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Depends on your interests. Hockey would not be one of mine, but other folks seem to like it. To me the iconic sport of the Triangle will always be college basketball, but when it's baseball season the Durham Bulls have a good following and the American Tobacco Campus near the stadium is a nice place to grab a bite and walk around. Hockey would be way down on my list of things to do, like not on it at all. I've never been to a game and have no desire to, so my highlights and your highlights might be pretty different.
For craft beer in Raleigh I'm thinking maybe CrankArm and the Boylan Bridge Brewpub. Both are in the downtown area, but there are lots more options.
In Durham, Fullsteam is great and Tyler's Taproom on the American Tobacco Campus is a fun place to grab a meal and a pint. It's a restaurant, not a brewpub, but they have an extensive beer selection.
I'm sure others can chime in with more. Tons of restaurants to choose from. I'm not sure I can even go there right now. Crooks, Lantern, Ashley Christiansen's places...
The thing that is bothering me now is that nothing is commutable to me. If you were to lose your job here for any reason, it's very likely you are moving. I am not going to stay here for $15/hr.
I want to make this next move to be a place where I don't have to leave town if my job goes.
Why not open up to all possibilities, USA-wide. Evaluate ALL opportunities that come in, and then decide if it's a viable place to move. Seems like only focusing on the Raleigh area is very limiting. It's a great place, but there are many. I'd see where the jobs are (for you), and narrow it down from there.
I definitely would rent for six months to a year. I am seeing a lot more in Durham than Raleigh proper around my budget. Is the commute between the two murder? Keep in mind I am used to metro Indianapolis, which seems a good bit bigger physically and number of residents than metro Raleigh.
I wouldn't want to commute from downtown Raleigh to Downtown Durham, but I wouldn't equate it with a capital crime. But, the nice thing about this place is that almost no matter what, there's no reason to have more than a 20 minute commute. There's a perfectly safe area and convenient area to live in somewhat close to wherever you end up, be that Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, etc...
Its hard to say til you find your job. Find that then draw a circle. Most likely you'll be in RTP, but there are no guarantees.
Why not open up to all possibilities, USA-wide. Evaluate ALL opportunities that come in, and then decide if it's a viable place to move. Seems like only focusing on the Raleigh area is very limiting. It's a great place, but there are many. I'd see where the jobs are (for you), and narrow it down from there.
I am going to post in the General US forum. I'd ideally like to stay within a rough half day's drive of home, but given where we are located, there aren't that many places that close by.
FYI - I live and work in Kingsport. I knew there would be an adjustment coming from Carmel, which is probably the most affluent community in the state, back to Kingsport, but it's been a lot harder than I thought. Most of my good friends have left the area themselves, and after five years away, I'm basically a stranger here outside of family and a handful of long-term friends. There have been little aggravations like the YMCA being the only worthwhile gym, and it's now more crowded than any gym I went to in Indianapolis.
Yeah, I'm not encouraged with what I see on the housing prices. There were a few options, but most were either in Durham, appeared to be far out, or needed a lot of work. I just casually browsed some listings in Charlotte, and there seemed to be far many more options. Is their housing notably cheaper?
At a countywide level, median household incomes are nearly 19% higher* in Wake (Raleigh) than they are in Mecklenburg (Charlotte). Housing costs are likely commensurate with incomes and demand.
I'm currently living and working in my small hometown in northeast TN. My employer is likely going through a merger, and while I do not feel my job is at immediate risk, there are practically no other options for me locally. I also don't see staying here longer term practical or worthwhile from several perspectives.
Before moving back to Tennessee in 2016, I spent most of the last five years in West Des Moines, IA and Carmel, IN. These areas have excellent economies, great schools, a lot of amenities, and are very safe. My hometown has none of these. I'm looking for something similar to what I had, but a bit warmer with better outdoor opportunities, and a bit closer to home.
Here's some background and what I'm looking for. I am probably moving in the next year - two at most. I've been to Raleigh several times, but it's been about ten years.
1) I'm a 31 year old single guy working as an ERP business analyst for a hospital system. I've also worked as a core banking application administrator at a small bank, and a trading software support analyst at a software vendor for the investment banking industry. I have a BA in economics from a regional state school.
I'm looking for mainly business analyst positions, or would be willing to take something more entry level outside of IT in finance if I could. Don't really want to be on the infrastructure side again. Would like to stay with a hospital system or large company if at all possible. My experience with smaller firms hasn't been as good as larger firms.
I'm at about $60,000 now and would like to get at least $70,000 just to offset COL. Does this sound doable?
2) I've been single since I moved back to Tennessee. I haven't been out with anyone where I thought there was truly long-term potential, and almost no dates at all. It's almost impossible to date in this small town, and there is virtually no single, professional class. It doesn't look like me being single is going to change anytime in the near future as long as I remain in my current area. I had far more dates in Indianapolis and Iowa than I've had here in Tennessee.
I'm not getting any younger. What is the 20s/30s dating scene like in metro Raleigh?
3) I'd consider living in the city, but it needs to be fairly safe. I've always lived in either small towns or suburbs. When I moved to Indianapolis, I moved in a rush, sight unseen, and settled in the suburbs because it was very safe. Some parts of the city were fine, but other parts are basically a war zone. R-D doesn't look anything like inner city Indianapolis.
I'm not looking for the most walkable neighborhoods, just something convenient. Budget would probably be $150k-$175k, would be looking for 2BR/3BR townhomes mostly. I'd consider a small SFH with a small lot.
4) Definitely looking for more amenities than what I have now. I was very used to stopping and eating something at Whole Foods, shopping at Costco, liked my gym at Lifetime Fitness, etc. There's really no substitute for any of that where I am now.
I'm a fairly big sports watcher. Mostly hockey and baseball. I know about the Hurricanes, but does Raleigh have AAA baseball? That's good enough for me.
5) Raleigh seems a bit isolated. I've mostly gone for concerts and stuff, and it's about a five hour ride from where I am in extreme northeast TN. How reasonable is it to get to a decent beach from most the metro on a Saturday? I also noticed a couple of lakes - do any of these lakes have boat clubs/make for good swimming/boating? I also enjoy hiking, but it would probably be too far back to the mountain region to do much of that.
I think comparing inner city Indy to a war zone is a bit extreme. If that's your perspective, there will be pockets of Durham you'll end up wary of.
Also, your housing budget is small for something that will provide you with an easy commute to amenities and work... unless you find work on the northern outskirts of RTP or perhaps on the southern edge of the Raleigh metro. I saw a previous post of yours lamenting the fact that $130K-ish budget wouldn't get you anything but a run-down older house in your current area (with a link to an example). Don't think that you will see a large field of affordable options in your budget that offer a short commute and don't clearly need some work in Raleigh or Durham. Ten years ago, it was different, but the housing picture has changed a lot lately.
I guess if I were you, I'd be asking... besides a warmer climate, and general proximity to the ocean, what do you think the Raleigh-Durham metro will offer to satisfy your requirements for a fulfilled life and career that the Des Moines and Indianapolis metros did not?
At a countywide level, median household incomes are nearly 19% higher* in Wake (Raleigh) than they are in Mecklenburg (Charlotte). Housing costs are likely commensurate with incomes and demand.
*Census website
If it is truly commensurate with salaries, that's one thing. I worked for a satellite office in Indy for a Boston based company. COLA for Boston over Indy was only 30%. They said it was commensurate with COL. Guess what? It wasn't. I doubt I'd make more in Raleigh vs. Charlotte per some Glassdoor major firm postings I'e read over last few days.
Why not open up to all possibilities, USA-wide. Evaluate ALL opportunities that come in, and then decide if it's a viable place to move. Seems like only focusing on the Raleigh area is very limiting. It's a great place, but there are many. I'd see where the jobs are (for you), and narrow it down from there.
There are some places I just do not want to live. I'd never move to Texas, and I'm a Republican. I highly doubt I'd move to California, or anywhere on the west coast as expensive as it is. I'm probably going to stay east of the Mississippi River. I lived in Iowa for a year and didn't much care for the scenery, lack of vegetation, etc. About the only place I could see myself west of the river would be Minnesota. I've been to St. Louis and Kansas City, MO doesn't interest me.
I'd much rather move to New England than Texas, for instance. I'm already somewhat familiar with the Carolinas and it's fairly easy for me to check them out without having to take vacation. I probably go to Greenville once every four to six weeks as it is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlessedLife
I think comparing inner city Indy to a war zone is a bit extreme. If that's your perspective, there will be pockets of Durham you'll end up wary of.
Also, your housing budget is small for something that will provide you with an easy commute to amenities and work... unless you find work on the northern outskirts of RTP or perhaps on the southern edge of the Raleigh metro. I saw a previous post of yours lamenting the fact that $130K-ish budget wouldn't get you anything but a run-down older house in your current area (with a link to an example). Don't think that you will see a large field of affordable options in your budget that offer a short commute and don't clearly need some work in Raleigh or Durham. Ten years ago, it was different, but the housing picture has changed a lot lately.
I guess if I were you, I'd be asking... besides a warmer climate, and general proximity to the ocean, what do you think the Raleigh-Durham metro will offer to satisfy your requirements for a fulfilled life and career that the Des Moines and Indianapolis metros did not?
$130,000 doesn't go as far as you think here, but it's not because there is no inventory in that range - there is quite a bit of it. The problem in this area is that new construction basically stopped around 2000, and that most anything, even at the higher end of the market, is going to need quite a bit of updating by now. I could easily find a place here well below $130,000, but many of those places are going to require a lot of work to look relatively current. Maybe I was just spoiled by living in the Indy suburbs for three years and everything being nice and new. In a year or so, I might be able to stretch to around $200,000 at my current salary. If that's not going to be doable, then this probably isn't the right place. I am not expecting to make that much more money in a Raleigh/Charlotte type area.
There were some new construction condos in some nice areas of the Indianapolis suburbs for under $130,000. Here - it's hard to find a townhome built within the last ten years for that.
I'd like to stay within a rough half day's drive of home. My grandparents are in their 80s and won't be around too many more years. The area needs to have some level of vibrancy and employment viability. If it weren't for the employment fears, I'd move to Greenville, SC tomorrow, but I know most metros that small (Des Moines is an exception) do not have as many options - if you get laid off, business closes, fired, whatever, you may very well have to leave town. Metro Raleigh at least has options.
Last edited by Serious Conversation; 10-11-2017 at 07:03 AM..
I'm finally getting to take this trip this weekend. I'll be leaving Johnson City tomorrow evening after work or very early Wednesday morning. I'll have to come back Sunday around mid-day to go back to work next Monday.
I had been thinking about spending some time in Charlotte and the Triangle area, but I can do Charlotte on a regular weekend. Raleigh is a much bigger drive and I'd like to go to the beach for a day or two. What's the closest decent beach for me to get to? I'd probably only stay one night at the beach.
1) I'm probably going to check out the Bulls Wednesday night. Pretty open into any cool bars that night. Some of the choices listed previously look very good. Anyone know what fireworks may be going on for the Fourth?
2) One thing I don't think I mentioned last year is that our local grocery/farmer's market scene here sucks. Organic food is practically nonexistent. Local food is difficult to source aside from one large local grower. Definitely looking forward to checking out Sprouts. What are some of the better local farmer's markets?
3) Do Fall Lake Recreation Area or William Umstead State Parks have swimming pools or lake swimming?
I'm finally getting to take this trip this weekend. I'll be leaving Johnson City tomorrow evening after work or very early Wednesday morning. I'll have to come back Sunday around mid-day to go back to work next Monday.
I had been thinking about spending some time in Charlotte and the Triangle area, but I can do Charlotte on a regular weekend. Raleigh is a much bigger drive and I'd like to go to the beach for a day or two. What's the closest decent beach for me to get to? I'd probably only stay one night at the beach. The closest are Topsail, Carolina/Kure, and Wrightsville. Wrightsville is tough since its an island with limited parking, but is probably the nicest. Carolina/Kure are more touristy but way more accessible. Topsail is also nice and accessible, probably a mix between WB and Carolina.
1) I'm probably going to check out the Bulls Wednesday night. Pretty open into any cool bars that night. Some of the choices listed previously look very good. Anyone know what fireworks may be going on for the Fourth?
2) One thing I don't think I mentioned last year is that our local grocery/farmer's market scene here sucks. Organic food is practically nonexistent. Local food is difficult to source aside from one large local grower. Definitely looking forward to checking out Sprouts. What are some of the better local farmer's markets?The NC State Farmers Market in Raleigh is the best, IMO.
3) Do Fall Lake Recreation Area or William Umstead State Parks have swimming pools or lake swimming? Falls has some swimming areas. I swam in it off a public fishing access last night, but not totally on purpose.
Definitely looking forward to this weekend.
Hope this helps.
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