I'm wondering about everyone's take on the desire and/or pressure to leave North Carolina and go on to "bigger and better" after graduating... any success stories, failure stories? How long did you stay locally before moving? This may be targeted especially to those born in North Carolina, like myself... but I'm curious about anyone's thoughts on the topic.

-ZiP!-

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 3:10 PM. Reason : clarification]

8/1/2005 3:09:33 PM

this is like the pre emptive high school reunion thread

8/1/2005 3:10:34 PM

i moved to baltimore 2 months after i graduated becuase I took a job up here. I am extremely happy with my decission. I miss being around nc state (being able to go to all the games and just general atmosphere) but I was ready to see something new. Raleigh was too small for me, and too narrow thinking in a lot of ways, despite having several schools around. I enjoy living in a more diverse, bigger city with a little bit of everything for everyone.

8/1/2005 3:13:20 PM

I definitely had the urge for bigger and better, so I left after graduating. But then I moved back after about four years for grad school. I never would have thought I would miss it so much, and I appreciated State a lot more when I got back. And now sadly I have left again ... but for love this time.
I miss it a lot, and I will be happy to return. Again.

When are you coming to visit Denver ???

8/1/2005 3:16:51 PM

Just take some time to travel after you graduate. It puts location in perspective.

8/1/2005 3:35:33 PM

i thought about moving away for a while - i can live anywhere in america as long as i'm close to a decent sized airport for my job - i am going to end up staying in raleigh for a while and probably move away in 2-3years

8/1/2005 3:41:42 PM

since graduating in the spring of 04, i travelled for the first time to boston, atlanta, and new york. soon i'll be going to austin, tx.

^^^^^word, word

^^^^would you recommend living in baltimore? i understand recent increases in crime scare some people away?

^^^perhaps mid-sept? there better not be snow all over the place, that soon after summer, right? i am excited about checkin out that area, still unsure about the climate...

^^great advice

^ah. i'd have a tough time staying around durham/raleigh for the next 2-3 yrs

-ZiP!-

8/1/2005 4:01:27 PM

I'm looking into moving to the Philly area.

8/1/2005 4:02:11 PM

i've got my last year here in raleigh while i earn my certificate as a paralegal (done in may), but starting in feb/march i'm sending out resumes to law firms on the west coast and using the connections i made with the art school i just returned from in italy to help find work. i got this urge to relocate (1) after having gone to italy and being on my own travelling, (2) my friend since kindergarten moving to NY and working with a lawfirm up there, (3) two of my girls moving to ft lauderdale after graduation last year, and (4) my best friend moving up to boston for grad school the beginning of july...so now seeing their success and having sort of tasted it with my trip, i don't want to limit myself to just raleigh.

my mom and i talked about this while on our vacation this past week--she went to the community college in kinston so spreading her wings was moving to raleigh...i went to college in raleigh so spreading my wings is my desire to go west (and if i really have the balls, italy)

i imagine i'll miss it and it'll be difficult b/c i really am close to my family and they are all in NC...but at the same time, i have this urge and desire to go off an do my own thing...if i end up hating it and coming back then fine, but i don't want to just stick around here and see what happens...i want to keep moving and see what happens that way...and though my friends experiences and picking up and moving somewhere on their own is my main drive in this i don't see it as pressure--"oh well they left i gotta leave too" type of thing--but more of motivational--"they can do it so i know i can" and not let myself get discouraged in the process

8/1/2005 4:05:45 PM

My wife and I moved to Seattle for about 10 months then moved back here for various reasons about a year ago. I liked it a lot more than she did, although the lack of a hot summer sucked. I miss a lot of things about living there - big city feel, walkable city, good public transportation, abundant parks (and dog parks), very liberal city and area. But we both have a lot more family here and it's a hell of a lot cheaper. We bought a house 2 months ago, something that we probably would have never been able to do in Seattle.

The Triangle is a good area with a lot to offer to certain people. If you are young and single, I'd recommend at least travelling some if you are going to stay living here. It's not a bad area, but there are a lot of things I don't like about it. I guess you have to take the good with the bad...

8/1/2005 4:10:23 PM

STAYED IN RALEIGH AND WAITED ON A JOB TO STAY WITH MY SON....1 YEAR LATER HIS MOM GETS THE ESCAPISM BUG AND MOVES TO DC...LIKE A DUMBASS SHE REALIZED IT WON'T WORK AND IS DECIDING TO MOVE BACK DOWN HERE ONCE SHE GETS A JOB....THANK GOODNESS...IF WASN'T A SINGLE DAD I WOULD PROBABLY BE IN SOME OTHER COUNTRY NOW DOING GOD KNOWS WHAT

8/1/2005 4:11:16 PM

Quote :

"would you recommend living in baltimore? i understand recent increases in crime scare some people away?"

baltimore has been a violent city, but since ive been here (only a year) i was under the impression that it was on the decline. like any city, there are some places you dont want to go to, but there are plenty of other places that are wonderful, and in general, i very much love the city. i lived in the suburbs my whole life, so this is a great new experience that really cant be judged until it is experienced. baltimore is very much on the up and up (in fact it was just named as one of the top 10 up and coming vacation destinations in the world)...and with the amount of money they are pouring into rehabs, its only going to get better.

its certainly more expensive up here then in the south...but due to the higher prices in surrounding areas such as DC, Philly, and NYC, its becoming a very attractive place to live and commute from.

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 4:32 PM. Reason : sd]

8/1/2005 4:29:24 PM

the more i research and the more i talk to ppl who have lived al over teh US and the world, the more RTP seems liek a pretty good bang for the buck place to live. its practically dirt cheap here compared to almost anywhere else.. its growing, real estate is good, etc. i could travel to europe twice a year for the cost of car insurance alone over a major city. i never pictured myself living in the south, but its not so bad..

8/1/2005 4:35:42 PM

Quote :

"i could travel to europe twice a year for the cost of car insurance alone over a major city."

damn, thats either

a. a really cheap trip
or
b. youve been in a bunch of accidents so you rates are really high to begin with.

i was really shocked that my insurance didnt go up as much as it did when i moved to the city. it went up maybe about $400 a year. (i do have an older car though, so i dont have all the super fancy expensive insurance on it)


..but that being said, the triangle is a nice place to live....i was just ready for something different. i could see myself living there when im 40, married, and have a family...but theres too much out there to do right now to stay in one place, imo.

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 4:39 PM. Reason : df]



[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 4:41 PM. Reason : ;]

8/1/2005 4:38:52 PM

sober, thanks for the insight on baltimore - i may give it another look

-ZiP!-

8/1/2005 4:47:31 PM

if you are serious about moving up here and have any questions, feel free to PM...i went through the whole figuring out where to live and what there is to do and where to go thing, so im sure i can be of some help

8/1/2005 4:49:19 PM

im looking forward to doing the travel nursing thing in a couple of years

take 13 week assignments here and there, without having to pay big city rent prices....

8/1/2005 4:52:54 PM

been in nc my whole life. been in the triangle for nine years. it was getting to the point where i thought i'd never leave, but i'm headed off to grad school in indiana this month. i was VERY apprehensive at first, but i realize that it's time for a change. keep telling myself that i'll end up moving back after i get my degree, but who knows? there are so many places to live in and see.

8/1/2005 8:39:35 PM

I didn't go to State, my brother did - that's why I'm here (because a fan thanks to dozens of football and basketball games). I got the itch to leave before I graduated from high school - didn't apply to a single school in-state. Since college in Maryland, I've lived in Rhode Island, Virginia, and California. I'm in Atlanta for my MBA now and will most likely move to NYC after graduation. I have traveled to 23 countries since my junior year in college, from Iceland to India.

I doubt I will ever live in NC again, and hope to never live in the SE. I may have to do some work in ATL post-MBA to get marketing experience, but as soon as I can, I'm Audi 5000.

8/1/2005 9:54:02 PM

the job i have now, took me to Alabama, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, and the first stop was Asheville NC. Nice to be able to travel and not have to pay for it(got rental car, gov paid for hotel, food, gas, etc) I work in the disaster related field, so it can be very stressful the first month or so, all you do is work 12hr days 7 days a week and then pass out in the evenings, but eventually it slows down so you can go places

though the 250ish miles i drove today sucked

[Edited on August 1, 2005 at 11:31 PM. Reason : w]

8/1/2005 11:30:36 PM

I was in a situation two months ago were I wasn't sure if I would still have a job. I work as a contractor and our contract would expire in septemember this year, but there were not going to renew it. Instead they started a new contract in June and if we didn't win it I would be be out of a job by september. I have only lived in two places in my life, born in Raleigh, moved the rural area of Supply in Brunswick County then came back to Raleigh for State.

I have always dreamed of leaving this state so a small part of me actually hoped our contract would not get renewed so that I would have the oppurtunity to try something new in an entirely different area. Reality then hits that the thought having a secure job and steady income coming for at least the next couple of years really isn't that bad.

8/2/2005 11:12:23 PM

i moved to kenner, louisiana (10 miles from new orleans) about a week after i graduated. i had a job lined up with a refinery down here. all in all it turned out fine. i really liked raleigh and had a lot of friends there. the worst part was making new friends and leaving my olds ones. i knew one person down here from school and we would hang out some but then he ended up moving back to NC after i had been there a couple of months. and at the time of my move, my significant other was still in nc so i wasn't exactly single. so, i was a little limited in where i would go to meet people and such. we ended up breaking up a few months after i moved (painful experience most definitely). it took me a while to get over being lonely and finding new friends. i watched ALOT of movies and played on the computer too much. after about 6 months from my move, i had a small friend base and went out every weekend. then things really started being fun. we'd go to bars, parties, clubs, shopping, to the gym, etc. then later on, i met my now husband and everything has been great since.

moving to a new city is tough, especially if you aren't in driving distance of friends and family. but i will say this, you do get the chance to learn alot about yourself and a lot about what you can and can't handle. i feel like my move made me a much stronger person and made me much more independent. when you are alone, you are forced not only to take care of yourself but to entertain yourself and discover your real interests.

since my initial move, i have moved to baton rouge and then to gonzales. those moves were much easier because i was with someone. and too, they were within an hour of my first move.

so far i like it down here. i like my job. we just bought a house. we have some friends (not like the ones i left in raleigh but we still have fun). we go out and have a great time. all in all, i am quite pleased i didn't tuck tail and run home during those first months.

8/3/2005 2:26:58 PM

I didn't have anything to do after I graduated, so I talked my girlfriend into moving to NYC with me. We came up here with nothing and both got jobs pretty quickly. I was lucky though, I had a couch to sleep on for a month before I had to be completely on my own. I miss Raleigh a lot, but it's amazing living up here. She's at NYU so she can become a doctor and support me, but as soon as she's done I think we'll come on back. We're both country folk at heart.

8/3/2005 4:06:43 PM

I was one week away from moving to NYC with ^ this guy and his gf...I decided that it wasn't right for me at this time and I know I made the right choice. But I moved to NC from Florida and that was my "big move" ...I think everyone needs to move away from their hometown early in life. You learn things in a completely different way.

8/3/2005 9:48:46 PM

^^^,^^,^ - well shit, that all sounds pretty encouraging although it could be partly because i'm a little buzzed at the moment, but thats awesoem for all 3 of you guys... i'm gonna re-read that junk in the morning at the office, but it sounds really postiive!! thanks

-ZiP!-

8/4/2005 12:17:46 AM

I stayed in Raleigh two years after I graduated. My main reasons for staying were that I thought it'd be easiest to find a job closeby/in Raleigh, I had a lot of friends in Raleigh, and I had a serious gf at the time that lived in Raleigh. After a while 2 of those 3 reasons disappeared and friends alone wasn't enough to keep me in the region. I always wanted to move back up North (despite my parents living in Charlotte) so a week ago I moved up to NYC to move in with two of my best friends from HS. Its a huge change but its something I think I want to try for a few years. It also helps that I have a bunch of friends up here, as well as the majority of relatives (i'm originally from NJ).

There's a lot to miss about Raleigh like most of my friends, all the NCSU sporting events, the cheap cost of living, etc. However, I'm not a fan of Raleigh's weather at all, and I wanted to move on to something bigger. My life hasn't really progressed much in the last two years, so hopefully moving to NYC will jump start it.

[Edited on August 4, 2005 at 9:27 AM. Reason : two words]

8/4/2005 9:26:27 AM

Quote :

"My life hasn't really progressed much in the last two years, so hopefully moving to NYC will jump start it."

word

-ZiP!-

8/4/2005 11:38:04 AM

Plus there are like a million bars up here.

p.s. Lilkidthings: Dude come back for Thanksgiving.

8/4/2005 12:10:50 PM

its weird I moved to NC after high school to "get the hell out of st louis" and I really ended up loving it in North Carolina. After college I felt I needed to leave to further my education in my chosen field and also regroup emotionally, as I had some things going on in my life at the time of graduation. I love my school a lot but I absolutely hate where I live right now, but when I'm done I will have the option of returning so its worth it. I would say overall its been a success so far.

8/4/2005 12:16:51 PM

^^you know I was seriously considering that just today

8/4/2005 9:20:05 PM