Planning to Move - Share Your First Impressions (Raleigh, Durham: where to stay, transplants)

[SergeNJ]

As I read more and more on this forum, I see that many people here have plans to relocate to the Raleigh area soon. Some, like me, are at the beginning of their research and are planning trips shortly. Others are a bit ahead and have already taken that first or second trip.

Would those who have been there recently be able to share some experiences? I'd like to know things like:

- What area(s) did you visit
- What did you do while in there?
- How were the people you interface with?
- What did you enjoy the most/least
- What would you recommend to those of us who will be there shortly?
- What did you think overall
- etc., etc.

I think this kind of information would be extremely helpful to my wife and I and hopefully to many others who are looking into relocating. Thanks so much for your participation.

Sergio

[asdasd12345]

i moved to raleigh just in the past few days. im living in morrisville which is pretty far out there. all around cary gets crazy busy. i would say traffic in the area is pretty bad. however, people are very nice and its quite pretty out here.

[Soon2BNnc]

I'm pretty much in the same position as you are. So I'm very interested in the responses.

Thanks

[oceanlady]

I returned this week from a week in NC from Phx, AZ. Spent 3 nights in Wilmington and 3 nights in Cary. We are considering a move to the Raleigh area to be closer to family in Ohio. Our first choice to move would be Wilmington to be closer to the water, but jobs are more plentiful and housing more affordable for us in the Raleigh area. Wilmington is a charming little town, very clean and pretty. We went to Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach and they were not at all very crowded. One thing I did not like at the beaches was the parking;they have meters that you need to keep fed. But I'm sure once living there you would learn where to park. We then went to Cary and was there during their recent 'Boil water alert'. Supposedly there was e coli found in the water in some new housing development. All the restuarants in Cary were closed so we went to Raleigh to eat, which was not far at all. The water problem was fixed in a few days and we were able to eat in Cary and talk to locals about the area. We drove through Amberly, a new community being developed. I love that there are no walls between the houses like we have here in Phx. We have lived in Phx for 17 years and it is time for a smaller city with a slower pace. We drove all around and through Raleigh, Apex, Holly Springs, Morrisville, Durham and all around Cary. We talked to anyone who would answer our questions. One lady said it was a very conservative state. The weather while we were there was beautiful;not too humid and we had some nice rains. Signage on streets aren;t the best, as they are here in Phx, but it's just something to get used to while learning your way around. But overall it seems like an easy area to get around in. We stopped at a subdivision in Holly Springs and the realtor told use about 60% of her buyers are from out of state. It's a fast growing area and housing prices are going up. We hope to move by next spring and will probably rent an apt first till we decide exactly where we'd want to settle. Well, this message is getting rather long so I'll sign off for now.
oceanlady

[anj]

Hi! My husband and I are also hoping to move soon.. our house is currently on the market on Long Island, NY. We visited the area in late June and went to Wilmington first. We found it to be a lovely small town, beautiful beaches, but found it to be more of a place to visit for us. The job opportunities were not as plentiful as they are in the triangle area. We were also concerned with hurricaine and flooding issues. We were warned of this quite often. Next we went to the Raleigh area and went to Cary, Apex, Holly Spings and Wake Forest. Cary was our favorite, as we found it to be very clean, very neat and pretty, nice subdivisions with homes we were looking at in about the $350,000 price range. Many times I read that the people from Cary are somewhat snooty...we did not feel that way at all as we visited a few shops, the North Hills mall, and quite a few restaurants. Some people don't like the "strict" way Cary is about the town in relation to appearance and police presence. I personally find the curb appeal of Cary in general to be very pleasing and I definetly don't mind the police being around if it will continue to keep the area safe.. It seems each area had something to offer..just depends on what fits your lifestyle and family needs. We are planning to visit again in Sept. to again focus on Cary and also see Chapel Hill. We found the weather in June to be absolutely beautiful..warm and really not any more humid than I find LI to be. On our two hour drive from Wilmington to Raleigh we had some rain which we were actually laughing...we have never seen such strong, hard rain!!!! It did pass over eventually.... So I must also add that it is hard to REALLY know what its like to live somewhere until you are there. In the meanwhile I feel that I will do my homework like everyone else, and to actually pulll the trigger on such a move is not always easy...especially if there are children. We are hoping for the best. Sometimes you have to just go for it!! Good luck to everyone!!!

[Redrover]

My husband and I paid our first visit to the Raleigh area about 3 years ago and at that time we only looked at Raleigh itself, Durham and Chapel Hill. We were there for a week in the spring and it rained every single day until the day we flew out. Even with all that cold and rainy weather it was just beautiful. I have never seen such a green place and everything was blooming - dogwoods and tulips everywhere. Raleigh was such an easy city to navigate and we never encountered even a fraction of the traffic that we have here in Houston and that is one of the top issues for us and why we're planning to move. We found charming people, great restaurants and more than enough shopping locations to suit my needs. Our next visit in October will be for the purpose of beginning our search for an actual community. I find it so interesting that so many other people in such diverse situations are having exactly the same thought.

[jgmarie]

We are kind of doing it backwards. Basically, out of the blue, my husband was offered a job in Cary. So one minute we are living our lives in Michigan, and the next we are getting ready to move to the Raleigh area.

I'm still with the house (getting ready to put on market) and kids, while he is down working in Cary.

The thought was that he would give it a try for a few months (see if we would like the area, etc...) and if it didn't work out, then we would remain in Michigan.

Well, he LOVES it so far. His first impressions were the extremely friendly, warm people (even though he said most of them are transplants).

He has discover BOJangles (sp?) & can't stop eating it!

He says he gets lost just about everywhere he goes (however, he really isn't great with directions to begin with)
and he is having trouble with the signage (as mentioned above) in Cary too.

But so far he really likes it down there. Even though I'm broken hearted about leaving my life long home---I'm looking forward to visiting Raliegh in Sept. & check out the area.

[ctgator]

Originally Posted by oceanlady

I returned this week from a week in NC from Phx, AZ. Spent 3 nights in Wilmington and 3 nights in Cary. We are considering a move to the Raleigh area to be closer to family in Ohio. Our first choice to move would be Wilmington to be closer to the water, but jobs are more plentiful and housing more affordable for us in the Raleigh area. Wilmington is a charming little town, very clean and pretty. We went to Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach and Kure Beach and they were not at all very crowded. One thing I did not like at the beaches was the parking;they have meters that you need to keep fed. But I'm sure once living there you would learn where to park. We then went to Cary and was there during their recent 'Boil water alert'. Supposedly there was e coli found in the water in some new housing development. All the restuarants in Cary were closed so we went to Raleigh to eat, which was not far at all. The water problem was fixed in a few days and we were able to eat in Cary and talk to locals about the area. We drove through Amberly, a new community being developed. I love that there are no walls between the houses like we have here in Phx. We have lived in Phx for 17 years and it is time for a smaller city with a slower pace. We drove all around and through Raleigh, Apex, Holly Springs, Morrisville, Durham and all around Cary. We talked to anyone who would answer our questions. One lady said it was a very conservative state. The weather while we were there was beautiful;not too humid and we had some nice rains. Signage on streets aren;t the best, as they are here in Phx, but it's just something to get used to while learning your way around. But overall it seems like an easy area to get around in. We stopped at a subdivision in Holly Springs and the realtor told use about 60% of her buyers are from out of state. It's a fast growing area and housing prices are going up. We hope to move by next spring and will probably rent an apt first till we decide exactly where we'd want to settle. Well, this message is getting rather long so I'll sign off for now.
oceanlady

My parents, sister husband and myself are flying into RDU Thanksgiving to begin the search process. Do you have suggestions on where to stay for 4 nights? Thanks for your help!

[anj]

We stayed at the Ramada Inn which was very reasonable..$70 per night. Nothing fancy but clean and with a pool. There are defintely higher star hotels but this one did the trick. Good luck!

[ctgator]

Originally Posted by anj

We stayed at the Ramada Inn which was very reasonable..$70 per night. Nothing fancy but clean and with a pool. There are defintely higher star hotels but this one did the trick. Good luck!

Thank You for your help!!