Where to move?

[Momma H]

We want warmer--no snow in the winter. We want cheaper (were in Colorado right now). We want land. We want trees. We also have an adopted bi-racial child, so we want good race relations. Where do we want to live?

OK, maybe just a little bit of snow--in a year when Florida got snow, it is hard to say NO snow!

Edited January 8, 2011 by Momma H
added info

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I'm not sure about CoL but we have friends who love Austin, Tx. We are postitvely jealous of the homeschool opportunities they have.

[SailorMom]

The "no snow" limits it a bit. We loved New Mexico (there are some beautiful places in the southern Rockies), and the culture there is very modern and open. We only ever had a few inches of snow where we were. The summers are hot, but dry and very pleasant.

Homeschooling laws are basically nil - you register every year. That's it.

[LisaKinVA]

I would suggest a suburban area outside of a large metropolitan southern city... or somewhere in Florida (well, you probably won't have the trees or land).

[DawnM]

We moved from the Los Angeles area to Charlotte, NC. Don't believe everything you hear about the South.....most of Charlotte is from the North East! Small towns may have more racial issues, but the larger cities don't have any more than I found in Los Angeles (where riots happen over racial issues but people seem to think the South has the issues!) ;)

 

We have an Asian child and have considered adopting an African American child. I wouldn't have any reservations to do that in our circle of friends and from what I have seen.

 

Dawn

[mytwomonkeys]

we love the charlotte, nc area. i'm from atlanta & love it there as well. charlotte has a huge homeschooling community, an eclectic group of people, lots to do, and very afforable living (especially if you live in fort mill, rock hill SC area, etc). hth.

[jenL]

My first thought was Charlotte, NC where I currently live. However, we've already had snow on Christmas, and we're expecting another storm. Granted, it's nothing like CO winters (my college roomie lives there). We're from NH originally and moved here for warmth. It's definitely warmer here and there are lots of trees! I believe we're the 3rd largest homeschooling state population-wise after TX and CA if I remember correctly from a recent article from our local paper (I can't find its link though).

Edited January 8, 2011 by jenL

[mytwomonkeys]

We moved from the Los Angeles area to Charlotte, NC. Don't believe everything you hear about the South.....most of Charlotte is from the North East! Small towns may have more racial issues, but the larger cities don't have any more than I found in Los Angeles (where riots happen over racial issues but people seem to think the South has the issues!) ;)

 

We have an Asian child and have considered adopting an African American child. I wouldn't have any reservations to do that in our circle of friends and from what I have seen.

 

Dawn

 

this was our experience as well. we moved here from sacramento & our experience here has been wonderful. atlanta is also a melting pot of different people & beliefs...very accepting.

[Sweetbeebie]

Mid to south Florida depending on how warm your wanting. I'm in Southwest Fla (Naples) which only fits the cheaper if your willing to drive 20-30 minutes to get to town. But the next county over,Lee/Fort Myers would fit everything you listed. We're 1.5/2 hrs from Miami and 3.5 from Orlando and all it's fun:)

[Sahamamama]

Oregon -- you'd get snow, lots of trees, not sure about land/cheaper, not really sure about race relations

 

Northern California -- no snow (except in the mountains), trees, might be cheaper, might find land, probably good race relations

 

Arizona/New Mexico/Southern Nevada -- no snow (except in the mountains), trees (possibly), might be cheaper, might find land, probably good race relations (unless your child looks "Hispanic," there might be tension there now)

 

Texas/Oklahoma/Arkansas -- no snow (?), trees, probably cheaper, probably plenty of beautiful land, not sure about race relations

 

Tennessee/N. & S. Carolina -- not much snow, hot/humid summers, trees, probably cheaper/land, not sure about race relations (Kentucky and Virginia get snow) * I agree that about 1/2 of New Jersey has moved to Charlotte, North Carolina (think "New Jersey in the South" LOL, it might work for you, if you can stand so many Northeasterners ;)) -- people wanted to get away from NYC after 9-11.

 

Deep South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida) -- not much snow, trees, cheaper, land available, not sure about race relations

 

Hawaii -- no snow (LOL), trees, probably not cheaper, land hard to find (?), probably great race relations (?)

 

 

Good luck!

Edited January 8, 2011 by Sahamamama

[Momma H]

More MORE!!!!

[myfunnybunch]

Another vote for Oregon.

 

A little bit of snow, but not much. Beautiful outdoors.

 

Families with parents and children of different races are common, whether through marriage or adoption.

 

Homeschooling is easy. You must register, and children do state testing in 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th grades. There are many homeschoolers across the state.

 

Cat

[Giraffe]

Hawaii -- no snow (LOL), trees, probably not cheaper, land hard to find (?), probably great race relations (?)

Good luck!

 

Nope - bad race relations, at least from my experience and what I've heard. The Hawaiians do not like white people - when I was there as a kid there was something called "Haole (sp?) beat up day" where the white kids all got beat up by the Hawaiians and Samoans. My preschool-aged brother got hit the first year we were there! We stayed IN OUR HOUSE after that on that day.

 

Texas - I live in DFW and it seems to fit your criteria. We are a Turkish/American family and haven't seen any issues with race, but DH is white so maybe I'm not seeing the whole story. I will say I've not had issues with DH and DD's VERY Turkish names. I've seen plenty of bi-racial families, so I don't think it would be an issue. We might be getting snow (1") this coming week, but it's a "top of the news" thing so not that common. Homeschooling friendly state. Land is supposedly cheap outside the Metroplex, there are trees. I love it here.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, I was going to say for only a little or no snow, then perhaps Florida. Maybe some parts of southern California, Nevada, Arizona, or New Mexico would qualify, too.... South Louisiana; maybe south Texas.....

[BlsdMama]

If you like rain, the PNW might be the way to go.

 

We don't get snow often, but you can head to the mountains for it when you want it, like skiing and Christmas. :D Major cities are very multi-cultural.

 

I admit I miss the sun. A lot. :001_huh: I miss the north/midwest wicked winters. No, really. And apparently I hate rain. Who knew? But it's my first year here.

 

That said, the people are AMAZINGLY friendly. The views are breathtaking and I LOVE the trees & mountains.

[Trish]

I would suggest a suburban area outside of a large metropolitan southern city... or somewhere in Florida (well, you probably won't have the trees or land).

 

We are in central Florida and there are plenty of trees and land! And of course it's a buyer's market right now. We have a great homeschooling group here too.

 

Atlanta is getting a bunch of snow this winter, so I vote for Florida!

 

Just wanted to add, race relations seem pretty good where we are, MUCH better than when I lived up north. Before I pulled the kids out of school (wanted to homeschool, nothing against them), there were children of all races in their private school, same is true of public. The north seems very segregated to me compared to here. There are hispanics, phillipinos, african-americans. Whites are still the majority but the others are a significant minority.

Edited January 8, 2011 by Trish

[parias1126]

I would also have to say Charlotte, NC. I moved here from South Florida. I have been here for 6 years and we really haven't experienced that much snow (not compared to further north anyway). I would also say that people are very biracial accepting here which was a great relief when we moved. Florida was just not that way. I love that people are more open minded and accepting around here. The Homeschool community is HUGE with lots of opportunity. In Florida I used to get very strange reactions to being a homeschooler, but people here just automatically assume when they see us out during the day that we are homeschoolers. I don't get negativity any longer. It's more so, "I wish I could Homeschool".

[sunriseiz]

We love middle TN. We have several of friends with children of races different from their own. And most importantly, we've had less than 3 in of snow this year (last year it was 0 in!)! :D

[Momma H]

Thanks for all the replies.

Right now, Texas (DFW kind of area), TN (Nashvilleish area?) and the Carolinas are at the top of my list. When I say those areas I mean outside of those areas to get to the land. One thing I am having kind of a hard time with is that the square footage of homes is smaller than here. Basements are very common here to it is really easy to have 3000-4000 square feet. Where do you people put all your stuff?! I hope that doesn't sound bad but that is what I am now used to.:) Some of the houses don't even have garages--I would be buried. I sure think I may have too much stuff now.

I was born and raised in Seattle and it is beautiful but my MOTHER is there, so that is OUT!:tongue_smilie:

[hsbaby]

Another vote for mid-TN based on your criteria. I don't know much about north of Nashville, but to the south there are a lot of great cities and a huge homeschooling community. We moved from CA five years ago and haven't looked back!!

[East Coast Sue]

San Antonio, Texas

 

Weather is great. Life is affordable (house, insurance, food, etc...)

Homeschooling is very common.

We also have an adopted child from outside of our race and we all felt very at home there- probably due to high concentration of military bases/posts which usually brings a varied racial population.

 

Have fun!

[DawnM]

It all depends on your price range.

 

We live outside of Charlotte and have 2.5 acres and a basement and we have two garages. One is a car and a half size and the other is a 2 car size.

 

There are areas here where you can get all of what you are talking about for good prices.

 

Dawn

 

Thanks for all the replies.

Right now, Texas (DFW kind of area), TN (Nashvilleish area?) and the Carolinas are at the top of my list. When I say those areas I mean outside of those areas to get to the land. One thing I am having kind of a hard time with is that the square footage of homes is smaller than here. Basements are very common here to it is really easy to have 3000-4000 square feet. Where do you people put all your stuff?! I hope that doesn't sound bad but that is what I am now used to.:) Some of the houses don't even have garages--I would be buried. I sure think I may have too much stuff now.

I was born and raised in Seattle and it is beautiful but my MOTHER is there, so that is OUT!:tongue_smilie:

[Margo out of lurking]

Basements are very common here to it is really easy to have 3000-4000 square feet. Where do you people put all your stuff?! I hope that doesn't sound bad but that is what I am now used to.:) Some of the houses don't even have garages--I would be buried.

 

We moved from 2500 sf plus half a basement plus a 2 car garage in Colorado Springs to 1850 sf plus a whole basement and no garage in southern Virginia. The killer was that we no longer had a living room, dining room, fourth bedroom, and of course the garage. The motivator was that we paid a moving company to move us, which was an incentive to get rid of things before moving. But we moved to 5 acres in the woods with a creek in back and a lot less snow than Colorado.

 

I was born and raised in Seattle and it is beautiful but my MOTHER is there, so that is OUT!:tongue_smilie:

 

:lol: My mil moved from Denver to Seattle. Dh's and my private joke is that 1500 miles just wasn't quite far enough, so we moved 1500 miles further in the opposite direction.

[Catwoman]

Ok, I'll semi-hijack this thread and ask which are the nicest neighborhoods/towns in the Charlotte, NC area. We'd be looking for a relatively upscale area with large homes and large yards (at least an acre.)

 

You guys are making me want to move! :D

 

Cat

[Scarlett]

We want warmer--no snow in the winter. We want cheaper (were in Colorado right now). We want land. We want trees. We also have an adopted bi-racial child, so we want good race relations. Where do we want to live?

OK, maybe just a little bit of snow--in a year when Florida got snow, it is hard to say NO snow!

 

Northwest AR is beautiful and there are jobs there.

 

What line of work?

[Rosie_0801]

Australia is nice...

 

 

:lol:

Rosie

[Catwoman]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

I just checked Charlotte, NC at Bestplaces.net, and the crime is rated 8/10 for violent crime and 8/10 for property crime, with 10 being the absolute worst. That is SCARY. :scared: Where we live now, our ratings are 1/10 and 1/10, and safety is a major consideration for us. I mean, Camden, NJ is rated 10 and 7, and that's one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Even Newark, NJ is only rated 7 and 5, and Paterson, NJ is rated 8 and 4, and you'd never catch me moving to either of those places, either. There are way too many bad neighborhoods in those places, so I am really wondering what the story is with Charlotte.

 

Are the ratings skewed because parts of Charlotte are really nasty, but surrounding areas are nice and safe, or are the BestPlaces ratings incredibly inaccurate?

 

Cat

Edited January 8, 2011 by Catwoman

[TN Mama]

I'd like to put in a vote for East TN. (Middle TN and DFW area would also get votes from me.)

[Mrs Mungo]

Texas/Oklahoma/Arkansas -- no snow (?), trees, probably cheaper, probably plenty of beautiful land, not sure about race relations

 

There is a lot of cold, cold weather in Oklahoma to include snow. There are few trees (unless you live in what passes for a mountainous area). Race relations in all of these areas is only so-so, but metro areas are better.

 

Hawaii -- no snow (LOL), trees, probably not cheaper, land hard to find (?), probably great race relations (?)

 

Actually, race relations can be quite problematic in Hawaii.

[Momma H]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

I just checked Charlotte, NC at Bestplaces.net, and the crime is rated 8/10 for violent crime and 8/10 for property crime, with 10 being the absolute worst. That is SCARY. :scared: Where we live now, our ratings are 1/10 and 1/10, and safety is a major consideration for us. I mean, Camden, NJ is rated 10 and 7, and that's one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Even Newark, NJ is only rated 7 and 5, and Paterson, NJ is rated 8 and 4, and you'd never catch me moving to either of those places, either. There are way too many bad neighborhoods in those places, so I am really wondering what the story is with Charlotte.

 

Are the ratings skewed because parts of Charlotte are really nasty, but surrounding areas are nice and safe, or are the BestPlaces ratings incredibly inaccurate?

 

Cat

 

 

Where are you that the crime rate is so very low?

[Truscifi]

We are in central Florida and there are plenty of trees and land! And of course it's a buyer's market right now. We have a great homeschooling group here too.

 

Atlanta is getting a bunch of snow this winter, so I vote for Florida!

 

Just wanted to add, race relations seem pretty good where we are, MUCH better than when I lived up north. Before I pulled the kids out of school (wanted to homeschool, nothing against them), there were children of all races in their private school, same is true of public. The north seems very segregated to me compared to here. There are hispanics, phillipinos, african-americans. Whites are still the majority but the others are a significant minority.

 

:iagree: We are also in central Florida, though in a fairly rural county. Cost of living is pretty low here, but higher closer in to Tampa and Orlando. We have plenty of land and trees, no snow, okay race relations, and fairly relaxed homeschooling regulations.

 

It sounds like Texas would fit the bill for you as well.

 

I think TN and NC get snow.

[TN Mama]

:iagree: We are also in central Florida, though in a fairly rural county. Cost of living is pretty low here, but higher closer in to Tampa and Orlando. We have plenty of land and trees, no snow, okay race relations, and fairly relaxed homeschooling regulations.

 

It sounds like Texas would fit the bill for you as well.

 

I think TN and NC get snow.

 

TX can get some snow, too. And ice. At least it has in the DFW area, but it doesn;t happen often.

 

In East TN (not the mountains) we don't get much in the way of snow. In 11 years, I've never seen more than 2 inches in one system. And it doesn't stick around.

 

Now, after Mon/Tues I may have a different story, but until it happens, I will stick to the above. :)

[thowell]

Check out Lake City, Fl. We live close to there. Property and homes are cheap right now. Small town feel. Good race relations, Nice country side, Low crime rate, and Gainesville, Fl. is about 40 minutes south plenty of shopping, Jacksonville, is 1 hour East lots of shopping! Anywhere in this area is great for what you are looking at.

[Catwoman]

Where are you that the crime rate is so very low?

 

We're in the New York City metro area. There are many towns in NY, NJ, and CT that have 1/10 crime rates. I'm sure there are many in NC, too, and I've always heard good things about Charlotte, so I was shocked to see the crime figures. I'm hoping to hear that BestPlaces.net made an error and posted the wrong numbers.

 

Cat

[nancy in nj]

We moved from an affluent suburb of NYC (Westfield NJ) to the Charlotte area (Mooresville about 30 minutes north on Lake Norman), and I also was concerned about the high crime rates in Charlotte.

 

Even in our town the crime rates are really high, but it seems to be in pockets and also along main shopping roads with the strip malls. When we lived in NJ, the main shopping highway near us (RT 22) was not actually in our town but within 2 or 3 miles. The crime rates were much higher in the towns along this shopping corridor. The main shopping corridor here actually runs through our town bumping up crime rates. We live on the lake where the homes are very expensive, and I feel just as safe here as I did living in NJ with a very low crime rate.

 

Charlotte is a big city and has the crime rates associated with big cities. Check the crime rates for any big city in the South; they all looked really high to me when we were doing our search. There are many very nice affluent sections of Charlotte and the surrounding suburbs. It seems like the worst crime is in pockets within Charlotte. I still haven't driven in Charlotte much other than to go to Trader Joe's or the South Park mall, so I am still not sure where the unsafe pockets are located.

 

We absolutely love it here, and I would definitely recommend coming down and spending some time here to get comfortable with the area.

 

Nancy

[Giraffe]

Where do you people put all your stuff?!

 

I'm downsizing! :tongue_smilie:

[rafiki]

.

[AngieW in Texas]

We're in the Austin area of Texas and have biracial neighbors. It's not uncommon to see biracial couples here.

 

We've been here for 7 years and have had snow twice (actual snow that you can see on the ground and it's still there the next day) and "snow" several times (snow flurries fall, but no snow left on the ground within 15 minutes after it's over).

 

There was a lot more snow in Dallas (the kids miss it), but even there it was 1-2x/year and was usually gone within two days.

 

You can get affordable housing on land a lot closer to Austin than you can to Dallas.

[Catwoman]

We moved from an affluent suburb of NYC (Westfield NJ) to the Charlotte area (Mooresville about 30 minutes north on Lake Norman), and I also was concerned about the high crime rates in Charlotte.

 

Even in our town the crime rates are really high, but it seems to be in pockets and also along main shopping roads with the strip malls. When we lived in NJ, the main shopping highway near us (RT 22) was not actually in our town but within 2 or 3 miles. The crime rates were much higher in the towns along this shopping corridor. The main shopping corridor here actually runs through our town bumping up crime rates. We live on the lake where the homes are very expensive, and I feel just as safe here as I did living in NJ with a very low crime rate.

 

Charlotte is a big city and has the crime rates associated with big cities. Check the crime rates for any big city in the South; they all looked really high to me when we were doing our search. There are many very nice affluent sections of Charlotte and the surrounding suburbs. It seems like the worst crime is in pockets within Charlotte. I still haven't driven in Charlotte much other than to go to Trader Joe's or the South Park mall, so I am still not sure where the unsafe pockets are located.

 

We absolutely love it here, and I would definitely recommend coming down and spending some time here to get comfortable with the area.

 

Nancy

 

Thanks so much, Nancy -- your post was very encouraging, as my dh owned a home in Westfield for many years before we got married (we moved when we got married,) so we're very familiar with the area, and know exactly what you're talking about. It's such a nice town, isn't it?

 

I will check out the Mooresville area by Lake Norman and see what's available. It sounds like we are from a similar background, so it would seem to be a sensible place for me to start looking around. We don't mind spending extra money to be in a safer area.

 

I have heard so much about the active homeschooling community in the Charlotte area, and that would be so nice for my ds. He is an only child, so it's very important to me to be able to move somewhere that will provide lots of opportunities for him to make friends.

 

Thanks again! :001_smile:

 

Cat

[Paige]

We live outside of Atlanta and like it a lot. We are moving soon out of state and just said today we wish we were moving here this year instead of moving away. You can find amazing houses-3,000-4,000 sq ft., granite counter tops with huge kitchens, hardwood floors, large bathrooms, walk in closets, nice neighborhoods, big lots- dirt cheap right now. We are moving to KY and you'd think it would be cheaper there but our house is going for over 100,000 less than it would in the boonies in KY. There is so much supply here because builders were putting new homes up everywhere.

 

Contrary to what you would think, I believe race relations are pretty good around Atlanta. I'm white and my family is white so maybe I don't see things that others would but my children have never had as many friends from so many different ethnic backgrounds. I think it is much easier here than it has been in the north to just have casual relationships and then good friendships with so many different people. Where we lived in the north, if we wanted our kids in a school/club/church/etc with a diverse mix of kids, we'd have to specifically search for one and make a point to make it happen. Here, it happens wherever we go without having to really look for it. I know there are still people who are very racist here but you'll find that everywhere and it isn't the norm and they are not generally accepted by others at all.

 

Homeschooling is very easy here and Atlanta has a huge homeschool community with lots of opportunities and I love all of the cultural and recreational opportunities around here as well. You'd be able to find homes with lots of land in most any of the cities considered part of the metro area outside of Atlanta and if you are in the country areas of these counties, crime is not bad at all.

 

It rarely snows here and when it does, it is gone quickly. I hate snow and don't mind it so much here. It's different when it disappears within 48hrs and doesn't pile up in huge ugly mounds for months and it doesn't get tracked into the house all winter long. In the 6yrs we've been here, I'd say it snows about 2 times a year on average- maybe 3 or 4 if you count flakes that don't ever stick.

Edited January 9, 2011 by Paige

[elfgivas]

niagara-on-the-lake, ontario, canada....

 

some snow in winter, but not much; and its wine and theater country.... :001_smile:

[abbeyej]

Here in Atlanta we have tons of trees, relatively warm (preparing for a "blizzard" today though!), and at least here in the city, multi-racial families are quite common. On the other hand, you'll want to be outside the city for more land and lower housing prices, but the further you get from the city, the more possible it is that you might encounter some level of racial tension.

[DawnM]

We live south of the city, in Marvin. Top ranked schools (Marvin Ridge High) and very nice homes in or not in sub-divisions.

 

http://www.city-data.com/city/Marvin-North-Carolina.html

 

Crime in Charlotte is all relative I guess. I have never, ever felt unsafe in Charlotte, even in what they call the "inner-city." I moved here from Los Angeles though, so it is all relative.

 

Dawn

 

Ok, I'll semi-hijack this thread and ask which are the nicest neighborhoods/towns in the Charlotte, NC area. We'd be looking for a relatively upscale area with large homes and large yards (at least an acre.)

 

You guys are making me want to move! :D

 

Cat

[DawnM]

Ok, just to give you some perspective:

 

Here is Charlotte's crime rate:

 

http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Charlotte-Mecklenburg&state=NC

 

and here is the one for Matthews, which is a reasonable sized town/city on the border of Charlotte:

 

http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Matthews&state=NC

 

My town/city is not in there as it is smaller, but ours is even lower than Matthews.

 

Most of the crime in Charlotte is not rape or murder, most is burglary.....we have seen an increase in home burglaries as the economy has changed for sure. But overall, I would consider this area quite safe.

 

Dawn

[Liz CA]

Central California? The valley practically never gets any snow, hot and dry in the summer. Real Estate is a steal right now with the economy in the dumps.

Check south and north of Sacramento, also south of San Francisco along I5. If you want coastal area, the housing prices will go up. Oh and biracial families don't encounter many problems here. One hiccup could be employment. Depends on what you do for a living.

[Allearia]

We moved from the Los Angeles area to Charlotte, NC. Don't believe everything you hear about the South.....most of Charlotte is from the North East! Small towns may have more racial issues, but the larger cities don't have any more than I found in Los Angeles (where riots happen over racial issues but people seem to think the South has the issues!) ;)

 

We have an Asian child and have considered adopting an African American child. I wouldn't have any reservations to do that in our circle of friends and from what I have seen.

 

Dawn

 

I wish my dh would consider a move to Charlotte. We really love everything about the SF Bay Area but the PRICE.

 

How is the public transportation in Charlotte?

[katilac]

Thanks for all the replies.

Right now, Texas (DFW kind of area), TN (Nashvilleish area?) and the Carolinas are at the top of my list. When I say those areas I mean outside of those areas to get to the land. One thing I am having kind of a hard time with is that the square footage of homes is smaller than here. Basements are very common here to it is really easy to have 3000-4000 square feet. Where do you people put all your stuff?! I hope that doesn't sound bad but that is what I am now used to.:) Some of the houses don't even have garages--I would be buried. I sure think I may have too much stuff now.

I was born and raised in Seattle and it is beautiful but my MOTHER is there, so that is OUT!:tongue_smilie:

 

I would be very cautious about small towns in Tennessee or the Carolinas. I'm sure some are wonderful, We lived in a small town in Tennesse, one hour away from Knoxville, in the early 90s, and the open racial prejudice was appalling to me. I went to UT and we spent a fair amount of time in Knoxville, and it seemd fine there, but most of the small towns in TN and the Carolinas were a mind-boggling experience. Even the cities that were industrial or coal based, rather than university towns.

 

Keep in mind, I've lived in metro New Orleans most of my life, so I'm not unfamiliar with a certain level of racial tension, but this was insane. The 'n' word was used often enough to amaze me, 'colored' was the next step up, and a few had moved on to 'the blacks.' When a black male friend stopped by the house to visit me when he passed nearby, it was all. over. town! in about 15 minutes, lol. Religion and sexual orientation outside the norm came in for much anger and suspicion as well.

 

Again, I am not saying all the small towns are like this, but we, personally, ran into it again and again. Hopefully it's better now, but it's something to be aware of. If you have a small town in mind, you might want to have the whitest folks in the family scout it out first, without telling others they are from a biracial family. Whites will see and hear a lot more of any prejudice that is there if they go on their own. Talk to people but also sit in restaurants and stores and listen. You will get a pretty good feel that way.

[nancy in nj]

Cat,

 

I pm'd you with additional information so as not to hijack the original post.

 

Nancy

[DawnM]

Public transportation does leave something to be desired.....but Los Angeles didn't have good public transport either so I am used to it.

 

We have put in ONE train since we moved here. DH takes it to work each day. It runs from Pineville to downtown. I think it is a total of 13 miles long???? There are plans for more, but nothing is happening due to $$ at the moment.

 

There are busses, but I don't know much about them as I don't travel them.

 

We loved everything about CA but the price as well.....or maybe I should say I did! DH didn't like the crowds, small properties, or traffic either.....but I didn't mind.

 

The boys are happier here. I never thought I would say that, but it is true. TONS of homeschooling stuff here, even a cub/boyscout troop (actually 2) that are homeschool ONLY! They are awesome.

 

Dawn

 

I wish my dh would consider a move to Charlotte. We really love everything about the SF Bay Area but the PRICE.

 

How is the public transportation in Charlotte?

[Allearia]

Public transportation does leave something to be desired.....but Los Angeles didn't have good public transport either so I am used to it.

 

We have put in ONE train since we moved here. DH takes it to work each day. It runs from Pineville to downtown. I think it is a total of 13 miles long???? There are plans for more, but nothing is happening due to $$ at the moment.

 

There are busses, but I don't know much about them as I don't travel them.

 

We loved everything about CA but the price as well.....or maybe I should say I did! DH didn't like the crowds, small properties, or traffic either.....but I didn't mind.

 

The boys are happier here. I never thought I would say that, but it is true. TONS of homeschooling stuff here, even a cub/boyscout troop (actually 2) that are homeschool ONLY! They are awesome.

 

Dawn

 

Thanks! Since dh doesn't drive it is important to have some public transit.