North Carolina and New England

[Germaine]

I spend a good deal of time in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (The "Research Triangle") and Charlotte as a urban planning consultant. Of all the Southern states where I work, North Carolina seems like the most similar to New England. Do any of you have any thoughts on the subject?

[JayHass]

I spend a good deal of time in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (The "Research Triangle") and Charlotte as a urban planning consultant. Of all the Southern states where I work, North Carolina seems like the most similar to New England. Do any of you have any thoughts on the subject?

Having lived in Charlotte and visited Greensboro a lot, they couldn't be more different in terms of culture, topography and overall lifestyle. I came back to New England with a smile on my face...because I was leaving NC.

[oak]

I'm an urban planning consultant in the Boston metro and live in Providence. I grew up in Greensboro and my family still lives there. North Carolina and New England are nothing alike. I know a lot of people who have moved from NC to New England and vice versa and I have never heard anyone note similarities between the two places.

[Jerseyman4]

A New Englander named James Tufts founded Pinehurst, NC and designed the village (downtown) of how New England towns look like up there.

[graydog]

I grew up in northern Maine, and lived in Portland and Boston for many years. When I came to NC, I was amazed at how NC was so similar to parts of New England and upstate NY in terms of the natural surroundings (evergreens, hills and mountains) plus the mill towns, many of which share the same names such as Lowell. I've heard that NC mill builders looked to New England as a template. Of course, the first landscape differences you notice are the kudzu and vines.

[amillion]

I am from the boston area but moved to Charlotte in late november 05. This place is nothing like boston at all. The people and culture are totally different.

[lammius]

The most commonly spoken language is English in both regions. There are trees and people in both regions. That's all I can come up with.

[waccamatt]

Theonly similarity between North Carolina (and South Carolina, for that matter) and New England is the historical dependence on the textile industry. Unfortunately, most of the mills are closed in both areas now, and the jobs have moved overseas.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

I spend a good deal of time in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (The "Research Triangle") and Charlotte as a urban planning consultant. Of all the Southern states where I work, North Carolina seems like the most similar to New England. Do any of you have any thoughts on the subject?

Other than a good mix of forest and farmland, mountains and coastline, there's not much else in the way of comparisons.

I am from the boston area but moved to Charlotte in late november 05. This place is nothing like boston at all. The people and culture are totally different.

Thank God!!

[Richhamleigh, DC]

I grew up in northern Maine, and lived in Portland and Boston for many years. When I came to NC, I was amazed at how NC was so similar to parts of New England and upstate NY in terms of the natural surroundings (evergreens, hills and mountains) plus the mill towns, many of which share the same names such as Lowell. I've heard that NC mill builders looked to New England as a template. Of course, the first landscape differences you notice are the kudzu and vines.

My family's from Van Buren...even been there?

IMHO, the biggest difference between NC and NE is the weather then the population growth; then, the courtesy of the people in NC. I don't think though that one place is better than the other however ~ both places are each unique and very cool.

[raleightransplant]

I was just in Boston a month back, and I did notice some real similarities in the vibe of the Boston area and the Triangle area...both young university-driven metros w/ a good deal of innovation going on. Both areas seem to have a lot of smart, cool people. I thought the topography was rather similar as well in these two areas. I work w/ some Boston transplants here in Raleigh, and they're constantly mentioning how NC as a whole is pretty similar to Mass/New England...coastal states w/ mountains, etc. There are a lot of transplanted New Yorkers here in NC, so believe it or not--the drivers are more similar than one would think.

The main difference I notice is that NC is transplant central, so it's lacking some identity there perhaps. Boston, while it has a lot of transplants, has a vibe that is unmistakenly "Boston". It's got a real history that you need to embrace if you're going to make it there. NC...not so much. People just do what they want. Weather and people are the two things that seem to differentiate the areas the most.

[Mike D]

I spend a good deal of time in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (The "Research Triangle") and Charlotte as a urban planning consultant. Of all the Southern states where I work, North Carolina seems like the most similar to New England. Do any of you have any thoughts on the subject?

You're comparing one state to a six-state historic region. That doesn't seem like a fair comparison. If maybe you compared NC to just one New England state, like MA or ME, then your comparison would be more fair.