Q for those who relocated to Cary from the Northeast (Clayton: insurance, daycare)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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My family is also relocating to Clayton next year and I have to say I'm scared to death but excited at the same time. I have lived here in Ct all my life but the winter's are harsh and so aren't the prices and taxes. I want more bang for my buck and still have some money left over. I look forward to no snow and lower bill's but I will miss my family and friend's. see ya all next year.
I moved here from DC area and have only been here a few months so bear with me:
Things I like:
1. The feeling of safety. It's the first place I've ever lived where I don't feel like the person walking past me on the sidewalk might kill me.
2. Cheaper rent
3. Fewer thunderstorms (so far. maybe it's a fluke).
4. Lots of free outdoor music and easy to get to and PARKING IS NEVER A PROBLEM :-)
Things I miss:
1. Sense of history and the museums
2. Old, charming houses and streets. Chapel Hill has some of that, but it's confined to a smaller area the rest is not attractive or it's McMansiony
3. It's harder to find things I want in the supermarket or, if I do find them, they are priced like luxury items.
My family is also relocating to Clayton next year and I have to say I'm scared to death but excited at the same time. I have lived here in Ct all my life but the winter's are harsh and so aren't the prices and taxes. I want more bang for my buck and still have some money left over. I look forward to no snow and lower bill's but I will miss my family and friend's. see ya all next year.
Karyn, I mean this ever so sincerely. Moving here primarily to "get more bang for your buck" is the wrong reason to move. Life is not all about a bigger house. Our kids were grown and gone when we moved down here but I can tell you, we lived in Maryland for several years when my children were young and I pined for home almost daily.
Secondly, please know we do get some snow.....it often goes down into the 20's -30's. We can also get some pretty severe ice storms. It's definitely not New England winter but it's not FL either.
Lastly, if you are used to being "in the thick of things", you may find Clayton a bit remote.
We relocated here from the Boston area 5 years ago...
Like: Better weather, lower housing costs, lower property taxes, numerous parks and walking trails. Wonderful place to raise a family. Very child-friendly amenities. Less traffic, roads are in better condition, much cleaner (for the most part) with newer buildings, roads, landscaping, etc. Driving and doing errands here is so much easier and more pleasant. People are friendly and I've found it's been much easier to make new friends here than it was in MA, during my adult life. Beaches are farther in miles, but we don't sit in awful traffic every time we go. NC beaches are beautiful. I prefer flying in and out of RDU to Logan or TF Green.
Miss: Not much. Family and friends to a degree, but not as much as I thought I would. Access to historic, charming towns with walkable villages/centers, countryside, proximity to Maine...Jewish Delis...in theory, I'd say going to Red Sox games, but in reality, it was too expensive to go frequently, anyway...
I am SO HAPPY when we get our token once per year snow, but when I visit family up north I am reminded of how much it sucks to have snow for literally half the year
But on a more serious note:
Best: gardening. OH MY GAWD. I'm used to gardening being a long game. Plants in Ohio get like 5 mins of sun, so it can take years for a shrub, tree - even perennials to really get going. Not here. If you like to garden, you will enjoy what feels like relative instant gratification. The first big project I did - installing daylillies - was fabulous until I saw how fast they grew. I had to pull em all up and divide them within a MONTH.
Worst: The weather. 95 degrees with 95% humidity from the end of May well into September. It's 85 today and sweaty out.
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