Looking for a southern city to move family. S.C./N.C., TN. or GA? Know of a great place?

Question

I don't mind the weather because anything is warmer than the north. I just don't want too much humidity or too many big bugs. A low crime rate place with good schools, reasonable housing, and good healthcare. Also opportunities for jobs and good higher education would be necessary. Lastly, if it is located near a city, that would be nice to participate in the arts there.

Answer 1

1. Atlanta
2. Charlotte N.C.
3. Raleigh Durham N.C.
4. Greensboro N.C
5. Columbia S.C.
6. Augusta G.A.
7. Rome G.A.
8. Myrtle Beach S.C.

Answer 2

North Carolina will have your largest selection of good universities. Anywhere in the south is going to be humid, you might as well forget that. I would go with upstate South Carolina or anywhere from Charlotte west in North Carolina. All the good jobs are along the I-85 corridor. Once you get to the mountains the property values go way up, but Asheville, N.C. has a very large arts community.

Answer 3

Im from Charlotte and although I dont really recommend moving to this city unless you have the money to live in a nicer areas (around $250 th and up), I highly recommend one of the suburbs around here. Try looking up Mint Hill, Monroe, or (I love this one) Lake Park. If you do consider this area, the public schools of Mecklenburg county (where Charlotte is located) have had many problems of recent due to the sudden surge of so many people moving here, not enough resources, and the big one, those officials in high seats have a certain inability to perform anything other than quit and take a nice severance package with them. Also, UNC Charlotte, Queens University, and Cenetral Piedmont Community College(highest rating of community school in US). There are also more PhD's in NC than any other state (or something like that in the news). So yeah, commute to Charlotte (plenty of jobs), lower taxes due to living outside Mecklenburg county, better schools, lots of college choices, good prices on homes, and NC has some awesome barbeque.

Answer 4

I am originally from up north and as a sales rep, I travel alot. I have been coast to coast and north to south. I moved to the Triad region of NC 12 years ago and I am hard pressed to find an overall better place to live. Yes, there cheaper places, and yes there are places with more opportunity, more scenic etc......but I cannot find any place that has everything. It is a place where you can live comfortably, for a reasonable price with global access that is close by to extremely nice ammenities. It is also very close to excellent hospitals and the growth potential is outstanding. Anyway.....from this northern transplant, the Winston Salem/Greensoboro/High Point area and all of the little communities in between are overall hard places to beat.

Answer 5

Yes, it is very hot here in summer. You may never get used to that coming from southern Ca. and I'm sure you'll miss the beach as well. In my opinion Plano is the nicest Dallas suburb. You'll find it has beautiful neighborhoods, many houses have pools that are used in summer in spite of the heat, the schools are superior, it's a family oriented place, with a lot of parks, some for people and some for dogs, shopping galore, great restaurants, gyms and a lot of churches. In Plano you'll want to stay west of Interstate 75 -- east of 75 is the older part of town. Other nice suburbs are Frisco and Flower Mound. Richardson has seen it's better days. Places of entertainment are spread out throughout the Metroplex. Professional basketball & hockey are played in Dallas. The professional football team will be in Irving 1 more year before moving to the new stadium in Arlington. The professional baseball team plays in Arlington. Frisco & Grand Prairie both have minor league baseball teams. Grand Prairie has horse racing. Fort Worth has NASCAR. Arlington has Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor. Dallas and FW both have several museums. Dallas has an aquarium at Fair Park. There are 4 lakes in the Metroplex for water sports (sorry no surfing) and many others less than 1 1/2 hours from Dallas. Grapevine Lake in Grapevine is very crowded and not very scenic. Lake Lewisville in Lewisville is considered the most dangerous lake in the state. Lake Ray Hubbard in Garland is great for sailing, but swimming isn't allowed. Joe Pool Lake, which can be reached from Cedar Hill on the east has rolling hills and is very scenic. The west side from Grand Prairie is flat, but has cabins, playground, a swimming area, and pavillions. Dallas & FW both have zoos, although I prefer the one in FW. If you can get past the Texas weather you may like it here. The cost of living in the Metroplex is one of the lowest in the nation. And traffic can't be any worse than in Ca.

Answer 6

Check out the Greenville SC area. Its great here! Clemson University Rocks. Lake Hartwell, Lake Keowee, The Peace Center for the Performing Arts, The Great Smokey Mountains, 3 Hours from Myrtle Beach/ Charleston. 2 hours from Atlanta.

Answer 7

I personally prefer VA - a compromise between north and south. Not a bad state overall. I lived in Norfolk area for about six years and the the northern VA for a couple of years. They're both nice but different.

The Research Triangle Park area of NC is supposed to be nice - I've only visited. I've spent a good amount of time in Augusta, GA, and that's not a bad area.

The others I don't have any experience in.

The farther south, the more humidity and bugs.

Have you checked out "Places Rated Almanac"?

Answer 8

I'm originally from Huntsville, Alabama. I'm as sweet as pie, so it can't be too bad, considering that I'm naive about a lot of things that big city people think is common sense. It's a nice place to live, the schools are pretty good, I'm not real sure about jobs, though. It depends on what you do. There's opportunity to participate in the arts. We have a yearly art festival called Panoply, along with an art museum dowtown. I like it.

Answer 9

Charlotte is nice, but getting crowded. Suburbs are good - especially Concord, Monroe, Indian Trail, Huntersville, and Rock Hill SC.

The Raleigh / RTC / Cary area is very nice as well. Lots of academic/research activities, very focused arts community.

The Myrtle Beach coastline is a great place, but be warned about the hurricane potential.

Another good "smaller city" area is around the Tri-Cities (Bristol / Kingsport / Johnson City) in east Tennessee. Very friendly people there and good jobs to be had, with a low cost of living. Great healthcare.

Asheville is awesome! Very artsy/eclectic, small, in the Smokies and laid-back.

Franklin / Brentwood Tennessee - just south of Nashville. Very nice, but very expensive.

Answer 10

Well I live in Tn. And the humidity down here, Ga, SC, NC, will kill you. So I don't know where you got you info.Sounds like arizona is the place for you.We here down south are know for humidity.Tn also has the worst health care coverage there is.The state has taken away are medicaid, and people with low incomes now have no way of paying for presciption drugs or hospital care.They are even dieing from no health care coverage.Thanks to are great gov. Mr. Bredason.(LP) I live in Knoxville and the jobs , health care and humidity all suck