(HOLYSMACK! MY CHILD TURNS FIVE NEXT WEEK!)

I reject your reality and substitute my own. SHE WAS JUST BORN OR IS SURELY ONLY JUST A TODDLER. NOT FIVE.

As a total bleeding heart liberal, the Triangle is the only part of NC I'll live in, and I'm picky within that (sorry, Raleigh, you've gotten better but you're still soulless).

Hahaha. I almost wrote exactly this. I would live in Carborro, Chapel Hill, or maybe Durham (I liked where flea lived). I would also live in Cary, but it's def. more cookie cutter suburbs. That's about it.

Thanks, smonster! I'm not sure what we're doing yet -- I'd like us to move somewhere we really want to *be* regardless of where I go to school, although school is a factor. But I have to finish this book first, and then maybe next week I can dig in again. I'm just furious at myself that I missed the deadline for UNC. Missed Penn State's, too. Too much going on!

Duke is right out, though, because it's just way too pricey.

My one criticism of NC though is that it *really matters* where you are because it varies *a lot*.

Yep yep yep yep. And there are a lot of places that are good, not just the Triangle -- the coast is lovely and really different from a lot of other beachy places, not to mention the rest of the state. The mountains are gorgeous. The Triangle has mega-brains and culture and art and an amazing food scene -- and even within those regions, every individual town has a really, really different feel to it. There's really no "I'm an hour away from the town I really want to live in and that's close enough" -- if you're an hour away, it's a completely different life. Even Carrboro and Chapel Hill, which are a ten-minute *walk* away from each other have very, very different vibes.

Pick a place to live, which (biased) I'd say should be the Triangle and (extra-biased) I'd say should be Durham because we rock like that, yo; but amyth and smonster and Calli would likely disagree on the latter point, because they're also biased. There are a ton of schools around here where you can study English or Education or both, whether it's part-time or full-time or online or whatever. But you're going to (okay, thinking of, but we'll work on you now that you've let it out of the bag) live here, and NC really rewards diving into the cool places and punishes living in the strip-mall-and-sprawl parts.

I would also live in Cary, but it's def. more cookie cutter suburbs.

I would never live in the Containment Area for Retired Yankees. But that's me.

NC really rewards diving into the cool places and punishes living in the strip-mall-and-sprawl parts.

This. I want this, so much.

(HOLYSMACK! MY CHILD TURNS FIVE NEXT WEEK!)

TCBITW will be eleven this summer. Totally a tween.

TCBITW will be eleven this summer.

SHUT UP.

-th, here, echoing what -ch and smonster and Bev have to say.

I have almost a complete ignorance of Rocky Mount and Greenville. Darth, if he still posted here, grew up in Rocky Mount, IIRC. Went to a conference in Greenville once, and spent most of my free time in the local Target, if that tells you anything. I would def. recommend Raleigh over Greenville.

As an alum of UNC-Chapel Hill, I do tend to be biased in favor of it.

I would put the commute from Chapel Hill-Carrboro to Greensboro at about 45 minutes to an hour. When I lived on the west side of Carrboro, my roommate commuted to UNC-G every day and made it in 45 minutes. But he also got three speeding tickets in a year, so YMliterallyMV.

And yes, we would all definitely play with you if you moved to the area, AND WE COULD USE ANOTHER AMY, YES.

every individual town has a really, really different feel to it. There's really no "I'm an hour away from the town I really want to live in and that's close enough" -- if you're an hour away, it's a completely different life.

Oh, yeah. And we have fun little towns to explore, too, like Hillsborough and Pittsboro.

Even Carrboro and Chapel Hill, which are a ten-minute *walk* away from each other have very, very different vibes.

True true.