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So I started a thread a bit back asking questions about Chapel Hill (Any San Francisco Bay Area transplants in Chapel Hill, Cary, and R/D Area?) and I just came back from there. I flew in last Wednesday and came back last night. I spent 3 full days with various real estate folks who were great. They drove me around and gave me a tour of Chapel Hill, Cary and Carrboro. The rest of the time I just drive around trying to get a pulse for the area.
I have to tell you, I like the area - specifically Chapel Hill/Carrboro. It will certainly take some getting used to but homes are beautiful, inexpensive (compared to San Francisco Bay Area), people seem nice and I already miss the warm days and the constant bug noise coming from all the trees.
Also, I'm sure you know about this place but I got very excited when I found it. Allen and Sons BBQ in Chapel Hill. That is some seriously yummy BBQ! I had it for dinner 2 nights in a row.
In any case, thanks for answering my questions in the other thread and now it will be decision time for my wife and me.
There is still one question that I have. How long (approximately) did it take you to get used to the area, know where things are, meet some people etc. I guess at what point after the move did you realize that THIS IS your home now and you're content with the idea?
How long (approximately) did it take you to get used to the area, know where things are, meet some people etc. I guess at what point after the move did you realize that THIS IS your home now and you're content with the idea?
I think that this question varies from person to person. I've been 1.5 years and am somewhat content with the idea that this maybe home but I'm not quite there yet b/c of the job situation.
Welcome! I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I just moved to Raleigh two days ago (by way of Portland, Oregon). I love it here, and it's definitely greener than California. The people seem genuinely nice and less pretentious. I think you'll like it.
I don't know much about the Carrboro area, but I can tell you that it took us a year or so to feel like we wouldn't get lost if we took a new street. But thats because Cary/Raleigh aren't the easiest places to get around...or is the rest of the state. Coming from CA, I was used to grids....none of that here. Everything goes in circles!
I would recommend a GPS.
As for feeling comfortable, we met the neighbors right away and are pretty social with them. So that adds to our comfort in the area and choice of neighborhoods. I would like to meet more people, but we have been a little limited in that there aren't too many people to socialize with at my work and my husband works from home. We need to work on that. Otherwise, we feel very comfortable here, and our kids love it and have a better social life than us!
We moved from Northern California 5 weeks ago and are renting a house in North Raleigh until we decide where we really want to purchase a home of our own.
We LOVE it. We live in an ideal location where we are close to almost everything. Hardly any traffic, compared to California. People are a lot friendlier and just a much nicer quality of life, in my opinion.
As far as gangs go.....we come from a town about 30 miles east of SF, population of about 55,000 and there were gangs there. But I went to work every day, took care of my kids and my home on the weekends and the gangs never got into my personal day to day routines. Gangs are everywhere and you have to use common sense about your surroundings.
We have absolutely no regrets about moving here. Love it love it love it!
We will be here two years end of August and it took us a good 6-8 months to not feel panicked every time we tried to find someplace new As far as meeting people we were fortunate to move into a superb neighborhood in the social dept and met our neighbors immediately. That branched out steadily and at the 2 year mark we have a nice friendship base. I can honestly say I don't miss southern CA (we just returned a week ago) where we lived for 14 years but I do still miss Marin country where we are from. Overall though CA is no great loss for us. BUT family and friends are hard to "get over" and depending on the week we can really go through a funk in regards to wishing they were here. Notice I said wishing they were HERE As much as we love and miss them I don't know that I would ever want to live in SoCal again.
we're transplants from San Diego. we've been here since early May. we've gotten comfortable enough to get to where i need to for shopping and whatnot, but we're still married to our GPSs. however, we definitely love the area (Durham/Chapel Hill) and feel perfectly comfortable here. we feel like we haven't had to make any sacrifices other than not being able to find some decent Mexican food. there's tons to see and do, plenty of culture, and lots of history. it's perfect.
we're transplants from San Diego. we've been here since early May. we've gotten comfortable enough to get to where i need to for shopping and whatnot, but we're still married to our GPSs. however, we definitely love the area (Durham/Chapel Hill) and feel perfectly comfortable here. we feel like we haven't had to make any sacrifices other than not being able to find some decent Mexican food. there's tons to see and do, plenty of culture, and lots of history. it's perfect.
We moved to Cary from S.Ca, sf valley then san diego area 3 years ago. I still need my gps out of cary. I like it here my husband loves it. Our boys have adapted very well they are now 13 and 16. I also think people here are friendlier. Alot less people and traffic is really nice. Still not use to the humidity though.
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As far as meeting people we were fortunate to move into a superb neighborhood in the social dept and met our neighbors immediately. That branched out steadily and at the 2 year mark we have a nice friendship base. I can honestly say I don't miss southern CA (we just returned a week ago) where we lived for 14 years but I do still miss Marin country where we are from. Overall though CA is no great loss for us. BUT family and friends are hard to "get over" and depending on the week we can really go through a funk in regards to wishing they were here. Notice I said wishing they were HERE 
As much as we love and miss them I don't know that I would ever want to live in SoCal again.
