, ug!
As far as lifestyle, I'm not entirely sure, but I can ask a good friend of mine about that. He lived there at the same time I did and we all got along great, but the RTP area is a weird gamish of educated scientists and profesionals and local folks. I don't know how the society as a whole was.
PM me and I can either ask Jack for you or get you guys in touch with each other.

[sfa]

Coastal areas are generally mild year-round and flat, flat, flat. Four seasons, but rarely any bitter cold or snow. I lived in the piedmont (Winston-Salem) where summers were unpleasant (although, honestly, not as humid and hot as Baltimore), fall and spring were heavenly and lasted forever--none of these two weeks of pleasant weather stuck between months of heat on one side and cold on the other. Winters were dreary, drizzly, and icky. We got snow once in the couple of years I was there. The mountains are gorgeous--beautiful fall colors, cool summers, and lots of snow in the winter.

In some of the towns, people are pretty cool about different lifestyles--Raleigh Durham in particular since the major employers are the universities and tech companies. There are a lot of transplants from the rest of the country in Raleigh Durham and Charlotte. Other areas, not so much--lots of small town mentality and intolerant of outsiders. Politics are largely dominated by the Christian right, although remember that this is also the home state of John Edwards (make whatever jokes you want, but he got elected there with a liberal populist platform). I suspect as more people move to the state from outside of the state, politics will become more mixed--it was an entirely Republican state when I lived there, but Obama barely won the state in 2008, something I never would have imagined was possible.

The warmer parts of the state--south and east--are pretty rural. Small towns, poultry processing, pine forests. I think it's probably the ugliest part of the state except when you're actually on the coast, but I LIKE trees and hills and snow, so maybe I'm the wrong person to ask!

[Grits]

I live in the central part of the state and grew up at the coast.

The weather is relatively mild, although this summer was unusually hot with a record breaking number of days above 90 degrees. I can cycle regularly about 8 months out of the year, keeping in mind that I only will go out if it is above 40 degrees. Dec. - March, there are quite a few days that I can ride, but it is not regular. There are days with snow and temps that do not get much above freezing during those months. Not a lot of days, but some. If you don't have the 40 degree cut off, like I do, then you can ride almost all year.

The coast is warmer and gets less snow and is, of course, flatter. I have heard that New Bern and Wilmington have nice retirement communities.

The weather is usually considered to be mild, except (in my opinion), July and August which are miserably hot and humid, and Feb. and March, which can be miserably cold (for here - I know it is much colder elsewhere!).

The mountains get quite a bit of snow, but are beautiful. I especially like the Asheville are.

Cycling varies by city. There is a big cycling community where I am with a lot of clubs and organized rides. I imagine most cities here would have the same. If you have any more specific questions, I can try to answer them.

[OakLeaf]

I will add that WNC is totally overrun by halfbacks (i.e., people who retired to Florida but hated the congestion and the lack of scenery) right now. We considered moving there for a while, until the situation became clear. Property values are very inflated as a result. My neighbor, who had vacation property in WNC, says there's quite a bit of resentment among the locals, especially toward people coming from Florida.

[GLC1968]

We didn't like it. We moved to Greensboro from the Tampa area in 2004 and lived there for 3.5 years. I LOVED my job and the company I worked for, but my husband never found career oriented work and felt very professionally stunted (we are both engineers, for reference).

Socially, it was tough. I know that Greensboro is different than Charlotte or the Raleigh/Durham area, but wow...were we outcasts. We did find a nice little cycling commuting, but we never truly had real friends. We have more friends here in Portland after just one year than we did when we left NC. I'm going to be blunt here, but we were not accepted because 1) we were not church goers and 2) we had no children. I was *this close* to lying to people to tell them when they asked (because they ALWAYS did) that I was barren or something so that they stopped judging us for choosing to be childless. And even those who didn't actively judge us, didn't really want to befriend us. Almost all social activities in the greater Greensboro area centered around families/children or church. It left us out, a lot. Edited to add: This may have something to do with our age, too. We were late 30's when we lived there so too old to hang out at bars but not accepted at family events because we had no family. Experiences would probably be different for people who weren't in the prime parenting age bracket to begin with...

We also had issues with the weather. We chose NC as a compromise because I'm a northern girl and hate the heat and my H is a southerner and cannot handle cold winters. We were wrong. The winters were too cold and miserable for him (can you say constant ICE storms???) but not nearly cold enough for me (I like snow!). Summers were miserable. HOT, HOT, HOT and because of the humidity, it didn't cool down much at night. And yes, it's humid in the summer - even for FL transplants! Greensboro also had frequent drought problems when we lived there, so our plan to do the small, sustainable farm was not suited to the area. I will say that fall and spring were spectacular, weather-wise.

And the NC mountains are wonderful - lots of interesting people, beautiful scenery, and amazing cycling!

[FunSize]

I'm grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, went to college in Greenville, SC and am looking to go to grad school in NC. I can vouch for the southern transplants.

I really like the mountain side of the state. I've also been to Charlotte, Oak Island, Durham, Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Hickory, Raleigh, and Wilmington.

You can kind of get whatever you want in NC. If you want mountains and some snow, you can have it. If you want to live on the beach, you can do that, too! Also, if you live in the mountains and drive diagonally southeast, the beach in SC is about 5 to 6 hours away. Depending on where you live and how fast you drive. However, some areas of those SC beaches are extremely... kitschy. (Myrtle Beach... yuck)

Summers are definitely hot, but you get used to it. If you ride your bike midday in the summer you really feel the heat on hills and stops, otherwise its bearable. Still HOT, but bearable.

Out of the mountains and the beach will be the warmest areas during the winter. It's still summery weather right now, actually. The nights are getting chilly (and "chilly" is like... 60 degrees?).

One thing I would recommend is considering what kind of city you would like to be in. I grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis. The south was a bit of a change for me culturally. I also was used to having a big city near me. So, if you want the city life, it might be good to consider Charlotte or Raleigh. If you want a little less city. Greensboro, Winston Salem, and Durham are all smaller. Wilmington is a good sized city on the water. Asheville is a good sized city in the mountains. Brevard and Hendersonville are quaint mountain towns. Oak Island is a quaint beach town. Outer Banks area are beautiful beaches.

All in all, I really like North Carolina. Ideally i would like a lake house in the mountains. But that's just me.

[divingbiker]

I lived in Durham and didn't like it. I lasted 3.5 years before I moved away.

Like others have said, I couldn't abide the the politics and churchiness. When Jesse Helms beat Harvey Gantt for Senate in 1990, it was time for me to go.

The cities are tolerable, but the rural areas, which are right at the edge of the cities, are really rural and conservative. I was there for a visit this past weekend and it reinforced to me that I was right to move.

Do your homework.

[FunSize]

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.

Also, city areas, depending on the city, will be a little more liberal too. But yes... it is the south and there are definitely a lot more conservative people around. You can definitely find people that you'll get along with. It's just that not every person you pass on the street is going to be that way. I wouldn't argue that a lot of the social networking comes from church or kids, but that's true for many other places, too. You just have to work a little harder to find those groups that have people more like you if you're not a conservative, church going, child-rearer. I think that that will be much easier in a more urban setting.

The one downfall is that since it is so conservative in a majority of the state. You're going to usually have conservative politics in your town. If the politics and political actions taken in your town are important to you, definitely keep that in mind when moving to a predominantly conservative area. Now, I don't know how you feel about those types of things, but it is something to keep in mind.

I think "do your homework" is a good thing to say. Just be sure to know what you're looking for, what you want, what you don't want, what you can live with, and what you wouldn't be able to reconcile.

[emily_in_nc]

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.

[tulip]

We are talking about making some trips to NC to get to know it, and perhaps retire there as apparently, the climate is mild, no snow, so riding year round would be possible.

So what is the weather like in this state? Is it bike friendly? Are the people pretty cool about different lifestyles?

Thanks for your input!

It really depends on what you like and what you value, just like any place in the world. North Carolina is a whole state. You cannot generalize the whole state.

I grew up in Durham. I lived there for many years in graduate school, too. I went to college and grad school in Chapel Hill and Raleigh. My family lives in Durham and Asheville. I travel to NC for work several times a month.

If I were to move back, I would choose to move to Durham or Asheville. I might consider Wilmington, but I'm not very familiar with it, although I do like the coast quite a bit. Durham has really changed over the last 20 years. The downtown is vibrant and interesting, with many very good restaurants, a new transit center, and a newish minor league ball park. The Farmer's Market is fantastic, and there are many wonderful older neighborhoods with bungalows and cottages. The old tobacco factories have been transformed into lofts, and there is a thriving arts scene. Duke University brings many interesting people and events to Durham.

The thing I really dislike about Durham and the Triangle is the traffic. It's terrible if you have to get on the interstate for any reason. The traffic results from many, many new subdivisions and shopping malls that have ruined the rural character of much of the region. I used to ride my bike all over southern Durham County, but those days are long gone. There is too much traffic and too many subdivisions and too many malls.

Asheville is very progressive, but it is surrounded by very traditional culture. That is to be expected anywhere except maybe somewhere like Portland, Oregon, where it appears nearly everyone is from somewhere else. I really like meeting people who are locals. Asheville has many wonderful restaurants, lots of tourists (especially in the Fall) and is a beautiful city. The cycling is good, particularly the mountain biking. The housing prices are on the high side, but if you go out into the counties, as many transplants to, then the prices are very low. There are lots of artists, as well as traditional rural people, too. It's a nice mix.

Chapel Hill and Carrboro are nice, but unless you can afford to live downtown, I wouldn't recommend it. Living isolated in a subdivision is not for me, but then it might work for you.

I have not lived in Greensboro or Charlotte or other parts of the state. At this point, I would not choose to do so. Greensboro is too far from the ocean without the benefit of the mountains, and just doesn't appeal to me. Charlotte is interesting, but too sprawly (although the downtown is pretty neat). YMMV.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to send me a PM.

[Koronin]

I moved from Ohio to North Carolina 10 years ago. I moved to the Charlotte area and loved it. Yes it does snow. We had at least a couple of days of snow every year I lived there. But the winters are definitely more mild than in north eastern Ohio. The only thing I really didn't like about the Charlotte area is the traffic. The traffic in and around Charlotte is much worse than the Raleigh/Durham area. I lived in Mooresville and there is one road that leads to housing on the penisula that is a parking lot from around 4pm until about pm. On the other hand at least the Mooresville area is mostly friendly towards cyclists. Although not many bike lanes there are a lot of cyclists who ride some of the roads and motorists seem to pay attention and have respect for them. We just moved to Jacksonville, NC this spring as my husband was able to get a civil service job here. Anyway, I'm trying to get used to this area. It's a military city, which I'm not used to. The summers here are hotter and more humid than in Charlotte. Charlotte is a 5hr drive from here. Haven't been through a winter here yet. My husband grew up in eastern NC and prefers eastern NC to western NC. I haven't been in the eastern part of the state long enough to decide which I prefer.

[bcipam]

Itself... where are you from? If you live in the Southwest, humid NC may not be for you. All parts of NC get hot and humid and all parts get cold. There are warmer parts. It snows up near Ashville and seldom snows around Raleigh or Charlotte. Personally I love the Charlotte area. It's absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately not all that good for road riding. Nice roads, beautiful countryside but no shoulders/bike lanes and inattentive, fast drivers.

I have often though of retiring in NC, but up near Ashville. Or maybe over the state line near Nashville, TN. TN is also a lovely state, one worth considering and weather is milder.