Where do/did the Californians call home? (Raleigh, Cary: homes, to buy)

[LilWorld]

Originally Posted by Grateful Grace

I moved from Mountain View (SF Bay area) to Carrboro mostly because I was moving without visiting here first and wanted a place that I thought was safe for a single woman. I didn't know about this forum then and searched University web sites for recommended apartments. I found an apt. complex here that let me do all the transactions on line.

Now that I'm here I have to agree with the previous poster that politically it's very similar to Northern California. Schools in Carrboro/Chapel Hill are like Palo Alto. People pay top dollar for houses so they can send their kids to school here. It makes it expensive for a single person to buy a home, so I'm now looking elsewhere.

There are nice bike trails here and some good restaurants. I'm used to having a lot more choice with ethnic restaurants and I miss that a lot. My friends have raved about great ethnic restaurants here but in my experience most don't compare well to South Bay restaurants. It's not really a fair comparison though because of the sheer number of people in the Bay Area. I've heard other areas have better ethnic restaurants.

I still have a Jamba Juice card with about $15 left so I'd appreciate it if you could get them here too. Trader Joe's just moved in and there's a Whole Foods here. I like Weaver Street Market a bit better for the atmosphere. I like Carrboro a lot and will be sad to move, but with the help of forum members I'm sure I'll find something terrific in other areas.

For me, Carrboro has more of a community feel than the SF South Bay. I like the sense of pride people have here about their communities.

I have a good friend who lives in Hillsborough, so I've been there a lot. It's a nice small town with a good feel to it. There are apparently a lot of artists and writers who live there. One of the down sides for me is that Hillsborough has a Walmart and there's not much else for shopping (no offense to the smaller shops). The restaurants there are pretty limited and you get tired of them after a while. Durham seems to have more to offer in that respect.

You have a good opportunity to choose what you want here. Good luck!

Grateful Grace, excellant post and very informative. This was the exact kind of reply I have been hoping for . Now that our move is right around the corner, I've got cold feet - you know all those last minute questions and thoughts that sneak up on you (?). Definitely reassuring to know that some aspects are similar - so I won't totally feel like a fish out of water

Also great to know that its much better in other aspects- I especially hear that people are real friendly, which doesn't happen much here, especially in the south bay area. (I am in Santa Clara).

[al_roethlisberger]

We moved from downtown San Jose(my house) and Fremont/Redwood City(her home) to Cary in late Summer 2005, where we rented for a year, then moved to Sanford.... where we happily reside today

Al

[conjc]

We moved in 05 from LA via san Diego and live in Cary. We love it and we choose mainly for the schools which luckily the kids have been sent to the closer ones. Cary has a real neighborhood feel which was important for the kids to be close to other kids. (If not for the kids we might have wanted more land) I'm still struggling with the humidity. I still consider myself a californian, my husband doesn;'t

[Nomad99]

I lived in Sandy Eggo, SF, Mtn View, Sacto & N. Clonifornia (Chico) for about 14 years in total. Also lived in Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Dallas, NYC, S. Florida and Cincinnati/Oxford. We now live in North Sprawleigh (nearly 5 years now). My advice: Stay put in CA if you have a good job and reasonably priced mortgage/lease... the bad times from now forward will be roughly equivalent here vs. there imho... and your carbon footprint will most likely be much higher (i.e., more expensive) here ;-O...

[LilWorld]

Originally Posted by Nomad99

My advice: Stay put in CA if you have a good job and reasonably priced mortgage/lease... the bad times from now forward will be roughly equivalent here vs. there imho... and your carbon footprint will most likely be much higher (i.e., more expensive) here ;-O...

My husband's job is a good one and his job is relocating us there. It is a lateral move for him - a pay cut, but not too bad. My job is a good one by regular standards, big company et al, however I am unhappy with the current position - so no loss there with our move. I am hoping to find a lateral position in NC (I am in the IT industry - database marketing manager)

Why do you think moving forward it will be more expensive there? Curious as to why you drew this conclusion.

[DanielChang]

Originally Posted by Nomad99

and your carbon footprint will most likely be much higher (i.e., more expensive) here ;-O...

Why is one's carbon footprint higher/larger here?

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by DanielChang

Why is one's carbon footprint higher/larger here?

Well it could be because SF is the 2nd most dense city in the country and you can walk just about anywhere. And for places you can't walk there is amazing mass transportation. There are very few places like here. And as for mass transportation, there is no comparison.

Then there are weather related. In SF you don't really have to run ac in the summer (huge reduction in your carbon foot print). And the winters are not super cold like the NE, so thus for the year in SF you have a smaller carbon foot print for heating and cooling.

Edit: I really do like the Triangle, but I know that living here I have a much larger carbon foot print than I did in Portland. For Christmas I'm just asking for Carbon Emission Credits.

[DanielChang]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

Well it could be because SF is the 2nd most dense city in the country and you can walk just about anywhere. And for places you can't walk there is amazing mass transportation. There are very few places like here. And as for mass transportation, there is no comparison.

Then there are weather related. In SF you don't really have to run ac in the summer (huge reduction in your carbon foot print). And the winters are not super cold like the NE, so thus for the year in SF you have a smaller carbon foot print for heating and cooling.

I have a hard time buying that argument; I'd be interesting in seeing data on average carbon footprint, or data on how many people actually live and work in SF versus those who commute in-and-out and average commute distances.

I grew up in the south bay then went to school in the east bay before getting a job in the city (downtown, market/embarcadero) then heading down the peninsula. No matter where I lived/worked, it seemed that everyone drove everywhere, some, driving a couple hours each way, to commute into work. Mass transportation was only decent if you lived AND worked in SF (and even then ....) or happened to live and work close enough to take advantage of BART, Light Rail, Caltrain. For the vast majority, it's all about the cars. The shear number of cars sitting in non-carpool lanes during commute hours testifies to that. Before I got my drivers license, I'd attempt to take the bus, but it'd take couple hours to get across town. I took the BART/bus home from college once, and what would take less than an hour by car (Berkeley -> Cupertino) took over 5 hours.

And while the winters are not supercold like the NE, it does get cold. Last winter when I visited family in the bay area, it was FREEZING! (My folks don't believe in heat or AC). I was in the bay area last week when the temperature was over 100!

I will say that in general, folks here may not be as eco-friendly. I found out when I tried use a clothesline. Some seem to think that they are more sophisticated if nobody sees their underwear drying on a clothesline, earth-be-damned! Few people care about recycling. Some "good Christian folk" have told me that recycling is a dangerous cult-worship of the earth goddess and that polluting/destroying the earth will usher in the Parousia (Second Coming).

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by DanielChang

I have a hard time buying that argument; I'd be interesting in seeing data on average carbon footprint, or data on how many people actually live and work in SF versus those who commute in-and-out and average commute distances.

And while the winters are not supercold like the NE, it does get cold. Last winter when I visited family in the bay area, it was FREEZING! (My folks don't believe in heat or AC). I was in the bay area last week when the temperature was over 100!

I bet if you dig around the internet you can find those carbon foot print numbers you are looking for. Or better yet you could get Greenovate to come do a show on your footprint and and your folk's footprint and see who wins. Given they don't believe in heat or AC I'd put my money on your parents.

One of the great thing about SF and the PNW is when it's gets to 100 it's usually back down to 70 something within a few days. Where as here 97 to 100 can last for days and days leading into weeks like last August. Ugh!

[muse1110]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

Well it could be because SF is the 2nd most dense city in the country and you can walk just about anywhere. And for places you can't walk there is amazing mass transportation. There are very few places like here. And as for mass transportation, there is no comparison.

Then there are weather related. In SF you don't really have to run ac in the summer (huge reduction in your carbon foot print). And the winters are not super cold like the NE, so thus for the year in SF you have a smaller carbon foot print for heating and cooling.

Nomad99's advice was 'stay put in CA', but your post narrows it down to San Francisco. Why?