Quote:Well, I don't know whom you have met, but I have met quite a few people who have moved to North Carolina from all over, and the reason they moved is simply the beauty of the state.   It has nothing to do with their politics or escaping the hell they created elsewhere. 

 

And because they love the beauty of North Carolina, a lot of them and a lot of the long term locals do not want to de-regulate things like building codes and growth restrictions and pollution laws.   In fact, in a lot of areas, we need more restrictions on growth.   In the area I frequent, which is the extreme western end of the state, buildings are going up all over the place with no regard for anything.  They just clear a space, even take off the top of a mountain, and put up a building.   This needs to be controlled or North Carolina will lose its natural beauty.   I'm rolling down a beautiful highway and  bang! there's a tire store.  What the heck is a tire store doing out in the middle of nowhere?

 

So, put me down in the camp of more regulation, not less.  At least when it comes to western North Carolina. 

I know a lot of them move here because it's cheaper to live on their retirement and it's a golf mecca for central NC. Many who retire here from up north also have money. My husband and I do business with about 10 retirees who live in high end golf communities and all moved here for the scenery and lower cost of living. And they all talk about how the area is lacking this and that from 'back home'. These are the same folks who voted for people in local government who had the same ideas to turn the area into 'back home'. 

 

I don't care one way or another. I have plenty of other stuff to be concerned about. I just find it interesting that they prefer 'back home' but choose to live down here and complain that it's not the same, then they get what they want then complain that things are looking too much like why they left and retired here. People are fickle.

 

I can't say what's going on in western NC as I don't live there, but I believe you when you say there are buildings popping up everywhere. Anywhere that is as nice as it is over there will eventually be consumed by concrete and the very people who allowed it to happen will complain that it's lost it's beauty. They're lucky it hasn't happened before now. Had the recession not happened when it did it's possible the area would be more advanced.

---