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I don't understand what your gripes are with Raleigh. You mention that its not a place for young professionals but then go on to claim it consists of mostly country themed bars. Your claim proves that you have not experienced for yourself what Raleigh has to offer in terms of nightlife. You also mention traffic problems but only refer to the Garner/Johnston Co. area. I haven't lived in Raleigh for a couple of years but I feel confident saying that all of your traffic woes could've been avoided by simply moving to almost anywhere else in the Triangle.
I've never been to Texas but I have no doubts that it may offer a better quality of life than NC. However, your complaints of Raleigh sound petty compared to the problems you'll find in any other metropolitan area in the country.
I am tired of repeating this...for being the academic oasis of intellect that the Triangle sells itself on being, this is quite disappointing and is making it hard for me to not constantly "gripe" and "bash." Some of the responses here are definitely merit scrutiny, if not "bashing", to be bluntly honest. That said, I personally think that the OP was a bit harsh and condescending herself on a few counts and was a bit naive to assume that any place she went to was going to be exactly like where she came from. Then again we all have our vision of what a new place is going to be like, and rarely does it fit exactly what you thought it would be. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
Once again, this is a topic that pretty much boils down to which someone from Austin, Texas or somewhere nearby might experience if suddenly living in or around Raleigh. This was never intended to be an evaluation on Raleigh, its surroundings or any aspect of its quality of life on its own. But the defensiveness is as if I just came out of nowhere and started a topic that says "Raleigh sucks." That kind of defensiveness is also not indicative of the "laid-back" vibe that everyone says is everywhere in the Triangle. Laid-back people do not get that easily offended about people's opinions about the place where they live. Long before Don Imus was ever mentioned in the same newspaper article as the Rutgers basketball team, I remember having his show come on MSNBC (I sleep with the TV on most of the time) and I woke up to his show, only to hear Houston get mentioned in passing and Imus mumbled something to the effect of "Houston, what a godawful city." I didn't make any phone calls to Imus or his advertisers. I got up and went about my day like I would have if I had kept the TV off. He could have said the same thing about Austin and nobody is going to care there either.
All I was trying to get across is that, to someone who is actually intending on making a long-term move to somewhere close to you, that it is patronizing at best to be talked down to like you are from the sticks just because you come from a state that is generally thought of as rural. Would you offhandedly ask people who from New Jersey or Staten Island if they lived on a landfill just because that's where they told you that's where they came from? No, because they come from places that you think of as urbane.
If you want someone's experience to be favorable there, as it sounds like you do, then maybe reading this might inform some people and make them think before they say something stupid. Everyone will be better off and you will read fewer "gripes" that way.
I would really love to comment here, but after the first few pages of this thread, I simply got bored with the mudslinging. Just terrible.
Bottom line is this. Whenever someone criticizes a city that another person loves, then simply be prepared for someone to defend that city. In defending that city, some people are quite articulate. Others, well, need a little help in the tact department. But it's all in the name of of their homes, neighbors and lifestyle. No one should be surprised if they post a criticism, like the OP's criticism of what appeared to be gloss over of an area that really requires more investigation to appreciate, it's gonna be critiqued back or defended.
On the other hand, people will criticize. It may not be accurate, but their perceptions are their own and justified to a point since it's their perception. Surely, there will be others who visit this message board for information and might be influenced by someone who is unfairly (or fairly) criticizing an area, but that's to be expected. If everyone loved RDU, then the population explosion would be an even greater problem than what presently exists.
Those of us who have chosen to live in RDU know what sucks, from our point of view, of course. And we know what works. For a person who drives through here during a sixty minute drive to the person who spends weeks at a time investigating every nook and cranny -- each and every person has a right to their own perspective on things. And they have a right to voice it. Constructively is preferred. Anything else, I personally ignore.
No way for anyone to win here. Someone doesn't it like RDU for particular reasons. Alright. Someone else loves it. Kewl. We drove throughout all of NC before moving here, and RDU we spent barely a minute and was initially unimpressed. But now, we're loving it. Relatively speaking. I'm hating some things, of course. No big. That home sale tax sounds sort of sucky. I hope that doesn't pass. But some do. Oh well. That's life. We're different.
So, I would say that if someone comes about and bags on something here, just be persuasive as best you can and, hopefully, through education and enlightenment, they begin to see what you see as positive in a better light.
Have a sweet tea. Take off your pants. Relax in front of the A/C. Have a laugh. Like one poster mentioned, we all see what we want to see. And with that, we take with us what we choose for ourselves. Not what others think we should choose.
Jfre,
I was giving the population for the houston metropolitan area and I also said in my post that both, Houston and Dallas, are far larger than anything in NC. In fact, the 2 cities together do exceed the population of NC. But your claims that either city by itself is equal to the population of NC was hyperbole.
And, I didn't read every single post in this thread in great detail but I didn't see where anyone treated you rudely. The OP, she was treated rudely. But her post was inflamatory and she got some responses in return.
As Greeny mentioned, your only evidence for poor traffic flow was the 40/42 area. I drive through there every day. I drive 24.5 miles to work and it takes me 27/28 minutes barring an accident on 40. That's hardly an unacceptable time. In fact, the longest part of my drive is the 5 mile drive to get to 40.
The difference is actually about three million, but still greater than Charlotte, the Triangle and Triad combined.
OK Jfre81...who CARES about Houston? This is the triangle forum and we're tired of hearing about Houston. If you didn't like it here...great...you moved on. Now just go away and leave us alone. Why do you even waste your time to write full page responses on this board? We get it, Houston is the Mecca of all that is great in this world. Now move along please
Have a sweet tea. Take off your pants. Relax in front of the A/C. Have a laugh. Like one poster mentioned, we all see what we want to see. And with that, we take with us what we choose for ourselves. Not what others think we should choose.
I love it! You really sum up NC very well. If you are a transplant here as I am then you well know its YOUR CHOISE to move here! Nobody forced you too! And hopefully you love it here as much as I do! People will come and go and say awful things about the Triangle, but for those of us who love it here and appreciate all it is, then good for us! We are going to enjoy life and be happy with what we have. You can't go through life always wanting something better, you will never ever be satisfied.
OK Jfre81...who CARES about Houston? This is the triangle forum and we're tired of hearing about Houston. If you didn't like it here...great...you moved on. Now just go away and leave us alone. Why do you even waste your time to write full page responses on this board? We get it, Houston is the Mecca of all that is great in this world. Now move along please
Don't read threads about people moving from Texas and you will never have to hear about Texas. This thread is about Texas. To pull a quote from earlier, "last I checked, Austin was in Texas."
Or better yet, take your computer, throw it out your window and you will never have to be "forced" to read something you don't want to read.
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