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There are plenty of great places in Durham that are very safe yet not all 2000s-era "Stepford" neighborhoods, either (SW Durham is largely like that).
While the neighborhoods in SW Durham are mostly newer (90s and 2000s) you will find that the PEOPLE in SW Durham are NOT Stepford like.
I said the neighborhood (the "look") is Stepford-like, NOT the people. New, similar-looking (I didn't even say "cookie-cutter") street after street.
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As for the Liberal bend, good for you, search out your liberal friends. I have a lot, but you choose to move into the Bible Belt (as did I). That's like moving to Miami and complaining because its hot and sunny.
The Triangle area really is not "The Bible Belt", certainly not like Alabama, Mississippi, most of Georgia, Tennessee, or South Carolina.
I said the neighborhood (the "look") is Stepford-like, NOT the people. New, similar-looking (I didn't even say "cookie-cutter") street after street.
Now see, I think cookie-cutter is a more acceptable term than "Stepford-like". Cookie-cutter is usually used in reference to houses. "Stepford" denotes living in a perfect house, with a perfect wife, perfect children, etc. And we all know how they became perfect in the movie. IMHO, Stepford infers that people don't think for themselves but rather conform to what their usually "white, middle class, male neighbors" do. And while SW Durham is very much middle class, it's still a rainbow of choices in terms of cultures and people.... even if our houses are cookie cutter.
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Originally Posted by Francois
The Triangle area really is not "The Bible Belt", certainly not like Alabama, Mississippi, most of Georgia, Tennessee, or South Carolina.
I think of The Triangle as "Bible Belt lite" .... While Mississippi is more akin to "Whole" Bible Belt ... The Triangle ranges from "Skim (Chapel Hill / Carborro) to 2% (Wake Forest, Johnson County). But I did move from an area that is more Soy Milk like so it just depends on the pasture you are from.
Wow, some really, really great replies to this thread! What an amazing community THIS is!
I'm starting to feel more excited about the opportunity to get to know Durham and see if it's a better fit for me
Some posters have asked about where I work, and since the answer is "from home", it doesn't really affect my housing choice beyond the fact that I'll need to be able to have enough space to have a home office and that I'd better like my home since I'm there a lot
Regarding price range - I'll probably look to rent since my credit is presently less than stellar (unless I could do a lease-to-own as I'd prefer to buy). If I were to rent, my max would be $1500/mo and to buy it would be in the 250k range.
I presently live in a subdivision full of families, largely with kids. I'm single w/o kids so I really don't fit in to the community vibe that's going on here. While I don't *need* to live around other single folk (or those w/o children), it does make me wonder if there are certain areas that are more single-friendly?
To the poster who laughed at my reference to CH being expensive, please consider that I moved from SF because I could no longer afford to live there, NOT because I didn't like the area. Also, everything is relative and what I specifically meant is that CH is expensive relative to Durham, Wake Forest, Raleigh, and most other areas in the Triangle.
On my way home from an appointment today, right before I passed a house with a Confederate flag on the lawn, I passed a pick-up truck w/a gun rack, 2 guys dressed in camouflage, and the letters REDNECK written huge across the top of the windshield. Made me feel icky inside and wonder if I'll ever fit in here..
It is good to see that there are so many posters who consider themselves to be liberal-minded, laid back, etc. and have made lives for themselves here that they enjoy. You give me hope.
Interesting thread.The differance in what people like.For example, I have worked hard my whole life to inable me to avoid those "diverse" and "multi cultural" places for they are not what I want to be around,yet there is a whole world out there that seeks that.That is diverse in itself.profound really.
On my way home from an appointment today, right before I passed a house with a Confederate flag on the lawn, I passed a pick-up truck w/a gun rack, 2 guys dressed in camouflage, and the letters REDNECK written huge across the top of the windshield. Made me feel icky inside and wonder if I'll ever fit in here..
Love that - I lived in Western NC (by way of New York) -and I can relate to that - the first morning we were looking at houses the realtor drove us past some not-so-nice trailers to a really nice development of 300K + homes, but all I remember in my mind's-eye was the sight of a skinny, pot-bellied young man swilling a Bud at 8AM on a Thursday morning with a big Confederate flag on the side of his trailer and another in the rear window of his pickup - thanks, your post reminded me of that and I had quite a giggle. No, I ultimately didn't buy in that community, nor am I a narrow-minded NY'er at heart, but there are some things I just can't embrace. Although i DID have a mullet in 1986.
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But I did move from an area that is more Soy Milk like so it just depends on the pasture you are from. 
