North Carolina Residents...

[Grimster74]

Living in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area all of my life, times have been good, times have been bad. Well, in the last month or so things have gotten really bad as far as the job market goes. Development in the area has come to a complete halt with no sign of improvement any time soon. Been talking with my wife for the last couple of weeks or so and her and I are thinking it's time for a change. The reason we decided on the N.C. area is we won't be but 2-4 hours from the rest of our family that lives in the same area we live now. The question I have is, how is the development as far as shopping centers, new homes, subdivisions, etc. going in N.C. I've heard according to Yahoo, N.C. is one of the happening places as far as jobs go. Guess I forgot to mention that I'm a Civil Enginner thats been in the business for going on 16 years. Any andvice on where to start looking as far as jobs, housing, etc. would be greatly appreciated. I do have two kids, ages 9 and 11 so schools are a factor and the wife is a manager at Petsmart so transferring should be no problem for her. Once again, I'd love to here what you guys think of your state.

Rob

[Early B.]

I'm from NC, although I don't live there. It's a great place to live, IMO. Southern hospitality and such. NC has some of the best schools in the country, so your kids will be fine. Charlotte is the place to be. Raleigh is nice, too. Housing will be much lower than you're accustomed to. Not sure about the job market for civil engineers. It's tough for engineers all over the country.

Go for it.

[haimoc]

FYI... Jobs for civil engineers are best found in MD/VA/DC area.. It is not too far from where you are, now..


Start your search from here if you are interested.. Good luck wherever you go.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wl/jobs/home

[haimoc]

City of Rockville, MD has 4 opening positions (1 entry and 3 experience) for Civil Engineers... This is govement job which is pretty stable and excelent benefits..

Job Id: 26453301

Company Name: City of Rockville

Job Title: Civil Engineer II - 3 positions available

Job Status: Full-Time

Job Code: 115102

Industry: Government / Civil Service


Job Function: Engineer - Civil


Job Division: Not Listed

Education: Not Listed

Pay Range: $81-100K

Career Level: Experienced (Non-Manager)

Job Location: Other MD, MD
Public Transportation | Driving Directions

Contact Information: Not Listed

Date Posted: 7/5/08

[honda cber]

NC has some of the best schools in the country, so your kids will be fine.

Go for it.

ummm which NC are you referring to? it was *my* understanding that public schools in NC ranked near the BOTTOM of all states in the country. like 47th or something. this is from memory only, and yes, i attended NC public schools, lol.

[lanion]

RTP is very segregated. Some schools in Durham are some of the worst in the country, while some schools in Raleigh rank in the top 20 in the country (Enloe Magnet, Raleigh Charter, School of Science and Math). So it all depends on where you live.

I love living in Chapel Hill / Carborro.

[Fireman32]

I live in Raleigh and have been here for a year now. I love it and will never go back to NJ to live. I do not have kids so I cant talk for the school system. Cary is in the top 10 in the country for places to live. Chapel Hill is very nice as well. You can surf craigs list to see some of the housing in the area. New developments are springing up everywhere around here. Good luck with the search. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[jflail2]

Like the above posters said, the RTP area (including Chapel Hill) or Charlotte are probably your 2 best bets. Mooresville is a nice area near Charlotte (especially if you can get a house on Lake Norman), and I'd probably shoot for Chapel Hill if I was going to try to live near Raleigh. I currently live near Asheville. Not a bad area, but not the best area for jobs for you.

In state tuition for college here is just outstanding. I paid next to nothing to go to school here in regards to tuition/books, so that's definitely a long-term benefit of moving the kids here.

Funny, I am actually moving back to Va in a few months (Cville).

[treitz3]

Don't know about the school systems 'cause I don't have any kids that I know of, so I can not comment on that. That said, I think that you would be hard pressed to find anybody from North Carolina that has any real complaints. Well, except the humidity but that's the same as where you live now so that's not a biggie.

As you can tell from under my name I reside in Charlotte, NC. Couldn't be happier. Originally from Springfeild, VA and I prefer Charlotte WAY over my hometown. People actually wave at you when they pass by in a car. In my hometown, if you waved at somebody, you'd get the finger. Southern hospitality is for real and is wonderful to experience it on a daily basis.

Great economy that hasn't even had so much as a hiccup in the midst of a fledgling economy elsewhere. Jobs galore [near major cities] and the best thing I like about NC is the landscaping. Most everywhere you go is gorgeous. Plus, living in Charlotte has it's advantages with gas prices as well. Dip down into SC and pay about 20-25 cents less than you pay in NC. I believe SC is consistently one of the lowest cost for gas states out there.

If you want to visit, I can provide a room for you to stay in while you check the city out. Just LMK.

[movtarget]

Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill and then outlying cities:
Wake Forest, Garner, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina

All are generally good on growth, job opportunities (even in a slow economy)
More state level jobs in Civil Engineering in the Raleigh area (state capitol/DOT)
One local non-gov firm I know of is BNK

http://www.bnkinc.com

They don't seem to have job opportunities on their web site, though.

Movtarget in NC (Raleigh)

[Early B.]

In state tuition for college here is just outstanding. I paid next to nothing to go to school here in regards to tuition/books, so that's definitely a long-term benefit of moving the kids here.

Exactly. That's the main reason I went to college in NC. They have a great university system.

On the other hand, It's hard to believe that I actually graduated. My college must have had a slacker's degree program.:p