Quote:
Originally Posted by mannar
Hi.
I have been living in Austin, TX since 2000. I need to move to Raleigh as i got a job there. Can someone please answer me the following questions
1. What is the cost of living in Raleigh? OK / Expensive / Very Expensive
2. How many percentage is the state tax for income? Texas does not have a state tax. I guess 8 to 9% in NC. Is it right?
3. How low temperature go low in peak winter in Raleigh? I hardly seen winter in Austin. I guess between 30 to 40F. Any thoughts?
4. How about the crime rate for Raleigh?
5. How good is Raleigh when compared to Austin, TX? I know austin is one of the top 10 places to live in US in 2003.
I would appreciate if someone answer my questions.
Thanks in advance.
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Both cities are very highly rated in MOST national surveys.
I was considering Austin and aside from the (too) hot weather (for me) in the summers it would be a great candidate to relocate to.
From an outsider to both cities that have researched both cities quite a bit
1) Raleigh area is generally more expensive - everything in texas seems far cheaper. Texas is very cheap nationwide (housing) - Raleigh is cheap relative to northern cities (big cities) but not cheap compared to Texas.
3) This is easily found online - go to any weather.com or yahoo weather or even here on city-data.com and pull up the city of Raleigh and you can find all types of weather info. Looks like the worst of winter has highs in the upper 40s/low 50s
4) For the size of the city, Raleigh has very low crime... again data is found on city-data.com website (this website has a lot of info, not just a forum)
5) This is a very broad question, how "good" is it? Depends on what factors. It is more lush aesthetically (when I look at pictures of the 2 places) than Austin. It is closer to the mountains than Austin (not sure how far Austin is from the Gulf) but both places you can get to the ocean for the weekend. Austin has a lot more hip and bigger downtown with more young professionals, Raleigh seems more for "families" (hopefully more of a mix in the future). Education in both lags the best areas of the north, but Raleigh is above average in NC (didnt get that far to research Austin education) Austin is more of a "high tech" city and a bit less diverse in economy than Raleigh, but has been booming past few years, whereas Raleigh has been growing strongly (albeit not at rate of Austin). Both have college towns in them. Again, Austin is bigger, more of a downtown, urban feel, bigger amount of clubs/restaurants all that - Raleigh is more of a family type of feel to it, with smaller (and multiple downtowns) Raleigh, Durham and even a smaller Chapel Hill 40 minutes away. Both are gaining a lot of population as people flee expensive housing in the north and following jobs to these areas.
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