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Grad students (and university faculty/staff) do commute in from distances--I commuted from Raleigh for my whole Masters program, but that was 15 years ago when traffic was much, much less than it is now--but bear in mind that parking passes for students are usually far-flung and if you don't get there early, you sometimes can't even find a spot at some of the lots. I worked at UNC for a brief time, 6 years ago; I am a double alumnus so I was ecstatic to work there, but the commute (both to Chapel Hill and then from where I had to park to campus) wore me out in a short time and I switched back to my old office in Raleigh due almost solely to the commute.
Since you are in a PhD program and will presumably be here for a few years, I would strongly recommend getting a place close in to campus for your first year (in Chapel Hill or in neighboring Carrboro, where MANY grad students live) and then once you know the lay of the land and have settled into your program, you will be comfortable enough with the area if you want to try living in Durham. You're making a lot of transitions all at once, and I think dealing with a hassle for a commute on top of everything else might be something to avoid right at the beginning.
Chapel Hill is a college town--NO shortage of coffee sops, LOL!
I think utilities generally are not included in apartment rentals, but might be in a rooming house sort of situation. Carrboro at least used to be a good place to find non-apartment complex rentals; as I say, tons of grad students live in Carrboro. You also might work with the student services manager in your department about finding housing; that kind of thing is much better done via local networking than "blind" from afar.
Everything you say is pointing to Carrboro, from where I sit.
Just wanted to chip in that with the U-Pass program, UNC students can ride ANY of the buses in the triangle for free. Basically you bring your student ID to the UNC transportation office, and they give you an unlimited bus pass that is good for the semester. You have to go and get a new one every term.
The passes are however rather flimsy so you need to figure out a good way to take care of it.
There are buses that will take you from plenty of places to Chapel Hill includiug a nonstop express bus from Raleigh, a regional bus from downtown Durham, and several routes from the RTP/Morrisville/South Durham area.
You should definitely be able to find somewhere good to live for $700/mo. My brother had a decent apartment in Carrboro (The Chateau) until he moved out in 2007 - his rent was well under $600. Rents have probably gone up slightly since then but I can't imagine too much of a change.
I knew some Canadians who lived in Carrboro but they left too. They lived in Cedar Court which is walking distance from grocery stores, coffee shops, bars, etc. Really, if you don't want to drive, maybe Carrboro is your best bet.
Here's a tip about the license situation if you decide to get one: You must have liability insurance before you'll be given a license even if you have no car or intention of driving. I learned this when I first moved here. The good thing for me is that I still had my recently canceled insurance card (with the expiration date months away) from NJ. They accepted it without a problem.
Here's a tip about the license situation if you decide to get one: You must have liability insurance before you'll be given a license even if you have no car or intention of driving. I learned this when I first moved here. The good thing for me is that I still had my recently canceled insurance card (with the expiration date months away) from NJ. They accepted it without a problem.
This is false.
You can get a licence without insurance, but it is marked 'fleet cars only' or something like that.
Not much help for borrowing friends' cars, but lets you rent.
Hey everyone- thanks for all the great advice, this is really giving me a sense of the place!
And yeah, I just want a license for rental/identification purposes. I'm not sure how well my Canadian health card will go over, and I wouldn't want to carry my passport everywhere.
Hi Mack! I'm from Scarborough and I've got to be honest, it was a really big adjustment coming from a really big city like Toronto. I still miss the big city atmosphere. But generally, people are really friendly like at home. You'd probably really like downtown Durham or downtown Chapel Hill. Sorry I can't help with the rest of your questions, though!
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