Sorry I'm so late in reporting back to this forum, which was so helpful to us when preparing for our trip by the way (thank you all!). Raleigh was beautiful! I had a some unorganized thoughts I'd like to share with the board:
- I'm actually posting a picture of a billboard because it was one of only two we saw in Raleigh. One of the things we really loved was that it didn't feel commercialized everywhere we went. The freeways are lined with trees, not signs.
- I knew that Raleigh had 300 something thousand people before going, but coming from a huge metropolitan area, I was surprised at how hard it was to adjust to a smaller city like this. Yes, we want to move somewhere that isn't as big, but something about it just felt strange to us. To be able to get from one side of the city to the other in twenty minutes was very different. We would get used to it, of course, but I thought I'd share with those considering a move from the big city. I didn't expect to feel so odd about it.
- Our general impressions of cities:
Knightdale was close to Raleigh with good freeway access. It's not built up, but you get more for your money there. If you were looking for more land/bigger house and a country feel, this was a nice place.
Wake Forest was more than twenty minutes from downtown (in light traffic), so we didn't look there (we didn't want to get attached because we've heard it's nice!).
Cary was a nice suburb and did have that soccer-mom feel. It's large enough to have all the conveniences, but small enough to feel home-y. Once it gets dark, though, there's little to do. It was very clean, and we felt completely safe there.
Holly Springs felt very country, very small town and out of the way. Even though
Fuquay Varina is further out in m iles, it has the 401 for better access to Raleigh. We liked Fuquay, but decided we don't want to live that far. We fell in love with
Raleigh and decided we'd like to live there. If you want to be in the more "hip" and lively part of town, you'll want to look in the beltline. There are a lot of historic restorations off Hillsborough St. that look exciting! We're priced out of there, so we can't even look!
North Raleigh, while in the city, feels more like a quiet suburb and seems like a great place for a family. We liked the houses along Milbrook and near Lynn Rd. and the 70, but we're also priced out of that area. We will probably look by Durant Rd. when we're able to move.
- We met a lot of transplants who were very selfish. They knew little of NC history, didn't take part in the culture, and were all about bigger house for me and better car for me. In fact, the only two people we heard honking a horn had NE license plates (PA and MA). We'd be transplants as well, but I just thought I'd throw my two cents on the situation. When we move, we'll make a point to be part of Raleigh culture. I'm sure that not everyone is like this, but we were surprised at how widespread the selfishness was.
- We found that there is a lot to do with kids in Raleigh. To our surprise, an entire day out as a family of three cost us under $20.
- There seemed to be a general respect for education in the area.
- We are concerned that Raleigh is going to change quite a bit. Both my husband and I felt like we'd better not become to attached to what Raleigh is now because it will undergo much change in the next few years.
- The natives were very friendly towards transplants.
- RDU is the only airport I've been to where an employee came after us to tell us we're headed the wrong direction with a stroller. He led us to an elevator and gave us directions to baggage claim... all without us saying a word!
- Raleigh is at the top of the list for art innovation. In fact, it's right by San Francisco and Seattle. We, for some reason, had a hard time finding the art/music scene. I don't know if it's because the college kids were gone for the summer or what, but where do we find this?
Okay, here are the pics of Raleigh. I tried to take them of random roads, parks, neighborhoods, and things you would see on a normal day. There are a few of Pullen Park and the arboretum (I'm sure I spelled that wrong!):
Pullen Park:
Random Townhouses:
Durant Park:
Downtown:
Arboretum:
Knightdale, Edenburgh's Keep:
Beaver's Dam, Knightdale:
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