Quote:
Originally Posted by brenda9417
We are relocating to Raleigh from Austin (the mecca of diversity, wierdness, hightech and live music). We visited Raleigh a couple of weeks back, and came back home in tears. What we saw was, to say the least, shocking. Overpriced homes with beaters in the driveway (a sign of people who work to simply pay the house payment), No greenbelts or hike and bike trails in your back yard (apparently you have to go to a park to get that), and your homeless people were actually homeless! Where's the love? Other people were walking down the streets--not for exercise, but because they didn't have a ride. We saw a few cyclists in Hillsborough and Pittsboro (but that was the only sign of outdoor exercise we witnessed). We saw one sad little farmer's market, but no artists kiosks or street musicians. Where is the culture? If one more person points us in the direction of the museums I think I'll scream! We were told to go to Durham for live music (We drove through Durham and kept on driving! I drive a Jaguar and figured the cat wouldn't be on the hood when I came back out.) We were then told to go to Chapel Hill. That's an awfully small town with a few quaint shops and restaruants, but nothing to write home about! Is this what we have to look forward to? Overpriced homes, driving out of town or having to fight the college students to hear a good band, museums, nothing to do but work to pay the mortgage? Please tell us it isn't so!
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Wow, what a post! Since when are homeless people not supposed to be homeless? I don't like to see someone without a home, but would you rather the panhandlers be the type that beg all day and walk to the municipal lot and get into their Jag at the end of the day? Don't laugh, I've seen it happen (not in Raleigh, though).
Anyway, PhD in Genomics/Plant Path...hmm, well I used to work with several molecular geneticists working on plant pathogens (one an NCSU grad), and while they are certainly a quirky lot, none had quite the elitist attitude that displayed in that post. Chances are that you will not have time for much other than school if you are going to be working on a PhD while you're here, so I'm not sure what the wadded panties are all about...
No one exercising? I guess you didn't drive by Shelley Lake or Lake Lynn on a typical afternoon - those lakes are part of the greenway and are packed with people on any given day, biking, walking, jogging, skating. I see people jogging all the time in neighborhoods and even downtown! The greenway system is one of the things I love about the area. We have many friends who enjoy cycling, running, kayaking, hiking - sometimes it's all about the people you surround yourself with.
Let's see, culture. The first Friday of every month ArtSpace downtown opens its doors to the public to view art in the artists' studios and enjoy some wine. Many other galleries coordinate openings at the same time. I read something recently about the American Dance Festival coming to town. I've been to the downtown street painting festival, there is a World Beer Festival in both Raleigh and Durham, Artsplosure - those are just a few. There is also the Downtown Live Music Series in Moore Square during the summer - FREE concerts.
That's about as much energy as I'm willing to expend on someone who was worried about the kitty on her Jag in Durham - LOL. I know Durham gets a bad rap, but it ain't nothing like a real bad area in other cities. If Austin is really as "weird" as it wants everyone to think it is (I have no idea, never been, so I can't judge), then I'd think the people who live there would have more of an open mind and adventurous side, rather than expecting everything to be handed to them front and center. At least you know you'll only be here as long as it takes to get that PhD, so I just say, make the best of it that you can.
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06-20-2007, 06:21 AM
Just moved myself
Linear Mode
