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Miamiblue, have you thought about joining some groups on meetup.com? There are restaurant clubs, movie clubs, pretty much whatever you can think of. I also felt kind of lonely, but have met lots of nice people through the site. Also, if you're interested in volunteering, that can be a good route to making friends.
I have been to a couple of meetup events, but I really do have more things to keep me busy than I can sometimes keep up with. A friend of mine belongs to several meetup groups, and I have met some of her friends from those groups who actually know people I know from other channels. It really is a small world!
I luckily have a hobby that has groups of people gathering socially all over the world, so wherever I go I know that I will be able to find others with something in common.
What hobby is this?
However, the OP asked for opinions and everyone gets to voice theirs. The OP asked about where to live: generally-speaking a larger city has more things to do, more people, and more venues to explore. That's just a statistical fact. That's not to say one can't find lots to do in a smaller city or town or that one can't have a fulfilling life, sure they can. One also has to take into consideration their field of work. If you need to/want to change jobs can you find employment in your field easier in one city vs another?
Having lived in the DC area for 20+ years before moving to Raleigh, I'd suggest that the OP check out Charlotte thoroughly first. Nothing against Raleigh, I just can't think of an area around here that would compare to Arlington, VA in terms of things to do, proximity to nightlife, etc.
I came from a large northeast city and I would definitely recommend Charlotte over Raleigh. Perhaps work/income should be a first priority, but if you have that covered then you certainly have right to be choosy. Definitely spend a great deal of time in both places but I think Charlotte is a much younger feeling city.
I live in both the Glenwood South area of Raleigh and the "much larger metro" that miamiblue came from. I love both and am never unhappy in either. I am a single male and have lots of friends in both places and never lack for something to do in either.
That all said, Raleigh is a much easier place to live. To miamiblue's point, people are much more relaxed and friendly.
While others have chimed in about how Charlotte is going to feel more like the O.P.'s current home, I'd like to say that there is a way that Raleigh will be more like the D.C. area: intelligence. The Triangle is much more educated than any other place in the South. In fact, it's one of the most educated areas in the nation. As for the "younger" comment, that one doesn't register with me at all. But, I guess that's subjective.
Another consideration is that Raleigh is statistically the safest "large" city in NC while Charlotte is arguably the least safe.
Thanks for the answers. One of my concerns is meeting people so I am grateful for the honesty. I moved to DC for a job and didn't know anyone and, while DC has it's positives, I'm kind of at the point of my life where I want the cost of living to give something in return ($1950 where I live is still only 700 sq feet) and I'm looking for people more down to earth.
My biggest concern, and what I ran into when I used to live in Greensboro was lack of educated singles. Especially females. That is one of the reasons I made the move up here (pretentiousness definitely exists here!) That's also one of the bad things I have heard about Charlotte which is why I focused so much on Raleigh.
Miamiblue, have you thought about joining some groups on meetup.com? There are restaurant clubs, movie clubs, pretty much whatever you can think of. I also felt kind of lonely, but have met lots of nice people through the site. Also, if you're interested in volunteering, that can be a good route to making friends.
I totally agree. I am also new to the area and find meetup.com very helpful. It is a nice way to meet people. To me, the smaller groups are best and less anonymous. The book clubs are great.
Thanks for the answers. One of my concerns is meeting people so I am grateful for the honesty. I moved to DC for a job and didn't know anyone and, while DC has it's positives, I'm kind of at the point of my life where I want the cost of living to give something in return ($1950 where I live is still only 700 sq feet) and I'm looking for people more down to earth.
My biggest concern, and what I ran into when I used to live in Greensboro was lack of educated singles. Especially females. That is one of the reasons I made the move up here (pretentiousness definitely exists here!) That's also one of the bad things I have heard about Charlotte which is why I focused so much on Raleigh.
I assure you, for $1950 you will get a really nice, luxury place here. And for less than that you can get a pretty darn good place.
Being an early 30s female, I would say there seems to be a good number of educated singles here. I have several single friends who are all very well educated and interesting people. Some of my friends belong to this social sports club called Tri Sports, and they have met a lot of people through that group. I would definitely say there is not a lot of pretentiousness here, which was a huge breath of fresh air for me when I moved here. Now, that doesn't mean there aren't a bunch of annoying, non-intellectual singles or that we don't' have any pretentious folks, because they are always around somewhere. I just don't see them as often.
Also, since Raleigh is a smaller city, it seems that there is less of that anonymous feel than a big city. That is a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it and what you are looking for. Don't get me wrong though, you can be anonymous if you so choose, but it is still a place that you will start seeing familiar faces after you've been here for a while.
Most people seem to be open to meeting someone new. A year ago we met a couple while waiting at a bus stop. We ended up being friends, and then having friends in common without realizing it at first. The way I look at it, there are lots of potential friends out there, you just might not know them yet.
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