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Hi - I'm looking to go back to school, possibly at one of the universities in the Triangle area. We are looking to permanently relocate from Northern Virginia. We have young kids who will be starting school soon. There is much that we like about our area now (bike trails, walkability to schools/parks/restaurants/shops, many cultural activities for all ages, great farmers market and CSAs, etc). But I hate how intense people are. The schools are described as pressured cookers and have a competitive gifted program that kids must test into. People can be rude on the roads and in lines at the stores. While neighbors are friendly many of them are gone 12+ hours/day which takes away from the sense of community. And so on. So - is the Triangle Area more laid back than this? Has anyone relocated from NoVa and can compare the two? Many thanks in advance for any responses!
Hi ffxlady - IMO, the Triangle is more laid back than the DC area (if that's where you mean by NoVa). In regards to family and a sense of community, I think that is what people like about it here...that is, that people are generally neighborly, there are a lots of family-friendly activities to do, and you don't necessarily have to kill yourself to make a decent living (not just talking about # of hours worked, but commute time, traffic, overall hecticness and so on).
I used to live in the DC area and I don't think generally that there's as much to do here; however, from a family activity standpoint I think there's plenty (and lots of nice outdoor spaces here). I think we've got most of the major shopping options (not necessarily the super luxury brands but just about everything else), nice restaurants and a growing cultural base with sports, theater, music, and so on.
You should come down for a long weekend and check it out! We have a great Arts festival in two weekends from now (Artsplosure) and it gives a nice taste of what our downtown has to offer.
If you live over in Cary or thereabouts it's basically a mini-DC/NYC. Go out further and yes it's much more relaxed. I work out of DC but commute from Raleigh weekly, I could never live up there.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I just moved here from Vienna last year, Fairfax Lady! No, it is not nearly as uptight around here, at least not here in Chapel Hill. I don't see or hear about AAP or similar gifted craziness around here. There is no dcurbanmom or crazy comparable site that I know of. It's is much less crowded, less traffic, less competitive, less expensive, etc. I think because people don't commute an hour+ to work each day, sit in horrendous traffic day after day, or have to move far out to live, they have more relaxation time here in the Triangle as well as more money in their pocket. Oh, and not paying $600K for a 1950's ranch house helps, too! And while salaries are lower here, the ratio of housing cost to pay is probably much lower here, too. People seem less stressed and not as type A as in the DC area.
One of the most significant differences I found after moving here is how "not-crowded" places are. This always seems to surprise me. I go into a restaurant and there's not a 1-hour wait. I park in the 3rd space from the door at the supermarket. We go to festivals and you can park relatively nearby. There are people there but not crazy crowds. The stores are much emptier. I went into Chuck E. Cheese in Durham for the first time last weekend. I walked in and wondered where all the people were! And also wondered how much revenue they generate here. Have you ever been to the Chuck E. Cheese in Fairfax? It is an absolute crazy zoo every day of the week there - no parking spots available on Saturday, etc. This one in Durham was like going to a spa in comparison. Costco in Durham is like a ghost town compared to the one in Fairfax (I think the Fairfax one is the busiest one in the country). The difference in population is very noticeable to me.
The area surrounding the cities of Durham and Raleigh becomes rural very quickly, so the distance from the inner-city core and the surrounding suburbs to the country are very short. And the land, every available tract of land has not been developed as in Fairfax. It is unbelieveable to see how much land is here. I think this contributes to the laid-back feel of the area. There are a lot of natural, outdoor activities here and plenty of activities for the children like soccer leagues and swim teams.
The schools are much less crowded (again here in CH) compared to Fairfax County. My kids in kindergarten and 2nd grade have a teacher and an assisstant for their class of about 22 students! In FCPS, only kindergarten classes had an assistant. Even my 5th grader has an assistant that her class shares with one other class. Class size is smaller. My daughter's 5th grade class has 26 kids, which seems to be about the max compared to I think 31 in FCPS.
Having said that, DC and its environs are an exciting place to live. Living in the nation's capital is an experience that I could not replicate easily. Playing softball in the shadow of the Washington Monument, working on Pennsylvania Avenue and visiting the Smithsonians on my lunch break, watching the inauguration parade from my office building, taking the Metro downtown on Independence Day to watch the fireworks, having dozens of restaurants in my small suburban town, having my kids attend school with children from over 40 countries, hearing Rolling Thunder go by each year, heading downtown on a moment's notice to visit the European embassies at their annual open house, driving downtown at night to see the monuments lit up, having neighbors who have lived all over world with the state department, watching tourists with their mouths gaping open when they see the White House for the first time, Wegman's (ha!), going downtown to see the Christmas trees decorated from all 50 states, being able to hop on a train to go to NYC, and living outside one of the most, if not the most, important cities in the world are among all of the many things I miss about living in the DC area.
If you want a less congested, more laid-back, less expensive lifestyle but still with plenty of things to do and are happy not living in a major metropolitan area, you will like it here. Feel free to ask me any other questions.
Well...I'd imagine that depends where you work. I don't think you'll find employer expectations drastically different here for the same job. Perhaps the problem is less your location and more your career/employer?
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Sorry, I cannot help with that as I am currently a SAHM. As I said earlier, there seem to be fewer type A people here. And the first words out of people's mouths are not, "whatdo you do?" How that translates into work hours I do not know.
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