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Thinking about my favorite reasons for living here...
- people are very friendly here.
- the area is a very nice size, with room to comfortably grow. None of the areas here are even approaching getting too large. You can run around your corner of the area and still bump into all kinds of folks you know.
- yet, the area is big enough. There really isn't anything I can don't or get here. There's good food, shopping, entertainment, etc.. If you're missing something here it eventually shows up. There may not be a 3AM Felafel place, but there probably will be in another 6 months.
- the spring. So many colors & shades of green and it seems to last forever - I love it.
- the weather. We have four seasons - It gets hot, it gets cold. It usually doesn't stay at one extreme forever. It is hot here, but just about everywhere here has air conditioning. Where I live summer is a constant 75 degrees
- getting around. Traffic is really not bad here. If you think it is, spend time in Atlanta, Boston, NY, etc...
- regional location - I can drive to a variety of fantastic beaches in two hours, the mountains in not too much more than that. DC is 4 hours, Atlanta 5-6, NYC in 7.
- RDU - As someone earlier mentioned - it's a really nice airport. Lines are not too long, there's plenty of flights up & down the east coast. Would be nice to have a few longer flights, but it can't be perfect.
- college sports. I'm not a big sports person, but I admit I get a kick out of the college teams around here. There are not too many places that have such great rivalries in such a compact area.
We'll be here five years in May after moving from the Phila. suburbs. We downsized from a very large home to a 2200 SF townhouse which has been the perfect size. The cost of living here is far less, I can't even begin to compare the real estate taxes but for a home the same price as the one I"m in now, I'd be paying at least 4 times what I pay here. I do plan on putting my townhouse for sale within the next couple of months. I miss having a yard with a garden and a pool so we're looking for a 3 BR/2.5 BA home with a large porch and a pool or at least the room to put a pool in.
We visit relatives every few months or so in PA since we have to go up for business so we haven't had a chance to really miss them. I've found that I hate driving in PA now, the traffic is so heavy and the drivers are rude. How could I not have realized that despite living there for so many years? I actually feel my blood pressure going down as we get closer to NC on our way home. Yes, this is now home. I wasn't sure if I'd ever feel that way about any other place other than where I grew up but we've found it here. My kids feel the same way and really enjoy the area.
The heat in the summer sucks! There is no other way to put it. However, after living in Orlando for several years, it's not that bad here and it doesn't last nearly as long as it did in Florida. I don't like hot weather so if I had my way or if we hit the lottery, I'd have a summer home in Cape Cod. Since the numbers didn't come in on my most recent lottery ticket, we'll be here another summer but hopefully with our own pool again.
The biggest positive about this area for us has been the people we come in contact with no matter what we're doing. They are much more friendly, patient and caring than I've encountered in a lot of other areas. My friends remarked about it just last week when they were visiting. They were getting directions from the cashier at the gas station and there were several people behind them. She said that she expected that people would be getting upset because the cashier was taking the time to write down all the directions, even going so far as to help her find her starting point on her IPad. She apologized for taking so long and she said that everyone in line was smiling and nodding, saying things like, "no problem", "take your time", and another couple told her to follow them since they were going in the same direction. They brought her to our street despite living about 3 miles from us. This is the type of kindness and friendliness that we can never take for granted. It's invaluable and so reassuring to know people genuinely care.
I've been here 19 years in April. Born in upstate NY, but I lived in lots of places before coming to NC. It was definitely the right move at the time, and NC has treated me pretty well. There is nothing like spring here--nothing. So beautiful. Other pluses: BBQ, free drink refills, varied geography, proximity to lots of places and some family, and job opportunities (not as many as previously, of course). Minuses: brutal summers, ticks, relatively high income taxes, sales tax on food, some degree of lingering provinciality (maybe not the right word), and Amendment One and related nonsense.
I'm not sure if I'll retire here, but I'm very glad to have called NC home for the past 2 decades.
The beautiful springs and falls don't make up for relentless humidity in summer.
I disagree completely. Spring and fall are SO gorgeous, lovely temps, blue skies, fresh air that when the oppresive heat and humidity of summer rolls around, I keep cool by A/C and the pool, and remind myself that it's only temporary...
Thinking about my favorite reasons for living here...
...
- college sports. I'm not a big sports person, but I admit I get a kick out of the college teams around here. There are not too many places that have such great rivalries in such a compact area.
Man, I loved your list, and I was with you completely until this one about "college sports." That's one thing that has always baffled me about the Triangle, and continues to. For an area that (I think) is reasonably progressive and sophisticated for its size, the ongoing popularity of the Carolina-State-Duke "thing" in football and basketball around here is mystifying. For those who are actual alumni of one of those three schools, I can sort of understand it (although I myself am an N.C. State alumnus, and could give a crap about the "rivalry"). But I frequently meet people who did not attend or have any other close connection to any of the three universities—including many people who also aren't even originally from the Triangle—yet still seem to get excited about the games, such as tonight's N.C. State-UNC men's basketball game. I just don't get it.
Maybe the key to the fondness that parkman and others feel for it is being "not a big sports person." I guess if you're not a big sports fan, and don't care that much about the actual game being played on the field or the court, then you can be charmed by some of the attendant culture. But for those of us who actually enjoy playing and watching sports, it's harder to grasp. It seems to me that if one watches an NBA or NFL game, and then turns on even a high-level college football or basketball game, it looks like slow-motion in comparison. The players all seem so small and slow and unskilled: quarterbacks who can't throw the ball to the sidelines, guards who can't hit wide-open jumpshots, etc. For me, it's hard to watch. And the charm of the "rivalry" isn't nearly charming enough to make it watchable. But to each their own.
Despite the ongoing popularity of the three big local college sports programs, at least it doesn't completely overwhelm and oppress the culture here the way college (and sometimes even high school!) football sometimes does in parts of the Deep South, Texas, and a few other places around the country. And at least we have the Carolina Hurricanes around here, at least for now. I sometimes think that if Carolina, State, and Duke weren't so popular around here, it would increase the chances of the Triangle being able to get and support an NBA or NFL team (probably not enough population to support a Major League Baseball team in the foreseeable future, as has been discussed on this forum before). But that ain't gonna happen, so it is what it is. In any case, I hope parkman and everyone else has fun with tonight's game. I'll be doing something else.
We are talking about a relocation to either Nashville or Raleigh area... Looking around these forums it seems like a lot of people consider both cities. Thanks for asking the question about the Raleigh area, it's been helpful for me to read the replies, as well. Good post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by billy55
Hello to all. I was inquiring from residents who moved here from other states their experiences from start until present. Do hou like it, do you want to move back or was this a great move.
The traffic isn't too bad -- especially compared to Nashville, mcharas -- OMG Nashville morning traffic is the worst! We get all 4 seasons here, the summers are damnably hot, yes, but some people are into that. Housing is affordable and while the job market sucks, it doesn't suck AS bad as other parts of the country. If you want to live in the middle of all the action you can ... or you can retreat to the sticks. I live in BFE and only have a 25 minute commute to work - not bad at all. Health wise, this is one of the best areas in the country to live in -- get seriously sick and you have some of the world's best doctors in your backyard.
I've said it before on this board and I'll say it again -- this is a very hard area to find friends. People are polite but they are not all that friendly. I've had to REALLY make an effort and step outside my comfort zone to find friends -- I don't think it's just me, either, I've heard the same complaint from other transplants.
That said ... moving to NC is one of the best decisions I've ever made and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.
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Good question, I was also wondering
