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Relocating to NC... Where are the atheists?

Hello,

Glad to have found this site! Our family is considering moving from South Florida (we're originally from NY) to NC in a couple of years, contingent on jobs. I am utterly unfamiliar with the state, having been there only once and in the dead of night, from the airport to the in-laws home in Kernersville.

I know this is a pretty broad or over-simplified question, but: I understand NC is quite religious, but are there any areas that are at least less so? I assume the towns close to universities would be, but I'm still unsure. For example, I've heard that Wake Forest is socially liberal, but when I visited some WF websites, I noticed a rather lengthy list of churches!

I'm thinking Raleigh-Durham or thereabouts? (We're not moving to the coast, nor to western NC.) I'm a community college professor, so I'm looking at Piedmont, Wake Technical, Durham Tech, etc.

Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated!

BTW, we'd be looking for three/four bedroom homes under 300k.

Thanks in advance,

David

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by aerie on September 2, 2010 at 3:57am

I'm long winded tonight! Apologies...didn't mean to hijack the thread w/ my Cary memories, but it was/is a great place to live, the more non-believers that move in the better! Just stay away from the rural areas, stick to the cities & close 'burbs. It can be oppressive here in some areas but we have our oases of rationality & free thought. I've always imagined Florida as much more religious than NC, but not as bad as say, Alabama or Texas or Arkansas, but never lived there. My little brother was married on St. Joe Beach in the FL panhandle & we had a grand time at the reception on the beach! The lovely sounds of a steel drum band & plenty of fruit-filled sangria!

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on September 2, 2010 at 11:40am

Actually, the urban areas of Texas are pretty liberal. Austin and Dallas have Atheists all over the place. There's just so much rural Texas.

Permalink Reply by aerie on September 2, 2010 at 2:28pm

You're so right, I forgot totally about those areas. I was doing the same thing I hate, lumping the state into one big fundy wasteland, which is not the reality. Lack of thought on my part!I'm mature enough to admit when I'm dead wrong!

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on September 2, 2010 at 2:51pm

Well, it's mostly one big fundie wasteland. Just like every state though, you get the focused, more educated, urban areas which have vastly higher populations of liberals and free-thinkers.

Of course there are states like Wyoming and Mississippi. They have no real urban areas, so they'll probably remain heavily religious and conservative for the foreseeable future.

Permalink Reply by aerie on September 2, 2010 at 3:19pm

Yes! Mississippi was the one next to Alabama that I couldn't think of. I knew I was missing another big, southern fundy state somewhere!

And I agree, very little hope for MS & majority of LA. Not familiar w/ Wyoming; I always imagined it as more of a free-nature-loving-hippie state, less xtianity & more of a benign native indian culture & mindset. Obviously, I was wrong!

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on September 2, 2010 at 4:13pm

Wyoming is better than the southeast, from what I've seen. It's still a solid red state, though. My big point was that there are no cities. The closest it has are Cheyenne and Casper, each of which are around 50,000 people.

The entire state barely has over 500,000 people. The Raleigh metro area has about twice that. Wyoming can't help but be rural. Certainly some of it is non-Christian, but I think that's one of the areas heavily targeted by the evangelicals. I'm not sure exactly what makes them a red state, but they are.

Permalink Reply by aerie on September 3, 2010 at 4:25am

You are a font of knowledge! Thank you!

Seriously, have you lived/traveled everywhere or just knowledgeable in general?

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on September 3, 2010 at 7:15am

Lived only here and the Chicago area. We traveled around a lot of the midwest when I was younger, though. That and I just read a lot, so I have a lot of mostly-useless knowledge about completely random subjects.

I just remember the generalities. The numbers I looked up on census.gov. Those are from the 2006-2007 estimates. I already knew about the two biggest towns having about 50,000 a piece, from when I had looked it up a few years ago, for some reason I can't remember anymore. Wyoming isn't one of the expanding states (those are mostly on the coasts), so the 2010 census probably won't come out with much different numbers.

Permalink Reply by aerie on September 3, 2010 at 7:44am

Knowledge is never useless as far as I'm concerned. My kids get to hear some of my random knowledge; teens are so highly preoccupied w/ themselves & their tiny worlds so I try to keep it relevent & brief. My hope is that it 'gets them outside of themselves' if only for a moment. Perspective is what I'm shooting for there. I know they only kindly tolerate it, but one day maybe they'll appreciate my weirdness & perhaps grow a bit more self-aware in the process. Baby steps.

Permalink Reply by Joseph P on September 3, 2010 at 4:03pm

I'll say the same thing to this as what I say when people tell me there are no stupid questions. You don't know me that well. Give me time. You'll change your mind. :-D

Permalink Reply by Arthur G Broadhurst on October 5, 2010 at 10:36pm

My situation precisely! I am considering a move to Forest City NC and wonder if there are any humanists, agnostics, atheists, free-thinkers or other evil-doers in the area. Would like to find a group, or create a group if necessary....