I had long suspected that I had moved from the 'threatened' list to the 'endangered' list....and now I have it in writing!

dodobird(not that I'm comparing myself to a Dodo bird!)

Today's edition of The Charlotte Observer had an article talking about the surge of growth in North Carolina's population-we're now number 10 (sorry New Jersey, you got bumped!) in overall population size, and number 7 for fastest growing states.

What is interesting to me in particular is where people are coming FROM. There's a long-standing joke around these parts that the last one to leave Buffalo NY should make sure to cut the lights off!  New York leads the list of migratory 'birds' heading south to North Carolina.  Closely followed by Florida (the source of the newest breed of snowbird, the 'halfback').  The number six source of newcomers is Mexico. I think that if illegals were properly represented in these numbers, it would be number one by a looooong shot.  But that's a soapbox for a different time and place!  Number seven source is California-and I know that's true, since I have worked with a lot of folks over the past year (and a bunch in the pipeline) who are escaping the high cost of real estate and living in general on the West Coast for the beauty of North Carolina's four seasons.

The main reasons being cited for the growth patterns are:

1.  Retirement (the halfback phenomenon is at full steam and the builders and developers (i.e. Sun City) are taking full advantage of this market shift.  As are healthcare providers and the like.

2. Proximity to friends/family.  Which makes perfect sense when you consider how many corporate jobs are portable-and that Charlotte is the nation's first or second largest financial city (we are currently trading that position back and forth with NYC-I know it's unbelievable, isn't it?).  So as the kids move here for their white-collar up-the-ladder jobs, the parents move to be near them and near the grandkids.  And since their friends are doing the same thing, their social networks are actually somewhat intact!

3.  Economy. See the job mention in number 2, plus consider that we still have inexpensive (relatively) land available for builders, affordable housing no matter your income level, tons of corporate headquarters, etc.  It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

4.  (this is my personal opinion, the folks who did the study must have missed it) This is a Great Place To Live.  Whether you're raising a family, have grown kids, have no desire to have a family, live the high life, are retired.  No matter, there is something here for you!

And if I somehow forgot to mention it, our team specializes in assisting relocating families-so feel free to call or email us if we can ever help you, your family and friends, or your clients.