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Due to the pandemic my husband and I recently started working remotely, and are considering moving to the triangle area, particularly considering Cary, Holly Springs or Apex. We currently live in CA, in the valley to be specific. We have grown tired of the high cost of living, and surrounding poor living conditions, and the fact that the average cost of a house is over 1 million dollars with hardly any outdoor yard space, and it's usually not even in that great of a neighborhood. My husband is in tech, and we heard that the area is a good place for working tech professionals. Below are a few questions in regards to living in NC, to get a better idea and view point. Your answers and time are very much appreciated.
1. Being in our early 30's would you say it is easy to make friends? Are people generally friendly?
Coming from SoCal, people generally are always on the move so making friends or creating long term relationships can be tough.
2. We don't have kids yet, but are the school districts in the area good? Are there any specific districts you recommend?
3. We love hiking, and enjoying the outdoors. Are there a lot of recreational areas and scenic places to explore?
4. How is the weather? We like the idea of getting to experience all 4 seasons but have heard about the humid summers and hurricanes.
5. How is the restaurant night life, and general life style? We aren't really into the party or club scene, but do enjoy date nights and trying out new cuisines quite frequently.
6. How is the real estate market currently? Is the area safe? We would be looking into buying a property in the 475K-575K range, 3-4 bedrooms and a decent sized back yard hopefully.
Please feel free to chime in regarding anything else that might be helpful.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Originally Posted by Etoomasi
Hi there!
Due to the pandemic my husband and I recently started working remotely, and are considering moving to the triangle area, particularly considering Cary, Holly Springs or Apex. We currently live in CA, in the valley to be specific. We have grown tired of the high cost of living, and surrounding poor living conditions, and the fact that the average cost of a house is over 1 million dollars with hardly any outdoor yard space, and it's usually not even in that great of a neighborhood. My husband is in tech, and we heard that the area is a good place for working tech professionals. Below are a few questions in regards to living in NC, to get a better idea and view point. Your answers and time are very much appreciated.
1. Being in our early 30's would you say it is easy to make friends? Are people generally friendly?
Coming from SoCal, people generally are always on the move so making friends or creating long term relationships can be tough.
2. We don't have kids yet, but are the school districts in the area good? Are there any specific districts you recommend?
3. We love hiking, and enjoying the outdoors. Are there a lot of recreational areas and scenic places to explore?
4. How is the weather? We like the idea of getting to experience all 4 seasons but have heard about the humid summers and hurricanes.
5. How is the restaurant night life, and general life style? We aren't really into the party or club scene, but do enjoy date nights and trying out new cuisines quite frequently.
6. How is the real estate market currently? Is the area safe? We would be looking into buying a property in the 475K-575K range.
Please feel free to chime in regarding anything else that might be helpful.
Thanks so much!
1. It's easy to make friends here as there are a lot of transplants so lots of new people looking for friends.
2. School districts are decent enough but have the same problems as lots of school districts nationwide - not enough funding.
3. Lots of parks locally. Have to travel about 3 hours to get to scenic mountainous area or 2 hours to get to beach. But for everyday, there is a lot of green space.
4. Summers are humid - no denying it. Plan to do most outdoor activities early in the day in July and August. Hurricanes are more of a problem on the coast, but can sometimes threaten this area.
5. Decent amount of restaurants and variety. People from California usually do not find Mexican food here to be that great.
6. Real estate market is a seller's market right now, so you have to be quick in buying. Your price range seems to be a popular one. Of course, it depends on what you are looking for.
Be aware that schools here are on a county-wide basis, with the exception of Chapel Hill schools. But that's a long way off for you guys. Otherwise this area probably checks your boxes, although if you are SoCal natives the humidity will be an adjustment. I agree with what michgc said about everything.
I highly suggest renting when you move here and getting to know the area before jumping into a buying situation, which will surely be the result of a bidding war. This is a white hot seller's market. Your price point is *very* popular.
My nephew and his fiance moved to LA this summer and while they are enjoying their adventure they can't wait to come back. They make good money for a couple of 22 year olds but it's just way too expensive.
Be aware that schools here are on a county-wide basis, with the exception of Chapel Hill schools. But that's a long way off for you guys. Otherwise this area probably checks your boxes, although if you are SoCal natives the humidity will be an adjustment. I agree with what michgc said about everything.
I highly suggest renting when you move here and getting to know the area before jumping into a buying situation, which will surely be the result of a bidding war. This is a white hot seller's market. Your price point is *very* popular.
My nephew and his fiance moved to LA this summer and while they are enjoying their adventure they can't wait to come back. They make good money for a couple of 22 year olds but it's just way too expensive.
@twingles Thank you!
We are coming down in March for a week to get a feel of the area, and see what it's like. We have a friend that will be showing us around. If we like it we will consider moving there and renting the first 3-6 months to get more familiar with the surrounding area.
Yes, LA is very expensive unfortunately, even for those that make a decent income. But it's a great place to visit and experience your 20's. Wish them both well!
I think this area does tick your boxes. One thing to note is we very rarely have earthquakes or fires like you do in California. We went out to CA two years ago in August and had to cut our trip short because we couldn't get into Yosemite for the Ferguson fire and when we thought about going up toward Sonoma instead fires popped up there. Nothing like that here. It's lush and green and very very humid in the summer here. I'll take the humidity and thunderstorms over fires any day.
I grew up in Huntington Harbour/Huntington Beach and then spent many years in the SF Bay Area. We really like it here!
There's definitely pros and cons however if you are looking for an overall quality of life "boost" then I think you will like it here as well.
1) Yes, people are much friendlier here and since there is more of a work/life balance people actually have the time to meet other people and develop friendships. People are not as stressed out as people were in CA (well.....maybe right now they are due to covid, politics etc).
2) The schools are decent here but they definitely have their problems (funding, growing too fast, capped schools, socio/economic diversity issues, etc). I wouldn't worry too much about picking a home based solely on the neighborhood school because that could change by the time you have kids in school.
3) There are lots of places to hike and be outdoors. We live very close to Falls Lake and the Neuse River and there is boating, kayaking, greenways etc. Plus there is the beach and mountains within a couple hours distance.
4) OK....not going to lie.....the humidity here sucks! Thankfully though almost every house has A/C. However when you enjoy being outdoors like we do, having to be indoors more because you can't deal with the humidity is not fun. However I LOVE having "seasons". Fall is absolutely beautiful here and it is definitely my favorite time of the year! As for the storms, I do get a little scared with the tornado warnings and we have some crazy thunder and lightening storms. The lightening scares me the most. I would trade both of those for earthquakes even having experienced the big one in the Bay Area in 1989 (Loma Prieta).
5) My youngest is 30ish and lives in NC as well and she has never had a lack of fun things to do. She enjoys the restaurants, nightlife, concerts, outdoor activities etc.
6) Most areas are safe here especially places that meet your budget. There definitely is vandalism and people that go around looking for unlocked cars at night (usually teens) but that is about it around here. There are crime maps for most cities so you should definitely look at those when you start to consider places. As for the market, like others have said it is pretty hot here since so many people keep moving to NC.
I can speak a little regarding weather adjustment. I'm a transplant from the San Diego area and here are my experiences:
1. Summers will take adjustment coming from CA, but less so for you since you're already acclimated to the (dry) hot summers in SFV.
2. Although often uncomfortable and occasionally oppressive, I found the summers weren't nearly as horrid as some would have had me believe. Your experience will largely depend upon your individual tolerance level.
3. There area averages just 35 excessively hot/muggy days per year (heat index 95+: temp/humidity). Compare that to Sacramento, a climate similar to the valley, with 24 very hot days. https://www.currentresults.com/Weath...ays-cities.php
4. Even if you will have to run the a/c more, your bill be the same or even lower since electricity costs about 43% less here than California.
The beaches in NC are kept as natural as possible despite the 3 coastal regions being quite developed.
You won't find any oil refineries like near Huntington, (I lived off PCH on Superior Ave. and love SoCal though.)
You won't see any oil platforms offshore like the ones visible in the Pacific.
You won't find any jetties of big rocks, that I know of.
The water will be quite warm by August each year.
In other words, the beaches are very nice, however you won't find any cliffs next to the coastline.
You might see more overweight people on the beach and in general in the Southeast compared to the West. But there are just many more people on the Eastern seaboard so you see lots of folks not matching the style or look that the Western states have.
Coming from Calif. where homes don't have to be tightly sealed, that will be something very different as humidity and weather elements must be protected against as they do costly damage given the opportunity.
Wake County Public Schools are uniformly ok and none are to be avoided, which says something given it's one of the nation's very large systems with around 150,000 students I think.
Please feel free to chime in regarding anything else that might be helpful.
You indicated that you started working remote due to the pandemic - my only suggestion would be to clear the move with your employer(s). If you work in NC your employer will need to withhold NC income tax. With so many people working remote, I fear that income tax is going to have the battle like we just saw with sales tax (Wayfair). But that's a discussion for another forum!
Outside of that "Welcome!"
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