North Carolina Land for Sale

Everyone knows that North Carolina is the present day site of Roanoke Island, the first English settlement in the New World, whose inhabitants vanished leaving barely a trace – a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. But did you also know that North Carolina is the birthplace of Pepsi Cola and Krispy Kreme doughnuts? That’s North Carolina for you – a place that’s trendy and historic at the same time. North Carolina Land for Sale is a stake in an economy that’s driven by innovation.

The Outer Banks off North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast are a two hundred mile long string of narrow, sandy barrier islands, famous as the site of Kitty Hawk – the destination the Wright Brothers chose for their first powered flight – as well as for their herds of wild horses, descents of the Spanish mustangs that swam to shore when their galleons were shipwrecked in the 17th century. The mainland itself is quite swampy along the coast but soon gives way to fertile plains, perfect for farming. Sixty five miles inland, the plains give way to the highlands where most of North Carolina’s population lives. Once punctuated by family farms, these days you’re more likely to see housing developments, office parks and shopping malls as you travel thorugh.  The westernmost reaches of the state are dominated by Appalachian mountain ranges like the Smoky Mountains, the Black Mountains, and the Blue Ridge Mountain so named for the azure shimmer their pine covered slopes lend to the air. Mount Mitchell rising 6,684 feet is the highest peak in the Appalachians.

North Carolina’s largest city Charlotte has been cited by CNN Money as one of the best places in the nation to live and launch a new business. As an American banking center, Charlotte is second only to New York: The Bank of America is headquartered here. Other Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Charlotte include Lowe’s, Duke Energy, and steel producer Nucor. Raleigh is the state capital and the site of North Carolina State University. Along with Durham (Duke University) and Chapel Hill (the University of North Carolina), Raleigh is one of the three points that form North Carolina’s Research Triangle metropolitan area, named for Research Triangle Park, one of the largest and most prominent high-tech research and development centers in the nation. Once a railroad town and a center for textile manufacturing and the tobacco industry, Greensboro – North Carolina’s third largest city – is opening to climb aboard the high tech bandwagon as well with the opening of the Gateway University Research Park.

North Carolina’s weather varies according to the altitude. Mount Mitchell is snowcapped all year round and the coldest parts of the state are the western mountains though even there, it seldom drops below 30º Fahrenheit. The Outer Banks are hurricane targets during the warmer months. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo traveled inland as far the Blue Ridge Mountains, sustaining one billion dollars worth of damage across the state.

As recently as the early 1990s, North Carolina was one of the nation’s leaders in manufacturing; most of the state’s small towns grew up around textile and furniture factories. These towns had taken quite a hit in the last decade of the 20th century as more and more of that manufacturing was outsourced to Asia. The recession exacerbated that trend, and unemployment shot up to well above the national average.

However North Carolina’s biotechnology and information services, anchored by Research Triangle Park, have continued to thrive. Unemployment in that region hovers at just over 5%, and both retail and home sales have pulled back up to double digit rates. Most economists believe the recession will end in 2010 for North Carolina, though more rural parts of the state may continue to lag economically. North Carolina Land for Sale is an investment in an economy that has successfully reinvented itself for the coming century.