Possible move to South Carolina

[Smash255]

It is possible I could wind up moving to South Carolina.   A few years ago my parents as well as my Aunt & Uncle (mom's brother and his wife) starting looking areas to move to for a lower cost of living as they were nearing retirement, and decided on the Charlotte area.  My dad retired a little over a year ago, and last fall my parents as well as my Aunt & Uncle decided on an area.  They both had house built in Indian Land, South Carolina (the extreme northern tinge of Lancaster County, less than a mile over the border from NC.   Both my Parents & Aunt & uncle's houses were ready a few months ago, but neither have moved yet as the houses here on Long Island were still on the market.   My aunt & Uncle are currently under contract and will likely be moving down there at the end of the month, and my parents will likely be making the move a few weeks later. 

So now I have a real tough decision to make.  A few months ago I wouldn't have even entertained the thought of moving down there.  I had a good job, and was getting ready to look for an Apartment, however earlier in the year I was laid off.  I was working in the financial sector, dealing with the Pricing aspect of Mutual and Hedge funds, and as the market especially in the financial sector is really tight right now i haven't bee able to find another job yet.  The job market down there from what I understand is even worse than it is up here, however moving down there would be much less of a financial drain than if I stayed up here, since I am currently out of work.   I  currently receive unemployment, but it wouldn't cover all the costs having my own place, and although i do have enough $$ saved up, in which I know I can afford to stay up here even if it takes a long time to find a job, I don't exactly want to blow through a bunch of my savings in order to be able to stay up here. 

So I really don't know what i am going to do, but it is possible I will bemoving to South Carolina, right outside of Charlotte.

[Aizen]

Sorry to hear that

[memphis]

Best of luck with the job search. I know how obnoxious it can be. Have you ever visited the area? If you can afford to do so and have not already visited, it will make the decision a lot easier.

[Smash255]

Best of luck with the job search. I know how obnoxious it can be. Have you ever visited the area? If you can afford to do so and have not already visited, it will make the decision a lot easier.

Yes,  I have been down there twice.  First in late 06, when they were still early in the process, and at that point were still looking mostly on the North Carolina side, in and around South Charlotte.   I was down there about a month ago to check out the house and the area.  The house is really nice, bigger than what we have now and cheaper (which is a key reason they are moving down, buy a bigger house and make a profit in doing so).  The area seems pretty nice, and it is filled with a bunch of New Yorkers, and others from the region, but its still not New York.  I have lived here on Long Island my whole life, even my four years in the dorm were on Long Island (Stony Brook), so it would be a major change as its what I know.

 It is a big change for my parents as well.  They were both born and raised in Queens, and moved to LI a couple years before I was born, but it is something they were preparing for a few years, and it also makes sense for them, because of my dad retiring and the lower cost of living.   I really wasn't prepared to move and really didn't even think about it, had a good job and everything so why would I.  But now i don't know what I'm going to do, I really don't want to move, but financially for the short term at least, it might be better.

[TeePee4Prez]

Best of luck with the job search. I know how obnoxious it can be. Have you ever visited the area? If you can afford to do so and have not already visited, it will make the decision a lot easier.

Yes,  I have been down there twice.  First in late 06, when they were still early in the process, and at that point were still looking mostly on the North Carolina side, in and around South Charlotte.   I was down there about a month ago to check out the house and the area.  The house is really nice, bigger than what we have now and cheaper (which is a key reason they are moving down, buy a bigger house and make a profit in doing so).  The area seems pretty nice, and it is filled with a bunch of New Yorkers, and others from the region, but its still not New York.  I have lived here on Long Island my whole life, even my four years in the dorm were on Long Island (Stony Brook), so it would be a major change as its what I know.

 It is a big change for my parents as well.  They were both born and raised in Queens, and moved to LI a couple years before I was born, but it is something they were preparing for a few years, and it also makes sense for them, because of my dad retiring and the lower cost of living.   I really wasn't prepared to move and really didn't even think about it, had a good job and everything so why would I.  But now i don't know what I'm going to do, I really don't want to move, but financially for the short term at least, it might be better.

Thankfully my parents have to stay here and I have the flexibility to do whatever.  Funny you mention the Carolinas.  I'm working with 2 recruiters- one from Charlotte, one from Raleigh.  I'm not sure how the financial sector is down there.  My cousin works at Wachovia and he dodged a few bullets so even that might not be the best option.  Looking at Philadelphia at least, the unemployment relative to the nation looks decent, but I realize most of the good jobs are in education and health care.  Construction, finance, accounting, and law are taking a bath right now.  Then again, that's the case in most of the country.  Needless to say there's a chance I might be joining you possibly in the Carolinas or elsewhere.  I'm in the process of interviewing with a firm in MD right now.  We'll see what happens there. 

[Lunar]

Wait, Smash is responsible for the recession?

[Lunar]

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

One thing to keep in mind is that unemployment rates are in this state generally highest in rural counties and lowest in urban counties, with a broad range of values.  For April the rates ranged from 7.6 in Lexington County to 21.8 in Chester County.  Usually Allendale County leads with the worst unemployment, but Chester had a major manufacturing employer shut down in March.

Can't really say how much luck you'll have finding a financial services job in Charlotte, but with Wachovia being taken over by Wells Fargo, I imagine there will be a large pool of people seeking what jobs are available there, even if Wells Fargo will keeping an East Coast Headquarters there.

[Smash255]

One thing to keep in mind is that unemployment rates are in this state generally highest in rural counties and lowest in urban counties, with a broad range of values.  For April the rates ranged from 7.6 in Lexington County to 21.8 in Chester County.  Usually Allendale County leads with the worst unemployment, but Chester had a major manufacturing employer shut down in March.

Can't really say how much luck you'll have finding a financial services job in Charlotte, but with Wachovia being taken over by Wells Fargo, I imagine there will be a large pool of people seeking what jobs are available there, even if Wells Fargo will keeping an East Coast Headquarters there.

they are in Lancaster County, which has an unemployment rate around 18%, though they are right at the very edge of Lancaster, just a couple minutes over the border from Mecklenburg and very close to York as well (the mailing address is actually Fort Mill).  With that being said even those areas have considerably higher unemployment rates than here on Long Island and the NYC area in general.

[TeePee4Prez]

One thing to keep in mind is that unemployment rates are in this state generally highest in rural counties and lowest in urban counties, with a broad range of values.  For April the rates ranged from 7.6 in Lexington County to 21.8 in Chester County.  Usually Allendale County leads with the worst unemployment, but Chester had a major manufacturing employer shut down in March.

Can't really say how much luck you'll have finding a financial services job in Charlotte, but with Wachovia being taken over by Wells Fargo, I imagine there will be a large pool of people seeking what jobs are available there, even if Wells Fargo will keeping an East Coast Headquarters there.

they are in Lancaster County, which has an unemployment rate around 18%, though they are right at the very edge of Lancaster, just a couple minutes over the border from Mecklenburg and very close to York as well (the mailing address is actually Fort Mill).  With that being said even those areas have considerably higher unemployment rates than here on Long Island and the NYC area in general.

Now talking with a CPA firm out of Charlotte.  I could be joining you.

[Platypus]

Take six-twelve months and backpack through South America or Asia or Africa. Your cost of living plus travel will still be lower than living alone in NYC, and it gives you something to do while unemployed. When you get back, maybe the job market will be better.