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Hey guys! My parents wanted to move down to NC for the longest time. The mountains nearby, the beaches within 2 hours, etc... its just a nice place to live. However, I may end up in NJ .. and they want to be close. So they are looking into moving to Central NJ (Monmouth County, Ocean County, parts of Mercer County or parts of Middlesex County) or Raleigh-Durham-Cary area. They are stuck between the two. Basically, we arent familiar too much with the areas .. and theres not a forum directly comparing the two... So if you guys could help us decide a little more, it would greatly be appreciated! *Note my parents like seasons, dont mind a little bit of cold, love to be active and love to dine out nearby! They are very social people from Boston if that helps!* Another big factor is what area has better parks, town centers and overall walkability? On Google Maps both Raleigh/Cary and Monmouth County/Ocean County seem to be equal in this regard. Is there something I am missing? Also another factor is cheap drinks.. they like to go out and have a few cheap beers/cosmos. They currently live around Boston and a beer will be $9 at their suburban local bar with no happy hour deals. They wouldnt mind no happy hour in MA, but the drinks are over $10! Its absurd! They just want a walkable area, in a nice place with access to mountains/beaches/hills/hiking/trails/town centers/nice towns/great local food/good people/things to do! CNJ and RDA seem equal, so maybe you guys can help us out a little bit.
So between Central NJ and Raleigh-Cary NC, what is the better area to move to in your opinion?
Factors
-Cost of Living:
-Quality of Life:
-Parks/Recreation:
-Beach Proximity/Quality (Within 2 Hours):
-Mountains/Hills/Hiking (Within ~1 Hour):
-Nearby Towns:
-More to Do In Immediate Area (Dont include NYC or Philly for CNJ):
-Weather:
-Transportation:
-Shopping/Dining (Again Dont include NYC or Philly for CNJ):
-Job Market for Restaurant Workers:
-Food:
-Better Happy Hour or Drinks/Entertainment:
-Activities in Immediate Area:
-WALKABILITY (Big One Here!):
-Taxation on Social Security Checks: -Overall Best Fit:
Thank you guys for your help!
Last edited by masssachoicetts; 03-31-2020 at 08:49 AM..
I don't know enough about Raleigh/Cary to answer most of this, but will say that New Jersey has a lot of walkable towns especially because of the passenger train services it has. There are cute towns like Metuchen which have very walkable downtowns and train services down New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line which hits New York City, New Brunswick, and multiple other smaller towns as well as transfer points to still more passenger train services. Metuchen isn't super cheap, but maybe that depends on where in Boston one's coming from? There are also many other walkable towns in New Jersey, though not necessarily with an existing passenger train service (though oftentimes built when there was such).
Central Jersey is going to be warmer than Boston, colder than North Carolina. Raleigh/Cary are not all that close to nice beaches with about two hours each way at the minimum, though it is slightly closer to mountains.
I live in MD midway between the two, so I'll chime in below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by masssachoicetts
Hey guys! My parents wanted to move down to NC for the longest time. The mountains nearby, the beaches within 2 hours, etc... its just a nice place to live. However, I may end up in NJ .. and they want to be close. So they are looking into moving to Central NJ (Monmouth County, Ocean County, parts of Mercer County or parts of Middlesex County) or Raleigh-Durham-Cary area. They are stuck between the two. Basically, we arent familiar too much with the areas .. and theres not a forum directly comparing the two... So if you guys could help us decide a little more, it would greatly be appreciated! *Note my parents like seasons, dont mind a little bit of cold, love to be active and love to dine out nearby! They are very social people from Boston if that helps!* Another big factor is what area has better parks, town centers and overall walkability? On Google Maps both Raleigh/Cary and Monmouth County/Ocean County seem to be equal in this regard. Is there something I am missing? Also another factor is cheap drinks.. they like to go out and have a few cheap beers/cosmos. They currently live around Boston and a beer will be $9 at their suburban local bar with no happy hour deals. They wouldnt mind no happy hour in MA, but the drinks are over $10! Its absurd! They just want a walkable area, in a nice place with access to mountains/beaches/hills/hiking/trails/town centers/nice towns/great local food/good people/things to do! CNJ and RDA seem equal, so maybe you guys can help us out a little bit.
So between Central NJ and Raleigh-Cary NC, what is the better area to move to in your opinion?
Factors
-Cost of Living: NC
-Quality of Life: Tie (Both fairly well educated and are nicely clean and progressive)
-Parks/Recreation: Tie (NC for lakes, NJ for the Delaware and Raritan rivers, both a decent selection of parks and nature reserves.
-Beach Proximity/Quality (Within 2 Hours): NJ (Since NC is a much wider state, NJ has the edge here). You can get from the shore to Delaware River foothills in less than an hour on 195)
-Mountains/Hills/Hiking (Within ~1 Hour): NJ (See above)
-Nearby Towns: Tie (NJ has more historic towns, while NC's tend to be mostly postwar in development and are more "country". The art colony of New Hope, PA is right across the river from NJ as well)
-More to Do In Immediate Area (Dont include NYC or Philly for CNJ): NJ due to Six Flags and Crystal Springs, along with the Jersey Shore. NC does have a better zoo as well as an NHL team.
-Weather: NC Nov.-Apr, NJ May-Oct. But since you do like it a little chilly in the winter, I'd lean toward NJ
-Transportation: NJ for public transit, NC for auto
-Shopping/Dining (Again Dont include NYC or Philly for CNJ): NJ due to better malls. Crabtree Valley in Raleigh isn't bad though.
-Job Market for Restaurant Workers: Tie
-Food: NJ (except for BBQ and fried chicken). NC is improving rapidly though, and there's even an H Mart.
-Better Happy Hour or Drinks/Entertainment: Tie
-Activities in Immediate Area: See more to do in immediate area
-WALKABILITY (Big One Here!): NJ. Durham is best at walk-ability, but NJ answers with New Brunswick and Princeton, along with the shore towns. Raleigh is a nicer city than Trenton, but isn't walkable outside of a few blocks, and Trenton is more walkable by far
-Taxation on Social Security Checks: NC -Overall Best Fit: NJ, since I feel that coming from MA, NC would be more of a culture shock for you. If I'd move to NC to retire, I'd focus on the coast and/or the Asheville area.
Thank you guys for your help!
Other: Colleges- Tie (CNJ has Princeton and Rutgers, NC has Duke and UNC)
Raleigh/Durham for sure. Better economy/job market in terms of growth/expansion/competitiveness/buying power, more moderate climate, much friendlier people, much more affordable and money goes a lot farther. CNJ has Rutgers and Princeton, but RUD has Duke, North Carolina, and North Carolina State. Tax burden is way higher in NJ. NJ has better "walkability", though the RDU area does fine in this area. If you include CNJ's access to NYC, there's more to do in NJ in terms of recreational assets.
Someone mentioned "culture shock". My wife is from the Boston area (Quincy), moved to Charlotte when she was in her mid 20's, and absolutely loved it. Says she wouldn't want to live anywhere else. The whole "culture shock" thing is a bit silly, lol. It's only going to be a "shock" if you allow it to be with a closed mind. People in NC are a very friendly as long as you're friendly, respectable, and not a jerk. It's a bit hypocritical to say one wants to be exposed to different people/cultures, then chooses to not live in an area that thinks exactly like them. The Selective Tolerance Syndrome, lol. Can't have it both ways. So, the "culture shock" angle is pretty much based on closed-minded stereotypes and a sheltered mindset that isn't opened to people or regions that aren't like them.
Overall, Raleigh/Durham has the best overall quality of life when balancing everything. Migration rates over the last 30 years between these two regions are overwhelmingly in RDU's favor, which speaks volumes and can't be ignored from an objectivity standpoint. Ultimately, you have to decide what's best for you considering everything. But with my experiences with both areas, Raleigh/Durham offers a better quality of life hands down.
No matter your decision, good luck and hope you find the best place for you!
Central NJ is pure suburbia. The notion that towns in that region that would be more "walkable" than "anything to be found" in the Triangle is entirely laughable. Better access to NYC; absolutely. If that is a priority for OP/their parents then it should definitely be factored in. The presumption of "NJ= dense/walkable, Triangle= suburban sprawl" is, however, ridiculous.
Go where you have the better job offer.
EDIT....I just saw that OP explicitly says this...
Quote:
Originally Posted by masssachoicetts
Factors
-Cost of Living:
-Quality of Life:
-Parks/Recreation:
-Beach Proximity/Quality (Within 2 Hours):
-Mountains/Hills/Hiking (Within ~1 Hour):
-Nearby Towns:
-More to Do In Immediate Area (Dont include NYC or Philly for CNJ):
-Weather:
-Transportation: -Shopping/Dining (Again Dont include NYC or Philly for CNJ):
-Job Market for Restaurant Workers:
-Food:
-Better Happy Hour or Drinks/Entertainment:
-Activities in Immediate Area:
-WALKABILITY (Big One Here!):
-Taxation on Social Security Checks: -Overall Best Fit:
Thank you guys for your help!
So no....based on this; it is absurd to compare the two and come to the automatic conclusion that "NJ has more to offer than NC".
Last edited by TarHeelNick; 03-31-2020 at 11:57 AM..
Central NJ is pure suburbia. The notion that towns in that region that would be more "walkable" than "anything to be found" in the Triangle is entirely laughable. Better access to NYC; absolutely. If that is a priority for OP/their parents then it should definitely be factored in. The presumption of "NJ= dense/walkable, Triangle= suburban sprawl" is, however, ridiculous.
Go where you have the better job offer.
EDIT....I just saw that OP explicitly says this...
So no....based on this; it is absurd to compare the two and come to the automatic conclusion that "NJ is better than NC".
Central Jersey definitely has a lot of towns that are very walkable. It's part and parcel of having developed around passenger rail lines and still having those passenger rail lines exist. That's not to say that everywhere in Central Jersey is like that (far from it), but it does offer quite a few options.
Central Jersey definitely has a lot of towns that are very walkable. It's part and parcel of having developed around passenger rail lines and still having those passenger rail lines exist. That's not to say that everywhere in Central Jersey is like that (far from it), but it does offer quite a few options.
Cool. Chapel Hill/Carrboro, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Hillsborough, Durham, ITB Raleigh.....all have areas like that too. With 1/3 of the property taxes.
Cool. Chapel Hill/Carrboro, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Hillsborough, Durham, ITB Raleigh.....all have areas like that too. With 1/3 of the property taxes.
Yea, there is some of that in that area, but I think you were a bit quick to dismiss Central New Jersey.
I would love to know more about these walkable neighborhoods in North Carolina, because I'm sure they exist but all I'm familiar with is City Center, Durham which I like and is okay in terms off being a walkable area and I'm sure it's even better today. I don't know that much about North Carolina, which I said before, so perhaps City Center Durham isn't very high on the totem pole among people who live in the area in terms of walkable parts of the area.
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