Life in North Carolina
I have lived in North Carolina my entire life, and my family has been here in NC for many generations. My wife lived in Santo Domingo until she moved here about five years ago. We have experienced a lot of the same problems that you are now going through as we have tried to get her adjusted to life in a new culture. The key for her was finding other Dominicans in the area. It seems that everyone has the same problems in the beginning when they move here from more centralized Dominican populations, so they seem to embrace newcomers and be eager to help them to acclimate.
I would suggest going to Compare Food supermarket, which seems to be a hub of the Dominican community here, and I think is still owned by Dominicans. Talk to the manager or owner about who is Dominican working there and what types of events are coming up soon. Ambis 1 in Raleigh is Dominican owned and is a nice nightclub. Big musicians come to Raleigh and Durham area from the DR occasionally. We saw Los Toros Band at Fuego Fuego a couple of years ago. My wife got to get on stage and dance with el Torito! That could never happen in NY or the DR.
We live in Sanford (about an hour South of Raleigh) and also have a Compare Foods. There is a Dominican restaurant downtown here also (as mentioned in another thread) called El Rancho, they have a concert or Karaoke once each month. Almost all the Dominicans and a lot of Puerto Ricans in the area go.
El Rancho Caribbean Restaurant - Events .The owner and his family are good friends of ours. His brother owns a bail bonding service here in town as well.
In Fuquay Varina (more near to Raleigh) we have Dominican friends who have a business that ships boxes to DR. We have shipped two in the last few weeks through her, and she also has business that help people with immigration, translations, etc, as well as a travel agency.
Give it some time and try to do some networking before you give up and move. I think that you are right about people being focused on work and that they don't seem Very friendly, but if you can get to know just a few, they can get you connected with the rest!
PM if you would like more specific or additional information.