Is Raleigh a Metropolitan City? (Charlotte, Tarboro: real estate, condo, houses)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I'm considering leaving Washington, DC for a slower pace life in Raleigh. I'm not quite ready to drastically slow down - 100 to 0 - however I would like to find a balanced neighborhood that has a city feel with NC delight.
Any suggestions?
Looking for the following in a downtown Raleigh neighborhood:
Walking distance to robust social scene (cafes, bars, art studios, etc)
Historic houses with character
Ripe for real estate investment
Mix of commercial and residential living
Young, hip, developing areas
I don't mind being a trail blazer or pioneer for developing neighborhoods.
Are there parts of downtown Raleigh that fit these criteria? The more specific the better. Thanks!!!
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 02-23-2010 at 03:57 PM..
Reason: Fixed the weird codes
There are parts of Raleigh that would fit portions of the description you give, but all in all, they'd be very specific areas and probably not fit each and every criterion on your list. Charlotte is more of a "mini-Metropolitan" area than Raleigh is. I'd say DC > Atlanta > Charlotte > Raleigh in terms of "Stepdown", within the Southeast.
Price range is unlimited, but i'm more interested in location and property that will hold value (right in the middle of the city center...not commercial) and close proximity to downtown attractions. Any suggestions for specific neighborhoods, streets, etc?
I'm also interested in being close to a park (maybe Moore Square?). Thoughts?
Moore Square is just that. A square. It happens to be green, but I wouldn't call it a park. Although, there are some plans to spruce it up a bit in the future. I think a quick trip down here will help answer a lot of your questions. Once you see it, things make a lot more sense. As for areas that might fit the bill for you, you could look around Oakwood and Boylan Heights. Those areas have a lot of potential and are somewhat close to the things your looking for in downtown Raleigh. The downtown has a lot of potential, but it's an order of magnitude different from DC. It probably compares more with Bethesda than DC.
There are a couple of new high rise condo buildings in Glenwood South area. Great walkable neighborhood, many restaurants, clubs, shops etc. One is called 222 Glenwood, the other West (on W. North St). I found West a bit more upscale - doorman, lovely rooftop pool, gym etc. Definitely worth checking out.
There are parts of Raleigh that would fit portions of the description you give, but all in all, they'd be very specific areas and probably not fit each and every criterion on your list. Charlotte is more of a "mini-Metropolitan" area than Raleigh is. I'd say DC > Atlanta > Charlotte > Raleigh in terms of "Stepdown", within the Southeast.
I agree. If you rate DC at 100 then Atlanta would be at 75, Charlotte at 50 and Raleigh about 25 in comparison. I don't feel Raleigh can be considered to be a major metropolitan area.
Oakwood is largely a fully realized neighborhood, but good to check out as an example of what a neighborhood looks like in Raleigh that has "made it."
You should check out the neighborhood known as the East Gateway. E. Hargett street between Bloodworth and Tarboro has been doing really well and property values have shot up drastically. However, one block south on Martin it's an entirely different world! It's probably the most walkable neighborhood that hasn't shot up yet.
East of Oakwood around Cooke St. and Seawell is known as Oakwood Fringe. It's a younger neighborhood than Oakwood, and only recently became desirable. Active and fun neighborhood. Around the Oakwood Dog park is less walkable and a bit further out, but that area, known as Capitol Heights has starting seeing renovation.
That success is slowly moving east. Idlewild is a current barrier, and the future of which is an interesting discussion. Past Idlewild is College Park, there is a thread on that neighborhood.
South of downtown, but north of MLK near Shaw University is the northern tip of a neighborhood called South Park. North of MLK has been doing well because it's walking distance to DT, but few, if any, have ventured south of MLK.
Similar to Oakwood, Boylan Heights is a fully realized neighborhood, but west of downtown. Areas south of Boylan Heights, such as Rosengarten Park are relatively walkable, so young professionals are moving in there. There is a thread on this neighborhood. Outside of that area, there isn't much west of downtown that hasn't shot up in value yet that I can recall.
North of downtown is Mordecai, another fully realized area.
Hence, my focus on the areas east of downtown.
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