*Honest opinions only!* (Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham: apartments, rent, car insurance)

[bbrown]

I am planning to move from Northern VA to the Raleigh/Cary area. Whats it like down there? Is anyone familiar with the NOVA area and can compare the two? Are the people friendly? Do you feel safe as far as crime goes? Can your children play outside in your front yard and you not worry about them? Up here, everything is so fast paced that you cant sit back and enjoy life. Up here, work comes first and then family. Plus, it is sooooo expensive to live. Right now, I live in a two bedroom apt and pay $1400.00 a month for it. It also takes 45 minutes to travel 10 miles in the morning and at night. I need a slower pace of life. Not too slow though. Still need the shopping, and entertainment and sports life. Plus, we are planning on having children soon so I want them to be happy there too. Just looking for some feed back on this. i know it is a matter of opinion but i would LOVE to hear from people who have been there for awhile and people who just moved from another place.
Thanks!

[JoeChristmas]

Never lived in NoVa, but I traveled there regularly during college, often staying for long vacations. It's definitely more expensive than Raleigh, but you have many more options regarding night life, restaurants, etc. Much more international, as well (food, people, culture). Yeah, the traffic is terrible there, however. If you're married with kids, I would probably choose Raleigh. If you're young and mobile, I'd stay in the DC area.

[jkmeca11]

Just moved her in May from Long Island NY.

We moved here to get away from everything you described in your post. You would love it here based on what I have read.

I would suggest that you use the search feature of this forum to narrow in on some of your questions and make a visit to the area. It should be cooling down some as we come into the Fall season which I hear is a very nice time of year. Good luck!

[sls76]

We lived in Arlington for a year and Tysons for a year (before we had kids). We loved it up there, but it was so expensive and my commute to the train station (4 miles away) on Leesburg Pike could take almost an hour. Plus I was really not comfortable working in DC post 9-11. One of the things I love about this area is that it's hilly and there are tons of trees which reminds me of parts of NOVA. We live in Cary with our two small children and love it. The people are very friendly and I certainly feel the children are safe. I think the area is extremely family friendly. Where we live is convenient to restaurants and shopping, but I struggle with my mall addiction because nothing here compares.

[saturnfan]

I'm community watch captain in our Raleigh apt and feel the crime level is great for a city.

Having lived in NYC, LA, and New Orleans, I think I can judge accurately.

We pay $815 + utilities for a 1,200 SF 2BR right next to Triangle Town Center.

Have been renting in Raleigh for 18 years and still like it even though congestion is starting to take its toll on the quality of life and public schools.

Shouldn't be too bad a trip down here. Check it out.

[ctribucher]

DH and I moved down here from Alexandria, VA after living there for almost 9 years. We encountered a similar situation like what you described... very high rent... lousy traffic... fast-paced lifestyle focused on work first. We decided that is was time to leave Alexandria behind and try Raleigh on for size.

Though we moved down here for my husband to take a job that didn't work out the way we planned, certain things have been better for us, especially with regard to finances. We are renting a condo that is 300 square feet larger than the condo we rented in Alexandria, and about 30 years newer to boot. It is saving us $325/month on rent alone, plus it is more energy efficient. Our utility bill is a bit lower as a result, and our car insurance is lower as well. Other things, like gas and groceries, are about equal to what we were paying in Alexandria.

There are some things that I miss about NoVA, especially Old Town Alexandria. But, we are having a great time exploring our new city and all that it has to offer. And though I hope my DH finds a new job soon, we are getting by on my salary alone (we could NEVER have done that in VA!).

I recommend that you follow Saturnfan's advice and come on down for a visit. If you are strapped for time, you can make the trip in a weekend, but do try and stay longer. You don't want to make a major life-changing decision based only on a weekend's visit.

[IdaClaire]

I love the DC area... for visiting...

Seriously, you have some great advantages. I would kill to be near the Smithsonian. I would kill to be able to sell my #$#$# car and hop on the DC Metro to go to work each day.

And yet, I'd still rather live here. You can get a decent house for what you are paying in rent, and be in a safe area with good schools. The pace of life IS much slower. The traffic is negligible compared with the DC metro area. I have a headache every time I drive to DC.

Because I want my child to enjoy the Smithsonian as much as I did when I was young (I grew up in Virginia), we take frequent trips to the DC area and stay in the city. You can still do this whenever you miss DC. We usually drive to Richmond and hop a short, fast Amtrak to Union Station and save a bundle on parking that way.

Definitely come and visit. And make sure you see several different areas- one of our towns or cities might not be a fit but another might.

[MrsBTA]

I lived in Alexandria my entire life (minus 4 years of college) until I moved down here, and would agree with what everyone has said so far. This is definitely a great place where you can feel safe and enjoy life, and it's close enough to DC to go visit. I too did a 45 minute commute, only going 7 miles until I couldn't take it anymore and moved closer to the office (funny, you'd think 7 miles would be close enough, wouldn't you?)

With regards to the shopping, and entertainment and sports life:
Day-to-day shopping is just as good down here - plenty of grocery stores, drug stores, Targets, etc for all of that. The "fun" shopping is where you'll see a difference, and mainly in just the higher end stores. Southpoint is actually a really nice mall with most of the stores you would look for in a mall. But if you enjoy shopping at Tysons II, you'll have a little harder time finding a place like that. If you really get desperate though, it's not a bad drive to head back up there for a weekend shopping spree

Entertainment, I can't really say - DH and I are homebodies and don't really go out too often... I don't think I ever took full advantage of what DC had to offer while I was there. Except maybe Old Town and Shirlington - we did enjoy those.

Sports are big here, but very different. Baseball is AAA instead of MLB. The games (Durham Bulls) are really fun though and much cheaper than going to see the Nats. And the park is one of the nicest minor league parks I know of. Raleigh has pro hockey, and after that Charlotte has the closest pro teams. However, college sports, esp basketball, are HUGE down here!

All in all, there are a few things I miss, but I'm really glad we made the move. We are also planning on starting a family soon, and this seems like a great place for that.

[Indigoblue]

We recently moved to Durham from the Fairfax area because of the insane housing prices in NoVA.

It's starting to feel like the norm now but what I really noticed the first weeks was (and of course these are generalities):

PROS
1/ people seem much more relaxed and happy - this is observable
2/ the women aren't as hyper manicured - some even show off their naturally curly hair - and less women putting on airs
3/ children are esteemed very highly, whereas my impression was that they were often viewed as nuisances or burdens in NoVA
4/ much less traffic, particularly if you're wise about your location - e.g. if you work in RTP then live near it, not in Holly Springs

A con is that there appears to be more racial tension. There is very strong animosity towards hispanics in the area, who are assumed to be illegal aliens, and black people are sometimes stereotyped negatively. I am again speaking in generalities, but have felt the animosity occasionally as an hispanic person myself, and have heard and heard of negative comments directed at groups of people. That said, there are of course many many people who do not, or at least don't appear to, take note of race or ethnicity. But it is a difference I've noticed, for the worse.

As far as safety, I feel very safe in my neighborhood in SW Durham, but the front yard thing is relative. Most of the children in our neighborhood are concentrated in one cul de sac where they all play together for hours. But we're on a busy street so my guys just play in our fenced back yard

One huge pro everyone always spoke of in Fairfax County was the schools. In fact people would squeeze themselves into tiny homes or apartments just so their children could stay in Fairfax schools. People were seen as compromising in their children's future if they moved to Prince William County (for example). That personally wasn't a concern of mine moving down here. Almost all of the schools in the Triangle area appear to have strong reputations for doing their best for children and in my opinion the strongest predictor of a child's success is parental support and encouragement of a love of learning. Differences in scores among areas are strongly correlated to family income and parent education levels. Cary and Chapel Hill and parts of North Raleigh seem to be the fledgling little NoVA's around here, with the highest house prices, and as a result higher incomes, and higher school scores.

We bought in SW Durham and so far have been very happy with our elementary school (Hope Valley) and with the area which is very family friendly and has lots of great shopping Better in fact than Fairfax's, though I do wish we had Woodbridge's Ikea and Lego Store

There are museums and theaters and festivals and other entertainment here, and we're much closer to the beach than we were in NoVA There are tons of parks and children's activities and social networks in place for moms, for when you go that route. And quaint downtowns and antique stores Lots of Southern charm and iced tea Life is slower paced and it's reflected in people's faces Definitely make the move if you're planning to start a family.

Originally Posted by bbrown

I am planning to move from Northern VA to the Raleigh/Cary area. Whats it like down there? Is anyone familiar with the NOVA area and can compare the two? Are the people friendly? Do you feel safe as far as crime goes? Can your children play outside in your front yard and you not worry about them? Up here, everything is so fast paced that you cant sit back and enjoy life. Up here, work comes first and then family. Plus, it is sooooo expensive to live. Right now, I live in a two bedroom apt and pay $1400.00 a month for it. It also takes 45 minutes to travel 10 miles in the morning and at night. I need a slower pace of life. Not too slow though. Still need the shopping, and entertainment and sports life. Plus, we are planning on having children soon so I want them to be happy there too. Just looking for some feed back on this. i know it is a matter of opinion but i would LOVE to hear from people who have been there for awhile and people who just moved from another place.
Thanks!

[Indigoblue]

Wow that's another thing I hadn't thought of. I always used to be slightly nervous on some level when I'd be in DC with my children, or when the Dulles planes would fly over our house. I'd often wonder what the affected radius of a nuclear bomb would be from DC's center :P A bit paranoid you might think but...occasionally an airplane would be searched or the metro would shut down b/c of a perceived threat. Or a mentally unhinged person would show up at a government building with a weapon (among tourists)...

Originally Posted by sls76

We lived in Arlington for a year and Tysons for a year (before we had kids). We loved it up there, but it was so expensive and my commute to the train station (4 miles away) on Leesburg Pike could take almost an hour. Plus I was really not comfortable working in DC post 9-11. One of the things I love about this area is that it's hilly and there are tons of trees which reminds me of parts of NOVA. We live in Cary with our two small children and love it. The people are very friendly and I certainly feel the children are safe. I think the area is extremely family friendly. Where we live is convenient to restaurants and shopping, but I struggle with my mall addiction because nothing here compares.