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What are the differences between the two areas? Durham, NC and Raleigh, NC Which area would be considered the "better" area? I have noticed when looking for apartments Raleigh seems to be on more expensive side compared to Durham therefore I was wondering why that might be. I look forward to your thought on this.
Thank you all for your input. I plan on moving to NC in either the Raleigh or Durham area depending on which works and seems better to me. I do not have a job lined up as of yet. However, even if I do not land one before I relocate I will have enough for about a year to hold everything down. But I am sure I will find something within the first month or so according to Indeed.com there are tons of jobs. I am not too concerned. My husband and I are coming down from Brooklyn, NY in the summer for about a week to check things out are get a feel of everything.
Of course Durham and Raleigh are different. Just like here where I am bay ridge and mill basin are different even tho they are 30 minutes away from each other. As of right now, I do not have children although I do plan on starting a family within the next 2 years hopefully. My husband and I are not party people, we are more quite and are looking for a safe area, no crime or drugs things along those lines. Nice friendly, good working people who lives nice good little lives (LOL) you know what I mean.
I look daily on truila.com, craigslist, zillow.com and ect for apartments to see what is there and the prices. I have noticed that Durham is a bit cheaper Raleigh and I wonder why. When I see a apartment I like, I google the apartment community or apartment complex to see their reviews on Google to see what people say and majority of them aren't too tasteful. So also any recommendations in that area as well I am open to.
Thank you all for this information, I do appreciate it!
Based on your requirements I’d suggest north raleigh as it’s quieter and has good schools when the time comes. If you’re far enough north you’re near great greenway paths and falls lake for outdoor activities. Should be able to find plenty in that budget. It’s also very low crime.
I've been living here in (north) Raleigh for almost 3 years now, and it seems to me like Durham is frequently in the news for the wrong reasons. TV news coverage mentioning Durham invariably seems to involve some type of crime, usually a shooting. I'm not saying that those types of things don't happen in Raleigh, but at least from what I can glean from news coverage, it does seem as if Durham is a less safe place to live.
Both cities are growing, and both have their trendy areas. While the American Tobacco development and the Durham Bulls stadium are nice, personally I prefer the look of downtown Raleigh to downtown Durham.
Thank you all for your input. I plan on moving to NC in either the Raleigh or Durham area depending on which works and seems better to me. I do not have a job lined up as of yet. However, even if I do not land one before I relocate I will have enough for about a year to hold everything down. But I am sure I will find something within the first month or so according to Indeed.com there are tons of jobs. I am not too concerned. My husband and I are coming down from Brooklyn, NY in the summer for about a week to check things out are get a feel of everything.
Thank you all for this information, I do appreciate it!
Can I ask what you and your husband do for work? Do you work in fields that are in high demand in this area? I ask that because while there may be a lot of jobs here in general and unemployment is low, many of the jobs here may not be jobs that you'd want, or that pay enough money for even the lower rents compared to NY. I came here myself from Yonkers, NY almost 3 years ago. When I first got here, my 1 BR apt in north Raleigh was $713/month. With renovations on the property, the same 1 BR apts are now renting for over $900/month. You'll find that to be true at many of the decent apartments in the area. There may be some that are lower priced, but generally they are not in areas or complexes that you'd want to live in.
My strong advice to someone coming here from another area is to have a job lined up before you get here. Don't assume that it will be easy to get a job in your field, or that you can just grab whatever to support yourself until you find the right job. Many jobs here pay $10/hr or less. Coming from the New York area, you are going to be in for a bit of a shock regarding pay here. Pay just isn't keeping pace with the rising costs here, IMO.
Can I ask what you and your husband do for work? Do you work in fields that are in high demand in this area? I ask that because while there may be a lot of jobs here in general and unemployment is low, many of the jobs here may not be jobs that you'd want, or that pay enough money for even the lower rents compared to NY. I came here myself from Yonkers, NY almost 3 years ago. When I first got here, my 1 BR apt in north Raleigh was $713/month. With renovations on the property, the same 1 BR apts are now renting for over $900/month. You'll find that to be true at many of the decent apartments in the area. There may be some that are lower priced, but generally they are not in areas or complexes that you'd want to live in.
My strong advice to someone coming here from another area is to have a job lined up before you get here. Don't assume that it will be easy to get a job in your field, or that you can just grab whatever to support yourself until you find the right job. Many jobs here pay $10/hr or less. Coming from the New York area, you are going to be in for a bit of a shock regarding pay here. Pay just isn't keeping pace with the rising costs here, IMO.
Of course! That is the goal to have jobs lined up for when we move there there. I've been sending out my resume for months already and I haven't gotten too many bites as of yet. I believe it's mostly because I do not live in the state. My husband and I have various backgrounds related to work. So we are both pretty versatile. I do see that some jobs do offer what you've mentioned $10 an hour or possibly less which is true. However I have also seen multiple listings where the pay is from 40k and up for basic office administration. It varies depending on what your experience is and so forth. More or less just like where I am now. I don't truly see that much of a difference money wise and job wise. New York only pays more because everything here is robbery. As I'm sure you know a one bedroom apartment which is the size of a box goes for $1,600 and up all throughout the entire borough, it's insane. You can't even drive here without getting high blood pressure the second you put your car in drive. Its absolutely no way to live.
The way I see it. No matter where you are if you do not have solid place of employment, there is a possibility you will be in between jobs until you find your right fit. So, even if by the time I move there officially and I don't have a job, I'll find one. So will my husband. You know the good old saying, if there is a will, there is a way. First thing on my list is finding a place safe place to live. Pay the 6 months upfront so that is taken care of and then if need be finding a place of employment.
You've mentioned your from Yonkers, not too far from Brooklyn, NY. What made you move to Raleigh? How do you and your family like it so far?
Of course! That is the goal to have jobs lined up for when we move there there. I've been sending out my resume for months already and I haven't gotten too many bites as of yet. I believe it's mostly because I do not live in the state. My husband and I have various backgrounds related to work. So we are both pretty versatile. I do see that some jobs do offer what you've mentioned $10 an hour or possibly less which is true. However I have also seen multiple listings where the pay is from 40k and up for basic office administration. It varies depending on what your experience is and so forth. More or less just like where I am now. I don't truly see that much of a difference money wise and job wise. New York only pays more because everything here is robbery. As I'm sure you know a one bedroom apartment which is the size of a box goes for $1,600 and up all throughout the entire borough, it's insane. You can't even drive here without getting high blood pressure the second you put your car in drive. Its absolutely no way to live.
The way I see it. No matter where you are if you do not have solid place of employment, there is a possibility you will be in between jobs until you find your right fit. So, even if by the time I move there officially and I don't have a job, I'll find one. So will my husband. You know the good old saying, if there is a will, there is a way. First thing on my list is finding a place safe place to live. Pay the 6 months upfront so that is taken care of and then if need be finding a place of employment.
You've mentioned your from Yonkers, not too far from Brooklyn, NY. What made you move to Raleigh? How do you and your family like it so far?
If you can get an offer for a $40K job here in Raleigh, take it! I've read many, many ads for jobs in Raleigh that want you to have 2 to 5 years of experience in that particular field just to get paid $10-11/hr. As I posted in another thread recently, a job for an armored car driver in this area was only offering $12/hr... and you had to buy your own bullet-resistant vest! A part-time customer service rep job that I applied to recently was only offering $9 - 10.50/hr.
Yes, New York rents are ridiculous. A $900 - 1100 1 BR apartment might seem like a bargain to you compared to $1600 for a shoebox sized apt in NY, but if you only have a job paying $20K/yr, you're still paying a significant percentage of your earnings on your rent.
I thought exactly the same way you did when I decided to move to Raleigh. I came down here to interview for a job, but didn't get an offer. Nevertheless, I decided to take a chance on coming here anyway with no job. I figured that someone with a college degree (BBA in management from Iona) who is intelligent, hard-working, honest, articulate, who has no criminal record and is not a substance abuser shouldn't have much trouble finding a decent paying job. I was wrong. I will say, though, that I am trying to find work other than the work that I did in NY (driving for limo services, which is nowhere near as popular in Raleigh as it was in the NY metro area), and I am over 50, which does not help me. If you are under 40, that will help you in your job search as Raleigh does seem to be oriented/biased toward people in that demographic.
I have not even been able to get a part-time job working at Walmart, Target or Best Buy here in Raleigh. Employers like to give you online assessments now to determine how good a fit you'll be for their jobs. Supposedly I did not pass the assessment to work at Walmart (which is very surprising looking at the people that actually work there). In a phone interview for Target, I was asked to provide examples of when I was "fast, fun and friendly" at work, because that's what Target likes to think its associates are. Really? I don't think I've ever had anyone at Target even talk to me while I've been in one of their stores until I reached the cash register to pay for my purchase. But, perhaps you've worked in retail or restaurants more recently and you'll have an easier time getting one of those $9/hr jobs while you look for something better.
To answer your question, I left New York and moved to Raleigh because I really don't have much family there anymore (just two cousins and their families), it was getting way too expensive to live there for me, and I was getting tired of the cold, snowy winters. As I'd lived in NY most of my life, I felt like I needed a change. I came to Raleigh by myself, with the only person that I knew here being someone that I met on this website. We met face to face for the first time when I came here for the job interview I mentioned above. We've become close friends since then. Like any city, Raleigh has its pluses and minuses. The winters here are much shorter than in New York, and milder (though we did have an extended cold spell this year where it was below freezing for several days). Much less snow than in NY, though it does rain more. Greater chances of ice storms than snow here. It gets pretty hot and humid here in the summer. I've lived in Florida too for 2 1/2 years, and Raleigh feels to me just as bad as Florida in the summer months, with even warmer temperatures sometimes here (mid-nineties or higher) than I experienced in Florida. Gas prices here are closer to those you'd find in NJ than those in NY. Traffic can be heavy in some places during rush hour, but nowhere near as bad as what you'd find on the Cross Bronx Expressway, Van Wyck or the BQE when at its worst in those places. If you like doing outdoor activities, there are lots of parks, trails and greenways for you to explore here. If you like going into Manhattan frequently to go to restaurants, museums, etc, Raleigh will be a big change for you. Even though it's the state capital, Raleigh feels tiny and its options for nightlife are much, much fewer when compared to a place like New York.
EDIT: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one more possible negative about living in Raleigh. Do you have allergies? The first year I got here and was looking for an apartment, my eyes were literally tearing as I was going around (in April) looking at apartments. The pollen from the pine trees here is a huge problem for allergy sufferers. It lasts for a few weeks in the Spring. The pine pollen can be so bad that your car will look yellow, and you'll see the pollen blowing around on the pavement in parking lots. If you have outdoor allergies, bring your allergy pills when you visit!
Last edited by manyroads; 03-30-2018 at 10:02 AM..
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