"This is the New South!"

Oh sugar, you obviously don't realize that the New South isn't it's own li'l country anymore. You do have to tolerate "outsiders" and "Yankees" - who uses that term anymore anyway? Step into the new century honey. Being rude and nasty to anyone not born and raised in the South doesn't solve anything. I guess if you don't want to deal with them, you could always secede. That worked out pretty well for you last time.

Diana, Just UDC?!? You haven't been in the south that long ;) Come back when you achieve Colonial Dame status.

Greenville, NC is the best place in eastern NC. It has health care and fist run movies. Many places nearby can't say that.

Greenville, SC is home to Bob Jones Univesity. So I guess I'd call it a conservative college town (take it with a grain of salt, I grew up in Chapel Hill, NC a rather liberal college town).

Duke University: The University of New Jersey at Durham. Hee-hee.

I live in Durham now so I kid. It has good schools, but a lousy school board, cultural events and 2 catholic churches. If having a catholic church nearby is important, stick to the cities. Durham, by the way, is 150 miles down I-40 to the beach.

Though, who knows, you might be a Cary type of person. Come for a visit and see what clicks.

All NC schools test the kids on the ABC's of ??? Check out the department of public instruction for rankings.

No matter where you end up, get used to humidity.

Wayne: GOLDSBORO?!? Health care sends you to Greenville or Chapel Hill. Seymour Johnson is on the BRAC list so the economy could tank fast and soon.

I'm still trying to figure out the point of Shane's story.

ncgirl, I'm trying to figure out your Duke University remark.

Duke University is one of the very best private universities in the world and one of the hardest to get into.

This entire thread is unsettling.

What are we debating here?

There are redneck, uneducated, backwoods racist parts of both NC and SC and yes, the KKK still thrives here.

There are also progressive, liberal, educated parts of NC and SC and the ACLU has branches in both NC and SC.

What is the point of this?

Tam - we would welcome you in Charlotte, although I'm not sure it fits all of your criteria. It is probably the most diverse city (Asheville probably more so, but I don't really consider Asheville a city per se). Based on the criteria set forth, I would also suggest Wilmington. If you would like more info on Charlotte, I would be happy to share. Although we are 3-4 hours from the Ocean that encompasses the lower part of the Outer banks nearly to Savannah (that you can get to in 4 hours or so). We are also only 1-2 hours from the Mts. Although some of the comments on here are bit extreme I am sorry to say that you will always be a 'Yankee' down here. For those of us here in Charlotte, I think there are more Yankees than Southerners though, go figure.

Wayne: Actually, Leah is quite nice, and I'm certain she wasn't trying to mislead, nor was her post mean-spirited.

Leah: I AM kind of amazed by your post. Was it Columbia,Beaufort, Asheville or all of them that gave you that feeling? I think you may have confused politeness w/ censure. People will invite you to church like they would invite you to a block party...they don't want you to feel left out, but it's no big deal to them whether you come or not.

As for politics, I think you have to be among a fairly politically-engaged set to find people that care much. Also, I tend to think the current rather hostile divide between red and blue is more of a big city vs. small town/rural than it is north v. south. Look at the county maps of the elections. Even the blue states are red outside the big cities.

To the OP: You can't have everything. You can't have "small town" and "thriving cultural env." You can't have the cheapest cost of living and have the best school system. You can't move near the southern coast and not have humidity. You can't live in the south and eat good Italian food. That said, if you are still thinking of coming here (God knows everybody else is) I think you should consider the Asheville, NC(except maybe for that jobs thing) Greenville SC or Charleston SC areas. I can't speak for NC, but the middle of SC doesn't do much for me. SC has mountains and it has the beach. Why live in between where it's hot and there is neither?

I agree - the tone of this e-mail has become rather negative and unsettling. Sorry Wayne - no personal problems to speak of. I love living in Asheville but don't consider it the real South. I'm certainly not trying to mislead Carol Ann and having raised in the South friends and husband I think I have a good grasp of the mindset of many true Southerners. This is not to say I dislike them but I recognize that there are differences of opinion. I also have many friends who, like me, have relocated to different parts of the South from the North East and many of my comments reflect their opinions as well as my own. If Wayne knew better he would see from my previous posts how often I encourage people to move to SC and NC to "escape" the North East - I don't miss the icy long winters at all!

ncgrrl, Shoot. You saw right through me. :> I was trying to channel Julia Sugarbaker (one of my heroines), but this weather just makes me want to go lie down.

fwiw, I sure do think the OP IS a Cary type of person.

WeaselMan - You are so right! (But of COURSE you are...) My bad.

No one around here ever would dream of expressing frustration over the influx of tens of thousands of people who expect to "fit in" with little or no effort. We for sure around here NEVER talk about it, and I just DO NOT know what I was thinking AT ALL.

Do I think all people from the north are rude and thoughtless? Absolutely not, and I have - GASP - friends and acquaintances that I actually socialize with who are not from the South. Can you imagine?

Surprisingly to you perhaps, I don't even think that MOST people from the north are rude and thoughtless. It's those select few...

Whether or not this ever occurred to you, for various reasons, the South - imho - is not a good fit for the OP, and her responses made that crystal clear to me and several others.

Diana, I agree w/ everything you said - and I'm a "Yankee" in the south.

Why Thank You Brian! (Purr purr ((@)) )

Did you enjoy your trip to Tortola? Where did you decide to stay? (Love the BVI's.) Did you get to Smuggler's Cove and Bombas's?

To everyone else - I apologize for getting snippy. There was just something about the OP's posts ...

As an aside to GoTravel, I think ncgrrl was just kidding - kind of like the C.A.R.Y. acronym. I don't think she meant to be rude.

OK, I'll bite. What's the C.A.R.Y. acronym??

"Also, I tend to think the current rather hostile divide between red and blue is more of a big city vs. small town/rural than it is north v. south. Look at the county maps of the elections. Even the blue states are red outside the big cities.

To the OP: You can't have everything. You can't have "small town" and "thriving cultural env." You can't have the cheapest cost of living and have the best school system. You can't move near the southern coast and not have humidity."

Well said, Litespeed.

And let's face it, the South doesn't have a monopoly on narrow minded people. You're going to find them everywhere--North, South, city, small town, rural areas. The same is true of open minded people. I'm somewhat amazed at how much stereotyping has been dredged up by this thread.

Containment Area for Relocated Yankees

what is a "cary type of person"?

just curious. i went to grad school at chapel hill and racking my brain to think if i knew anyone that lived there.

a bit late on this one. thanks!

You said it, CAPH52.

Obxgirl, thanks for the explanation.

Lolfn, I think that explanation answers your question!

I took the comment about Duke to mean that it has a large percentage of students from NJ. And given that GoTravel said that Duke is one of the "best" and "hardest to get into" that would be a compliment to NJ whether or not it was intended that way.

Diana,
Unfortunately, we didn't make it down to the BVI's for our honeymoon. Our wedding and house closing at the same time limited our honeymoon budget, but we've got it in mind for a future anniversary trip.

Ack, obxgirl! That one IS kinda un-PC. (If only they would STAY in their containment area... KIDDING!!!)

The one I always heard was Carolina Area for Relocated Yankees.

lolfn, depending on when you went to Carolina, Cary had not yet attained its current "status."

My favorite Cary story has to be about the way the city council made the folks at Gypsy's Shiny Diner grow their greenery taller because the diner was "too shiny." Har.

Or, maybe it's the raging, Crusade-like, self-righteous pushes to limit the number of dogs you can have, or the worthwhile march, candlelight vigil and subsequent furor to create a ban on upholstered furniture on one's porch. ;)

(You think I'm joking?)

No please don't think I was thinking ncgirl was being rude. I didn't in the least. I was just curious about the remark.

I figured it was something tongue in cheek but couldn't figure out what it was.