What do you love about living in Raleigh? (cul-de-sac, appointed)

[phxnomore]

What a great forum! I'm considering a move to Raleigh from Tempe, AZ. A month ago when we hit the 32nd 110+ degree day in a row, I hated AZ and couldn't wait to leave. But now it's below 100, the cactus are blooming, the Dbacks are winning and life is tolerable again.

I've got a pretty hot job prospect and am researching life in Raleigh. What do you all love about it? What keeps you here? What's the closest place to ski? How hard is it to meet new people, no matter what Oprah says? How do you get your hair to look decent in all that humidity?

I'd love to hear some real life opinions instead of the realtor, my potential boss and the Chamber website. Thanks!

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by phxnomore

What a great forum! I'm considering a move to Raleigh from Tempe, AZ. A month ago when we hit the 32nd 110+ degree day in a row, I hated AZ and couldn't wait to leave. But now it's below 100, the cactus are blooming, the Dbacks are winning and life is tolerable again.

I've got a pretty hot job prospect and am researching life in Raleigh. What do you all love about it? What keeps you here? What's the closest place to ski? How hard is it to meet new people, no matter what Oprah says? How do you get your hair to look decent in all that humidity?

I'd love to hear some real life opinions instead of the realtor, my potential boss and the Chamber website. Thanks!

I've been here 9 long months via Chandler, AZ (hi Chandler). The only thing I love about it is, errr, um, errr, let me get back to you on that. What keeps me here is a job. I don't know the closest place to ski. I don't know is there is anything like Snowbowl here. As far as meeting people, it depends. I find that it's harder to make friends here than it was in PHX. It seems that once people have own clique of friends here they seem less willing to venture outside of that box to invite someone new into the clique. The married couples tend to hang with the married couples or other couples who may not be married. As a singlet that is what I'm seeing.

I keep my haircut pretty low so it looks decent at all times. Ok, I'm going to give you a real life opinion based on the fact that I lived in PHX for two years and moved here shortly after. Personally, I wouldn't move just for a job. Developing new friendships and trying to get to know other people that are already established here is tough. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't move here. If you're coming with a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife then you'll prolly like this place and prolly come to love it. You lose that established life that you have in PHX but if you're coming with a partner it'll be much easier on you b/c you'll have someone here with you instead of feeling like you're alone. Plus, PHX is a wonderful, relaxing, beautiful place. That's my real life opinion.

Go Dbacks (even though I didn't like going to Chase Field during the summer).

[mdp_az]

I lived in Flagstaff for a while and spent some time in Phoenix and Tucson...what a beautiful part of the world. One thing you won't escape by moving to the Triangle is the heat. We've already had 75+ days over 90 this year, and trust me when I tell you that 96 here with humidity is as bad or worse than 112 in AZ with dryer air. The first year here will probably take some adjustment to the humidity and cloudier weather in winter.

As for skiing, there are a handful of ski hills in the NC mountains. Here's a good source of information on them: North Carolina Ski Resorts, Ski Resorts in North Carolina, Skiing in North Carolina Most are between 3.5-4 hours from the Triangle. In Virginia, Wintergreen is a nice mountain that is also about 4 hours away. If you don't mind a couple of extra hours in the car, Snowshoe is the premier ski area in the southeast/mid-Atlantic. It is in West Virginia and takes right at 6 hours from Raleigh. Its a very nice and rather large mountain with more reliable snow than the NC & VA areas. If you've been skiing Snowbowl on weekends (when they've been able to open) you're certainly accustomed to lift lines, so that shouldn't be much of an adjustment for you. As for snow, there's not a lot of natural snowfall, but unlike AZ, we don't have the Navajo fighting our ski areas in court over snowmaking, so as long as it stays cold, the mountains can blow snow! (FWIW, this ski info is pretty easy to come by for anyone who's living here, so I'd take the previous post w/ a grain of salt. hott's post have generally been rather negative on the area, unlike most who move here).

As for meeting people, I can't comment as accurately on that since I'm originally from this area. I do know that folks are very friendly and you'll see neighbors hanging out on sidewalks and in cul-de-sacs all the time. We found this to be the case in our n'hood both before having a child and after.

One very charming thing about this area is the trees, something I didn't fully appreciate until living in AZ and CO. We have thick forests with tall trees that can provide wonderful shade and scenery. Since we don't have mountain views around, the forests are great! There is some OK hiking around, but nothing like you have around Tucson. Great beaches are only 2-3 hours away and you can swim comfortably in the ocean from May - October w/out a wetsuit. You can also escape the heat in the summer and head to the mountains which offers incredible outdoor recreation of all sorts. Boating abounds here, with reservoirs (currenly quite low on water), sounds, rivers, and the coast all convenient.

The housing market should be a little cheaper here as we didn't experience quite the boom over the past few years like you guys out there have. The architecture and interior finishes are very different, but you'll adapt to them I'm sure.

Overall, the Triangle area is a nice place to call home, and certainly an excellent place to raise a family. Like any area, it has its bad points and good points (I didn't mention the occassional hurricanes and ice storms), but overall I think most anyone can be reasonably happy here if they put forth some effort.

Oh, and I wear a buzz cut, so I can't help you w/ the hair!

[miamiblue]

I know there are some posters on here that constantly whine about how hard it is to meet people. The thing is that we sometimes have to step out of our comfort zones and out of the box to meet people! I, and several others on this board, have offered other posters ideas, and invitations even, on where and how to meet other people with the types of interests they seem to be looking for. I guess if you don't investigate things when people try to throw you a bone, it is much easier to just go on saying how difficult things are and complaining. Others can point you in the right directions, but only you can take the action needed to make things happen. <shrug>

Now, to answer your questions. I lived my entire life in FL (born and raised in Miami) until I moved here. I came for a better job and better overall quality of life. So far, those things have not disappointed. I have met a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, singles, married, unmarried couples. I have made some good friends in just over a year's time. There are a lot of things going on socially here, but at the same time, people aren't as uptight about social-status as they are where I came from. Things are generally rather laid back; for example, you can wear jeans to many of the bars downtown, or you can dress to the nines, no one will really care either way.

I also like how pleasant most people are when you encounter them in day-to-day life. I would consider Raleigh to be a small city, but it is undergoing a renaissance, with new and interesting things popping up all the time, especially in the downtown area. There are lots of outdoor activities to partake in across the entire state, and plenty of options within the Triangle alone. The city is covered in trees such that when you are approaching it from the highways coming in, you may not even realize a city is even there! Quite lovely!

The change of seasons here is great (especially for someone who lived in sauna, sauna, sauna, spring her whole life). I don't know much about snow skiing, but the previous poster mentioned the places I have heard people talking about. Humidity here isn't as bad as the subtropics, but it will be a big change compared to AZ. It is most humid during the summer, and even then, it goes up and down, so it is not a sauna here all summer long. Just get some good hair product that reduces frizz and flyaways and you'll be ok. Unless, of course, you have a buzz cut, then no problems!

Of course, no place is perfect for everyone, but I think that if you do your research, visit before you commit, and approach with an open mind and a sense of adventure, anyone can make the best of almost any place.

[raleightransplant]

Coming from Phoenix, I think you'll really like the Raleigh area. Many of the same growth issues you have there--but not quite as "on steroids" as Phoenix..My personal likes of the area:

-Beautiful hilly region of NC (something about hills I just love)
-4 seasons but mild
-Beaches and Mountains easily accessible
-Local culture and food (I like how some things have always been here and some have been brought in by newcomers)
-People...just a wonderful place in this regard. Ostentatious behavior is not rewarded here
-Educated, well-traveled populace...this was evident to me the first time I ever visited.
-The future is now--very exciting time to see some of the transition in the downtown areas

The weather here in the summer can be downright brutal. Overall a really nice place.

[ctribucher]

Originally Posted by phxnomore

How do you get your hair to look decent in all that humidity?

I've been wearing my hair in a ponytail since May.

[suncat]

I haven't moved to RDU yet, but I can speak to the hair issue. Some people say their hair goes crazy in humid climates, but my hair seems to love it. It becomes fluffy, whereas in drier climates it's full of static and has no volume.

[Waterboy526]

Seems like this has turned into a discussion about hair? lol I could care less about the humidity, since I lived in the DC area and it pretty much the same as here. My wife's hair will look like Medusa's hair if she doesn't straiten it in the summer.

As far as living in Raleigh, I loved it so far, even though I'm not exactly in my desired career yet and still going to school. I'm confident that once I graduate and get a job that I like, I'll even feel better about everything. My wife however, has a great job with a great company and we make as much now as we did in NoVA...and as you know the dollar goes much farther down here as far as taxes and housing prices go.

The only thing I do miss is my family and hey we're only a 4-4½ hour drive away when we want to see them. We've just been so busy lately that we haven't seen them in a while. Anyway, like a previous poster said, it is what you make of it. I still haven't found many friends yet, but my wife has already made some friends. Once I'm not as busy with school, I'd like to get out more and join some sports leagues, etc to make some new friends.

[Dire Wolf]

There is skiing in the NC Mountains, around 3 hours away. Virginia and West Virginia also are popular skiing getaways.

Originally Posted by suncat

I haven't moved to RDU yet.

RDU is the airport. The area is usually known as "The [Research] Triangle".

[phxnomore]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my post about moving to Raleigh. I appreciate all the information (both positive and negative). It's easy to see how much there is to appreciate about the area. I'm still a bit on the fence about it - although the beautiful fall colors on my last trip just about tipped it for me. Thanks again for the info and happy holidays to all of you.