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Choosing a state


amo_mea_filiis.
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North or South Carolina?  

46 members have voted

  1. 1. Which state should I consider?

    • North Carolina
      38
    • South Carolina
      8


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Our lease is up in July (i know, it's barely December!) and it is just too cold for too long where we are. I have many more important things to do right now, but i can't forget to start researching this.

 

My first job is picking which state, obviously, then a general area.

 

When i picked PA, part of it was the possibility of services for ds. I didn't think to check which services were available in each county.

 

I do not want to be 4 hours away from good medical services anymore but i also do not want to be crowded like Long Island.

 

Pa has high hs regulations, so that doesn't really concern me.

 

What general area would you pick for each state?

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Raleigh is one of my favorite cities I've ever visited. I also have friends who live just north of Charlotte and they love it. We'd love to move to North Carolina. I've never been to South Carolina, but we will be driving through in a few weeks. I think it would be a little too far south for me. We are in VA and I like being closer to things.

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Guest inoubliable

VA is super easy peasy for hs. Not entirely sure about *which* services are available but I have a cousin with an autistic child who lives in Richmond. I know she's been able to work within the system fairly easily with regards to getting her little guy into school, therapies, etc.

 

Maybe don't pay any attention to me, though? I'm looking to get out of VA. LOL.

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Thanks everyone! I'm leaning towards NC and am looking at weather info (behavior services are important, but mild winters would cut down on some of the behaviors needing services!).

 

Dumb question- how much $$ would you plan to have for a moving truck? I will pack, but would need someone to load, drive, and unload. I have to start saving now.

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I've lived in both places, and I'd pick NC. Either Charlotte or the Raleigh- Durham area. There are several good hospital systems in Charlotte, a great homeschooling community, mild weather (snow is a rarity), decent government housing (not sure if this applies to you, just throwing it out there), and lots of stuff to do.

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My parents live in South Carolina. They would recommend NOT moving there unless you grew up there. Its nearly impossible to find a job without knowing someone. (My mom moved for her job with someone who grew up there. My dad's job is a travelling instructor, throughout east US, that has nothing to do with the state. He lived in Georgia and commuted home on the weekend for several years before this because that was the only job he could find.)

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In NC, you could choose from: Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Arden. They all have good health care. The first three are closer to the beach. Winston is closer to the mountains (Asheville, Arden, Hendersonville).

 

It really depends on what you are looking for. Carrboro and Asheville are crunchy, for example, and close to excellent health care (Duke Hospital and UNC Hospital). All of them have malls, WFM and Trader Joe's nearby. Raleigh has the symphony. Durham has a great science museum.

 

Homeschooling laws in NC are good and there are quite a few homeschool groups and co-ops.

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The thing to keep in mind is that both states have a WIDE variety of weather and terrain. Both have coastal areas, where it is hot, muggy and typical beach weather for a good chunk of year, and very mild winters. Both have mountainous areas (well the mountains are in NC, but the bottom of them are in SC too), so winters can be very dramatic on that side of the state, while summers can be mild or not so mild depending on the year. The point is, it is not possible to "lump" the areas together. Very different areas, and different cultures even, for example, Western NC, the mountains, has a very different vibe then if you went to Charlotte or Raleigh. Someone mentioned it's hard to get a job in SC unless you know someone....that must be a very localized issue, because there's jobs a plenty where I live now...it's actually the reason we moved here, DH got a job. We also lived in a different area of SC and both DH and I had careers, without knowing a soul when we started. I've lived in two areas of SC and one area of NC. Homeschooling is easy in both states. SC is cheaper by far than NC for taxes, gas, general COL.

 

I'd start to focus on more specific areas, start looking at housing and job market, and make THOSE your primary factors. If you can't get a job that lets you afford a decent/safe home, then what's the point of living there?

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In NC, you could choose from: Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Arden. They all have good health care. The first three are closer to the beach. Winston is closer to the mountains (Asheville, Arden, Hendersonville).

 

It really depends on what you are looking for. Carrboro and Asheville are crunchy, for example, and close to excellent health care (Duke Hospital and UNC Hospital). All of them have malls, WFM and Trader Joe's nearby. Raleigh has the symphony. Durham has a great science museum.

 

Homeschooling laws in NC are good and there are quite a few homeschool groups and co-ops.

 

 

Ummm . . .just to clarify, Asheville is in the mountains. Hundreds of miles from Duke and UNC. Carrboro IS near both universities.

 

Wake Forest University/Baptist Medical Center is in Winston-Salem, along with another large hospital system, so (IMO) there's equally good health care available there as the Durham/Chapel Hill area. IME finding good health care in NC, at least in the bigger cities, isn't usually a problem.

 

I agree that in either state geography makes a really big difference in climate. There's a huge difference in the weather in the mountains of western NC versus the coast.

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Someone mentioned it's hard to get a job in SC unless you know someone....that must be a very localized issue, because there's jobs a plenty where I live now...it's actually the reason we moved here, DH got a job. We also lived in a different area of SC and both DH and I had careers, without knowing a soul when we started.

 

My parents are in Columbia, the state capitol. I guess I figured that'd be the most open part of the state.

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