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Very little public transit.
Ignorantly designed, unlighted roads.
High gas and income tax. Annual tax on vehicles.
Messed up schools from population influx and incompetent Wake County school board.
Lower salaries in many fields.
Is "annual tax on vehicles" the same as vehicle registration or in addition to? For instance, I still pay $150 for an almost 10-year Honda car in SoCal. I think I paid about $500 vehicle registration when I bought it new and it decreases every year after that.
There are plenty of housing options here. The job market is competitive because of the constant influx of newcomers. The climate is mild in three of the four seasons. The Research Triangle is kind of a city of suburbs; and from my experience, the people are friendly.
I used to live in Washington, D.C. and the traffic here is nothing in comparison. But because this is area is growing rapidly, traffic problems are not going anywhere.
It still feels as if Raleigh is still reaching for a greater potential, too.
Good rental and home purchase prices
Decent crime level
Lots of shopping and medical
Cons
Very little public transit.
Ignorantly designed, unlighted roads.
High gas and income tax. Annual tax on vehicles.
Messed up schools from population influx and incompetent Wake County school board.
Lower salaries in many fields.
Good summary.
Lower salaries except maybe in the tech industry. That might be a tad more competitive. Friend took a $10,000+ salary cut to move to Durham from Virginia.
Traffic is a snarl in a lot of places. News had a photo of the traffic at Crabtree mall on Black Friday. Dah Husband laughed bitterly as it didn't seem to be much worse than when we were there a month ago. I dread taking I-40 north in the mornings or south at quitting time. Always seems to be a slow down if not actual stop and go traffic.
While housing may be more affordable, everything else seems to cost about the same.
Except for summer when it is HOT and humid, the weather is great.
Unless you are connected to the universities, young people often wish for for a better meet and greet environment. Not sure what other places have, but apparently this area does not have a lot of the sort of places where people can meet up casually. Fortunately, there are meet-up groups and match.com.
The people are out of this world wonderful, friendly and helpful. I'm not surprised that this is one of the busiest boards on City Data.
I second the "lower salaries"!! It's a rude awakening that I didn't think would be so bad-eh, What's 35,000/year, I thought-well, it's a whole lot I'm missing!
I don't live in NC, but I saw your post and thought of what I just told a younger friend who is sick of cold winters. It's not just what you can live with or without now, but depending on your age, your income for the next 20 years can make a big difference when you retire. Most of us don't think about Social Security when we are 35 or even 40, figuring it won't be around anyway. However, when you get into your 60s, you begin to notice the difference in your benefits (if that matters to you.) It's the same if you have a matching 401K or you're contributing to an IRA. Less income means less you can put aside for the future. Having said that, you also need to compare income to cost of living wherever you move.
Hope I didn't go off-topic, but Raleigh would definitely be a move up for me since I live in Florida. What you find positive or negative about a new area really depends on where you've lived before, your education and/or skills, opportunities in your field, and the lifestyle you choose.
Yeah, it really does depend on where you're coming from. If you're coming from New York it will be a little hillbilly, which I had trouble getting used to.
And, of course, if you're coming from New York, you'll consider the traffic here to be a breeze.
Is "annual tax on vehicles" the same as vehicle registration or in addition to? For instance, I still pay $150 for an almost 10-year Honda car in SoCal. I think I paid about $500 vehicle registration when I bought it new and it decreases every year after that.
The personal property tax on vehicle is every year, and it is in addition to the tax you pay where first registering the car. You can search the forum for rates and estimates. It is a nuisance-level tax.
Another con is the 2% sales tax on food from the grocery store. We paid zero tax on food in Maryland, so NC adds a cost you might not expect.
I second the "lower salaries"!! It's a rude awakening that I didn't think would be so bad-eh, What's 35,000/year, I thought-well, it's a whole lot I'm missing!
I can never quite understand how people would think they would get a much lower cost of living in a different place without a somewhat parallel decrease in income, as generally there is a direct correlation between the two, barring unusual circumstances. The higher the salaries, the more the prices are going to go up because sellers/merchants/owners know there is demand at that price. Similarly, if costs are low, it's usually because salaries are low enough that they can't afford to charge more, or they would!
I can never quite understand how people would think they would get a much lower cost of living in a different place without a somewhat parallel decrease in income, as generally there is a direct correlation between the two, barring unusual circumstances.
I think a lot of the time, people buy too much. What I mean is that when housing costs less, people who relocate will often buy a larger home. But just because you move to an area where you can now afford a 3,000 sf house with a pool, it doesn't mean you have to buy it. Then your utilities bills are higher, your taxes and property insurance cost more, and the upkeep is more expensive. I've seen this a lot and it's probably no different in the Raleigh area.
I think a lot of the time, people buy too much. What I mean is that when housing costs less, people who relocate will often buy a larger home. But just because you move to an area where you can now afford a 3,000 sf house with a pool, it doesn't mean you have to buy it. Then your utilities bills are higher, your taxes and property insurance cost more, and the upkeep is more expensive. I've seen this a lot and it's probably no different in the Raleigh area.
It's not.
Plenty of people who were living in 1200sq ft for 500k plus exorbitant taxes elsewhere come here to where there are lower taxes and spend as much or more for a house triple the size of their old house. They don't consider utilities and maintenance on a house that size. Or the HOA dues in a community with houses that size.
Add that to things like our grocery tax and yearly property tax on vehicles and the cut in pay that some take to move here and they're not financially better off, even if their QOL is otherwise better.
People who live in West Cary and gripe over paying out 120 bucks a year on property tax make me wonder. It averaged out to ten bucks a month. That's too high?
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