Moving to NC. How would you compare these 3 cities? (Charlotte: wood floors, 2015)

[KekaRoo]

I am trying to gather a perspective on the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham as far diversity, job industry, housing prices/cost of living, and activities.

I am planning on moving to NC no later than November of this year. I am a young, black professional woman in my mid-twenties moving from Milwaukee, WI. I am moving to experience something different, and to hopefully make this state my new permanent home. My degrees are in criminal justice and anthropology. So, anything with non-profits or investigations in the private sector will be an ideal industry for work. Eventually, once I am settled I will be going back to school for my Master's in public administration or criminal justice. I know these are college cities, but usually a particular campus has a better concentration in a field compared to their sister campuses.

[BC1960]

Investigate employment in all 3 and move where you find a job. They are all nice places to live.

[919 rtp]

Job first, then find a place to live. Though Raleigh and Durham are next to one another, you really don't want to commute between the two.

[ozmoe571]

All are pretty strong with diversity and activities to a certain degree (I'd give a very slight nod to Durham for the former and Charlotte to the latter), so I agree with the other posters to determine your employment options followed by your housing options. You can get a wide range of living options in each, it all depends on how you want to prioritize your must-have features, e.g., good schools, walkability, proximity to commercial areas, ranch vs. two-story, condo vs. townhouse vs. single-family residence, etc.

[henriInCary]

First the job ...

[newbee2]

This is a local forum for Raleigh Durham that are part of the research triangle area. Charlotte is about 2 and half hours away. RTP or the triangle is known for its tech talent and medical research. Has great universities such as Duke, UNC chapel hill and NC state.

[NewWaveDad]

Diversity? The Triangle (Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham) edges out Charlotte. Triangle being a tech hub, and 'Academic' area attracts a more diverse (and dare I say) liberal populace. Charlotte is more 'bible belty' (don't take offense please...). Charlotte has more to do in the sports area, but otherwise they are about equal when it comes to activities. Triangle is closer to the beach and other cities like Richmond and DC...

[ceiligrrl]

sorry y'all but i can't recommend Durham.... i entered this state on March 1 2012 and on March 21 i was beaten assaulted, robbed, car stolen by a gang of 12,13 year old girls in Durham. yeah. go figure. spent half my life up at the Lennox Lounge until 4 a.m in Harlem, taking the subway back down to the P.A. bus terminal midtown...... not exactly the most safe time to be out and about, but NEVER had a problem in NYC or it's worst neighborhoods (Hell's Kitchen has gentrified a bit but still can be scary)..... i have to say be very very careful..... go online and check out it's rating for crime..... after that happened to me, i did the research ( i know i know..stoopid) and Durham was ranked at 5 percent..... meaning only 5 percent of other American cities had worst crime rates. I don't know where they stand now, but you have to be very very careful about Durham, just saying

Chapel Hill is very very expensive, as is Carrboro right next door....but just 4 miles south is North Chatham county and you'll still have the Chapel Hill zip code, but you don't have to pay Chapel Hill taxes, you'll pay the much much much cheaper Chatham county taxes.... I have a very nice townhome, rosewood floors/inlaid flooring/imported tile in Kitchen and bath with a screened in porch, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and .78 acres and I pay $677 a year in house taxes...ok, i'm an oldold superoldfart, but even if i weren't what the heck is $1300 a year when you have to pay 4 or 5 times that for a small place in Chapel Hill..... I don't have one white person for a friend and i was as white bread as you could get.... all my friends are Turkish, Chinese, Indian, Muslim, Korean, Black or Hispanic.... okay, i'm not the norm here in the county that still has a large contingent of the KKK, but thankfully more and more Northerners are moving here and soon I won't have to hear how i should have moved to Cary, NC. (C.a.r.y: Containment Area for Relocated Yankees)...... sooner not later this state will enter the embraceable zone of America, tolerant of differences. I'm personally working on it!!!! Come on down to Chatham county and join me!!!!!!

p.s. went to this web page just for an example of Durham crime rate.... plus note the rating for education in that county too

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

plus this site: Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
...... you can see the violent crime rate is more than double the national average

Durham, North Carolina, violent crime, on a scale from 1 (low crime) to 100, is 64. Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The US average is 31.1.

Durham, North Carolina, property crime, on a scale from 1 (low) to 100, is 59. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. The US average is 38.1.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by ceiligrrl

sorry y'all but i can't recommend Durham.... i entered this state on March 1 2012 and on March 21 i was beaten assaulted, robbed, car stolen by a gang of 12,13 year old girls in Durham. yeah. go figure. spent half my life up at the Lennox Lounge until 4 a.m in Harlem, taking the subway back down to the P.A. bus terminal midtown...... not exactly the most safe time to be out and about, but NEVER had a problem in NYC or it's worst neighborhoods (Hell's Kitchen has gentrified a bit but still can be scary)..... i have to say be very very careful..... go online and check out it's rating for crime..... after that happened to me, i did the research ( i know i know..stoopid) and Durham was ranked at 5 percent..... meaning only 5 percent of other American cities had worst crime rates. I don't know where they stand now, but you have to be very very careful about Durham, just saying

Chapel Hill is very very expensive, as is Carrboro right next door....but just 4 miles south is North Chatham county and you'll still have the Chapel Hill zip code, but you don't have to pay Chapel Hill taxes, you'll pay the much much much cheaper Chatham county taxes.... I have a very nice townhome, rosewood floors/inlaid flooring/imported tile in Kitchen and bath with a screened in porch, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and .78 acres and I pay $677 a year in house taxes...ok, i'm an oldold superoldfart, but even if i weren't what the heck is $1300 a year when you have to pay 4 or 5 times that for a small place in Chapel Hill..... I don't have one white person for a friend and i was as white bread as you could get.... all my friends are from Turkey, China, Indian, Muslim, Korean, Black or Hispanic.... okay, i'm not the norm here in the county that still has a large contingent of the KKK, but thankfully more and more Northerners are moving here and soon I won't have to hear how i should have moved to Cary, NC. (C.a.r.y: Containment Area for Relocated Yankees)...... sooner not later this state will enter the embraceable zone of America, tolerant of differences. I'm personally working on it!!!! Come on down to Chatham county and join me!!!!!!

I really found your post interesting and eye-opening. However, my only criticism will be that you complain how bad the South is and how bad the locals are and I am sure there is some merit to some of your claims. However, what I find ironic that you complain about the taxes in Chapel Hill and moved to a place to escape high taxes. Yet, is all those Northerners and especially, New Yorkers, who move to places like North Carolina and then vote to substantially increase taxes, demand more money for endless amounts of social programs, government projects, etc that make the place become so expensive, hard to live and bloat the bureaucracy of the state government.

All I have to say I would hope the Northerners could bring down some of their more enlightening traits and leave behind those traits that made them want to leave the Northeast to begin with.

I am saying this as a guy who also doesn't think he would do very well in the "Old" South, because I am a minority and definitely have encountered my share of racism over the years. My grandfather received a very bad reception because of his ethnicity when he was stationed in Virginia in the 1940s in WWII. Yes, I think some integration and different mindsets will be very beneficial, but trying to turn North Carolina into the next New York also would make it less desirable place.

New York's major drop in crime was a result of two factors. One, obviously, is gentrification. All the new age and young professional hipsters and yuppies took a daring risk and bought up cheap property in pretty unsavory neighborhoods. Areas that nobody would live now became hip, trendy and desirable. This also happened in Portland and Seattle. Areas that were gang infested lsums, suddenly became the top places to live in the city. However, a much more disturbing second factor has contributed to New York's decrease in crime and I cannot consider it a positive one. After Giuliani, the NYPD started operating like a para-military. The NYPD does things that would not be legal in any other city in the country since their actions violate our Constitution. For example, NYPD has the stop and frisk law which allows police to stop and search you if they think you are questionable in any way, even if it is just because of your attire or skin color. As great as the reduction in crime is in the city, living in a police state is hardly fun. Of course, living in a lawless place is also not fun. However, I rather live in an area with some crime and not worry about being frisked walking down the street or being beaten up and killed by the cops because I was selling cigarettes (without a license). The NYPD also has the worst record in the nation for shooting innocent bystanders. They have been known to be some of the most reckless law enforcement officers. Living as a black man in New York must be pretty scary these days. A majority of drug conviction are disproportionately African American in New York, yet they are not a majority of drug users. They tend to be the greatest victims of stop and frisk from what I am told.


I will end this post though saying that I have heard Durham has a serious crime problem and has quite a high homicide rate. I actually looked at all the victims of 2018 homicides and they have map with the pictures and story of each homicide and victim and the perpetrator (if caught or killed). Sadly, most seem to be a majority of 18-40 year old African American males. I wonder what is going on in Durham? I assume it is drug and gang violence.

[RaleighSentinel]

UNC CH has a strong MPA program, and NCCU (a HBCU) in Durham has one as well. Both N.C. State and NCCU have strong Criminology/Criminal Justice programs. N.C. State in Raleigh also has an emerging Forensic Sciences Institute. Duke has a strong Public Policy program. Duke, UNC CH, NCCU and Campbell all have law schools located in the Triangle. Lots of choices.

I can’t speak much to UNC C’s programs, but I would say Charlotte will have more of a Big City feel like Milwaukee, but with fewer blizzards and less bratwurst.

All of these cities are diverse, and you should feel welcomed in any of them. Job markets seem to be hot all over in your areas of interest, and there is plenty to do, depending on your interests. It would be good to think about Durham/Chapel Hill and Raleigh/Cary as separate metros for general commuting and daily activities, with the split being RTP, Morrisville, and Brier Creek area. For weekends, the whole Triangle is your oyster. Good luck!