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We prefer quirky neighborhoods to suburban sprawl - while we love the feel of some of your NYC, SF neighborhoods, we'd never move to those cities due to cost of living and difficulty raising families there, imo. But if you know Houston, we prefer West U., Montrose, Heights to Katy, Sugarland, Woodlands.
Houston is a world city and I guess you're not suited to live in world cities. Raleigh and Austin are hilly, smaller and laid back and I think you should go for it!
How these cities differed from their counties would be an interesting study but I'll leave that to others if anyone wants to find the info. I have an entirely different feeling about North Carolina after the 2008 election & get the idea that it is becoming more of a "northern" state [ie. more liberal\ diverse]. I've always know that Houston is quite different than much of Texas as is all the large cities in Texas by also being liberal & ethnically\racially diverse.
^^I have only been to Raleigh a couple of times and only briefly but I have lived in North Carolina my entire life. And I can speak to the fact that it is changing (for the better... but that is merely my opinion). However, I think with NC being located in the South a lot of people have a bit of a skewed impression of the state. We have always been an odd fit for the rest of the South (again, just my opinion, but there is some historical basis for this) and I think that is increasingly true as we draw people from various parts of the country.
To openedskittles:
What I am hearing about Raleigh (and nearly every city in NC, even Charlotte) and have seen with my own eyes in my hometown of Asheville is that the quality of life is continually improving and the downtowns are becoming much more vibrant. Being smaller than Houston, I doubt it is fair to compare it with Raleigh and if you like the wide variety of things that a major metropolitan area has to offer by default, then you probably will be disappointed with Raleigh. But, if you want to escape hectic metro living but still want a city with some life and variety, then I think Raleigh would be a good fit and will probably surprise you. Maybe take a week vacation and go check out Raleigh. No one else can tell you if a city will be a good fit for you or not, you have to experience it.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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My thoughts on Raleigh
Never been to Houston but I have been to Raleigh several times visiting my sister and here is my impression.
Raleigh... Great place to live, work, and raise a family but who would want to visit? It has some merrits like Duke university and Chapel Hill nearby, CH has character and is a very pretty town. Ch is uniquely liberal for the Carolinas, so much so that Jessie Helms wanted the town fenced off. That gets old pretty quickly and I find the RDU area very vanilla. I never feel like I'm in the south when I'm there because I don't hear the accents. A lot of people from places like NJ, CT, & Mass have relocated there for the employment base and a lower cost of living. For the most part the Triangle area is clean, safe, and attractive. DT Raleigh seems poised for improvement and adjacent neighborhoods will likely see home appeciation values, but for now it's kinda dead. They are trying though, I do like the Flying Saucer lounge downtown, big microbrewery and fun hangout. Cary an adjacent suburb reminded me of a bedroom community suburb that could very well be found in Connecticut. The area does not strike me as particularly religious, it's there, I just don't think people where it on there sleeve as much. That can be found easily 1-2 counties outside the RDU triangle area.
Weekend getaways are within resonable distance with the Carolina Coast being a 2-3 hour drive and the mountains a 3-4 hour drive. DC is about 5 hours away. The Outer Banks are a bit further than say Wilmington but certainly worth the drive as they are some of the nicest beaches I have ever laid eyes on. As for the the topography of RDU, typical Piedmont, landlocked, moderate rolling hills and dense southern pine forests, and a few man made lakes. Nothing too exciting. I would get really bored living in Raleigh but that's just me. My sister loves it, and who could blame her? Raising 4 kids in a big house in a safe attractive neighborhood and a reasonable cost of living as that would not be as attainable to the average middle class person in Massachusetts. Good schools for the kids and my brother in law has done very well with his career down there (he works in IT). So different strokes, different folks.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 05-21-2010 at 01:10 PM..
^^I have only been to Raleigh a couple of times and only briefly but I have lived in North Carolina my entire life. And I can speak to the fact that it is changing (for the better... but that is merely my opinion). However, I think with NC being located in the South a lot of people have a bit of a skewed impression of the state. We have always been an odd fit for the rest of the South (again, just my opinion, but there is some historical basis for this) and I think that is increasingly true as we draw people from various parts of the country.
To openedskittles:
What I am hearing about Raleigh (and nearly every city in NC, even Charlotte) and have seen with my own eyes in my hometown of Asheville is that the quality of life is continually improving and the downtowns are becoming much more vibrant. Being smaller than Houston, I doubt it is fair to compare it with Raleigh and if you like the wide variety of things that a major metropolitan area has to offer by default, then you probably will be disappointed with Raleigh. But, if you want to escape hectic metro living but still want a city with some life and variety, then I think Raleigh would be a good fit and will probably surprise you. Maybe take a week vacation and go check out Raleigh. No one else can tell you if a city will be a good fit for you or not, you have to experience it.
Not any more of an odd fit than Florida, Virginia, and Texas. I have lived in 3 of the 4(FL,TX,NC). VA, FL, and NC seem to be different from the rest of the South due to the outside influences and Texas due to it's geographic position between the South and the Southwest. And we've had MANY threads on this subject and it's a whole nother topic.lol
Raleigh. Isn't that near Mayberry and Mount Pilot?
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It seemed awfully high. Here's the figure for just the city of Raleigh: 342,194
My thoughts on Raleigh
