Raleigh vs. Durham vs. Chapel Hill vs. Cary - which one? (how much, house)

[Minier]

If you have to choose in which of these to live, which one would you choose and why? Use whatever standards suit you to choose - just explain.

And can you point out, if you know or have an opinion, which one "wins" on each of these fronts:

Better schools?
Better bike paths?
More house for the $$?
More family-friendly?
Less college kids to trip over?
More walkable?
Least "sprawly"?
Most "fun" (define that as you wish)
Most visibly diverse (yes, and that means white people too - lots of everybody)

...Or are these places so close to each that they are ultimately indistinguishable?

[Charlton Dude]

Originally Posted by Minier

If you have to choose in which of these to live, which one would you choose and why? Use whatever standards suit you to choose - just explain.

And can you point out, if you know or have an opinion, which one "wins" on each of these fronts:

Better schools? Chapel Hill & Cary
Better bike paths? Cary
More house for the $$? Durham
More family-friendly? Cary, Chapel Hill, Raleigh
Less college kids to trip over? Cary
More walkable? Cary
Least "sprawly"? Durham
Most "fun" (define that as you wish) Cary for outdoorsy people, Raleigh for city people
Most visibly diverse (yes, and that means white people too - lots of everybody) I could not care less, as it makes absolutely no difference to someone who is color blind when it comes to people

...Or are these places so close to each that they are ultimately indistinguishable?

See comments in red.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

You can find what yu are looking for in each of the places you listed.

I would pick the town / city that was closest to where I worked so I would spend more time enjoying where I lived and not more time in the car.

[Tootie the Brave]

I'm apt to agree with NorthRaleighGuy, but why don't you tell us a little more about your family? How old are your children? What do you like to do for fun? How much $$ do you have budgeted for a home, and how much sq. footage do you need? Do you use bike paths for fun, or do you want to use them to commute? And most important, if you had to choose 2 of these questions, what are your priorities? I don't think you'll find everything you listed in one area, but you can find many in one place.

[thedudewiththeplan]

I would go with Chapel Hill do to my liberal leanings.

[fester600]

Originally Posted by North_Raleigh_Guy

You can find what yu are looking for in each of the places you listed.

I would pick the town / city that was closest to where I worked so I would spend more time enjoying where I lived and not more time in the car.

Well put NRG!

[CHTransplant]

There are differences among the various communities, but those differences don't necessarily make any one better than the others - just different, and perhaps more suitable for some individuals. They key is to identify your interests, priorities and values, and find the community that best meets them. And keep in mind that there are differences within communities as well. For example, I live in Chapel Hill - a college town - but the area I live in is not teaming with college kids to trip over.

[Minier]

I would pick the town / city that was closest to where I worked so I would spend more time enjoying where I lived and not more time in the car.

We work from home *grin*

How old are your children? What do you like to do for fun? How much $$ do you have budgeted for a home, and how much sq. footage do you need? Do you use bike paths for fun, or do you want to use them to commute?

Children are 3 and 4.5 years old (so school and preschool concerns are high on the list). We have abotu $400k and under budgeted for a home that is ideally 3bdrooms + plus home offices (or 5 bedrooms) - that's the one downside to working from home ... you need the home space to do it. Square footage doesn't matter as long as the rooms are built efficiently. We use bike paths mostly for fun, though it would be nice to use them to communte to simple locations like a library, ice cream shop, etc (but that's not essential).

And most important, if you had to choose 2 of these questions, what are your priorities?

Priorities (in order) are schools, community feeling (which to us means kids outside and neighbors hanging out together whether on front porch or at a community event), affordability (meaning a low property taxes relative to NYS and a house under $400K), NONJUDGMENTAL people (which we have discovered is best found when you get people from all walks of life hanging out/living in one place ... when you get too much of one kind, then you get one-sided mentalities - that's where my "diversity" comment comes from).

I would go with Chapel Hill do to my liberal leanings.

What is the leaning in the other areas mentioned?

There are differences among the various communities, but those differences don't necessarily make any one better than the others

It is those differences that I'm trying to understand ... would love to hear what you think the differences are.

[KCouture]

Better schools? Cary
Better bike paths? Chapel Hill or Cary
More house for the $$? Cary or Raleigh
More family-friendly? Raleigh or Cary
Less college kids to trip over? Cary
More walkable? Cary or Chapel Hill
Least "sprawly"? Cary
Most "fun" (define that as you wish) Raleigh (especially North Raleigh)
Most visibly diverse (yes, and that means white people too - lots of everybody) I'd say all of those fall in that category.

[uncletupelo]

raleigh has far more miles of greenways than does cary. dude gets his so called facts wrong much of the time.