Some of my friends have lived (or still live) in both towns, going to school. They seemed to like them both, but neither couple had children at the time.

Personally, I grew up in Kansas and went to college in North Carolina, near Charlotte. (Don't be fooled by the "north" in North Carolina--it's definitely part of the South!) I really enjoyed my time in North Carolina. I thought the winter weather was a definite improvement over Kansas winters--about 10 degrees warmer, most of the time, and more stable--but of course any snow sends everyone scurrying to the grocery store for milk and bread and closes everything down. Summer was unbelievably muggy, sticky, and miserably hot, though the evenings were lovely, with whipoorwills calling and the scent of honeysuckle everywhere. Make sure you have air conditioning. In general the people I met were friendly and polite, and it was expected that everyone held the door for everyone else, even if you were running late. The sweet tea is wonderful, but I could've done without the cigarette smoke. A lot of people smoke there, so don't expect many (any?)nonsmoking restaurants. The red clay soil will stain shoes and clothing and is very hard to get out. Expect to see lots of NASCAR paraphernalia and some Confederate flags, too, especially out in the country. On the whole, I found it a very nice area to live in.