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I currently live in Chapel Hill in a ground floor apartment and I'd really like to move into an elevator building in either Chapel Hill or Durham.
The things I'm looking for: good natural light, modern kitchen, not crazy expensive, hopefully walkable to something.
I got really excited about the Alexan opening next to Whole Foods in Chapel Hill but I've been emailing them and the rates are too high for me and my husband who is a teacher (around $2K for a 2BR).
Eventually, we'd love to buy a place, but I think even then we'd prefer and elevator building if possible. Maybe that's just not what's being built in the Triangle...
P.S. My husband is a teacher, I'm in tech. If we were both in tech, maybe we could afford $2K for an apartment but that just seems crazy to me because things are supposed to be cheaper down here compared to where we moved from (Philadelphia). What happened to the lower cost of living? It's definitely reflected in my salary.
The West Village complex in downtown Durham has elevators, but prices will probably not be too dissimilar from what you're seeing in CH.
There's plenty of affordable housing in Durham and even CH, but it will not be in the form of new, high-end luxury apartment complexes! (It will probably be 60s/70s apartments, small SFH's, etc.)
P.S. My husband is a teacher, I'm in tech. If we were both in tech, maybe we could afford $2K for an apartment but that just seems crazy to me because things are supposed to be cheaper down here compared to where we moved from (Philadelphia). What happened to the lower cost of living? It's definitely reflected in my salary.
I think you're expectations of elevator apartment buildings (high rises) are leading to your frustration. That's certainly common in Philadelphia, the 5th largest city in the US with a population of 1.6million. The population of Chapel is is less than 60,000.
As far as lower cost of living - we moved here from Phoenix, AZ. Our COL has dramatically increased. NOTHING is cheaper, except gasoline.
For those that relocate from the NE, I suspect one of the major benefits of a decreased COL is in Real Estate taxes. Since you are the renter, it doesn't apply (directly). And Chapel Hill is the highest COL area in the Triangle. Maybe consider Durham?
We currently live in Chapel Hill and find it quite affordable. Our monthly rent is closer to $1250, not including some amenties/utilities, for a very modern 2BR/2BA.
The COL is definitely reflected for many of the rentals we've looked at here.
We ended up renting an apartment in an elevator building in downtown Durham and we love the building and the downtown area. They were doing a special so we could afford it.
Took me a few to realize what this topic was about, but now I get you're asking about apartment builds that have elevators.
I've seen quite a few new apartment buildings that have elevators if the building is 4+ stories. In my complex in Morrisville all the 4+ story buildings have elevators. All the ones 3 and below have just stairs. That might help in your search.
P.S. My husband is a teacher, I'm in tech. If we were both in tech, maybe we could afford $2K for an apartment but that just seems crazy to me because things are supposed to be cheaper down here compared to where we moved from (Philadelphia). What happened to the lower cost of living? It's definitely reflected in my salary.
The transplants from higher priced areas ruined it.
Maybe your family can afford it, but lots of us on moderate incomes are being forced out of the area just like in NYC.
It will only get worse because transplants are causing needs for infrastructure, and the newcomers and developers are not paying proper impact fees. In fact, NC bribes companies to move here instead to go areas that are in dire need of jobs.
If you are coming here to escape high taxes and get a better quality of life, you might want to think again.
At least Philly has good mass transit. The only passenger rail here is Amtrak.
Last edited by CapitalBlvd; 03-12-2017 at 04:03 AM..
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