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Recently offered a promotion that involves relocating to Raleigh area. My only experience with N.C. is the Wilmington area. My concern, having never spent time there is, I am very liberal, secular, and gay and have always lived in the Baltimore/D.C., area. Although my partner and I prefer a rural setting, I don't know that we would blend in a very "christian" oriented community. Not to offend anyone but I guess my question is, "Is the Raleigh area fairly diverse with socially liberal communities or is it very much a conservative Christian based area? thanks
I live in North Raleigh and I have never gotten the sense that Raleigh is a conservative Christian based area. Most of the people here are transplants from all over the country with high concentrations of people from NY/NJ, DC, and California. I find this area to be very diverse and open minded. I think you would fit in just fine here. Best of luck with your move!
Nurider, courtesy is a big part of southern culture so you're not going to find many people in your face about your chosen lifestyle. People will respect your choice to live as you wish as long as you respect their choice to live as they wish and don't push your views on them by parading your lifestyle in public.
I've lived all over the country and that's pretty much the way it is everywhere.
But yes, to be honest in answering your question, the area is predominantly Christian with most people favoring marriage between one man and one woman. Southern values run deep and aren't likely to change. And most don't feel there is anything wrong with that.
That's about as honest an answer as I can give you.
I will be honest too. A while back a gay couple looked at the home across the street from us and it sure set the neighbors whispering. I don't know if that would have happend in CA where we moved from. I find most people much more liberal than I expected them to be. None the less in family oriented neighborhoods I think you could feel a chill.
My partner and I are also considering a move. Having researched the "social climate" a bit, the general consensus is that Chapel Hill and Carrboro are the two most "progressive" communities near RTP.
Recently offered a promotion that involves relocating to Raleigh area. My only experience with N.C. is the Wilmington area. My concern, having never spent time there is, I am very liberal, secular, and gay and have always lived in the Baltimore/D.C., area. Although my partner and I prefer a rural setting, I don't know that we would blend in a very "christian" oriented community. Not to offend anyone but I guess my question is, "Is the Raleigh area fairly diverse with socially liberal communities or is it very much a conservative Christian based area? thanks
One of the nice things about the Triangle is that there is a range of different towns and cities to choose from. As a previous poster mentioned, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and I would add Durham, are very gay-friendly and diverse towns. (Durham actually hosts what I have read is the southeast's largest LGBT event each year.) I would think that in downtown/"inside the beltline" Raleigh you'd also find a very welcoming environment. All of these have different feels, from mini-urban center to college town to funky small town, and you should probably look at multiples of them. My neighborhood in Durham has numerous openly gay couples and they are fully accepted as part of the community, no whispering or anything like that.
Other parts of the Triangle are more traditionally "suburban" or even exurban, with the subdivision developments and so forth. Think Loudon County, Va., for example. These areas tend to be more politically conservative and, though I don't have first-hand experience with how you might expect to be treated there, I think some of the other posters on this thread come from those towns and neighborhoods and probably are on target.
Geographically, the Triangle tends to split liberal-to-conservative on a west-to-east axis, with the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA being very liberal (check the voting history!), Raleigh-Cary MSA at core being moderate with progressive and conservative "pockets," and eastern/southern/northern suburbs of Raleigh being more traditionally conservative.
This may be hard to believe, but there are actually people who live in evil "suburbia" who are accepting of people who are different then them.
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