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I was very excited to come down here. I too worked for one of the insurance companies in the IT area and we were getting off-shored very badly. I figured it would be a good move.
My primary issue with the area (as compared to Glastonbury and Hartford) is how much more of a stress level I have down here. Like I said before, the traffic is so bad not to mention the huge amounts of contruction with poor planning by the towns for the construction. It is very much urban sprawl here without any form of control. Generally houses are built on very small lots here so there is very little room in the yard. Yes, it is a blessing when it comes time to cut the lawn but there is no room in the yard for my child to play. I see some houses here with .1 acre lots. It is a very car oriented area (at least Cary and North Raleigh are). You get in your car to go anywhere, even to take your child to play.
I found there to be so many more things to do up in New England as well. I golf a lot and they are turning as many courses as they can down here into RE developments now so the cost of golf has been shooting up. Actually costs for everything are shooting up down here. Our realtor told us last year that if we had moved down the previous year, we would have probably saved tremendously or been in a bigger house. So the houses that were selling for $300k 2 years ago are now pushing $450K. I actually pay more for my utilites (per cost unit) than I did up there even though my heating bill was more in the winter. But my electric, cable and water cost more. Especially water, we get billed monthly for water here so instead of paying $50 per quarter, we are around $50-$60 per month for water). RE taxes are cheaper but going up now. And you will have to pay an HOA fee for whatever community you are in (another $40 per month). I also use a lot more gas for the car since we have to drive everywhere and my commute is so much longer. Food cost more here too.
As far as the weather goes, it gets very hot here in the summer. I think in August, every day was above 90 so you cannot do much outside and it still gets cold here during the winter. We did have a nice mild winter last year but I have been told that that is far from common. Everyone keeps warning us about the ice storms and if it snows here how they are just not prepared to handle it. So 2 inches of snow shuts everything down. Have not seen that yet but that is what I hear.
The positives are that there are a lot of jobs although they do not pay as well as up North. We do have a very nice newer house too but I prefer the quality of life over anything these days. Maybe I am just disappointed after reading in Money magazine that Cary was such a great place to live and I had high expectations and was just so excited to get here.
I have a different perspective after moving to Raleigh 3 years ago.
I moved from the West coast to Cary, NC because of work, and the cost of living (i.e. cost of housing).
On those two points the move has been worthwhile. Job market is pretty good depending on your skills. Housing is still very affordable. However part of the reason it is affordable is that there is so much land to develop. As the area sprawls out, in 20 years it will probably be like Atlanta.
For me the problem is that I grew up in La Jolla, CA (25 years) and have also lived in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA for about 15 years. I've also traveled a lot and have visited many cities domestically and internationally.
Compared to those areas Raleigh/RTP is by far the worst place I've lived. I don’t say that to be mean, it is just the truth compared to other parts of the planet I’ve been.
- Geographically Raleigh is one of the most boring parts of the planet. Flat, flat, flat. There are a lot of lakes (it rains approx 40 inches per year). However most lake water is disgusting. You don't swim in these lakes. Because of all of the clay in the soil most of the lakes are reddish brown. Lake water should really be blue!
- If you want to go to the ocean it will take at least 3 hours. North Carolina’s coast line is flat and extremely boring compared to the West coast.
- If you want to go to the mountains it will take 3 hours. Use the term mountain loosely… the Appilacians (very old) aren’t the Sierras or Cascades (relatively new).
- Summer weather is absolutely horrible. Granted growing up in La Jolla is a difficult comparison (sunny & 70, 365 days a year). In Raleigh I have to pretty much write off 4 months each year (June, July, Aug, Sep). Mosquitoes will eat you alive.
- Downtown Raleigh has very little nightlife, is very boring and kind of depressing. There are a few good areas though. It is improving and may be an interesting downtown in the next 5 – 10 years.
- Apparently for locals the thing to do is to go to shopping centers. There are lots of malls in the area. When your choice is to either go swimming in brown lake water, or go to a shopping mall, apparently the malls win out.
- Some of the most screwed up roads and freeways. No grid work of roads. Lots of circular loops.
- Dearth of professional sports in Raleigh. If you like pro-sports become a hockey fan... that is the only game in town. Otherwise it is a College town, with lots of college sports. Many people who go to local colleges stay and live here, so you have to put up with all of the local yahoos on game day. Lots of people drive around with their college flags flying from their cars. I never saw that it other cities I lived in.
- NASCAR (ughh).
- Bible belt... or close enough. Scary stuff. If you’re jacked up on Christ this is the place to live.
- K-12 schools. I live in Cary, NC where they bus kids for demographic purposes. My neighbor’s kids have a 30+ minute bus ride one-way and attend less than desirable public school. Most of my neighbors pay for private schools.
- Southern accents. I thought I would warm up and find the accent charming. Nope.
- Smoking. This is smoker’s country (historically). Very few non-smoking restaurants. Cary, NC tried to pass a ban on smoking in restaurants a few years ago and it was voted down.
As many people reading this will ask, why not move somewhere else?
im in vegas now moved here 6 months ago from jersey where i lived my whole life we where looking at the raleigh area because of the house prices nice 2000 sqft home for 200k with taxes of like 1600 a year thats unreal that house in central jersey not even north would be like 400k with taxes of like 7000k ive talked to dozens of people from nj ny area and they all tell me its very nice and they love it so if you dont like it thats to bad everybody has a different opinion some people like vegas i will not raise my kids here they think its ok thats one example ....thanks for the opinion
Moved to the Goldsboro area 3 years ago from Trumbull CT. I grew up in Plymouth CT. My opinion of the area is that the schools are very poor. Education is not what it is up north and that is obvious in everyday conversation with locals in my area. There is no culture here. There are some small mom/pop shops but where the majority congregates, it's all fast food restaurants and places like Chilis and Olive Garden. Pizza and Chinese food here is horrible. NC gives a whole new meaning to the term "mall-dwellers."
On a better note, it is very very cheap to live here. We bought a home for 235,000 and had a smaller home in CT that we sold for 439,000. Taxes are lower and traffic isn't too bad. I have not noticed that food here is more expensive at all, only cheaper. Gas is cheaper too and electric rates are not a lot compared to what some of you in CT are paying now (heard it shot through the roof). Cable and internet are about the same.
People here are so religious that it's almost scary. Dont get me wrong, I don't have a problem with religion, but the population down here live by it. It's shoved in my face almost wherever I go. Grocery shopping, the schools, local high school sports games, etc. My family believes, but we're not fanatics about it. People here are horrified when they hear about homosexuality. They can't live and let live.
If you like being near a big city I'd say stay in Fairfield County. It's about the priciest area in the country, but you certainly get what you pay for. Same goes for down here, it's so cheap, but you get what you pay for.
One last note. I stopped at a gas station around here about a month after we moved, and was greeted by the owner with "Yer one o' them damned yankees, aren'tcha?" My reply? "Yer damned right" and put down what I was purchasing and left.
Good luck with everything
Last edited by rugby steve 1974; 03-07-2007 at 08:48 PM..
Tell that red neck next time ...The only reason his house doubled in value was that all the yankee's moving down there with money. Than if he gets wise give him a beaten jersey style....lol
My husband and I are seriously considering a move to Raleigh. Has anyone from Fairfield County moved to North Carolina? Love it? Hate it?
Moved to Charlotte NC, hated it and moved back to CT. That "mistake" set me back in life a few years from a financial/personal standpoint.
What did I not like?
No backroads (Not like here anyway), everything is a blvd with light after light after light, highways are crowded and commuting was a nightmare, the neighborhoods all run into one another and are very congested, things are very...how do I say - clicky. Certain areas are certain areas, and that's that. You can say the same for FFC etc but it's just different. I bumped into "what social organization do you belong too" (I.E. Church, neighborhood, XYZ commity) more than once.
I found the people to be very snotty at their core. No real, genuine freindships. Perhaps that's because I was not willing to give up my Yankee manerisms. (I.E. Talking different, driving habits, character habits etc)
I also found that it was like living on a island. You have the city center, burbs and then not a whole lot outside of that besides backwater countryside for a few hours drive. Don't expect stone wall and quaint countryside like we have here. Expect billboards, tacky "food marts", tin roofs and not a whole lot more.
No mountains (Even hills), no close ocean, no ethnic foods, no real culture...
Moved to Charlotte NC, hated it and moved back to CT. That "mistake" set me back in life a few years from a financial/personal standpoint.
What did I not like?
No backroads (Not like here anyway), everything is a blvd with light after light after light, highways are crowded and commuting was a nightmare, the neighborhoods all run into one another and are very congested, things are very...how do I say - clicky. Certain areas are certain areas, and that's that. You can say the same for FFC etc but it's just different. I bumped into "what social organization do you belong too" (I.E. Church, neighborhood, XYZ commity) more than once.
I found the people to be very snotty at their core. No real, genuine freindships. Perhaps that's because I was not willing to give up my Yankee manerisms. (I.E. Talking different, driving habits, character habits etc)
I also found that it was like living on a island. You have the city center, burbs and then not a whole lot outside of that besides backwater countryside for a few hours drive. Don't expect stone wall and quaint countryside like we have here. Expect billboards, tacky "food marts", tin roofs and not a whole lot more.
No mountains (Even hills), no close ocean, no ethnic foods, no real culture...
For some, it's fine. For me it wasn't.
Hey JV,
The aspect about no backroads and boulevards with light after light is how I feel about Nassau County on Long Island (not to go on a tangent). I grew up in Massachusetts and my girlfriend grew up here on LI so we're looking at CT as a happy medium (equidistant between NY and Boston). However, from what I've seen and heard about many places in NC is that they are quickly becoming another type of Long Island. Nothing but nondescript houses with strip malls as far as the eyes can see.
The Hurricanes are not even all that big down here. It is all about ACC basketball which is probably one of the biggest snoozefests going.
Tell me about it...the Whalers were one of if not THE most supported NHL team in the league. That move was not about anything other than a team owner being a dirty, greedy son of a b-i-t-c-h. Everytime he raised the bar, we met it until it got to a point he was found out for what he was.
Hope you are enjoying the traffic jams there Peter.
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My perspective
(That's the team down there now)
