Two New Accolades for Triangle Cities: Money's Best of 2016 (Raleigh: sales, income)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Very true, now if they can get the millennials to embrace they will be in business. The cold is another problem. Certainly they can grow as regional hubs and draw from local regions.
da Burgh has a lot going for it. In many respects, it is a big small town, like Raleigh.
Sports crazed.
Two thumbs up for Pittsburgh! We were there this summer, and it's such an awesome city with a great downtown. It had been years since I had been there. Funny that you mention sports crazed - EVERYEONE was wearing a Pirates t-shirt around town, and I thought to myself "these people really are big sports fans!" Then we realized there was a game that day. Doh! Very cool - we walked by the stadium and it was crazy fun. Bought yummy pergoies from a food truck. Wished I could have brought them home with me; they were sooo good! And the scenery is just gorgeous with those beautiful hills and the three rivers. But I agree that I wouldn't like the winters there - too gray and cold. But, it is a super fun city!
If you're looking for the next "boom" - the midwest is not a bad place to look. The cost of living is ridiculously cheap there so as cities like Raleigh become increasingly expensive due to popularity, people will start looking to move to places with better COL like the midwest. Not sure how many years from now that will be but possibly sometime in the future.
The need for regional hubs will be a thing of the past as access to venture capital is becoming easier to obtain (look at crowd funding for example). Additionally, places like San Jose, the DC area, and Boston are very expensive and very congested and new hires are finding it very hard to have a good life in those areas with their starting salaries. Places like Detroit, Pittsburgh, maybe even RTP, are now viable places for the next wave of businesses related to what will be changes in healthcare, education, and technology related businesses. A good read on where things can/will head is The Third Wave: A Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future.
IMO, the weather in the NE and upper Midwest drives people to warmer climates when they retire.
On the West coast you can be at the same line of latitude as Minneapolis and the temps will never go below freezing and days are in the 50 in the Winter. Not so in the upper Midwest.
No doubt the two best big cities to live in are Portland and Boston. I would add Seattle to the top 3. In the top 50 list, Beaverton, OR is just a suburb of Portland as is Lake Oswego, which IMO is a lot nicer. Don't understand all the Midwest cities. Most of the retirees from the Midwest are looking to move to NC.
Not familiar with Boston but Portland and Seattle used to be great. Seattle is great as an alternative to San Francisco if you want to work in tech but it's quickly becoming expensive and unbearable to live in. Portland is getting overrun by Californians as far as I can tell and also has a worse congestion problem than Seattle. Just my .02. Raleigh reminds me of Portland 20 years ago, when it was a very pleasant and affordable place to live in.
Not familiar with Boston but Portland and Seattle used to be great. Seattle is great as an alternative to San Francisco if you want to work in tech but it's quickly becoming expensive and unbearable to live in. Portland is getting overrun by Californians as far as I can tell and also has a worse congestion problem than Seattle. Just my .02. Raleigh reminds me of Portland 20 years ago, when it was a very pleasant and affordable place to live in.
Agree, the COL is really starting to rub raw in the Pacific NW (Portland & Seattle). It has always been relatively expensive but now it is getting out of control. Not only housing but other things like eating out and such as those businesses pass their rising rents/leases onto consumers. Also the vibe has changed too much towards the uber educated sophisticated bro-grammer culture; it's kind of losing its soul (mix of working class, arts and tech). Everything is money, money, money, code, code, code, money, money, money. A mix of San Francisco + Wal-Street = ugly.
Currently, the Pacific NW is being loved to death. Even if you can afford to live there, and dig the new vibe, the overall QOL is starting to suffer. Horrible congested traffic and packed trails add to the stress of making your mortgage payments.
The Pacific NW ship has sailed. Still, a nice place to visit.
Agree, the COL is really starting to rub raw in the Pacific NW (Portland & Seattle). It has always been relatively expensive but now it is getting out of control. Not only housing but other things like eating out and such as those businesses pass their rising rents/leases onto consumers. Also the vibe has changed too much towards the uber educated sophisticated bro-grammer culture; it's kind of losing its soul (mix of working class, arts and tech). Everything is money, money, money, code, code, code, money, money, money. A mix of San Francisco + Wal-Street = ugly.
Currently, the Pacific NW is being loved to death. Even if you can afford to live there, and dig the new vibe, the overall QOL is starting to suffer. Horrible congested traffic and packed trails add to the stress of making your mortgage payments.
The Pacific NW ship has sailed. Still, a nice place to visit.
You so nailed it with your post. You really summed up why I want to move us to Raleigh. I used to love eating out here but last few years there is more emphasis on expensive build out and mediocre food quality and I feel ripped off every time I eat at the latest and greatest new restaurant I read about. Which totally fits into my view of how the California vibe is taking over the Pacific NW. Everything is looking shiny on the outside but bland inside and you will have to pay to play more and more. You can't even go for a quiet hike outside either city now without fighting for a parking spot let alone getting some solitude on the trails. Yeesh.
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