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.
Hello everyone..I am new to this site..this is my first post. I am a 29 year old single black male moving from Chicago. I am a web developer thinking about moving out East or South for the last 2 years. In my short list, I have Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh and Denver, but I've also have thoughts about Raliegh knowing the fact that a lot of young people live there. What is your thoughts about the following:
1. Affordability...Is it better to rent or own?
2. Dating..Is it a singles city or couples city?
3. Population..Is it diverse?
Please, I would love to hear from anyone. All help would be appreciated..Thank you.
Rent first until you know what's what. Then own.
2. Dating..Is it a singles city or couples city?
Lots of couples. But plenty of singles because people don't get married as young as they used to. As a professional black male, you will have NO problems, and I mean NO problems dating.
3. Population..Is it diverse?
Yes, absolutely. Check out the city statistics on City-Data and see for yourself.
I'd suggest having a job first before you move anywhere, but anyway your skin color is irrelevant here. It's very diverse and there's plenty of singles.
Yes, as the previous posters mentioned, making sure that you've planned for your employment or how you'll be making a living probably ought to be your first priority. But I'll assume that you already know that, and have considered that.
Beyond that, I think this is a terrific area to be in. I'm originally from Chicago, and I've now lived in the Raleigh area off-and-on for about eleven years, so I'm happy to answer any specific questions about the transition and compare/contrast between the two that you might have. I agree that this area is quite an affordable place to live, either renting or owning, and there are pros and cons to each. But as lovebrentwood suggested, a wise thing may be to rent first for a while, and then decide whether and where you might want to buy a house. And I agree that this is a decent region for dating, although probably not quite as great as a place like Chicago or Atlanta. A lot of the culture here is either college-oriented, or suburban and family-oriented, but there is actually quite a diversity of ages in the area, too. I'm a single heterosexual guy in my early 30's, and I've never had any trouble meeting and connecting with single women here. And the all-around diversity of the area is quite good, too. Raleigh is not as diverse as bigger cities like Chicago, of course, but it's pretty diverse for a city of its size. There are lots of people of many races and ethnic groups present and visible throughout the region. And something you really notice here, as opposed to Chicago, is that there's far less obvious segregation here than there. As you know, Chicago tends to be notoriously segregated with the white people living here, the black people living there, and the Hispanic people living over there. In many parts of Chicagoland, people rarely cross those racial boundaries, and they're often met with stares or even hostility when they do. Thank goodness, that's much less true here. Around here, there are certainly areas that are predominantly white or predominantly African-American, but they're a lot more mixed than in Chicago, and it's never too surprising to see a white person in a "black neighborhood" or a black person in a "white neighborhood." And for the most part, I've found people of different races to get along better here than Chicago, with less overt racial tension. To me, those are really good things, and one of the things that I really appreciate about living here.
Compared to Chicago, the biggest differences for you would likely be:
the size of the city - The Triangle has grown very fast in recent decades, and it's a fairly large area by now, but it's still several orders of magnitude smaller, less dense, and less intense than Chicago. Honestly, that's good in some ways and bad in some ways, but it can take a bit of an adjustment. I really like it here, and I find that the Triangle has enough urban amenities to keep my happy, but is still just ain't Chicago.
the climate - Actually, the climate isn't as different as some people think. I often meet people in Raleigh who think that Chicago is in the Arctic, and Chicago people who imagine that North Carolina is in the tropics. Really, they both have the same basic four seasons. Winters are significantly less cold here than in Chicago, but it can still get pretty chilly here. And the summers here are a little hotter and a lot longer than in Chicago. Overall, I love the climate here, but not everybody does.
food - Raleigh has lots of food amenities and many excellent restaurants, and I've always found plenty good to eat here. But still, it can't really compare to Chicago, which is one of the great food cities in the Western world.
public transportation - Most of the time I lived in Chicago I didn't own a car, and when I did, I rarely drove it except on weekends. Here that's still pretty hard to do. The bus system here is okay, but pales in comparison to Chicago's. And there's no train system at all. Maybe someday, but certainly not in the immediate future. Fortunately, traffic is far less severe than in Chicago, although it can be congested during rush hour. Still, it's relatively easy to commute from most places to most places in the Triangle area. This area is also not as bicycle- or pedestrian-friendly as Chicago (which is a great place to bike or walk because it's so flat), but it's not bad, depending on where you live. I live "Inside the Beltline" in Raleigh, and I walk and bicycle all over the place, and frequently ride to work or to run errands. That's also feasible in the older, inner parts of Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, or Carrboro, but not in many of the outlying sprawling suburbs.
crime - Crime does happen here, and you should certainly be prepared to take normal precautions as in any other urban area. But again, it's an entirely different order of magnitude than Chicago. The parts of Raleigh and Durham that people consider "bad neighborhoods" are not bad at all compared to Chicago. I actually live in or adjacent to one of the so-called "bad" areas of Raleigh, but I've never once felt unsafe there. The crime rates in the rougher parts of Raleigh and Durham are comparable to those in middle-class parts of Chicago, and there's nothing here that's remotely close to some of the parts of Chicago's West Side, South Side, south suburbs, or Gary. And so, crime isn't as much of a factor here and doesn't preoccupy people as much as in Chicago, which is good. Again, crime can happen here, so you never know. (Since I've been here, I've been mugged, held-up at gunpoint, and had my car broken into). But it just doesn't affect most people's everyday lives nearly as much as it does in many parts of Chicago.
Overall, I love this area, and I think it has enough to offer that most people can find something to like about it. But the other cities you mentioned (Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh and Denver) are all terrific places, too. Those five cities all definitely are much more urban, in both the good ways and the bad ways, and feel much more like a "big city" than the Triangle does. Durham and especially Raleigh feel more like overgrown small cities, but that's not necessarily bad. This is a charming, interesting, deceptively complex place, and has a pretty good outlook for long-term future growth, despite some short-term challenges related to the current economic conditions.
Best of luck, and have fun. And welcome to Raleigh, if and when you arrive!
(Since I've been here, I've been mugged, held-up at gunpoint, and had my car broken into)
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovebrentwood
WOW! I don't think that's typical for most people here! Breaking into cars is common throughout the Triangle but not muggings/robberies.
No, it's not typical at all, which is why I emphasized it being the exception rather than the rule. It's very unusual, and most people I know here have never been the victims of any crimes at all. And despite those few incidents, I virtually never feel unsafe virtually anywhere in the Triangle.
And incidentally, for what it's worth, the mugging took place off of West Main Street just west of downtown Durham very late on a Saturday night in 2002 when I had had way too much to drink. The car break-in occurred on the N.C. State campus about five years ago, and it was partly my fault because I had left some new electronic equipment visible in the car. And the armed robbery was the strangest one of all, since it happened about three years ago in the parking lot at North Hills mall, of all places (the current, post-renovation version of North Hills, not the old one). None of those locations are at all close to conventional "bad neighborhoods." And I go back to each of those areas frequently, and would never feel unsafe in any of them. It's just one (or three) of those things that happens sometimes, and not at all indicative of any larger pattern about those particular places, or the region as a whole.
Hello everyone..I am new to this site..this is my first post. I am a 29 year old single black male moving from Chicago. I am a web developer thinking about moving out East or South for the last 2 years. In my short list, I have Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh and Denver, but I've also have thoughts about Raliegh knowing the fact that a lot of young people live there. What is your thoughts about the following:
1. Affordability...Is it better to rent or own?
2. Dating..Is it a singles city or couples city?
3. Population..Is it diverse?
Please, I would love to hear from anyone. All help would be appreciated..Thank you.
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.
