My son's mil moved to Charlotte.....way too much traffic and idiot drivers. Sounds 1000 times worse than the Columbus area, seriously. My sis lives in Raleigh and it is one rocking town, but highly populated as well. Talking to some NC'ans while visiting her they spoke of the 'triangle area' which comprised of Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Charlotte as being way over populated with several million people living and working there. I would look toward Asheville which is over by the Smokey Mt area or up along the BRP. You can also check here -relocationessentials.com/aff/www/tools/salary/col.aspx for checking and comparing cost of living, wages, weather and the like between different areas. Its a beautiful state and up in the Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Windston Salem areas there are strong tendencies for cutting edge technological jobs because of the close proximity to so many colleges-Duke, NC State, UNC, Wake Forrest, just to name a few. Good Luck!