New York wins one

We had dinner last night with a retired couple that has made an unusual decision: they recently moved back from North Carolina to the Albany area.

And so far, even the news that the state Senate voted down same-sex marriage and that the state is facing a huge budget gap has not persuaded them they may have made a mistake.
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For those who used to read my column, this is the same couple I wrote about in May after we visited them at their home in Flat Rock (near Asheville, in the southwest corner of North Carolina) after we discovered that while our houses were worth about the same, they were paying less than one-seventh (about $1,000) of the property taxes we pay.

I pointed out at the time that despite the disparity in taxes, schools were open in North Carolina, the roads paved and the police seemed to be managing to keep the peace.

Some things however, have proven more important to our friends even than money - chiefly the relatively close proximity of family and the presence of a large number of old friends in the area.

They're also more of MSNBC watchers than Fox News, so they also appreciate the "progressive'' nature of the state and the area.

So far the crowds and the traffic have proven to be a little startling to them after the few years spent in the Tarheel State, but they're quickly getting up to speed.

For once, North Carolina's loss is New York's gain. Now if we could just do something about that tax disparity...