possible move from seattle to Durham, NC (Gig Harbor: apartment, home)

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by myname_isborat

We moved to Cary from Seattle (Capitol Hill) last summer. It's funny but I have not experienced any of the negative things you mention above to my own surprise. No one we are friends with, which happen to be our neighbors or other people who are friends with our neighbors at this point, are religious. A few people on my street seem a little conservative but for the most part we are meeting liberals. There are alot of transplants, alot of folks from California are moving here, not so much from Seattle as far as I can tell so far.

Where is there racism? This area seems way more diverse than Seattle to be honest. We have Asian folks, African Americans, and a gay couple all within our cul de sac. In our area of Capitol Hill everyone was white and wealthy.

Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill are all great areas with decent restaurants and bars. We chose the burbs for the public schools not for the fun night life which is definitely not in Cary. Love the greenways here, its awesome to go biking for miles and miles and not have to be on a street or go hiking to a ton of different places close by without hitting any traffic at all.

The NC I grew up in has likely changed dramatically because of all the transplants. That's a good thing.

[KBrown28031]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

Yes, I grew up in NC and went to UNC. I have lived in Raleigh, Durham, the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area, and Boone. Often visited Charlotte, Tarboro, and Okracoke/Outer Banks, but I've visited most of the state. The state has some beautiful areas and I miss the deciduous greenery sometimes. I miss the friendliness. I miss the accessibility to D.C. and NYC by car. I miss the warm beaches, mountains full of hippies and blue grass, fireflies, and thunderstorms. The colleges and their events. The sunlight. Cheap housing.

I don't miss the racism. Religious fanatacism. Neighbors or coworkers asking me which church I go to and whether I'm saved. Nascar. Stupidity. Humidity. Red dirt. Republicans.

..but I also almost moved back. We flew back to RTP and toured a private school for our kiddo & looked at neighborhoods in Durham. The school was amazing, a dream, but I was astounded by all of the new housing growth around Durham and Raleigh. The place is almost unrecognizable to me.

We ended up moving to Bellingham, WA instead. Seattle is just too congested for me. The Triangle is now too congested for me. We are happy in Bham, but I also miss the old Triangle.

I was born and raised in NC and I think your quote about racism is way off base and also religion. Of course there are some bad apples in every crowd but your stereotyping is way off base. NC has the 7th highest population of African Americans so the majority of people both black and white work together and live in the same neighborhoods and for the most part get along well.
I now live here in the area and there are pros and cons to this part of the country that has been well documented.

[lifexponential]

Originally Posted by myname_isborat

We moved to Cary from Seattle (Capitol Hill) last summer. It's funny but I have not experienced any of the negative things you mention above to my own surprise. No one we are friends with, which happen to be our neighbors or other people who are friends with our neighbors at this point, are religious. A few people on my street seem a little conservative but for the most part we are meeting liberals. There are alot of transplants, alot of folks from California are moving here, not so much from Seattle as far as I can tell so far.

Where is there racism? This area seems way more diverse than Seattle to be honest. We have Asian folks, African Americans, and a gay couple all within our cul de sac. In our area of Capitol Hill everyone was white and wealthy.

Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill are all great areas with decent restaurants and bars. We chose the burbs for the public schools not for the fun night life which is definitely not in Cary. Love the greenways here, its awesome to go biking for miles and miles and not have to be on a street or go hiking to a ton of different places close by without hitting any traffic at all.

I’m still in WA so how are you surviving the humidity?

[mtta]

Lived there. The triangle is roughly 4 different communities - Raleigh and Cary/Apex; Durham and Chapel Hill.

To me, Durham had the most "old South" vibe mixed with the Duke University presence. There's plenty of cool restaurants, Durham Bulls, theater events and so forth. Plus if you're in Durham, you can easily get to Chapel Hill for more options. It's a long drive to most of the employment in RTP. Crime is higher than the other parts of the triangle and houses are cheaper.

If you are interested in the rest of the triangle: Cary/Apex is straight suburban territory. Chapel Hill is a pretty college town, seemed very student-oriented. Raleigh is the most diverse, you have corporate types, NCSU and the government. Lots of people in Raleigh take I-40 west to RTP for work, and there's no transportation or alternate routes, so that commute is a grind both ways. Raleigh tends to divide itself by "inside the beltline" versus "outside the beltline", and transplants outnumber locals, who are proud of themselves for being born there. There's been huge growth in the area for 30 years, so most properties are newer. Downtown is fixed up compared to what it was even 10 years ago. Shopping and restaurants veer towards mediocrity a lot more than in a more established city like Boston, Chicago where there's local bakeries, restaurants and specific destinations.

Lots of people spend time on church, raise families, enjoy going to the beach (3 hours away), and talk college sports. There is a flat state income tax, but the COL is generally much lower than Seattle, both in rents and other items. If you have a good corporate job, you do really well financially; but if you rely on the local economy, you need to live cheaply. Houses are way less affordable than rental apartments which tend to be good value. With only 1-2 million people, career options are actually limited, much more than people suggest. The big enterprises with the best jobs commonly recruit people from out of state or country, and they can constantly pickup new graduates from all the universities in and around the area. This is a very competitive labor market.

[spagkamp]

HellO! I am just hopping back on this thread again. My husband is currently in Raleigh working and but I stayed in Seattle so the kiddos could finish out their respective school years. He is now thinking it is not the place for us. Struggling with what to do as Seattle is so expensive but there is a lot to love. I am concerned about the politics of the south as well but assumed maybe because their are transplants coming into the Raleigh/Durham area from other places that potentially the culture could shift. As I am looking at housing, and culture, I feel more drawn to Durham but I can't explain why? Any insight? We have three kids - one who will be going into HS, one into MS and one is in elementary. We have looked at two private schools and one public HS. Kids are in public schools here in Seattle but we were leaning towards private. Any other suggestions or insight would be great.

[James Bond 007]

I'm very familiar with both places.

NC has been shifting to the center for a while ... though, based on state politics, I'm not sure that would be so obvious. NC, along with Virginia, is probably one of the more "liberal" Southern states - relatively speaking.

One thing about NC is, it does have a history of progressive democrats back in the day. Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt (whom I met once in the 80's) in particular come to mind. So, it's not out of the realm of possibility that something like that could arise again.

[jakebarnes]

Originally Posted by myname_isborat

Where is there racism? This area seems way more diverse than Seattle to be honest. We have Asian folks, African Americans, and a gay couple all within our cul de sac. In our area of Capitol Hill everyone was white and wealthy.

I think there is a real misperception in Seattle that we are a very diverse city. Truth is, the city is very concerned about social justice and racial equity, but it is not actually very diverse and becoming less diverse by the day.

[noah]

My thoughts exactly. When we lived in Atlanta the race issue came up a lot less than it does here, I swear.

One city no one has thrown out with regards to that part of the country is Atlanta. If you want more activities and like big cities its worth consideration. Living in the city you'll get the cute old houses, liberal politics etc. Jobs options galore with more Fortune 500 companies then here and every big company has at least a regional office there. And talk about people moving there, growing faster than Seattle I believe and it seems 85% of your neighbors and coworkers will be from somewhere else -- mostly the midwest, northeast and Florida. Super diverse, basically a minority majority city with not only african americans but huge communities of every ethnicity you could think of around the world -- makes for amazing food options. The biggest refugee community in the nation is in the Atlanta area. Booming tech scene too, centered around Georgia Tech Univ. Unfortunately no comparable mountains or ocean, and while some seasons are pretty awesome, overall weather is a negative compared to Seattle.

Originally Posted by jakebarnes

I think there is a real misperception in Seattle that we are a very diverse city. Truth is, the city is very concerned about social justice and racial equity, but it is not actually very diverse and becoming less diverse by the day.

[myname_isborat]

Originally Posted by spagkamp

HellO! I am just hopping back on this thread again. My husband is currently in Raleigh working and but I stayed in Seattle so the kiddos could finish out their respective school years. He is now thinking it is not the place for us. Struggling with what to do as Seattle is so expensive but there is a lot to love. I am concerned about the politics of the south as well but assumed maybe because their are transplants coming into the Raleigh/Durham area from other places that potentially the culture could shift. As I am looking at housing, and culture, I feel more drawn to Durham but I can't explain why? Any insight? We have three kids - one who will be going into HS, one into MS and one is in elementary. We have looked at two private schools and one public HS. Kids are in public schools here in Seattle but we were leaning towards private. Any other suggestions or insight would be great.

Durham is cool and the mentality is no different than if you lived in Cap Hill. It sounds like he is in North Raleigh mebbe'? All I can say is if you are concerned about politics don't waste time on the Raleigh board here, there are a bunch of clueless elderly conservatives that post there and are not representative of what it's like here at all.

Spend some time on reddit and check out the bullcity, raleigh, triangle, north carolina subs. You will get a better feel for what the people moving here are like, not the dinosaurs that are desperate to keep it red.

[Gardyloo]

My brother in law moved from Seattle to Carrboro a couple of years ago and is quite happy there. He says the Chapel Hill area is very tolerant (he's gay) and that Carrboro is very welcoming and comfortable. He's very keen on the cost of living savings, the summer weather, not so much.