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I can't say I regret moving here, but I'm definitely ready to leave. I came here 2 years ago for a job and had high expectations given that a family friend moved to Raleigh back in 09 and raved about the place compared to our hometown which is 15 minutes outside St. Louis. I've just come to realize that Raleigh, and especially Cary, where I live, is just a terrible fit for me. As an active 28 year old who loves city life and the cultural amenities that come with it, the suburban swath and the overall blandness of the area has turned me completely off. Also, I'm a musician who loves to play in r&b and jazz settings, and every attempt I've made to crack into the nearly nonexistant scene here for those genres has failed, not to mention making friends within the music scene. Adding to that, the job prospects for my field (banking/finance) are severely limited and the pay is low. So yeah, it's pretty safe to say I'm miserable here. I do love the weather though! Raleigh, great place to live and raise your kids, but just not for me. Definitely time to leave...
I can't say I regret it, because then I always would have wondered, "what if". We have been here 5 years from Maine. I still miss the coast, and I still miss Maine. Since hubby has no interest in going back to Maine, my compromise is to move toward Wilmington.
We are going to put our ducks in a row and find jobs and then try to sell our house.
My neighbors here have always been "friendly", but don't want to be friends. I have reached out countless times to no avail. It is what it is..Hopefully our next n'hood will be interactive where we can make some friends. It gets lonely with no family OR friends.
I agree with the thought about how people have changed...or is it that we changed in that everyone is moving all around the country to try to escape a problem in their hometown, usually cost of living only to find that people are not the same where you end up.....even if you decide to stay, doesnt mean that your friends and family will.
I have found that most areas here have cliques and plenty of people that are fine with not socializing at all. I agree that its a total crap shoot when looking at an area. Not many people are going to tell you "dont move to this subdivision its bad". Throw in a bad hoa and noone really talks to each other.
I have seen and been to subdivisions that some say "everyone is out and talking to each other all the time" and then in the same subdivision others say the opposite. I would say if someone is young without a family, I can see being bored here.
Honestly the biggest driver seems to be "where I live costs too much" with "the homes are cheaper there and are new" then a few years past and that wears off....
I can't say I regret moving here, but I'm definitely ready to leave. I came here 2 years ago for a job and had high expectations given that a family friend moved to Raleigh back in 09 and raved about the place compared to our hometown which is 15 minutes outside St. Louis. I've just come to realize that Raleigh, and especially Cary, where I live, is just a terrible fit for me. As an active 28 year old who loves city life and the cultural amenities that come with it, the suburban swath and the overall blandness of the area has turned me completely off. Also, I'm a musician who loves to play in r&b and jazz settings, and every attempt I've made to crack into the nearly nonexistant scene here for those genres has failed, not to mention making friends within the music scene. Adding to that, the job prospects for my field (banking/finance) are severely limited and the pay is low. So yeah, it's pretty safe to say I'm miserable here. I do love the weather though! Raleigh, great place to live and raise your kids, but just not for me. Definitely time to leave...
The music scene here is hardly nonexistent. Never has been a problem for every other person I know who plays around here REGULARLY.
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The Triangle has an amazing indie rock/rock/alt country scene. Many performers move to the area specifically for the music scene, but I don't know as much about the R&B and jazz scenes. I do know Branford Marsalis has a home in Durham. I can certainly believe that St Louis might have more to offer for Jazz and R&B.
I don't regret moving to this area, because when I first visited Chapel Hill about 15 years ago, I thought it looked like a great place and always wanted to check it out as a place to live. However, now that I've experienced it, I wish I could have moved here on a temporary basis - like a 2-year term just to check it out.
It's not a BAD fit for me, but it's not a GREAT fit either. I'm used to living near a major city and all the amenities that go along with that. We used to visit DC quite often taking the kids to the museums on a regular basis. And we used to drive up to Philly to see my family more frequently and even go up to NY every so often. I also just like the hustle bustle of the Northeast. We also lived in a great town that was walkable, had great schools, was on the subway line, and convenient to everything. Nothing was far away - the city, stores, numerous restaurants, museums, festivals, etc. Jobs were also more plentiful. And picking up and leaving friends, our school, and our community was very difficult.
What I DO like about living here is that everything isn't crowded. I've yet to wait more than 10 minutes in a doctor's office, whereas 45-minute waits in NoVA were not uncommon. I also like that I don't have to plan any outings around the time of day because of bad traffic. Sure it might take me 10-15 minutes longer to get home from Durham at 5 PM on a Friday, but it's NOTHING like the traffic in DC where rush hour commutes can be triple the time during non-rush hour (and non-rush hour is essential 10 PM until 6 AM). I LOVE the mild winters. Even compared to NoVA, it's usually 10 degrees warmer here on many winter days. I like the schools here in Chapel Hill with smaller classes than what we were used to.
I like it here okay, but don't love it and don't want to live here indefinitely. If I could move back to NoVA tomorrow, I would in a heartbeat.
Hi, well interesting to see someone that agrees with me, this area certainly has its advantages as far as less traffic conjestion, but I feel you pay dearly for it in other ways, as far as "Big City" perks as far as culture etc. Just my opinion, no bashing everyone !
I can't say I regret moving here, but I'm definitely ready to leave. I came here 2 years ago for a job and had high expectations given that a family friend moved to Raleigh back in 09 and raved about the place compared to our hometown which is 15 minutes outside St. Louis. I've just come to realize that Raleigh, and especially Cary, where I live, is just a terrible fit for me. As an active 28 year old who loves city life and the cultural amenities that come with it, the suburban swath and the overall blandness of the area has turned me completely off. Also, I'm a musician who loves to play in r&b and jazz settings, and every attempt I've made to crack into the nearly nonexistant scene here for those genres has failed, not to mention making friends within the music scene. Adding to that, the job prospects for my field (banking/finance) are severely limited and the pay is low. So yeah, it's pretty safe to say I'm miserable here. I do love the weather though! Raleigh, great place to live and raise your kids, but just not for me. Definitely time to leave...
Hi, yet another that feels the same as I, even though we are much older than you, as a matter of fact have children your age, my kids could never see them self living here, they don't even like to visit, one lives in NYC, and our daughter back in South Florida where she was born 27 years ago! My feeling on living here is, its great if you have a lot of family here with you, or have been fortunate to have made a lot of friends with similiar backrounds as yourself. I really think thats the difference between the people that LOVE it here VS. the ones that don't ! Good Luck to you, hope you work it out as we hope to as well !!!
I can't say I regret it, because then I always would have wondered, "what if". We have been here 5 years from Maine. I still miss the coast, and I still miss Maine. Since hubby has no interest in going back to Maine, my compromise is to move toward Wilmington.
We are going to put our ducks in a row and find jobs and then try to sell our house.
My neighbors here have always been "friendly", but don't want to be friends. I have reached out countless times to no avail. It is what it is..Hopefully our next n'hood will be interactive where we can make some friends. It gets lonely with no family OR friends.
HI, I know exactly what you mean about the friend thing for sure, most people in our Sub Division do 'The Wave" when driving by and just keep going.... Its really sad. But yet many are from the NE where we are from, so we just don't get it ? I sometimes feel this is worse than when we first moved to South Fl in the late 70's, maybe its just changing times ? Don't know?
Well wish you best of luck with your next move, hopefully we will figure out where in Florida we will move back to, probably more Northern Fl. though our daughter is still back in So Florida, guess I didn't research enough about the winter temps here also, gets colder than we like, we are spoiled from the Winters in FLorida I guess ! Good luck to uou !
I find people most disappointed with the area came on a whim;had no job or just took a chance that it's greener on the other side. They tend to do no reseach nor do they visit for a lenghty time during vacation to get a feel for the place and just hope it will all work out
If you are that unhappy here think there is more to the story cause you may be unhappy anywhere. This place is not made of gold but Silver is fine with me!!
I loved it here when we first moved up from Florida 14 years ago, but lately the state government seems to have gone batguano insane. I came here to escape a state that was the laughingstock of the nation, but it looks like NC is heading in the same direction.
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