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.
Hi -
My husband recently retired and we are now looking into relocating outside the Greater Washington DC area because the cost of living is so high here. He loves NC and used to go there with his family many years ago, I have never been there.
We could live comfortably with his pension, but I am much younger than he is (34 years old) so I do want to find a place to work. I worked for a university for 8 years and have been working in the non-profit sector for the last 4 years so I would be looking for jobs in any of those fields.
We have a 3.5 year old so it is important to have a good public school system and a community with good family values and low crime rate.
We enjoy good restaurants and don’t want to be too isolated from the city. We love the Greater Washington DC Area area because of the diversity (people, food, cultures), I am from Ecuador and he is from Brasil so a place that is culturally diverse would be nice. We are looking for a 200K-250K house, maybe we can go a little higher but we are not looking for a really big house, an smaller and newer house will be our preference. I have been reading about Raleigh and Cary and they both seemed nice. We have heard from people who live in both areas and they love them. Is one school system better than the other? Right now I commute 1 hour each and from work which is pretty normal here so if Cary is a better place to live with Raleigh having more places to work, I will be willing to commute ..... but if I can have both (jobs and good schools) it will be nice not to have a huge commute.
Thank you for your ideas and thoughts, we are planning to visit NC in August.
They are administered at the county level, and not at the town level. If schools are important, you should do some reading on the topic, as there has been some political unrest regarding the school district administration and policies. (This is a very euphemistic statement, to be sure.)
Either can offer you a good commute, but actually knowing where you would be working would help you target a place to live for that really easy commute.
They are administered at the county level, and not at the town level. If schools are important, you should do some reading on the topic, as there has been some political unrest regarding the school district administration and policies. (This is a very euphemistic statement, to be sure.)
Either can offer you a good commute, but actually knowing where you would be working would help you target a place to live for that really easy commute.
There are already many good posts here regarding the relocation (I recall at least one specifically from MD, where I answered). Cary is pretty much like Columbia, sans CPRA and attitude. Can't comment about Raleigh because we have not seen much of it yet.
We picked Cary because of the schools (I have a 2-year old, but thinking ahead ), location and easy access to stores/restaurants/etc. we were used to. 200-250K won't buy much house in Cary, but you can certainly find something.
Crime in Cary seems to be non-existent. Coming from the Baltimore area, we can only laugh at the local "crime" statistics.
There seems to be a significant Latino population in Raleigh area and I think you shouldn't have any problem finding restaurants, etc. It can't compare to DC, but then it isn't DC and I hope never will be. I find life here to be very peaceful and simple, but that's exactly what we were looking for. We miss certain things but overall we're very happy here.
The other poster is correct....Cary is a carbon copy of Columbia, MD...you will like it. Their is a sizeable latino (mexican) population that come here for agriculture and low pay work. Not sure about ecuadorian/brazilian community though...Durham would be Baltimore and Raleigh would just be Raleigh...nothing in DC I can compare it to..Love both cities which is one of the reasons I moved here...
Totally disagree that Cary is cc of Columbia. I grew up in that area and am there very frequently.
Things Columbia has that we dont:
Way worse traffic
Way worse general congestion
Way worse roads/interstate design
Completely different culture - here its "Im here to relax, raise a family and enjoy life" there its "we live in Columbia because we couldnt afford Bethesda so went 30 miles away from work to get over 2000 sq ft"
Rat race still alive and evident up there
Can go on....but I take offense to that comparison...sorry The only thing similar is that many areas of Columbia maintained nice green landscapes & wide open spaces, thats about it.
To answer your q - sounds like you would enjoy Cary vs Raleigh. I would recommend Raleigh to people who a) absolutely adore a city environment but must live here (b/c truthfully this isnt city living) b) young couples who still want to go out often and walk to their fave restaurants, etc or c) people who absolutely despise any sort of commute whatsoever and work in DT Raleigh.
If you dont fall in those 3...my gut is you'll like Cary better for a multitude of reasons. Not a blanket/general statement, everyones different, just a hunch.
The other poster is correct....Cary is a carbon copy of Columbia, MD...you will like it. Their is a sizeable latino (mexican) population that come here for agriculture and low pay work. Not sure about ecuadorian/brazilian community though...Durham would be Baltimore and Raleigh would just be Raleigh...nothing in DC I can compare it to..Love both cities which is one of the reasons I moved here...
I completely disagree that "Durham would be Baltimore." I've only been here a month, but because I am in Durham County (although closer to Brier Creek) alot of my new resident "tasks" and other things I've had to do have been in Durham...Post office, Durham courthouse, DMV, doctor's appointment...
I moved from MD, just a few miles outside of DC and I hated going to Baltimore for anything. I have seen parts of Durham that definitely look run down, but nothing I would compare with the bad parts of Baltimore.
What is North Raleigh like? Affluent? Or not so much.
I'm also looking at Raleigh/Cary areas as relocation possibilities.
I'd be a retiree with my wife and a HS aged son.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
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.
), location and easy access to stores/restaurants/etc. we were used to. 200-250K won't buy much house in Cary, but you can certainly find something.
Don't think so...
