Thread: Tell Me About North Carolina

Raleigh's a pretty cool city. You've got Hillsborough street, which is your typical college town (NCSU's campus is there). There's a lot of cool places to eat, a cool used bookstore, three headshops, a comic book shop and loads of other interesting things. Raleigh also has a nice train system with tracks that connect all over downtown, which makes them nice to walk along. We've spent so many days just walking and talking on those tracks, but I digress. Raleigh's also nice because all of the interesting parts (in my opinion, at least) are fairly close to each other. There's also a lot of good venues in Raleigh, The Brewery, The Lincoln Theater, The Pourhouse, and a couple of cool cafes that take local artists.

As for Greensboro, I've only ever been there to see Between the Buried and Me at the Green Street Club, but it looked like a nice city. I either ate at a really cool Mediterranean place, or a really cool Indian place, I don't remember.


Speaking of Mediterranean food, have you been to the Mediterranean Cafe on Franklin street? They have the best food there, and it's not that pricey.

Also, the first Saturday of every month at the Town Commons in Carrboro (which is so close to Chapel Hill it should just be part of Chapel Hill) they have the "Really really free market" where people bring stuff they want to give away, and take whatever they want. There's always a lot of interesting people and usually decent food.

Anyway, hope that helps some.

I used to live 45 or so miles outside of Raleigh in a town called Henderson. Socially, Henderson sucked, but I liked the landscape and scenery. I went to Raleigh a few times for swim meets and to see relatives. I was young, but it seemed like a cool city. I went to Duke University (in Durham?) for the regional swim meet. Duke had a 17 foot deep pool and some outrageously tall diving platforms. That was awesome. The Smokey Mountains in North Carolina are very beautiful. That's about the full extent of my take on the state. I am sure I will never live there again.

Raleigh has somewhat of a conservative problem and will probably be too redneck for you. Charlotte is a very liberal city (well, by Southern standards.) In terms of political sides, the higher the concentration of blacks, the further left it goes and Charlotte is a fairly mixed city. Things might have changed, I haven't been to either city in years.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Raleigh has somewhat of a conservative problem

Man, I honestly think you might be more prejudiced against conservatives than anybody else I have ever met. You bring this shit up in every thread you ever post in. Are you afraid they are going to read Bible verses to you or play golf in your yard or something? Maybe you should start something like a KKK, except against conservatives.

She said that she wants a progressive city, I told her that Raleigh isn't that.

Yeah man. I really don't want a place with too many conservatives. (The main issue is socially) I've lived in a extremely conservative town for the past two years, and I'm ready to get the fu*k out. I'm going to be living in this place for the next four years or more, and I want to make it worthwhile.

Sooo Raleigh's redneck you say? I'm really considering not applying to any of them now, lol. :p

That's what I remember about Raleigh.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

She said that she wants a progressive city, I told her that Raleigh isn't that.

Yeah, I guess she did. I didn't catch it right the first time because I had an image of "liberal" in terms of a city meaning "with relaxed party laws", which I am very much for. I'm socially liberal but economically and militarily conservative, so the word "liberal" has more than one meaning to me. However, when you (Ninja) say "conservative", I only think of our past conversations and just how bad of a connotation you put on the word.

Xox, if you want to live in an area where most people are liberal (in every sense of the word), live in an art district or college district. I'm sure the UNC branches have surrounding areas you would like. I love hanging out in areas like that, but I tend to avoid certain subjects when I do. You can make a few closed-minded enemies in a hurry by mentioning that you don't all out despise every cell in Republican leaders' bodies.

A Southern college district you would especially love is LSU's. I used to live there. It is PLENTY liberal. I loved living there, and so did all of the liberals I knew, including my roommates.

I agree, most college areas are fairly liberal and cultured. Education and progressiveness tend to coicide. Your not going to find the progressive coffee shops and book stores or harvard or Cornell, but even in Raleigh if you stay in the immediate vacinity of the college I'm sure that you'll find it progressive. You said you lived in a really redneck area... Aren't you from NYC?

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Education and progressiveness tend to coicide.

I don't think that's it. The mansion areas are jam packed with very educated people, but they are almost completely conservative. Most people in college are young and rebellious. I was all out liberal in college. I even showed up for a Gulf War protest. Because of the atmosphere created by the college people, older liberals are drawn to the areas.

Okay, I can't really see myself at any of these uni's. I don't think I'll be applying to any of them. I would have to like the city a whole lot for me to think about paying the out-of-state tuition. Thanks for the info anyway, maybe I'll change my mind.

Aren't you from NYC?

Yes, but I moved to Virginia a little while ago.

Americans seem to care much more about politics than Australians. Many here consider the government a laughing stock, and there's no areas that are politically aligned in any dramatic sense.

I must visit America. .__.

Originally Posted by ClouD

Americans seem to care much more about politics than Australians.

It's battle of the cults here. I think that might be the result of a Republicratic Party plot. The result is that the Republicrats win every single election and keep making the goverment bigger and bigger. A balloon can only get so big before it pops.

Originally Posted by ClouD

Americans seem to care much more about politics than Australians. Many here consider the government a laughing stock, and there's no areas that are politically aligned in any dramatic sense.

I must visit America. .__.

It's a warzone, let me tell ya. Everybody's got their own opinion on what rules should be in place and how America should conduct business. Here politics is considered a very important issue since it affects all our lives. Personally, I think it's healthy.

UM probably has it right on this one. If you're looking at the city as a whole, anyplace in the South will trend Conservative, but most of them will also have their Progressive districts, particularly surrounding any University with national/international appeal.

The mansion areas are jam packed with very educated people, but they are almost completely conservative.

Now, that's not quite right. While bachelor degrees are largely a given in the "mansion areas," making them better educated on average than poor or middle class neighborhoods, that average doesn't qualify anyone in that neighborhood as "very educated." Ninja's statement pretty well stands; even given the greater prevalence of undergrad degrees in higher socio-economic strata, higher education tends to correlate with politically progressive views, particularly on social issues. The correlation grows stronger the higher the education goes.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

Now, that's not quite right. While bachelor degrees are largely a given in the "mansion areas," making them better educated on average than poor or middle class neighborhoods, that average doesn't qualify anyone in that neighborhood as "very educated." Ninja's statement pretty well stands; even given the greater prevalence of undergrad degrees in higher socio-economic strata, higher education tends to correlate with politically progressive views, particularly on social issues. The correlation grows stronger the higher the education goes.

It generally takes more than a bachelor's degree to have a mansion. Even mere doctors usually don't have mansions. It's specialists, senior law partners, and business tycoons who have the big palaces. Those people are pretty much all conservatives. People who are that obsessed with money don't want it taken from them. The ones I know like that don't even think about social issues. Their votes go to the realistically electable candidate who will protect their money the best. That makes them Republicans. The upper middle class has a high percentage of liberals, though. I haven't looked up the national stats, but I would be shocked if the upper middle class is mostly liberal in general, but they might be on social issues. I don't totally understand how anybody who got past junior high can be conservative on social issues.

I got a foot in the door in Alabama mansion land when I was selling books in college, and while the medical specialists were thick, my impression was that their politics went either way, some of them very liberal and thrilled to talk to an 'enlightened' yankee college kid. There were a handful of executives who likely had MBAs and likely were Republican, and then you had folks who built a successful business from the ground up or inherited one, and most of those people had a bachelor's degree or less. My boss now would fit that category, as do most of his mansion-dwelling buddies and relatives that roll through the place, with the exception of doctors and bankers.

At any rate, even if every mansion-dweller had an M.D. and a post-doc specialty, they would still be outnumbered and out-schooled by the Left-leaning, middle class denizens of academia, not to mention all those unionized schoolteachers.

It is definitely true that the people who do the educating tend to be liberal. I think that is because liberals are much more about change, and people who want major change are more likely to want a job of telling lots of people what they think all day. The same goes for journalists.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

UM probably has it right on this one. If you're looking at the city as a whole, anyplace in the South will trend Conservative, but most of them will also have their Progressive districts, particularly surrounding any University with national/international appeal.

In my experience, the South is fairly mixed. The reason that it invariably goes to republicans in elections is because poor blacks, which make up the majority of the liberal population, tend not to vote. Remember, 43% of the US are registered with the democrats whereas only 31% are registered republicans. And most independents are liberal. The reason the US has a conservative problem is that the conservatives vote in huge numbers, whereas the liberals don't. The stereotype of the right wing extremists comes from the fact that they are the loud ones who are too stupid to understand what they are saying and just shout that questioning the president is unpatriotic (unless it's a liberal black man) and that god hates fags. While being too stupid to understand that the ability to question our leaders is a fundamental ideal of the US and that there is no god.

So Xox, if you choose a largely black area, you will find the government may still be very conservative, but the people tend to be very liberal.

- Raleigh
- Greensboro
- Charlotte

These are the 3 major cities of NC. Raleigh is the capital. It's a pretty laid back state, cost of living isn't bad. It is in the bible belt so watch out, if you're concerned about too much religion. I've only been to Charlotte, and me being raised in the North thought everyone had rediculous accents. Surprisingly more then other southern states like Texas, and Louisianna.
The climate is pretty nice. long summers, cool but not cold winters.

I've been up and down South and North Carolina, but I've only really been to Charlotte ( from what I hear, it's the banking capital of the US, and my friend's dad was a banker at Wachovia, so I used to go visit him. ) Also, I thought Greensboro was in South Carolina? Or was that the city on the border?

Anyways, about the whole religion thing, that area's pretty bad. I didn't see it as much in Charlotte, but when I lived in the Greensboro/Columbia area ( South Carolina ) it was pretty bad. On Sundays, none of the shops opened until 1:00, and it was illegal to buy alcohol.
Now, Charlotte's pretty cool. Where I stayed was a rural part of the city, however, about a 30 minute drive is the big industrial part, a lot of banks there.
That's about the extent of my knowledge.

Oh, also, if I recall, cost of living is very low there. However, the only other place I've lived in is Florida, so I wouldn't really know.

You want ASHEVILLE! It is all liberal, it is all artistic and there is a dream conference here this summer. There is tons of music and art and young people of all colors and shapes and sizes. It is not a big city, it is a small city but with lots of heart and soul. There are at least 10 head shops and it is the most progressive place on the East Coast with the possible exception of Burlington Vermont. It is in the Heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and has lots of culture. It is three and a half hours from Atlanta. The surrounding areas are redneck though. But Asheville is great. in fact, most of the people here are from out of state and they all moved here because it is so cool. It is on the French Broad river and the Swannanoa River. Lots of festivals and music festivals on the streets, wilderness survival festivals, dream conferences, breweries, octoberfest, etc.
But keep it a secret.

Originally Posted by Catbus

Raleigh's a pretty cool city. You've got Hillsborough street, which is your typical college town (NCSU's campus is there). There's a lot of cool places to eat, a cool used bookstore, three headshops, a comic book shop and loads of other interesting things. Raleigh also has a nice train system with tracks that connect all over downtown, which makes them nice to walk along. We've spent so many days just walking and talking on those tracks, but I digress. Raleigh's also nice because all of the interesting parts (in my opinion, at least) are fairly close to each other. There's also a lot of good venues in Raleigh, The Brewery, The Lincoln Theater, The Pourhouse, and a couple of cool cafes that take local artists.

As for Greensboro, I've only ever been there to see Between the Buried and Me at the Green Street Club, but it looked like a nice city. I either ate at a really cool Mediterranean place, or a really cool Indian place, I don't remember.


Speaking of Mediterranean food, have you been to the Mediterranean Cafe on Franklin street? They have the best food there, and it's not that pricey.

Also, the first Saturday of every month at the Town Commons in Carrboro (which is so close to Chapel Hill it should just be part of Chapel Hill) they have the "Really really free market" where people bring stuff they want to give away, and take whatever they want. There's always a lot of interesting people and usually decent food.

Anyway, hope that helps some.

Dude, you went and saw BTBAM!?

I am trying to see them next saturday and raleigh and my mother is the only one that dissaproves. Not my dad.


Raleigh's great. There's music stores, lots of concerts and events, a nice skatepark, and always something to do. Traffic isn't too bad either.

Greensboro is literally a harbor for koreans. Nothing interesting but a place to see concerts, some old battleships, and a couple korean markets and restaurants.

Charlotte's got a good music scene as well.

Asheville, just wow. Beautiful scenery, great summer weather, and just my favorite place to be. I wish I was there and not here in fayetteville.


That said, Raleigh has way too much religion in it. :/
But HOOOOLLLY CRAAAP do NOT go to wilmington or greensboro if you want to escape religion.



Fayetteville here doesn't have many big concerts, though we do have the world's biggest skate scene -- which means a surplus asshole police enforcing some very stupid laws that restrict any freedom downtown. We have a huge gang problem in the inner city as well. However just five miles out of fayetteville is a nice place called Linden, it's farms and small neighborhoods and a great place to be, if you aren't black. Pretty sure one of the grandmasters lives in this area. There's a ton of KKK here. A big clash of city-people, rednecks, and gangsters. All three can attend the same school too.