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Hello fellow forum members. I have lived in Nassau County, Long Island, NY for my entire life. My wife and I currently own a co-op in a desirbale area (lots of shopping, bars/restaurants, close to trains, good schools, safe, etc.) and I have been exploring the idea of relocating, mostly for quality of life reasons. We like Long Island for certain reasons (being 45 minutes from New York is great, and being near our families is very important and helpful), but we have reached a point where we feel like we are working ourselves ragged for very little reward. Real estate here is very expensive, and taxes are downright brutal. We have been looking for homes up to 500K, and are astonished to see just how little that kind of money can get you around here. My wife is a Physician Assistant (PA), I am a high school English teacher, and together we make a fairly decent income. However, when you put how hard we work up against what we can afford, it is just plain nauseating. We have discussed it, and we decided that if we could find an area that met our needs in terms of the kind of home we'd like to own, as well as availability of jobs, then we would strongly consider moving. Not really knowing hoe to start this kind of search, I just did a few searches using phraes like "best U.S. cities," and "highest U.S. quality of life." Out of all the locations that I found in the results, the one that made the best impression based on geography and description was Raleigh. When I began to search for information on Raleigh, I realized that this was a huge task, and I should really get the counsel of people who know about what I am looking into. So I guess my basic quesitons would be:
1. Why does Raleigh show up near the top of those "most desirable areas" lists? What makes it such a great place to live?
2. How is the job market for Physician Assistants and high school English teachers there?
3. What is the housing market like? Can you find a really nice house in a really nice location for under 500K?
4. How big is Raleigh?
5. If I wanted a commute to work that was no more than 30 minutes, is that very possible to come by, or not at all?
6. What are considered the "best" areas or neighborhoods within Raleigh?
7. How is the school system divided up there? Where I live, nerly each town has it's own school district, but I know it is different in other parts of the country?
To anyone and everyone who is willing to reply to this post: I thank you in advance for your help. I realize I have written quite a bit here, and those questions are not all easily answered, but any information would be helpful here. Thanks agan.
I suggest you repost in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill sub-forum, not the main NC forum. Yes, in general, it is possible to buy a house under $500K and possible to be within 30 minutes of work. For stats like, "how big is Raleigh", please check the main forum at: www.city-data.com . The schools are organized by County here, and Raleigh is in Wake County. Please search the board for discussions of the school system issues.
Also, please check your formatting. Nobody wants to read your HTML tags.
I think your major problem will be selling your co-op in New York.
1. Why does Raleigh show up near the top of those "most desirable areas" lists? What makes it such a great place to live?
2. How is the job market for Physician Assistants and high school English teachers there?
3. What is the housing market like? Can you find a really nice house in a really nice location for under 500K?
4. How big is Raleigh?
5. If I wanted a commute to work that was no more than 30 minutes, is that very possible to come by, or not at all?
6. What are considered the "best" areas or neighborhoods within Raleigh?
7. How is the school system divided up there? Where I live, nerly each town has it's own school district, but I know it is different in other parts of the country?
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As mentioned, you will get more help in the subforum. Do some reading there and you will also find that most of your questions have been answered - many times. I'll do a few anyway:
2. PA might be able to find work. HS English teacher will have a hard time, especially in the Raleigh area.
3b. Yes. You can find a nice house in a nice area and have quite a bit left over. If you plan on having a mortgage, though, you need to know that salaries here are much lower than salaries there. You might go with a very nice $250,000 instead.
4. 114.6 square miles. Is that what you meant? Population 400,000, but much larger if you put it together with Durham and other surrounding cities.
5. Yes. Just choose a house within 30 minutes of your job. Don't choose a house and assume you will get a job nearby. Jobs are not plentiful. Don't come without one.
6. Why the best? If it's because you're coming from NY and think you'll be rich here, you're making a mistake. See #3.
7. Mostly by county. There is also a Chapel Hill-Carrboro district, considered by many to be the best around. (Of course, that depends on what you are looking for.) Find more here: NC School Report Cards
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