Are you considering relocating from California to North Carolina? Maybe you’re worried about the lifestyle, or not being able to find work? Well, we’re here to tell you that the feedback from Californians who’ve already made the shift is all positive. Check out these 5 things that commonly surprise Californians about North Carolina.
Speaker 1: What surprises Californians about North Carolina.
Speaker 2: So, we’re really lucky that we deal with a lot of people from California. We’re getting a lot of phone calls from California right now. First of all, I think one of the things they’re surprised about is how high tech the Raleigh area is. We have the highest percentage of people with advanced degrees, in the triangle out of anywhere in the country. So there’s a lot of high tech jobs that are available. So that’s one of the things that surprises people from California. The biggest thing that we get, the real funny is, they’re just blown away with how green it is here. And that’s something that we take for granted in North Carolina, but Californians are just amazed at, oh my gosh, I can’t believe how much green grass, green trees, green, green, green, that’s all they talk about is how green it is here. So that’s, that’s one of the interesting things that’s shocking to them.
Of course, the other big thing is the huge, huge differences in prices. So, when we tell them our standard little brick ranch here is 275 to three and a quarter, they’re really in a situation where they’re selling those between 900 1.1 million. So they’re blown away with the differences in real estate prices. I think they’re surprised with our taxes. Our taxes, generally property tax is lower in North Carolina than it is in California. So, that makes a big difference. I mean, we have people that are paying 20 to $30,000 in taxes per year. And our average is probably around two and a half, $3,000 in taxes a year. So, that makes that’s a big difference.
The other huge thing is commute time and our traffic. And, traffic is not great in Raleigh, we all complain about it or whatever, but it’s no comparison to California. And so, there are people in California that are 40, 45 miles away, and they factor in two to three hour commute time for that 45 miles. Here 45 miles is going to be about an hour and so, hugely different commute times, which is real important for people as far as quality of life and where they’re going to work.
And I think, California’s California. When my daughter and I went there a couple years ago, we said, California’s America times 10. It’s like every American stereotype they had. But the other thing that I think Californians are pleasantly surprised about when they visit the area, is how many people have already moved here from California, or moved here from other parts of the country. It’s not little redneck, North Carolina. There’s lots of people that have moved from other areas. And, with UNC, Duke and NC State, and all these good colleges and universities around here, and a highly educated workforce, I think they walk away pretty impressed when they come and visit.
