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When we moved to Chapel Hill in 1993 housing prices were not bad. Then Money Magazine named Chapel Hill-Durham #1 on its Best Places to Live list and prices quickly zoomed up after this. This occurred because a) a lot of retirees from the North moved to Chapel Hill attracted by the culture and great healthcare in Chapel Hill (UNC) and Durham (Duke), bringing their huge home assets with them; 2) the tech boom of the 90s brought a lot of asset-rich folks from the west coast to the area. While the academic reputation of CH schools and academic types living in CH are true, these things have always been the case so I don't think they are the main reasons for the dramatic increase in home prices.
Value is a relative term. A Chapel Hill home is like a German car or Swiss watch, they are more expensive to buy but they retain their value.
Great post Sant,
I figured with people moving in and asking about $700k homes, something like that was afoot.
I see your point about the car/watch comparison. Though personally, I prefer Toyotas. But it does sound like a very nice area, and worth researching.
I disagree that Chapel Hill can be considered diverse.
True - Hard to imagine any place as expensive as Chapel Hill that could claim too much racial/economic diversity.
The one type of diversity I do find in Chapel Hill is national - my neighborhood is full of people from all over the world: China, Japan, India, Thailand, Mexico, South Africa, Ireland . . .
I'd look in Chatham County just a few miles south of Chapel Hill. Highland Forest is a wonderful neighborhood with acre + lots 5 miles from UNC and there is a park and ride close by. Briar Chapel is a huge new eco friendly in Chatham with a Chapel Hill address. There is also Fearrington Village 8 miles south of Chapel Hill.
I figured with people moving in and asking about $700k homes, something like that was afoot.
I see your point about the car/watch comparison. Though personally, I prefer Toyotas. But it does sound like a very nice area, and worth researching.
We lived in Durham for 8 years before moving back to Chapel Hill in 2006 and we were perfectly happy there as well. Durham and Hillsborough offers as good-- and in different ways, better-- quality-of-life than Chapel Hill does. The main reason people choose to live in Chapel Hill is because it has the best performing public schools. This is likely due to self-selection bias than any intrinsic higher quality, but that in itself shouldn't be discounted-- many kids perform better when they are in an environment with lot of other kids motivated to do well.
Wherever you choose to move to, welcome to the Triangle! I'm sure you'll love it here.
New York, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Las Angeles, Honolulu. All expensive cities to live.... all have greater racial diversity than Chapel Hill. Given some of them do not have economic diversity.
Those are very large/broad areas. I think if you look at the high price areas within them, you'll find less racial diversity than overall. The segregating effects of wealth are not limited to Chapel Hill.
Those are very large/broad areas. I think if you look at the high price areas within them, you'll find less racial diversity than overall. The segregating effects of wealth are not limited to Chapel Hill.
I did not mean to imply that segregating effects of wealth are limited to Chapel Hill. BUT I do think there are expensive cities to live in that are more racially diverse than 76% of it's population is white.
IMO, Chapel Hill is not diverse. Yes, it's has grad students and professors from all over the world, (which is one of the main reason's CH is not 95% white). But no matter how you cut it, 76% white is not diverse.
I did not mean to imply that segregating effects of wealth are limited to Chapel Hill. BUT I do think there are expensive cities to live in that are more racially diverse than 76% of it's population is white.
I don't disagree with you that Chapel Hill isn't terribly diverse, but I do wonder what you're trying to imply in suggesting that other expensive areas are better at achieving diversity than Chapel Hill is, and also stating that University-connected residents somehow shouldn't be counted in measuring Chapel Hill's diversity. It almost seems as if you are suggesting there is something more malicious going on in Chapel Hill that is leading to the limited diversity.
Consider Woodcroft, a large subdivision in SW Durham easily commutable to UNC. Also, consider N. Chatham county along 15-501. Both are more affordable from a cost and tax perspective than Chapel Hill. I live in Chapel Hill because we found a house we liked and because of the schools and because I like to get to basketball games in 5 minutes. We spent at least 6 mths looking in Chapel Hill before deciding on a house. Take your time.
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