Originally Posted by
PeregrineA1
Raleigh, NC. Excellent cycling community, both road and mountain. Hilly (I too hate flats). Close to real climbing-2 hours to the edge of the Smokey's. Great food. Micro brews. Four real seasons, none more than three months long. Great people. Business is diverse. Politics is diverse. Been here three years and will miss it when I leave after the first of the new year and return to SoCal.
2 hours to the edge of the Smokies may be optimistic. I am from Greensboro, and we are a good 3 hours from the Smokies, and we are an hour west of Raleigh at a minimum.
granted, mostly I agree with you. My wife and I are sick and tired of California and now I'm job hunting in NC. Lots of stuff to love about California, but my wife and I make a combined total of $230,000 a year and still cannot afford a single family home with any expectation of having any spare money, with only one kid.
The SF Bay rocks in many respects, but it is so insanely expensive that you really have to wonder at the logic of living here...but here is where the jobs are.