North Carolina Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Relocating to Greensboro
My husband has an offer with his Co. to relocate to Greensboro. We have never been to NC and I am looking for any info. about the area that you could share. We would be looking to rent for a while before buying and would prefer someplace that is month to month and is child and dog friendly. We would be looking to buy a house - would be interested in knowing about areas with great school systems, parks, family friendly things to do. Also, a nice area that has places to walk to (stores, parks...) instead of always having to take the car. Also, is the cost of living less across the board? Housing, food, clothing... What is the weather like. Any other info. you think would be relevant would be appreciated.
Re: Relocating to Greensboro
We have lived in Greensboro for a 2.5 years now and we like it.
If you can come and drive around and check out places before renting I would do it. Sometimes you can tell from the neighborhood/outside of the house that you are not interested in finding out more details/going inside. You will also see for rent signs in yards that may not be listed in papers (or at least not the ones you are checking).
There are areas that are walkable, you could live in/near downtown or there are pockets of walkable areas outside of downtown. If you are okay with renting an apartment you could consider something like this http://www.villageatnorthelm.com/ (we looked at these when we first moved here and there were very nice, but more than we wanted to spend). If you want to rent a house and want a planned community I have seen places for rent in Reedy Fork Ranch (have not been in any of the houses though).
We do not have kids, so I do not know that much about the schools from first hand experience. From things I have read, schools in the northwestern part of city seem more desirable.
There are lots of parks throughout the city. Check out the Parks & Rec webpage for more info. You may also find this new residents page helpful as well.
As far as weather, cost of living, etc, it is hard to say without knowing where you are coming from. We used to live in the DC metro area and COL is much cheaper, the weather is warmer and the traffic is much lighter.
Some rental sites to check out
http://triadhomes.news-record.com/th/rent
http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Site.FreeClassifieds.html
http://www.gsorentahome.com/front.html
I hope that helps, good luck with your decision.
Hi!
I lived in GSO for 3.5 years while at UNCGreensboro. I lived in:
Camden Glenn (I don't think it's a Camden property now, but it's at 5515 W. Market St.) It was a nice gated apartment community, with a great little swimming pool. It had a nice mix of residents, and was quiet.
I also lived in the GHETTO off Lee St. (Don't live on the south side of the RR tracks.... it really is a whole different world).... however- I did rent through http://www.jobeproperties.com/ and he was a fantastic landlord!
Areas that are cute and walkable: Anything immediately north & west of UNCG.... I do not advise living south or east of campus. Not a whole lot of Greensboro is "walkable" there are little communities though that might have a restaurant or two. My boss while there lived on Chapman St. (Elam St. is bigger and will show up better on a map if you look for this area) in the most adorable house- very quaint and cottage-like. She used to walk all the time through that neighborhood.
I'll echo a lot of the same sentiments that the others have stated. We live in an area that's walkable to some shops and some of the county/national parks in GSO and we absolutely our part of the city (NW part of the city). We moved from Long Island about 4.5 years ago and we've since bought a home here--this is now where we consider home.
One note of caution is that while the houses are less expensive and the COL is "lower" compared to LI (comparable to DC and most other metro area)--it's not really THAT much less expensive. Food will probably cost you about the same as most other metro area. They tax the heck out of everything, for instance, even if you paid sales tax on your vehicle when you purchased it, expect a yearly vehicle tax from Guilford County--and you may need to have your vehicle inspected yearly--unless you have a super old car. Tax rates in the city of GSO aren't that low, and our sales tax in the 4 years I've been here has gone up from possibly as low as 5.5% up to 7.75%. I tell you this not to discourage you, but moreso so as not to shock you in your first year here. There were a LOT of expenses DH and I incurred our first year here that we were not prepare for--and everyone that I speak with from up north just assumes that everything across the board is going to be dirt cheap--which just isn't so.
Something else that I would recommend is to check out the farmers markets--obviously now isn't the prime time for them--the summers are GREAT though to live in our area. Lots of "pick your own" farms around the area, along with GSO Farmers Curb market in downtown GSO and a much bigger, more regional Piedmont Triad Farmers market. For Dh and I it's the perfect blend of everything--there's "city" life, there's "suburban" life, and there's rural life all within a few miles of each other. We're cyclists, so we really enjoy all the sites and opportunities we have down here.
Some of the area's in GSO that I like are around market street/friendly avenue. DH lived in this area while in college in a nice house, next to a park, and a short drive to shopping and/or downtown. Most of GSO "suburbs" are typical...you'll find the developer driven areas of housing, where everyone looks the same. As far as schooling goes, i THINK the northwest area is the best, I have heard lots of good things about kernodle middle and northwest guilford high school.
It is a great location to be with a fairly easy drive to other areas of the triad. You could have something to do every weekend without having to redo the same event twice. I feel like the Triad is very active and family friendly!
Welcome!
Thank you all for this great information, it definitely helps and I really appreciate the time you took to respond.