Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Fairly new to to the City-Data Forum: My wife and I and are seriously considering moving to the Triangle either Cary or Apex areas. We currently live in Houston TX (Clear Lake Area), Ugghhh.. and have done a lot of research on both areas --Apex & Cary and think that either place could be a excellent choice to raise our son and enjoy the Triangle for all of its great offerings.
Although the opportunity to relocate to the Triangle is an exciting one for us, we have several concerns regarding the area in general- Will it be a great place to raise our son? A brief background: I am an Tech Analyst in the financial industry and our company is expanding our Analyst head the second half of this year and will add several new Management teams in North Carolina-Triangle Area and South Florida- WPB, Broward, Dade-one in each market, my wife works as a retail manager and her company has locations throughout N.C & FL, so it will be a fairly easy transition regarding employment for us. Prior to living in Houston for the past 18 months, I grew up in the S.F. Bay area and moved to SoCal to attend college- San Diego 10 years L.A. Pasadena 2 and O.C.-Irvne/Laguna Niguel for 8. My wife grew up in Dallas, Lived in the DC/NoVA area for 9 years & went to college at UCLA-lived in SoCal for 11 years before coming to Houston.
We're in an interracial marriage, my wife is Asian American age 36-Family from Korea and I am White -Dutch/Irish and 41. My son is mixed race age 3 and everyone thinks he looks a lot more like his Mom than me-No blond hair and green eyes. His Education, safety and overall quality of life-happiness are very important to us and we were wondering if there is any racism in either Cary or Apex toward interracial marriages, east Asians or mixed race children in general. Is one area better over the other, and a better place overall for interracial couples to raise children, and be around other families in similar situations. We love the outdoors, bike-riding, tennis, and swimming. We are Catholic, but attend church only once a month....
I had the opportunity to check out the two areas in April for 3 days and loved the feeling of Both-Apex small town feel, good vibe in the little downtown area- I grew up in Burlingame Ca-14 miles south of San Francisco and both have a lot in common-Nice parks, Friendly people, Good schools, safe, well educated & close to the Triangle- Cary, so well planned from the inside out, green-well maintained, fantastic amenities with beautiful parks/sports-plex--we love tennis, seemed pretty diverse and well educated, good schools, safe, lot's of transplants and a lot to offer for families. Seemed somewhat of a younger demographic than Apex-but just a observation-Kinda like Irvine, Sugar Land feel- minus the large Asian populations in those areas very family friendly..
I will be returning to the Triangle June 2-5, and hopefully will make our final decision shortly after that. Oh yeah-We love to go out to dinner 4-5 times a week, so great restaurants are a must & close by-Kimchi, Good Sushi, & Good Old American Grub..steaks, chicken and BBQ.
I have the choice of transferring to the So FL area, Boca Raton/FTL areas --close to the beach, great dining, beaches, lot's of fun stuff to do-OK schools, very diverse - but small Asian population and culture. The two areas Triangle & South Florida very different from each other-Coming to Houston from SoCal Jan 2009 was a big culture shock and transition for me... Texas conservatives, crazy humidity 7months, SPRAWL..TRAFFIC, roads, potholes everywhere - and yes feeder roads I thought they were called surface streets..truly not the place we would like to live for the long haul....
We would love to hear comments and suggestions from individuals who live in both Cary and Apex, recent transplants from both coasts and families who have been in a similar situation....and yes I have read some of the posts regarding Wake County Schools, but would love to get some additional insight-
This area is EXTREMELY diverse, with a large Asian population among others. There are MANY interracial families here and I don't think that should be a problem for you in either Cary or Apex.
The humidity? THAT is a different story!
The dining options in Cary/Apex are available, but you won't find a plethora of FABULOUS restaurants in the immediate vicinity YET. They are working on it, and Apex is really kicking it up with some new offereings near Haddon Hall. It is pretty sleepy around here after sunset, but there's always a quick drive to Chapel Hill, Durham and/or Raleigh.
Good luck!
Last edited by brooks2007; 05-10-2010 at 05:49 AM..
Reason: sp!
From what I understand, South Florida you will hate, too much similarity to where you are now.
Come here! It's awesome! I teach in Wake County and you will be very happy to see a LOT of Asian kids and families. Very easy decision IMO, don't go to Fla, you will not be happy, talk about a culture shock. And the schools are yucky. I have a friend also who is from San Fran and she loves it here.
From the things you mentioned that you dislike about your current area, I would rule out the area of S FL that you are looking at. I am from Miami and can tell you that there is sauna-like humidity for a good 7-8 months (no cooling at night), and in the past 15 or so years there has been pretty much no "winter" for more than a couple of days at a time. Some people might think that's great, but if you don't like feeling like you live in a sweaty armpit most of the year, S FL is not the place for you.
Also, as "diverse" as it seems there, there is a lot of self segregation by nationality, race and culture. Traffic is bad - not LA bad, but still misery if you have to travel more than a few short miles to work using back roads. I was used to living on "Miami time" - everyone was always late because it could take 30 minutes to drive 5 miles. The schools can be pretty rough and overcrowded. IMHO it really is not a great place to raise a family, as there is too much emphasis on glitz, glamour, and materialism. People are generally not as friendly, either. For some reason people seem to be constantly on the defense.
IMHO, the Triangle area offers a really great environment for raising a family, is surprisingly culturally diverse with far more of an Asian population than I ever saw in S FL, and has a much more educated population than S FL, which has actually suffered brain drain for years. I've actually seen and met more interracial families and couples here in the Triangle than I ever saw in FL.
For me, living in the Triangle has lowered my stress level. People are so much nicer and willing to be friendly by default. Contrary to what some people say, this area has light traffic, and it generally is confined to "rush hour" in known spots. It's very easy to avoid based on where you choose to live related to work or if you can choose your work schedule outside of the typical commuting times.
The weather here is well balanced. To me, the seasons are well spaced so that just when you start thinking you're ready for a change it actually does start to change. The worst humid summer days here are about like how it is in FL, but they only last a few days at a time and certainly not for more than a few months. More often we have far less humid+hot days than in FL. Spring and fall are absolutely gorgeous, and winter is definitely manageable, even for a Floridian! What I like best about the weather is that each season is what it's supposed to be.
Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill each have some really great restaurants. Apex and Cary are smaller, so their offerings are less (yet growing), but it is easy to get around the area for some really great food!
My Chinese partner and I moved here from Mountain View about a year ago. It definitely is more humid here in summer. If you can get used to being a lot farther from the beach and mountains then it can be a nice place to live. I find that this area feels more like the East Bay than the Peninsula. We always drive in the Bay area but I will drive a lot farther here to do shopping or go to Costco, have dinner, etc. There is no equivalent to San Francisco.
Some people have panned the dining options, but there are some very good choices in Raleigh and/or Durham that serve continental/nouveau cuisine. Some of the restaurants in Durham have received national attention. My partner and I agree that there is NO good Chinese food in the Triangle, but we've found decent Thai food. We're not happy with the Vietnamese food we've tried. There are some decent Japanese/sushi restaurants in the Triangle. Neo China in Cary does offer a passable dim sum, but it's not up to San Francisco standards.
In terms of diversity it's somewhat diverse, but not like the Bay Area or Silicon Valley. Sometimes I wish I had moved to Cary instead of NW Raleigh/Brier Creek. I speak Chinese and am trying to improve it. I find that all the Chinese language groups and activities center around Cary or Chapel Hill. It's not a big deal because I can always drive to Cary, but sometimes it's a hassle.
There are performing arts centers in Durham and Raleigh, as well as many smaller theaters, nightclubs, comedy shows, museums, etc. There are several major universities here, so that means there are plenty of lectures to attend, classes to take, etc.
We have several large lakes, and kayaking seems pretty popular. We have a VERY large park called Umstead which has many walking, hiking and biking trails. The Cary side of Umstead has some pretty good, rigorous paths. The beach is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours away. You can do a day at the beach if you leave early and come back late. The beaches I've seen so far are fairly narrow but long. The Outer Banks is said to be pretty and many folks go down to Wilmington to spend the day. Depending on where you are, you may have easy access to biking trails. Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill and to a lesser extent Raleigh are all bike friendly. If you live out in the sticks by the airport like me, it's not really convenient to ride a bike. Raleigh and Durham have dedicated bike trails. I see bike lanes in Cary and Chapel Hill which is great. I don't notice them in Raleigh/Durham but those roads are in such poor condition that I don't think I'd want to be on them with a bike anyway. The big issue here lately is whether to put a bike lane on Hillsborough St as part of a renovation. I found it rather interesting that there was even a debate on the issue.
Prices for housing seem more in line with places like Stockton rather than the Peninsula. You can still find million dollar homes here but they tend to be some new construction that someone is buying to impress the neighbors. You can find a lot of new town homes for about $200K. I don't know that I'd pick Apex. It seems like a nice place, but their downtown is so tiny. It's probably quiet, but if I lived there I might find it harder to find interesting restaurants. In some parts of Cary you won't be that far from downtown Raleigh.
Being an interracial couple should cause absolutely no eyebrow-raising here. Sprawl and ever-increasing traffic are the two things on your list you won't get away from by coming to the Triangle, but that's part and parcel of an area that is growing so quickly. My restaurant tastes are pretty pedestrian, so I can't comment on the "authenticity" of ethnic restaurants in the area, but the number of them is certainly increasing.
We have almost as many Asians as non-Asians in our circle of friends (and we are not Asian). I concur that will be a total non-issue for you.
Cary seems to be a big place for the Chinese community. I don't know if there is a large Korean community here or not, but since she is Korean-American rather than Korean that may not be so important. There are Korean restaurants!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
and have done a lot of research on both areas --Apex & Cary and think that either place could be a excellent choice to raise our son and enjoy the Triangle for all of its great offerings.
and 41. My son is mixed race age 3 and everyone thinks he looks a lot more like his Mom 
than me-No blond hair and green eyes
. His Education, safety and overall quality of life-happiness are very important to us and we were wondering if there is any racism in either Cary or Apex toward interracial marriages, east Asians or mixed race children in general. Is one area better over the other, and a better place overall for interracial couples to raise children, and be around other families in similar situations. We love the outdoors, bike-riding, tennis, and swimming. We are Catholic, but attend church only once a month
....
... Texas conservatives, crazy humidity 7months, SPRAWL..TRAFFIC, roads, potholes everywhere - and yes feeder roads
No Worries...
(Some of my immediate family members are Asian, too. There is a large Asian presence in the Triangle.)
