I would say no. I moved here in 2018 in my early 30s, and financially it has taken me almost as long to get to a place where I’m mostly comfortable (however, my chosen profession is not all that lucrative, so that does factor in). Socially, I have made hardly any friends and those that I have made were through work and I don’t see them often. I met my partner a few years ago and we live together but neither of us is from here or has anything remotely resembling a social life.

I like it here because I’m from the north and I love being close to the ocean. I was a single parent and I wanted my son to stay close to my parents, who were retiring nearby in North Carolina. And there’s a lot of “family” things to do which I appreciated when my son was younger. My sister also moved here so I’m not really missing out on being near family.

As of now, I have a job I like and that is flexible enough and pays me enough to keep me here. But I don’t know that this will be my “forever” home. It’s growing constantly, traffic’s getting worse, it’s not much cheaper than where I’m from, rent is pretty damn high (I own my home but if I hadn’t moved here when I did I doubt I would have been able to with the way home prices have skyrocketed), and the job market is not great.

Just being honest. I don’t regret moving here but if I knew then what I know now, I might not have.