Thank you!

Great suggestions, thank you so much

Thank you!

Refers to January 6th insurrection

No kids…both of us just love libraries and reading is one of our main hobbies haha

Thank you so much, fellow (former) NC-er! We have lots of beautiful places here. If it wasn’t so hot, I’d enjoy them more. Multiple 90 degree heat index days in February already. Yuck.

I write those towns down to look into. Getting info like this is invaluable - I appreciate your time!

Yes haha I’m sure we’ll have some humbling moments!

Thank you so much! I’ll add those places to the research list and that is great to know about the teaching requirements and needs. NC is bottom 10 for teachers and I think we’re in for a wild ride when we move

Haha coming from the south, you guys are in much much better shape than down here. We only just got 5G, we have loads and loads of dirt roads, I have read that we don’t do vehicle emissions testing, so much litter, no social safety nets, our schools are full of black mold and mildew, polluted drinking water (no one cares), school windows covered with paper or trash bags. You might have some of that kind of stuff but here, it’s everywhere (except maybe less so in the triangle)

Thank you so much - this was really thoughtful and helpful

I truly never would have thought of limits on dogs! Animals have basically no rights down here so something like that didn’t even cross my mind. Multiple collared and tagged dogs just roam around my current town and no one seems to think it’s strange. Owners just let em out before work and bring em back after work. Beagles, pitties, corgis, lab mixes just free wheeling all over and some are obviously not neutered. It’s insanity!

Thank you so much for taking the time. We’re fine being away from the beach. We have lived 15 mins away from the beach for years and change is good. We enjoying comic cooks, reading, walks, playing with our dogs, gardening, volunteering with animal rescues, kayaking, hiking. We’re not mountain climbers or extremely outdoorsy…I guess we’re mid-40’s out of shape outdoorsy! Just want to be somewhere with clean air, clean water, slow pace of life, boring and/or quaint is totally fine. Mostly we’re moving with southern wages and southern savings accounts which will likely be the thing we have to factor more than anything else!

Anywhere is hip compared to where I am now!

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! This place sounds lovely - added it to my research list

ENC is def not more progressive. Probably about the same save for pockets like Wilmington in the east and Asheville area in west. We get mostly the Tucker Carlson-lookalike rich people with beach houses flying “Let’s go Brandon flags,” Trump-themed boaters/flotilla folks (not joking or exaggerating) and then the born and raised “rebel nation” country folks. people here absolutely love love love the local culture and I’m glad they’re happy, but I gotta get outta here.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Extremely good to know about the teaching requirements and will look into further.

Personally I enjoy real winter! And am especially appreciative after being south for so long. First few years coming from the Midwest it felt like bonus outdoors time. But the novelty wore off FAST.

We’re on southern wages looking to move north so are truly doing this backwards. Maybe it works out for us, maybe not but your state sounds awesome regardless!

Good points - I hadn’t thought about that way!

That’s a great tool. Thank you so much for sharing. Big COL adjustment to prepare for!

gosh to have a good library! Oh my mind is racing with happy thoughts of that! Our local library is mostly fiction and nonfiction military books, Nicolas Sparks and right wing stuff like Tucker Carlson. Probably great for most around here! Just not me, but I’m aware that I’m the odd man out

The schools…yes, that’s very good to be aware of. I’ve seen shootings, stabbings, major physical fights. It’s terrifying and it only gets more and more normalized.

Good to know. And maybe MA is out of our budget, that’s part of why I’m asking all you kind people, to get the insider scoop. NC is still too dang hot across the board. 90 degrees in February. I gotta get out of here regardless.

Good to know! The COL is making my palms sweat but gotta remind myself that living in a low COL area now has gotten us a great house, disposable income, less financial stress BUT ALSO…regressive policies, few environmental regulations, surrounded by trumpers and bible thumpers (if you’re religious, fine, but it’s very evangelical and hardcore here) prayer in public schools, so much open bigotry, lots of open animal abuse, surrounded by “if you don’t like it, leave!” Attitude, no social safety nets at all. That stuff really wears me out.

Thank you much - added them to the list!

Thank you! This is a cool read. I’m a total ranked-list nerd (if such a thing exists). Thanks again, from someone who reads Consumer Reports for the lists

This gives me some hope! I am fine with not living in an affluent place. We are not fancy by any means because a huge chunk of our income goes to taking care of our rescue animals and student loans. As long as we are safe with a decent roof over our heads and a nice yard, we're a-ok.

Good to know about the school salaries! After 21 YEARS of teaching in NC, my partner makes what you are listing as a starting salary in MA!

Thanks freakin amazing about your water meter. That would 1000% never happen like that in Chicago!

Thank you! We are ok with taking a break from the ocean. We live super close right now and it's amazing, but trying to new things is good too. Thanks for the heads up on the COL - that will be our biggest challenge

I'll add those towns to my list to research! thank you so much for taking time out of your day to respond. I didn't see an article, but I'm kind of a 4 out of 10 for Reddit proficiency