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Chapel Hill Area: Has diversity and strong schools due to proximity to UNC and Duke. Unfortunately for families, it is also a college town in the central area. Many like the Carrborro/Pittsboro area to get away.
Durham: go near Southpoint area and up around Duke/Duke gardens. It can be hit or miss in Durham.
Raleigh: North Raleigh that is. More whitewashed area but educated and open-minded
Cary: Diversified and good area to rent until identifying a place to settle down in.
Wow, that's bad! Is it a city thing, a NJ thing?
Correction, what I was asking in a poor way is that why is it like this? Is it a city thing or in certain areas? The NJ folks here are like everyone else. And we have a favorite here, NRG - North Raleigh Guy. He's the one who posts the cool photos!
It's a city thing, rather a ghetto fabulous city thing whose inhabitant's attitudes could be found in many other urban areas throughout the country. The whole state isn't like that, but I think you'll find many former Jerseyans who have noticed the difference in friendliness here. Even in more affluent areas, people are not necessarily mean, but people don't exchange niceties to others very often unless they know you.
mia, one of the concerns I had was that I cover my hair and was wondering how that will be received in the area so its good to know that people are friendly with you despite your niqab.
Raleigh, I suppose since I cant get a car anytime soon I will have to live near the hospital or get bro to drop me off at work which will be very inconvenient for him so it looks like living near the hospital is the most ideal solution in my case. Where I live currently, its simply not safe to live near the hospitals so that will be a concern. However I think Raleigh area is probably safer overall compared to the hospital region here. I think I will rent there. Either an apartment (no idea what rents are like there) or a share situation where I get my own room/bath. Could always live with family as a backup. They will be buying a house.
Understand that I have bias here, but I'd suggest UNC for the hospital and Chapel Hill for the town. I think Chapel Hill is absolutely gorgeous, is more pedestrian and public transport friendly, and you should be able to find a rental that's walkable to the U or to shops and such where you can get a bus to the U. My bias is that I adore Chapel Hill and am a big UNC fan. Plus I think Chapel Hill/Carrboro are relatively diverse due to the university being there and other reasons. I doubt you'd have trouble of any kind because you cover your hair.
Plus, your brother will find the schools are more stable than Wake's. I live in Wake County now largely due to my husband's commute (I work from home), but would probably prefer CH if not for the housing prices!
I recently spoke to someone on another forum who lived in Raleigh/Cary area a few years ago and he was Asian. He moved from the area 3/4 years ago but told me I should avoid Chapel Hill and North Raleigh. I find that interesting because on this forum people seem to really like Chapel Hill and some have suggested North Raleigh in this thread. This is beginning to get confusing with all the different input.
Despite this I'd still want to checkout the areas when visiting.
I recently spoke to someone on another forum who lived in Raleigh/Cary area a few years ago and he was Asian. He moved from the area 3/4 years ago but told me I should avoid Chapel Hill and North Raleigh. I find that interesting because on this forum people seem to really like Chapel Hill and some have suggested North Raleigh in this thread. This is beginning to get confusing with all the different input.
Despite this I'd still want to checkout the areas when visiting.
He said that Cary has been rated highly in terms of cities to live in. He felt that me being Asian will probably mean I may be more comfortable in Cary than the other locations due to a higher percentage of Asians in Cary. He did say UNC in Chapel Hill is a good school but also mentioned hospitals in Raleigh that had a lot of med students doing rotations there.
He apparently didn't spend much time in North Raleigh.
Quote:
He felt that me being Asian will probably mean I may be more comfortable in Cary than the other locations due to a higher percentage of Asians in Cary.
How odd that he would tell you to avoid Chapel Hill and North Raleigh! I don't understand that at all. And I live in Durham, so it's not community pride making me say this. I can see why your friend might suggest Cary to your brother, though. I think a lot of people consider it the easiest bet to suggest to newcomers. It's far from the only option, though! You'll find people from every community in the Triangle on this board and you'll find that the majority of us are very happy to live where we do.
I think your top priority will be determining where you will work. For instance, Chapel Hill is great, but I wouldn't suggest it if you'll be working in Raleigh (long commute going through the worst of our traffic for no good reason).
I know that there is a popular bus system in Chapel Hill that runs right by UNC's hospital complex. A friend of mine who is a post-doc at UNC takes it all the time. If you end up at Duke's hospital or the VA hospital in Durham, you can look into the Bull City Connector - a free bus service that connects downtown Durham to Duke University. I know a radiologist who lives in Durham and takes this frequently. I'm not sure if there is anything similar to these services in Raleigh. Hopefully someone else will chime in on that.
I have a question regarding utilities. Lets say you have 4 people in a 4,000 sq.ft. home, what will the utility bills look like? Assume the A/C will be running all summer or whatever time of year its above 70 degrees and heating on in winter.
What sort of taxes will we be looking at for a 500K-600K home in the Cary or North Raleigh area?
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I can see why your friend might suggest Cary to your brother, though. I think a lot of people consider it the easiest bet to suggest to newcomers. It's far from the only option, though! You'll find people from every community in the Triangle on this board and you'll find that the majority of us are very happy to live where we do.
