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... if buying a house in Durham and Chapel Hill, don't forget about the city taxes, which are much higher, than in Raleigh (~0.56/0.49 vs. ~0.37 2011/12 - up to 50%), in addition to the county taxes.
After searching "all around" a few years ago, the combined 'life value' (safety, convenience, taxes, schools, entertainment etc.) in NW/N Raleigh is much higher that anywhere else in the Triangle.
Yeah, being so used to NYC, Chapel Hill is pretty much nowheresville to me, but I'm willing to check it out for the sake of its cultural offerings. Raleigh is obviously the most attractive in terms of size, but I'm not really finding the atmosphere I'm after thus far. And I've been seeing a lot of people talk about Durham's crime rate, but almost immediately afterwards there's usually someone saying that its completely false. I can't imagine it could be all that bad, especially since its such a small place (comparatively to everywhere else I've lived). We basically just don't want to end up in an overwhelmingly suburban neighborhood where the biggest cultural offering is the Applebees in the local strip mall.
My family went out to Bull City Burger on Saturday and took a walk through downtown after eating. We actually had the conversation about how different Durham was than what most people think. It is safe, clean, and the restaurants were packed with patrons. I have lived in Durham for a little over three years. I still haven't found that scary area everyone keeps talking about on this site. It isn't in the SW, the area next to Chapel Hill, the downtown, 9th Street, the RTP area, or up in the North by the Eno. I guess wherever the bad section is doesn't have anything I need to ever stumble upon it?
... if buying a house in Durham and Chapel Hill, don't forget about the city taxes, which are much higher, than in Raleigh (~0.56/0.49 vs. ~0.37 2011/12 - up to 50%), in addition to the county taxes.
After searching "all around" a few years ago, the combined 'life value' (safety, convenience, taxes, schools, entertainment etc.) in NW/N Raleigh is much higher that anywhere else in the Triangle.
And yet, amazingly, many of us choose to live here! Am in a 3,000 sq. ft. house one block from downtown, one and a half blocks from Duke, so yes -- well aware of the taxes. But for my family, the quality of life from living near downtown Durham makes it totally worthwhile to live here. In fact, the decision to NOT move to Raleigh was even a factor for my wife in picking which law firm to work for.
Raleigh has some nice areas, like inside the belt line (ITB). But you make a big assumption that the calculus FOR YOU for "life value" is a universal one. I'd live ITB, but no way, no how would I want to live in true North Raleigh. What, so I could drive to Chili's or Wal-Mart or other chains and see nothing but highways and big roads?
My main man Lyle Lovett sings it so well: "What's riches to you / Just ain't riches to me." And, yeah, I saw him last week at the Durham Performing Arts Center, which is one of the best places in the region to see live music and theater.
I wouldn't presume to say Durham is right for everybody. Believe me, there are plenty of people I'm perfectly happy to see settle in Raleigh, or Clayton, or Chapel Hill, or what have you. But it's a bit incredible -- as in, not credible -- to discount an entire city or recommend on single destination based on some "life value" you've come up with.
I'm not sure what kind of writing you guys do, but if it's nonfiction, I'm the president of the local nonfiction writers' group Triangle Area Freelancers, and we have members who are spread out all over the Triangle. Personally, I live in Wake Forest, a relatively small community about 15 miles north of Raleigh. I like it here because the pace of life is a bit slower, yet you have easy access to I-540 and the airport if you travel much. The local coffee shop has free Wi-Fi, and there's a brewery that'll be opening soon. So our little sleepy town is coming to life, and it offers all the benefits of the big(ger) city without actually having to live there. All in all, a pretty good choice.
My husband and I moved from Miami and have been living in downtown Raleigh (Glenwood South district) for the past five years). We like it so much that we are in the process of buying a place just a few blocks away from the city center.
I really think that downtown Raleigh or downtown Durham would suit your needs. The cities each have a different feel, but offer a lot of the same types of amenities that I think you would enjoy. Both definitely have a lot more to offer than Applebees and strip malls!
I do like Chapel Hill/Carrboro as well, but they are a bit too small for me. I love spending time there, but I could not really see myself living there. They remind me a lot of the town where I went to college, and I just don't personally want to live in a town that is primarily a college town. Not that Raleigh and Durham don't each have huge influences from NCSU and Duke, but they aren't centered around their respective universities, either.
To me, Durham has more of a historic, gritty, industrial feel, which I really like. Whenever I go there, I like it more and more, but mine and my husband's jobs are in Raleigh, and we don't like commuting enough to move to Durham. I think I would have been just as happy living there as we are in Raleigh if our jobs had been on that side of the Triangle.
Raleigh has a bit of a newer feel to it, but there are also efforts to preserve the historic areas and buildings. It is the state capital, so you have the state government complex embedded in the city. There are at least five colleges/universities in Raleigh alone, so you definitely have an interesting mix of government, students, artists, etc. We really enjoy being able to walk to the festivals, art walks and other events that happen downtown.
I know that there is a little bit of sibling rivalry between Raleigh and Durham, but they are both great cities, each with their own character, and I think that the region is lucky to have both. I really don't think anyone would be able to appropriately tell someone else which city or town in this area they would definitively like better, it is just a feeling you get when you visit and realize, "this is for me".
AWESOME answer! Having grown up just outside of NYC, I hated the nowheresness of State College, PA when I went to Penn State, but I did like the small town feel of it, being surrounded by people in the same mindset as me...but that was when I was in college. We'll definitely be checking it out when we make our trip up next month, but Raleigh and Durham are the two frontrunners -- they seem like the best of both worlds.
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