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I have a question about the overall sense of community in the Raleigh area. I understand that a large percentage of the Raleigh population are transplants, but do people come in and adapt to the local area or do they try to make the local area adapt to make it like where they came from?
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and now live in S. FL and am considering moving to NC for all the other reasons people give. What I really don’t like about S. FL is what I perceive is the lack of an overall sense of community. It seems everyone comes to S. Florida and tries to make it like where they came from instead of bringing a piece of where they came from and make a new community with everyone’s little piece of their own heritage.
One thing I really hate is to go to a local sporting event and when a NY team comes to town ½ the fans rooting for the NY team (Not a NY bash, just an observation). As I said, I grew up in Chicago as a die hard sports fan, but I am firm believer of supporting local teams and doing what I can do to be part of my new area instead of trying to make it the area I came from and then complain when it’s exactly not like where I was.
So just wanted a perspective of people living there now and the natives, are the transplants melding into the community or trying to overtake it? If the transplants are trying to overtake it I might as well save myself the moving expense and disenchantment and stay here.
Good question. I live near the Lake Norman area in North Carolina. I have seen an unbelievably population explosion here in recent years. Its the type of development that if your gone from home for a few months time and come back, some new shopping center or housing development has popped up.
I travel down Sam Furr Rd in Huntersville and I have seen some the rudest drivers ever. I know they are everywhere, but not until recently have I seen people cut others off, run redlights (2 or 3 seconds after their light turned red) tailgate, etc...
If you ask the locals, its the unchecked growth and all its brings. The traffic, the overcrowded schools, closing of old shops you grew up with to make room for the Walmart. But I always hear the same thing from newcomers "its not as bad as NY or NJ, you have it easy down here."
The Charlotte Observer recently reported that 80,000 people moved here to the Charlotte area alone from 2005 to 2006!
As been posted before, people dont automatically change their attitudes or driving habits the minute they cross the state line. Cary, Mooresville, Huntersville, are not a reflection of NC. Many people post that they are looking for change, but I think they are really looking for cheaper way of life more than anything. Just my thoughts...
My current advice for those relocating here is the three 'O's : Overpriced, overcrowded, over-hyped!
The strongest sense of community will be in the smaller towns, you know, the ones everyone on here is looking for but will never move there.
You will not get the small town atmosphere you are looking for searching in towns that are overun by newcomers. Take a road trip down here and drive the backroads where the true North Carolina still exists, not some city that was listed in a magazine.
There is very little sense of community in the triangle area and that alone is by far the thing I dislike most about it. Half the people here are form someplace else and there is no real "assimilation". People from New York tend to congregate in subdivisions around other people from New York; and the same thing goes for people from NJ, CA and now Florida as well. This is especially true in the North Raleigh and Cary areas; which are two of the most pretentious and homogenious places I've ever been (I've also lived in both of those areas). Some of the smaller towns like Holly Springs, Fuquay, and Apex, where I currently live, have more of a sense of community; but it's getting lost fast with the huge population growth. If you don't like Florida because you think it is too much of a transient community; you won't find any of the major metro areas in NC to be much different at all.
Carolina-Native - You mentioned attitudes and behaviors don't necessarily change once people cross the state line, but based on your experience do you see people adapting at all if not just slowly. Of course old habits are hard to break, but do the transplants you encounter seem they might ease into a new lifestyle or is it impossible to remove the fast paced city-life from them?
i'minformed - How's Youngsville (in your opinion)?. My buddy lives there and I have been there a couple times and I like that area. He is a transplant himself from the Chicago area and he really likes it there, but like I said he's not a native and I like to get home-grown people's opinion since their perspective is unique and they have seen how the changes affect the area.
If I may put my 2 cents into this thread-I think the sense of community is being lost everywhere. People generally just don't take the time to care about what goes on around them. My family is the type that welcomes new neighbors to the area with some type of offering, like a plant or bottle of wine, it breaks the ice and starts developing a sense of looking out for each other. I wish more people were like that.
My feeling is that you get that sense of community more in your own neighborhhood. My neighborhood isn't that large but we do a 4th of July pot luck dinner and we try to get together around Christmas time. I find that kids seem to draw most people out, you'll meet adults through your kids and hopefully will develope bonds in that way. Church is also a way of meeting people, as I'm sure there are others.
Having clients here this weekend, we drove through Long Lake in North Raleigh. The neighborhood was having a "Fall Fest". There were tons of kids and families, with games, clowns, etc. In a large neighborhood such as Long Lake, I think its a great way to meet your neighbors.
i'minformed - How's Youngsville (in your opinion)?. My buddy lives there and I have been there a couple times and I like that area. He is a transplant himself from the Chicago area and he really likes it there, but like I said he's not a native and I like to get home-grown people's opinion since their perspective is unique and they have seen how the changes affect the area.
I'm not a native either. I'm originally from Upstate NY and am moving back in the near future. Youngsville, which I believe is in Granville county, is not an area I'm too familiar with. I'd imagine that it's not nearly as "transplant oriented" as other areas of the triangle though.
Carolina-Native - You mentioned attitudes and behaviors don't necessarily change once people cross the state line, but based on your experience do you see people adapting at all if not just slowly. Of course old habits are hard to break, but do the transplants you encounter seem they might ease into a new lifestyle or is it impossible to remove the fast paced city-life from them?
Hard to say. I was on Hwy 150 going thru Mooresville today for lunch and the traffic was terrible, but it was Sunday after church at lunch time...I thought you know there are times you almost cant help but get irritated at every other driver on the road, no matter where you are from. Some just pull right out in front of you, but the again you almost have to just to get on the roadway. Naturally horns blow.
Driving habits are probably the hardest to break.
As far as attitude in general, most people are nice and decent, but thats as far as it goes. You just arent in a small town where you see the same people time and time again, every face is just another in the crowd.
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