I'll be visiting the Triangle for the first time (Raleigh: lofts, condo)

[CDgrisgris]

Nordy's??? Lets just hope Artie Lange isn't lurking around these message boards.

I'd love some recommendations from a Raleigh foodie because i love to eat.

[findingmesomeday]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

Oh, I love Nordy's. And I'm a bit more earthy than the typical Nordy shopper. But let's face it. You and I both probably shopped at Nordy's a whole lot more when we were "young upwardly mobile professionals" before we had kids and when we had more expendable incomes. Nordy's isn't in my budget now. Except for shoes. Can't beat them for shoes.

::sigh:: They're not in my budget either. Oh but how I loved just wandering and shopping, sipping on a latte, trying out the new skin care/makeup and listening to the live piano.

That was then. This is now.

[toot68]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

GLC, I find it really odd that you classified the area around Duke as
"seemed to be like artificially built up to suit yuppies or something."
But you like Brier Creek and Southpoint. What?

I can clarify. There's sprawling apartment/luxury condo complexes that got built across the street from the medical center. I think the condos are going for 350K+. That gets you a view of Erwin Rd, woot, what a bargain. They are pretty tacky, and harbor a bunch of chain restaurants (TGI Fridays, Duncan Donuts, Chipotle, etc). Artificially built up to suit yuppies or something is probably an apt description.

[GucciLittlePiggie]

Originally Posted by toot68

I can clarify. There's sprawling apartment/luxury condo complexes that got built across the street from the medical center. I think the condos are going for 350K+. That gets you a view of Erwin Rd, woot, what a bargain. They are pretty tacky, and harbor a bunch of chain restaurants (TGI Fridays, Duncan Donuts, Chipotle, etc). Artificially built up to suit yuppies or something is probably an apt description.

thank you, i agree
the exchange at brier creek is reasonably priced, in a secluded area that has interesting shops and restaurants nearby, albeit in a somewhat commercial setting. that was not the case in durham. durham had a lot of crappy areas with expensive plastic condos plopped down next to them. not my cup of tea.

(i'm not saying that's all durham is, but the areas i visited were a mix of that)

[GucciLittlePiggie]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

BC and Southpoint seem very "built up to suit yuppies" IMHO. Nothing screams yuppie like Pottery Barn, Cheesecake Factory, or Nordstrom.... all of which you find at Southpoint (BTW, I live by Southpoint.)

It's fine that you did not like Durham. And I agree that parts of Durham are run down. Scary is relative so I can see how it could be scary to some and pretty mild to others.

I know that you were considering Portland too. I don't know if you have visited or ruled it out, but if you did not like the area around Duke then you probably will not like Portland. You might like Beaverton, Hillsborough, or Vancouver. But the mall atmosphere or Brier Creek type development isn't as big in the Portland metro area... even in the burbs.

to clarify a bit further, i'm not saying i'm not a yuppie (tho i was just born when being a yuppie was popular). i thought the streets at southpoint was a neat place, and i like cheesecake factory. i just don't want the only nice things in an otherwise rundown place to be a mall and an overpriced fake-loft.

also, i visited portland for about a week in 2006 and absolutely loved it (economy and weather-wise, i think raleigh is a better fit for me, but i'd visit portland anytime!) but i didn't find it "scary" the way i found parts of durham. i thought i was going to get carjacked in durham. in portland i thought maybe the homeless hippie was going to keep talking to me as i tried to walk away.

i guess my overall point is that i want to be in/near/have access to somewhere with a bit of character or of interest, but i also want to live in a safe, pretty, happy place at the end of the day.

[West_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by GucciLittlePiggie

but i didn't find it "scary" the way i found parts of durham. i thought i was going to get carjacked in durham.

You probably will get carjacked in parts of Durham, but the key word is parts. It really is a very small area of Durham that is really nasty, while other parts that cover much more area are extremely nice. Once you are living here, you will have a chance to see more and know what we are talking about. What I find funny all the time is that locals will usually know less about the local area and go more by bad rumors about Durham, while transplants tend to drive around more to learn and end up knowing more about the area. Durham would definately not be my number one place to live, but I still could live very happily in many parts of it, if it was not for the high tax rate.

[MrsSteel]

GLP, I can understand why you may have felt unsafe in parts of Durham, but certainly you didn't feel that unsafe everywhere in Durham. I saw your photo set and noticed that a number of photos were taken in Durham & Durham county: Duke Gardens, Southpoint, RTP. Do you honestly mean to say that you felt unsafe in all of those areas?

Unfortunately, the sketchiest parts of Durham are the parts closest to Raleigh. That's one of the reasons why people coming from that direction are more likely to develop a negative view of Durham. But there's much much more to Durham than that ... just like there's much more to Raleigh than the sketchier neighborhoods in the southeastern parts of town. Once you move here, you find that it's easy to avoid the sketchier parts of the Triangle & you'll soon find that all of the towns here are quite lovely in their own, individual ways. At least, that's certainly the impression I've gotten after living here for 2 years.

[findingmesomeday]

Gucci, last year, I interviewed with a company right on Duke St, in downtown Durham. Before I went out for that interview, I had the same (mis)perceptions of Durham as so many others. It was an all day interview and we went out to Brightleaf Sq for lunch and then the director took me out for an iced tea in the PM (he had a beer--looked like a nice place to work! LOL)

Anyway, my point is that I was so pleasantly surprised. Maybe it's because I've always been partial to that gritty, revitalized thing that my favorite cities have going--SF, PDX, SEA, Boston, etc. But I didn't feel unsafe and I asked the women who worked there how they felt in the winter when they had to go out to their cars after dark, at the end of the day. No one felt unsafe.

I did drive around a bit after the interview--past the baseball stadium and also around the city streets and yes, there were some very run down parts . Maybe it's because I grew up in Philadelphia. You want to see really scary slums? Go visit North Philly! Even Boston has some pretty scary areas---scarier than Durham, IMO. And once, my husband and I somehow managed to get ourselves off the highway in the Bronx, headed toward's the GW Bridge. It was a Bonfire of the Vanities moment I'll never forget.

Many years ago, when I was a college student in Boston, the South End was a place one NEVER ventured into. Just outside of Roxbury, run down and crime-ridden, wrong side of the tracks, too close to the Combat Zone (also cleaned up now)--you name it.

And now, the SE is one of the most expensive places to live. Anyone who can't afford Beacon Hill or Back Bay heads there--and even SE prices are rivaling the other two.

I can think of many instances across the country of similar revitalization. As PDXmom states below, in 10 years (I think it's going to be way less than that), Durham will be the *in* place to go.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by GucciLittlePiggie

to clarify a bit further, i'm not saying i'm not a yuppie (tho i was just born when being a yuppie was popular). i thought the streets at southpoint was a neat place, and i like cheesecake factory. i just don't want the only nice things in an otherwise rundown place to be a mall and an overpriced fake-loft.

also, i visited portland for about a week in 2006 and absolutely loved it (economy and weather-wise, i think raleigh is a better fit for me, but i'd visit portland anytime!) but i didn't find it "scary" the way i found parts of durham. i thought i was going to get carjacked in durham. in portland i thought maybe the homeless hippie was going to keep talking to me as i tried to walk away.

My point about Portland is that areas like The Pearl (downtown loft area) is extremely yuppie-ish or hipsterish. Pick your classification word of over indulgent professionals with high income. The Pearl use to be very much like the area in Durham you are describing. Many surburban folks never ventured there because they thougth they were going to get carjacked or knifed. That was back when it was mostly still an industrial area and well wasn't called "The Pearl" yet. It's obviously gone through a metamorphsis and now attracts alot of suburban folks regularly.

Downtown Durham is going through a similar metamorphosis. They'll find a catchy marketing name like The Pearl and in 10 years we'll all be kicking ourselves for not investing there. But not everyone has the fortitude to live through the metamorphosis and thus we don't cash in on the end result. (Can you tell I couldn't talk hubby into buying in The Pearl 15 years ago? )

I'm sure you'll be happy in Brier Creek. Happy move.

[geoff2v]

Originally Posted by West_Raleigh_Guy

You probably will get carjacked in parts of Durham, but the key word is parts. It really is a very small area of Durham that is really nasty, while other parts that cover much more area are extremely nice. Once you are living here, you will have a chance to see more and know what we are talking about. What I find funny all the time is that locals will usually know less about the local area and go more by bad rumors about Durham, while transplants tend to drive around more to learn and end up knowing more about the area. Durham would definately not be my number one place to live, but I still could live very happily in many parts of it, if it was not for the high tax rate.

You "probably" will get carjacked in parts of Durham? As in, if you go to certain parts of Durham it's more likely that you'll get carjacked than that you won't? I think that's overstating it a bit.