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I think Madison meets the criteria in this post extremely well. But I would prefer to live in Raleigh - the winter climate in the upper Midwest is too harsh for many, including myself. There are a number of lakes close to Raleigh as well (Falls Lake, Jordan Lake, etc.) which are a great recreational asset, even if the city itself lacks a waterfront in the urban core.
Both areas have healthy economies, but Madison seems to be a little over-educated relative to the share of higher paying jobs in the area. Raleigh seems to be on a faster track, and has one of the nation's top concentrations of STEM employment. They are somewhat difficult to compare as Raleigh is in a considerably larger size cohort than Madison, and seems to have more aspirations to become a major urban center. Madison is certainly a far less "corporate" place, more dominated by their state capital and major university than is true of Raleigh.
Outdoor activities - Raleigh. Madison gets cold, so you can only do outdoor activities part of the year.
Beautiful nature - Raleigh. North Carolina is beautiful.
Four dominant seasons - Raleigh. Definitely. Madison has cold, colder, coldest, and hot. Not what most people mean by 4 seasons.
Health/organic food and restaurants - Raleigh, probably.
Low crime - Madison.
Friendly folks - Tie. Southern hospitality vs mid-western wholesome
Prosperous economy - Raleigh
Clean air, very low pollution - Maybe Madison.
A swimable, boatable, clean body of water - I'd say Raleigh because of falls lake. Madison has lakes too, but it is too cold there to take advantage often.
I would not relocate from Raleigh to Madison for anything under a million bucks. Not figuratively, but literally it would have to be a million bucks.
Outdoor activities - Raleigh. Madison gets cold, so you can only do outdoor activities part of the year.
Beautiful nature - Raleigh. North Carolina is beautiful.
Four dominant seasons - Raleigh. Definitely. Madison has cold, colder, coldest, and hot. Not what most people mean by 4 seasons.
Health/organic food and restaurants - Raleigh, probably.
Low crime - Madison.
Friendly folks - Tie. Southern hospitality vs mid-western wholesome
Prosperous economy - Raleigh
Clean air, very low pollution - Maybe Madison.
A swimable, boatable, clean body of water - I'd say Raleigh because of falls lake. Madison has lakes too, but it is too cold there to take advantage often.
I would not relocate from Raleigh to Madison for anything under a million bucks. Not figuratively, but literally it would have to be a million bucks.
Spoken by someone who has no idea what the climate in Madison is really like. Winter is cold, the rest is beautiful. It's not cold, colder and coldest. You show ignorance with that statement.
Madison, a higher quality life without the out of control fast growth of Raleigh and Wake County. The caveat is you better make sure your Madison job is secure as the job market is very competitive.
Madison is nice.
Wisconsin is one of my top 5 states, maybe top 2.
North Carolina, not so much.
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