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My family and I (boy aged 13 & girl aged 9) are relocating for my job to the US next spring / summer (2011), I will be traveling full time around the US so proximity to a good airport is essential.
We would appreciate any help / tips / information about nice family friendly towns with goods schools and an active community, walkable down town, nice resturants and bars
Ideally I would like to be within 30 - 45 mins of an airport. We enjoy outdoor sports and would like to be close to water for sailing, also very keen white water kayaker.
At first we will be renting approximate price $1,800 per month (4 + bedroom house) but we would like to pick an area that we can purchase in after a year or two.
Any advice / comments would be welcome
Regards
PS please also advise what your winters are like...snow / storms / etc
It snows a couple times of year here, sometimes not at all. Francois can tell you specifics.
For whitewater rafting, you'd want to look in western North Carolina. You may want to look around Charlotte. Being near Charlotte would also be good if you are flying all over. Not sure about the schools. Raleigh schools may be better, but I don't know for sure. Search for "Wake County schools" on City-data to find out what's been going on with our schools. They are in a bit of a tizwuz, but they are good schools.
Morrisville, Cary and Brier Creek are all convenient for RDU airport. As you are relocating from Ireland I would worry more about the hot and humid summer months rather than the winter here.
Unless your employer has made arangements for you to get a Green Card I would not consider buying a home here. If you are on an L1 Visa it is usually only valid for 3 years, and even if you get it renewed for a second 3 year term, it is most unlikely that home prices will have increased sufficient to cover the cost of selling the home after 4 or 5 years of ownership. Do not underestimate the Visa issue as in this economy with 9.5% unemployment it is harder for employers to justify to the Immigration authorities that someone has specialist skills that justify the automatic renewal of a visa when they have had 3 years to train a US Resident to perform the role.
I think Chapel Hill meets your requirements if you are interested in the Triangle. It has the best schools in the state. Our property taxes are high to give us such fine schools.
My husband travels all the time and we chose Chapel Hill for schools, proximity to RDU and some other factors. It is known as a foodie paradise. Carrboro is a great walking area with great outdoor activities and people watching. We also have a very international makeup. Russians next door, Brits across the streets and our neighborhood has many international writers, academics, etc.
Look up in the archives about the different areas and what each has to offer.
BTW, Morrisville and Cary are towns. Brier Creek is an area in Raleigh that is near the Durham border. It is a relatively new area of retail and residential. And I agree with the earlier poster who said Chapel Hill would be good; it has the most highly rated schools, but it also has the highest real estate prices in the area.
As far as weather, the summers here are absolutely miserable unless you like living in a sauna --all the time. I am not exaggerating. Air-conditioning systems enable all of us to survive during the summer months.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beermat
Morrisville, Cary and Brier Creek are all convenient for RDU airport. As you are relocating from Ireland I would worry more about the hot and humid summer months rather than the winter here.
Unless your employer has made arangements for you to get a Green Card I would not consider buying a home here. If you are on an L1 Visa it is usually only valid for 3 years, and even if you get it renewed for a second 3 year term, it is most unlikely that home prices will have increased sufficient to cover the cost of selling the home after 4 or 5 years of ownership. Do not underestimate the Visa issue as in this economy with 9.5% unemployment it is harder for employers to justify to the Immigration authorities that someone has specialist skills that justify the automatic renewal of a visa when they have had 3 years to train a US Resident to perform the role.
You mention that you are moving "to the USA", but I don't see any specific reference to the Raleigh, NC area, which is the forum where you've posted . Are you looking all over the US, or did you mean to post "relocating to the Triangle area"? Where specifically will your job be, as this is a somewhat spread out area (presuming you did mean here)?
We get a couple of snows per winter, not usually bad and sometimes none at all, but we get as much as a foot every now and then and have gotten over 20 inches once, in the past decade. But most people accustomed to snow find this area's snow to be a trivial amount.
Quote:
Originally Posted by irishdemo
My family and I (boy aged 13 & girl aged 9) are relocating for my job to the US next spring / summer (2011), I will be traveling full time around the US so proximity to a good airport is essential.
We would appreciate any help / tips / information about nice family friendly towns with goods schools and an active community, walkable down town, nice resturants and bars
Ideally I would like to be within 30 - 45 mins of an airport. We enjoy outdoor sports and would like to be close to water for sailing, also very keen white water kayaker.
At first we will be renting approximate price $1,800 per month (4 + bedroom house) but we would like to pick an area that we can purchase in after a year or two.
Any advice / comments would be welcome
Regards
PS please also advise what your winters are like...snow / storms / etc
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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.
. Are you looking all over the US, or did you mean to post "relocating to the Triangle area"? Where specifically will your job be, as this is a somewhat spread out area (presuming you did mean here)?
