Proposal for a New NC sub forum

[Chris Martin]

@Joshua Dorkin

@Joshua Dorkin

It may be time for a "down east" (meaning south eastern NC) or maybe "SE NC" or "coastal NC" subgroup for NC. Obviously my opinion... but the eastern counties are not Charlotte nor Raleigh. They can and do stand on their own.

I'd like a forum to include Robeson (Lumberton), Columbus, Brunswick, New Hanover (Wilmington), Pender, Onslow (Jacksonville), Duplin, Sampson, and Cumberland (Fayetteville) counties. Nothing against Jones and Carteret (arguably the "real" down east NC) but there are only about 40 people there and about 40000 black bears;) So throw in Carteret and that list includes all the counties with NC southern coastline. So Southeastern and Costal NC

1 motion for a "Southeastern and Costal NC" subgroup for North Carolina. What'ya say?

[Patrick Madigan]

As someone who loves North Carolina and geography, I thought a visual might be helpful for this discussion. Much quicker (and prettier) than drawing my own map, a quick Google search for "NC regions" turned up the following graphic. It's not perfect, but it might help.

@Mindy Jensen, here's a loose breakdown of some of the regions you've heard mentioned in this thread, as noted on the map. 

A, B, C, D, E - Western NC, aka "The Mountains." Asheville and Boone are the two large cultural and economic anchors in this region, in the SW and NW corners of the state, respectively.
F - Greater Charlotte.
G - The Triad: Greensboro, Winston-Salem (W-S), and High Point (HP).
J - The Triangle: Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
K, L - To be honest, I'm not sure where these counties best fit in terms of economic categories, probably with The Triangle. @Chris Martin?
M, N, O, P - Southeast NC. The largest anchor in this area is Wilmington, on the coast, however Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg in section M on the map has a very large presence in real life and on BP. This sounds like the area Chris would like to see with its own forum. I think this could be very beneficial. It seems like Fayetteville gets lumped in with The Triangle, by default, as it's a better fit than Charlotte, but it could benefit from a SE NC forum/thread.
Q, R - Northeast NC. The thin band of islands on the coast is the Outer Banks, aka OBX. As mentioned by @Ben H. above, the northeastern counties of section R often identify economically and culturally with the Virginia Beach/SE Virginia area, just across the border.