Relocation to North Carolina (Charlotte, Raleigh: environment, lawyer, budget)

[TMS1220]

I am a single woman with a son who graduates June 2009 from high school. This summer I wold like to take a trip to North Carolina and see what it is like as I am considering to relocate after my son graduates. I have never been to NC and would like to do my homework and checkout areas, however I am not sure where to start. I will need to rent a condo or apartment and I am looking for an area which is not in the city, however, I dont want to be too far from civilization. As a single woman, I would naturally like a safe area. I work as a paralegal in family law. I appreciate any feedback and suggestions.

Terri

[Nomad99]

Hi Terry:
You posted to the "Triangle" forum (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill... but these days Cary is much larger than CH forming more of an isosceles triangle... or more of an obtuse quadrilateral actually ;-). Anyway, 'The Triangle' area is not a "city" per se, but rather disparate regional concentrations of people... the entire MSA is only about 1.5 million and 'Sprawleigh' is the population center, but it's not a real city really (but then, I've lived in quite a few).

The upside here is that it's fairly safe if you steer away from SE Raleigh and South Durham. But as someone living here for over 4 years now, I would not commit to the area until you have been here for 6-8 months. This is a very slow, parochial and quite frankly, VERY religious (as in _extreme_ southern baptist, pentecostal, presbyterian bent). I hope you end up liking it and staying... but depending on what your used to... I must admonish you to move with caution.

Frankly, if you looking to relo to NC and looking for a regular city... you may want to consider Charlotte as well...

Happy Travels!

[MrsSteel]

Originally Posted by Nomad99

The upside here is that it's fairly safe if you steer away from SE Raleigh and South Durham.

Actually, south Durham is very safe. It's east central Durham that has the negative reputation. There are some nice neighborhoods there, but I would advise a newcomer to get to know it better before buying there.

Politically, the western side of the Triangle - Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough - leans more to the left. Chapel Hill is the home of John Edwards, afterall, so you know we have our fair share of Democrats. The eastern side of the Triangle tends to lean more to the right, although not exclusively. Here's an excerpt from an article in this week's Indy to give you a little more info:
Independent Weekly: The Triangle is growing apart, separated by geography, politics, transit and identity

If geography separates the Triangle's east and west coasts, politics walls them off. To the west, on the Durham-Chapel Hill coast, think blue—not the color of Carolina or Duke—but Democratic blue. To the east, the Raleigh-Wake coast, think a heavy dose of Republican, if not Wolfpack, red. Since 1972, the end of one-party Democratic rule in North Carolina, Orange County has voted for the Democrat in every presidential election; Durham in all but the '72 landslide. Meanwhile, Wake has voted Republican every time, albeit narrowly in '76, '80 and '04.

Today, the sharp edges have smoothed, but Durham-Chapel Hill and Raleigh-Wake remain far apart politically. The former's legislative delegation is composed of nine Democrats, no Republicans. The latter is made up of eight Democrats, five Republicans. The Durham and Orange county commissions are homogenously Democratic. The Wake commission leans 4-3 Republican. State House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, comes out of the environmental movement. House Minority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake, got his start fighting abortion rights.

[Nomad99]

I beg to differ based on the facts... here's the "heat map" link:
http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/gis_apps/CrimeData/
Note: You can't just click on the link because Durham's Cold Fusion appl server is a total mess LMAO!

[MrsSteel]

Your link doesn't work.

[durhammom]

Hi!

I live in South Durham near Southpoint Mall and agree with Mrs Steel -- overall it is a very safe place. Is it perfectly safe? No. Nowhere is perfectly safe but I feel every bit as safe here as I feel in Chapel Hill or Cary.

And to Mrs Steel's post about politics -- I'm comfortable here in Durham even though my politics are not left of center. I have neighbors who pretty much have the political spectrum covered!

[MrsSteel]

DurhamMom, my experience is exactly the same as yours.

But I think we're getting distracted from the OP's question. It sounds like TMS1220 is not interested in living in the city, so Durham is not going to be on her list. Nor is Raleigh or Charlotte, so Nomad's suggestion doesn't help.

Since this thread originally appeared in the forum for the Triangle, I'll suggest a town there. The first town that sprung to mind is Hillsborough. It is the county seat for Orange County (which includes Chapel Hill and Carrboro) and there are a number of lawyers with offices near the courthouse, so you might be able to find work as a paralegal there. If not, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham are close enough that you could easily work there & live in Hillsborough. It's not a large town - population well under 10K last I heard - with a nice downtown historic district. There's a farmers market every week, a new food co-op set to open within the year, some nice locally-owned restaurants including a patisserie and a new chocolate shop. The only problem is there are not a lot of apartments & condos to rent there, but you can probably find a small house. Your biggest issue, as is always the case, is your budget. Luckily, Hillsborough's prices are still quite reasonable.

[ny2020]

Raleigh Durham is nice depends on if you are looking for city Life.Out side of the belt line like Holly Springs is nice a small town still growing.Cary is too over crowed but nice if you like.Apex well the call it they new Cary now.Wake Forest I heard is a big area.Just depends what you are looking for.The schools here are all year round which at first i did not like but now I am alright with it.Over all I love the education here for my children.The only thing I don't like about N.C. were i live the beaches are all an hour away.I live in Holly Springs & love it,I just wish their were more things to do for the kids..