1 Hey Ogre, my (American) fiance & I have been looking for somewhere to move to in a couple of years, California being stuffed full of too many Californians 'n all. I spent a couple of days in Raleigh about 5 years back (visiting Ericsson), and went to an awesome Megadeth concert while I was there (had a scary moment when one of my earplugs fell out). I remember Raleigh as a pretty good place - would you recommend it, or do you have too many darn foreigners there already? P.S - going to grab one of those Ogre BlogAd spaces soon, can't do it yet since the banner I have is 180x150 pixels

2 Well...I'm not intimately familiar with the foreigners situation in Raleigh, as I'm closer to Charlotte. I'm willing to bet the situation is very similar, however. Charlotte is an area where few people stay. There is a huge Mexican population (including gangs) because of the social programs and free...well, everything. Most of the people who live in Charlotte (other than the ruling class) have recently moved here due to jobs. A large number of people who have lived in Charlotte for 5+ years move out of Charlotte to escape it's high taxes, poor schools, and high crime rate. The political atmosphere in North Carolina is very liberal Democrat. There are no restraints on spending and increases in taxes occur very regularly each year on the state, county, and city level. If you're looking for somewhere with lots of freedom, I'd suggest New Hampshire. If you're a big fan of the liberal way of life, North Carolina will do well. The only remenant of conservatism in North Carolina is church -- you will find one on every corner. If that makes you uncomfortable, you do not want to come here!

3 Interesting - thanks for that, the gang situation sounds like it's worth avoiding, but then just 50 miles away from here gang activity is rife in LA, yet this area seems free of it. G is from NH, she's saying that the work situation is dire there. Do you think there may be a corollary between Conservative Freedom and poor employment rates?

4 The only correlation between freedom and employment is government employment -- the less freedom you have, the more government employment. The work situation is NH is good for some and not good for others. IT is growing there just like everywhere else. NH just doesn't have the growing population that NC does. The weather and government bribes are bringing employment to North Carolina more than New Hampshire.