What is going on everyone? Welcome back to the World According to Briggs and a look at the Tar Heel State, North Carolina
North Carolina was established in 1729 and is one of the original 13 colonies
There's no concrete explanation on how it got its nickname, the Tar Heel State
but most think it stems back from the mid-18th century when North Carolina was the leading producer of tar
I've also read that it was because tar used on shipbuilding would get on the heels of the barefoot
ship laborers who were slaves at the time. Who knows? I like all the stories and urban
legends that surround that one. They're all pretty interesting. North Carolina's right here is
a southern state, even though it has the word north in it. Now, I've said that
before, and I still get emails that people say it's not a southern state
Google it, please, before you leave a comment, and I want to give you a word of advice
Go to North Carolina and run into one of those old timers and tell them that North
Carolina is not a southern state. You could lose your front teeth, just letting you know
Now, they're not that bad. North Carolina people are pretty decent people, but that is kind of
stupid if you say that to someone. They're going to look at you weird at least. North Carolina is a
very popular state these days. Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Raleigh-Durham, and Asheville are all seeing around 20% population growth or more since the 2010 census. So why are so many people
moving to North Carolina? I'm going to give you 10 reasons right now. Number 10, a quality education
Yeah, from first grade to getting out of college, they have quality schools across the board in North Carolina
The average SAT score is above the national average, and you'll find good public schools, charter, magnet, private schools
whatever you're looking for, you're going to find it here for yourself or for your kids. You get up in the Triangle area, which is Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill
You have the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. You have Duke up there, and you have North Carolina State University
They have some other smaller ones up there. There is really good universities in this area of North Carolina
Number nine, it's a good place to get your drink on. The beer scene here has been growing in the past 10 years
With Asheville and Charlotte becoming respectable brewery hubs, the entire state has 320 breweries
And they also say they have the largest number of craft breweries in the South. Now, it's not just the beer
Look at the wine. This place is home to Mother Vine. the oldest cultivated grapevine in the country that dates back to 1584
and they have more than 175 wineries. And it's not just alcohol
This is the birthplace of several American classics like Pepsi-Cola, Cheerwine. Cheerwine, if you've ever had Cheerwine, it's a cherry-flavored soft drink
It's got a lot of sugar, and it's like 42 grams of sugar per can
So it's a little sweet, but it's good. Number eight, the climate
North Carolina is a four season state You never feel like you just stuck in one weather pattern like Southern California where it seems to be like summer nine months a year and then you get fall for like a couple days And a lot of the other states in the South only seem to have summer
I mean, that's not true, but it just sure does seem like it sometimes. You get the beautiful changing of the colors in fall
The sun still peaks through in winter, but you can also get a nice blanket of snow
It's not crazy snow like Minnesota, Wisconsin. Yeah, you get up in the hills and it can be, but it's not terrible
It doesn't get as humid as Mississippi. and Alabama, Louisiana, and things like that
it gets a touch of it, but it's just kind of a happy medium. But like I said, you get all four seasons here
Number seven, the economy. North Carolina was doing great before the pandemic
and hasn't done terrible during it compared to some of the other states
It is considered to be one of the best places to live and work in the United States due to its solid job market in the education system
technology jobs, and that's during normal times. Like I said, they're still doing better than most
but during normal times, they were doing great. North Carolina has one of the healthiest economies in the country
not to mention a highly educated and skilled workforce. It makes it easy to see why college
graduates and professionals with families and stuff like to settle down here. Some of the
Fortune 500 companies that call this state home include Bank America, Duke Energy, Lowe's
Honeywell International, and Advanced Auto Parts. That's just naming some of them. They got a bunch
more too. Charlotte. If you just want to look at Charlotte, they're the second largest banking
center in the nation. So if you're into banking, finance, not a bad place to live
Number six, the great outdoors. North Carolina has it all. Well, maybe not a desert or frozen
tundra, but they have the Atlantic beaches on the east, plenty of woodland areas and the Blue
Bridge Mountains on the west. If you get a chance, hike Whitewater Falls. It's the highest waterfall
on the entire east coast. There are over 250 waterfalls in the Tar Heel state. That's a lot
Oregon, I think we got them beat, but mountain biking is big here
So is hiking, whitewater rafting, boating, and kayaking. There's tons of fishing and hunting in North Carolina
If that's your thing, they got plenty of it. But hiking and mountain biking are really big in North Carolina
I will tell you one thing about the coastline in North Carolina
I was never impressed. I mean, it's not equal to Florida or even parts of Georgia and South Carolina
It's nice. It's just not as nice as some of the other ones on the East Coast
At least that's been my experience. I'm sure you could point out a couple areas that are great and stuff like that
but I've been to the shoreline more than a few times in North Carolina
And yeah, it was never that good, but it's there. Number five, a low cost of living
If you looked at North Carolina like a date, she's a cheap date that doesn't act like a cheap date
Mississippi, on the other hand, is a cheap date that acts like a crazy person that will drink you under the table
and sell your kidney after you pass out. The overall cost living index for the state of North Carolina
is 5% lower than the national average. That doesn't sound like a lot
but like I said in the Wyoming video that not much when it a state nobody wants to live in North Carolina is a nice state and people definitely want to live there The cost of groceries and utilities are a touch lower than the national average
They aren't dirt cheap like you'd find in West Virginia, Arkansas or Mississippi
but for a nice place to live, it's really not that bad. Number four, things to do
Not everyone wants to go mountain biking, hiking, camping, fishing or kayaking
Some people like to seek their entertainment elsewhere, like sitting down and watching something
North Carolina has you covered. This state is big on sports. They got the Carolina Panthers, the Hurricanes, and the NHL
and then they have the Charlotte Hornets and basketball. They also have other sports that are professional
like lacrosse and minor league baseball, things like that. But then you have a ton of college football, basketball, baseball
They're big on all those things. That's just for the sports fans. And then they have motorsports
This is a place that's big into NASCAR. They have a few races every single year
and a truckload of NASCAR teams are headquartered in North Carolina. After you get past all the sports and all that nonsense, you have zoos, museums, and historical sites
A lot of history went down in North Carolina, from pirates like Blackbeard to the Wright brothers making their first flight there
They have a nice aviation museum, and there's a lot of military history that went on in this state
It's worth taking a look. Number three, great health care. Now, I've been making these lists for about five years now
When I just traveled around the country and did things, I wasn't researching things like crime or health care
These days, anytime I look up stats about health care, North Carolina is always towards the top of those lists
I never knew why, and then I started digging into it, and I did a health care video not too long ago
and I think three of the cities out of the ten were in North Carolina
It is home to several nationally ranked hospitals and world-renowned academic medical centers
Duke University Hospital in Durham is one of the most well-known teaching hospitals in the country
Nationally, they are ranked ninth for children's specialties and tenth for adult specialties
They have some really good hospitals like University of North Carolina. They have a couple hospitals, Carolina Medical Center and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Like I said, they got a bunch more. Those are some of the big ones. So if you got a bum hip or a chick from Mississippi sells your kidney
yeah, maybe North Carolina is a good option for you. Number two, affordable housing
Now, this one's kind of rough because normally I can break down a city and just kind of tell you what it is
I'll give you the median home cost for the whole state, which is $187,000, which is the median home value
compared to nationally, $240,000. So kind of gives you an idea that they're a little bit lower
I normally like to tell people realistically what they're looking at, but since this is a big state, it's kind of hard to do that
I'd be here for an hour trying to explain all that to you. So what I'm gonna tell you is I looked at Raleigh
Raleigh is big on duplexes. You can get a nice duplex built within the last decade or so for about $150,000
Sure if you get downtown or in one of the nice gated communities or something like that it going to be a lot higher But I saw tons of nice livable duplexes and townhomes for around You can
get nice older homes in the suburbs around Raleigh for about $220,000. These are nice, ready to move
in decent neighborhoods. Charlotte's similar to that, maybe a little bit more expensive, but that's
kind of what you're looking at through the whole state. Now, don't start quoting me prices on some
rundown neighborhood that you used to live in or some gated community where the homes are a million
dollars. They have plenty of those too, but you know, they got a dock, a boat ramp and everything
else like that. It's just an affordable place to buy a home. Raleigh and Charlotte being the
largest cities have a relatively low rent price as well. When you compare them to other similar
Southern cities, they're only 2% higher than the national average, which beats places like Atlanta
at 7% and Miami at 8% above the national average. Now, if you really want to compare it to the rest
of the country and look at the most expensive places to rent, if you were to look at Los Angeles
they have 35%. New York City is 37% higher than the national average and San Francisco's knocking
it out of the park with 72%. Sucks to be them. All right, before we get to number one, don't
forget to hit that subscribe button and ring that little bell so you know when we're uploading again
Leave me a comment. Give the video a big thumbs up if you enjoyed it. All right, on to number one
And number one, it's the people. It's the people and their hospitality
When you think of North Carolina, you think of that Southern charm
They have tons of it there. Every single time I've been there, it's one of the first things I noticed
People are polite. They're nice. And I got to give the disclaimer. There are some a-holes there also
But that's everywhere. Every place has them. But I'm talking on average, they're just known for their hospitality and being decent people
There's a couple other places in the country that are like that. Wisconsin's one of them. And West Virginia, for all its problems, the people are amazing
They're very welcoming in North Carolina. That's one thing you will see on my comment sections
If you bring up Wyoming, I just did Wyoming, you have a ton of people going, we're full, don't move here
Colorado's the same thing. We're full, don't move here. Idaho, don't move here. We're all full
We don't need no Californians in your politics. North Carolina, they're very welcoming people
I said that, so I'm sure we're gonna get some people that say it and they're probably sitting in Denver
when they put don't come to North Carolina, but I promise you, most of the people you run into
in North Carolina would be happy to have you there. It's a great state. The people are, I would say, the best part
There's no metric for measuring that. That's just a feeling, that's just a reputation
and that's my experience. All right, that's today's video. Hope you guys enjoyed it
Hope you got some information out of it. Now, if you're thinking about moving to North Carolina, do a little more research on some of the things I said
and see if this place is what you're looking for. It's not a bad place to live
All right, everyone. I'll see you on the next video. Be nice to each other