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So my boyfriend and I currently live together in Downtown Pittsburgh. We are within walking distance to work in a brand new apartment. We have a dog and enjoy being able to come home at lunch to take him out. I am struggling with living downtown like we are now, or if we should look at apartment communities outside of Raleigh. I am concerned about the commute. What is the commute like? From West and North? Is there a train to take in from outside the city or is it only buses? Any communities you recommend? We love to play tennis and I want to be close to a dog park, and decent walking trails. I would also like to be close to a gym, I will definitely need to find a pool I can swim laps in.
I have been looking online and I found Hue, loved it, then read the reviews and was VERY disappointed. I love that they are brand new and that it has a pool and it would be soooo close to work. Has anyone ever heard good experiences with Hue?? Tucker apartments also look nice too..
I have also seen a couple of renovated bungalows just East of the city center.. what are those areas like? safe? I like the idea of having a back yard. Plus, for the space, they are not that expensive.
I need some advice from people who live in Raleigh.. any help would be appreciated!
We can't answer what "the commute" is like until you tell us where you would be commuting to? Where is work going to be?
Raleigh does not have light rail trains around town.
The Hue is indeed new, but I hear that it's noisy at night. It's on the same block as two of Raleigh's 3 gay bars and supposedly can get loud after the bars close (I am gay, so this is not a "loaded" statement in that sense). I hear more stories of people who are unhappy there than are happy. There is also the "Dawson on Morgan" on the same block that seems much nicer. Lots of condos for purchase or rental in downtown Raleigh.
East of downtown is where you should be cautious. It's hard to say carte blanche that somewhere east of downtown is "good" or "bad" and you absolutely should look at the greater neighborhood before considering. Lots of neighborhoods are being renovated and there is some cool new construction there.
Make no mistake: Raleigh is not Pittsburgh, by any stretch, as far as the "urban" amenities. Many people move here to get AWAY from big cities. The Triangle area in general is very, very suburban for the most part.
but in nutshell, downtown raleigh is not that big but if you want urban, it's as urban as it gets.....no train other than amtrak station in downtown that leads to other major cities...plenty of city buses and a free downtown bus called R-Line
plenty of nice condo apartments and condo owners renting out their units
there are gyms, parks, dog parks, etc in downtown
i agree with the above poster, the east and south raleigh are probably least desirable....
So my boyfriend and I currently live together in Downtown Pittsburgh. We are within walking distance to work in a brand new apartment. We have a dog and enjoy being able to come home at lunch to take him out. I am struggling with living downtown like we are now, or if we should look at apartment communities outside of Raleigh. I am concerned about the commute. What is the commute like? From West and North? Is there a train to take in from outside the city or is it only buses? Any communities you recommend? We love to play tennis and I want to be close to a dog park, and decent walking trails. I would also like to be close to a gym, I will definitely need to find a pool I can swim laps in.
I have been looking online and I found Hue, loved it, then read the reviews and was VERY disappointed. I love that they are brand new and that it has a pool and it would be soooo close to work. Has anyone ever heard good experiences with Hue?? Tucker apartments also look nice too..
I have also seen a couple of renovated bungalows just East of the city center.. what are those areas like? safe? I like the idea of having a back yard. Plus, for the space, they are not that expensive.
I need some advice from people who live in Raleigh.. any help would be appreciated!
Hello, wtp2,
Well, first of all, like Francois said, in order to answer about "What is the commute like?", we would need to know where you'll be commuting to, in addition to commuting from. From the context of what you wrote, though, I inferred that you are going to be working on or near downtown Raleigh, so you were asking about the commute to there. Is that right? If not, it might be good to clarify.
Anyhow, yes, there are actually a decent number of good housing options around the downtown Raleigh area. As the previous posters mentioned, downtown Raleigh is much much smaller, less dense, and less urban—in both the good ways and the bad ways—than downtown Pittsburgh, or the other bigger, older cities up North. But if you have an open mind and take it for what it is, downtown Raleigh is actually kind of fun and cool. And this whole region is still pretty easy to get around (at least for now), so even in you live downtown, you're hardly limited to the immediate area, and you'll be able to easily go elsewhere now and then as well.
As you say, there are a number of relatively new (built within the past ten years or so) apartment/condo buildings around the downtown Raleigh area, including Hue and Tucker. (Tucker generally wouldn't be considered to be "downtown" by most locals, but it is close.) In my experience, those buildings tend to have many of the same pros and cons, but I suppose there are some differences between them. I've never personally known anyone who lived at Tucker, but I've heard of its reputation as kind of a "party pad," overrun by alcohol-fueled lunatics in their early 20's. I'm sure there's more to it than that, though, so it's certainly worth a look. I have known people who lived at Hue, and they really liked it. I am aware of the negative reviews of Hue that abound online, and obviously everyone's entitled to their opinion, but from what I've seen I don't think it's an undesirable place to live. It seems to me most of the negative reviews revolve around the noise in the area around Hue at all hours, but I don't know what people were expecting when they moved there. Yes, Hue is close to some of the most active nightlife areas in Raleigh, but that's one of the selling points for why people want to live there in the first place. As a result, there does tend to be a lot of ambient noise from people, traffic, music, etc. through much of the night many nights, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, and especially during the warmer times of the year. But that's hardly a surprise, and I don't understand why people who can't tolerate some noise at odd hours would choose to live in that location. What did they expect? The people I knew who lived at Hue weren't bothered by some noise, and otherwise really liked it, because it's a new building with a lot of amenities, and extremely convenient both to work downtown and to a lot of the aforementioned nightlife. So I think you should definitely consider it.
That said, personally, I'm not really that crazy about any of the newer buildings around the downtown area, including Hue and Tucker, because to me they're kind of bland and generic, and they don't offer great value for the money. But that's purely a matter of opinion, and many people do like that kind of thing. You mentioned the option of "a couple of renovated bungalows just East of the city center," and that seems like something that's also worth considering. I don't know the specifics of what you were looking at, and exactly where those bungalows are or what the price is. But there are a lot of nice older houses and apartments around the periphery of downtown, and the ones to the east are generally a little less expensive than those to the north or west, so they can be an excellent value, especially if you would like to have a bit of a yard. I myself live on Davie Street just east of downtown Raleigh in the Thompson-Hunter neighborhood, and I love it. I've lived here for about four-and-a-half years, and I think it's a terrific place. It's an old neighborhood, with a lot of history and interesting architecture, and it had become downtrodden at one time, but has been really revitalized over the past five or ten years. But it's still got an interesting diversity, with a mix of age groups, racial and ethnic groups, and socioeconomic groups. I really like that. In places like Hue, it sometimes seems like everyone there is white, upscale, and in their 20's or 30's. I like living in a place where there are also a lot of older people, and a lot of kids, and people of various backgrounds. And for the most part, I've found that everyone gets along really well. And yet it's a neighborhood that's close enough to downtown to be really convenient. I work from home most days, but also work downtown other days, and I like that I can get downtown in just a few minutes. I get there by driving, walking, taking the bus, or riding my bicycle, depending on the weather and how much of a hurry I'm in, and it's a short and easy commute by any of those means. So, I'm not sure if the "renovated bungalows" you were looking at were somewhere around here or somewhere similar, but I think they'd certainly be worth looking at.
So, are you definitely moving to Raleigh, or is this just hypothetical? Will you be able to make one or more visits to scout the area before your actual move, or are you going to have to just show up? Are you intending to rent or buy a home in Raleigh initially, or are you open to either? What's your rough price range? Some of that information would help to give more specific suggestions.
We are coming down to look at Raleigh this coming weekend. We will be working downtown. We will have to see it before deciding whether we want to be downtown vs. outside the city. We currently have the flexibility of leaving at different times for work, I like to work 7-4. Plus being able to come home. If we move outside the city in Raleigh, we will obviously have to change that. The bungalows I was talking about were near E. Hargatt St. More recently, I have been looking at Weston Lakeside Apartments, and places like that. They all seem cookie cutter, but they offer what we want, a pool, close to tennis and a dog park. Not really into the party seen much, more like happy hours after work. So I don't know if Tucker or Hue would be for us. We do currently live in Downtown Pittsburgh, however still have to drive to go most places as there isn't much in the Cultural District other than theaters and a few restaurants. What is Cary like ? Nice area?
those houses on east hargett are nice and cute. they are very near Shaw University, and within a few blocks of downtown. they will be the least expensive single family homes in the area. most of the family houseing close to downtown is directly north or northwest towards NCSU, there is a huge brand new Y with an indoor pool on hillsborough st and buses run on hillsborough all the time.
you should also let us know your budget and we can help more. cary is suburbia.
I've been living in the West building downtown for about a year.
Overall, I don't think you can go wrong with West. It's a great building thats poured concrete and a true high rise. Very clean, safe and a human being downstairs most of the time for security. Lots of rentals come up in West as the auctions brought in lots of sales last few years. So check on Craigslist and local rental agencies.
The Hue is in a bad location, and it's not as well built. Very noisy from what I here. Some condos are glorified apt buildings and not as well built.
But I am close to leaving West. I'm honestly not cut out for the downtown lifestyle and there's just the reality of noise and the usual nonsense that goes on.
The one bad thing about West is that there are (or were) 2 nightclubs downstairs. Still Life and Mirage. They kicked out Still Life due to many complaints. My 11th floor is on the other side by Mirage, and it does drive me crazy on Friday and Saturday nights as I can hear the bass thumping all the way up the building until 2 a.m.
There's no perfect place DT and you have to make concessions.
You also might want to check out Bloombury Estates. They were just sold at auction and there's rentals out there as well. Some units have "prison views", so depending on what makes you happy, you can look there. A very classy looking building with great architecture. I walked though them when they went through the forclosure sake last year.
We are coming down to look at Raleigh this coming weekend. We will be working downtown. We will have to see it before deciding whether we want to be downtown vs. outside the city. We currently have the flexibility of leaving at different times for work, I like to work 7-4. Plus being able to come home. If we move outside the city in Raleigh, we will obviously have to change that. The bungalows I was talking about were near E. Hargatt St. More recently, I have been looking at Weston Lakeside Apartments, and places like that. They all seem cookie cutter, but they offer what we want, a pool, close to tennis and a dog park. Not really into the party seen much, more like happy hours after work. So I don't know if Tucker or Hue would be for us. We do currently live in Downtown Pittsburgh, however still have to drive to go most places as there isn't much in the Cultural District other than theaters and a few restaurants. What is Cary like ? Nice area?
Thanks again everyone for your input!
Well, for better or worse, a place like Weston Lakeside Apartments will be about as different from a bungalow on East Hargett Street as you can get around here. Like we've been saying, East Hargett Street is fairly urban, while the Weston area of Cary is extremely suburban. Naturally, there are pros and cons to each.
You asked what Cary is like, and whether it's a nice area. Cary is a separate municipality just west of Raleigh which was a small railroad town until the 1960's or 1970's, and since has boomed into a massive, sprawling, mega-suburb. Nowadays, the vast majority of Cary consists of quintessential suburbia, with lots of chain stores, low-slung office parks, and cookie-cutter tract housing. Cary is famous (and infamous) for being a hub of migration from other parts of the country, so that an extraordinary percentage of the people there are from somewhere else, and it's about the least "Southern" place in the Triangle, for better or worse. Most of the residents are white, mid- to upscale, middle-of-the-road, and family-oriented, although there actually is more diversity in Cary than it's often given credit for, with decent populations of African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asian-Americans, and some people of various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. There are some nooks and crannies in the older parts of Cary with a little more "character" and a bit less of the cookie-cutter look, but the Weston area is a long way from those places. It's very cookie-cutter, but also very pleasant. Like most of Cary, it's an undeniably nice place to live, with comfortable amenities and very, very little crime or chaos. For many people, it may be a bit too quiet and bland, but that's purely a matter of opinion.
If I were in your situation, I'd much rather live somewhere like East Hargett Street, which is so convenient to your downtown workplace and offers such a diverse cityscape, rather than out in the 'burbs. But plenty of people prefer the 'burbs, and there's nothing wrong with that either. For what it's worth, you mentioned amenities, and it's certainly true that an upscale complex like Weston Lakeside has a lot of that stuff available on the site. But if you were to live in a place like East Hargett Street, you'd actually also be close to a lot of similar amenities. As I said, I live fairly near to there on East Davie Street, so I'm familiar with what's in the area. There's an off-leash dog park a few blocks away in Oakwood Park, and lots of other nice places all around here to walk dogs on leashes. I like tennis also, and I play mainly at Lions Park when I need something close to home, which has several courts lit-up at night, or else at the City of Raleigh's Millbrook Tennis Center, which is a huge complex of nice outdoor courts in Millbrook Exchange Park (where there happens to also be a dog park) on Spring Forest Road in North Raleigh, a fairly short drive away. There are also tennis courts in Chavis Park, Pullen Park, Fred Fletcher Park, and Tarboro Street Park, which are all a short walk and/or drive away. There are nice public outdoor swimming pools in Chavis Park and Longwood Park in the neighborhood, as well as a few others in other parks not far away, which are open during the warmer times of year. And there's also an excellent indoor Aquatic Center in Pullen Park a short distance away for year-round swimming. So, it would seem to me that even if you lived somewhere near downtown, you could actually have access to almost all of the same conveniences and amenities as you could at a place like Weston Lakeside, without having to be hidden away in the sprawl. But again, it's entirely a matter of personal preference, so it will be important for you to continue to ponder it, and check everything out when you're here scouting this weekend.
BTW, I inadvertently wrote that "Longwood Park" in Raleigh had a public outdoor swimming pool. I meant that Longview Park has the pool, a little ways east of downtown Raleigh. I'm not aware of a "Longwood Park" in Raleigh. Duh. Sorry.
As mentioned, Cary is as far from "urban life" as you would want to get and still be in a metro area. Maybe that's what you're looking for, but don't let the 100K + population fool you into thinking it is a "city". It's suburban sprawl, through and through. Pittsburgh is bound to have its own version of "Cary"--somewhere new, suburban, and somehwat "flashy" in the eyes of the folks transplanting there. Very good for families with kids who want lots of kid-oriented activities, but not usually what a young childless couple has in mind, unless they are planning to have children soon. The same can be said for Apex, Fuquay-Varina, and Holly Springs, other "exploding" suburban areas in this vicinity.
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