Statesville NC What can folks tell me about the area?

[megamania]

My wife and I are growing tired of the NE's hard econmy and life so we were wondering about moving. The factory I work at has a plant in Statesville NC. I could transfer.

I've spoken to people that visit the area some but I want some information from people that live there or in the area.

What kind of work / wages are there?

Social activities?

Gaming groups?

Weather

etc and etc....

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Not sure about Statesville as I've only driven THRU there.... I live about 2 hours SE of there. Alot closer to Greensboro, NC where there seems to be more gamers but to live in the county (Guilford) is expensive as hell as they have one of the higher tax rates in the state.... and the suck-ass schools.

 

[rebarton2]

greensboro

megamania,

well, I'm also a transplant from New England (via California). I now live in Greensboro, where I have yet to find a gaming group (admittedly I haven't tried very hard). Statesville is smaller (?40,000 people?) than Greensboro (250,00+ people). Both will have the same virtue: a much cheaper standard of living. I could never afford the same kind of house in eastern Massachusetts as I do in Greensboro. Despite what the previous poster said about taxes, you will find that NC in general is MUCH cheaper than anywhere in New England. The downside? To quote Robin Williams, 'it's Hot! Damned Hot" Summers, in particular, are very hot and humid. Take that week in Mass in which it gets up to 90 and is super humid, and multiply that by 12 - it's basically what you will experience from june to late september. As for the existence of FLGSs, I don't have much to tell you. I think there's one in Winston-Salem, but I've never been over to check it out. Greensboro used to have one, but it closed a year ago. Research Trianglel (1 hour from Greensboro, and prob 2 hours from Statesville) has several really good ones. There may be others in the Statesville area, but if so, I don't know of them.

Good luck!

Geleg

 

[scranford]

I'm from Statesville originally, but moved away to sunny Florida in 1995. The gaming enviornment was pretty stark when I lived there. To my knowledge there were only 8 gamers in the whole city, but I might not have been aware of them. There is no gaming store there, but Charlotte is only an hour away, and there used to be a pretty good one there.

As far a social life, if you're into clubbing and bars look elsewhere. Its a really good place to raise kids but not much for the single life. It is close to the Lake Norman area which is really happening now, with good nightlife, entertainment, and recreation.

It still has a very "small town" atmosphere, so as long as you don't crave excitement it might work for you. My folks still live there, and I get back several times a year for a visit, but I'll never move back.

I would say the wages there are probably below what you are used to, but the cost of living is right, so it balances out. If you've got any specific questions just let me know and I'll try to answer them.

 

[megamania]

I'm still just in the "thinking about" stage. I didn't relieze Statesville was that large. I'm used to a town of 3000 with neighboring towns of 10,000 and 20,000.

I have heard of high taxes (3x here which surprised me ) and of all things- snakes. Snakes everywhere.

The heat issue I had heard of and that can be an issue. I hate the heat.

The wife and I enjoy hiking, kayaking and outdoor activities. At our later 30's the clubbing days are narrowing down.

The company I work for is Mack Molding.

 

[Aeolius]

I'm in Summerfield (pop. 7,000+), which is where folks move when they feel Greensboro (pop. 230,000+) is too crowded. As for gaming stores, I think there's one in Burlington, which isn't too far away. I've been using amazon.com as my FLGS since Cosmic Castle, the local store in Greensboro, shut down.

edit: the store in Burlington is HyperMind - http://www.hypermindonline.com/

 

[Chaldfont]

Holy crap! Blast from the past!

A friend and I were trapped in Statesville for two days in the blizzard of 1993 coming back from Wilmington on Spring Break. Everything was closed and we were bored out of our skulls.

So we spent our time watching The Empire Strikes Back and hotel "Spanktervision" until the state police opened the interstates back up.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

There are other towns near Statesville if you want to live in a smaller town and commute into Statesville for work if you really need that "smaller town" feel that you're used to.

After watching the Weather Channel, ARE YOU SURE YOU WANNA MOVE HERE?!?!?

Note: they were showing 70s for Vermont on their temperature map where we were at 100 here.