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My family and I are thinking about moving from southern California, where we have lived all our lives, to Cary, N.C. Will someone, besides a realtor, tell me what the weather is truly like? I'm interested in the feeling of the summer months, humidity and are bugs a problem, such as mosquitos? Is there any sense of ill-will toward Californians? How is the social, family life and the general feel of the area. I appreciate your honesty and help! Thanks so much!!
Good news - I'm not a realtor! Just someone who's lived in this area for nearly 20 years and frequently go to or through Cary. We live 25 miles south of Cary, so our weather is the same, as is pretty much all of Central N.C. Hot and muggy in the summer, typically in the 90's June-Sept., though we've hit that mark as early as April or May, and I remember a Thanksgiving about 14 years ago where it was close to 90 so it's fluky. But you can count on at least 5 months of hot, humid weather. I had family in So. Calif and visited at various times of year out there, and I can tell you the weather is nothing like here. The humidity that you have sometimes in the summer (I think my cousin called it "marine" weather or something similar) doesn't even come close. Even after all this time, I will find it hard to breathe on occasion - and I'm healthy and not old! The best way to describe the humidity is sticky and muggy. If you have allergies (I don't, but know plenty of people who do) you will suffer!! Early Spring (March & April) are beautiful with lots of flowers blooming. Fall is also nice with leaves changing color and more agreeable temps. Winter is variable - no snow to speak of the last couple of years, but we have had a couple of significant snow storms over the past dozen years, with 6+ inches. Even if only a couple of inches fall, everything will shut down, and the kids love it b/c they will get out of school until the buses can run on all rural roads so that can mean a week in most cases. Even if it snows, the winters are short and decent weather by March.
Cary is known by NC natives as "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees", if that tells you anything. But I think the main dislike of newcomers seems to be directed toward NY/NJ folks sometimes perceived as "loud" types, and not as much toward Midwesterner's (like myself) & Westerner's whom I think are considered less offensive for some reason. We're just plain old Yankees, as opposed to obnoxious Yankees as I've gathered from some of my native NC friends. (By the way, anyone not originally from the South is a Yankee... I've wondered if that includes people from Hawaii??) Bottom line, some people will welcome you, others won't.
Cary is very crowded and suburban with lots of traffic and construction, strip malls and chain stores/restaurants, but you are used to that in So. Calif so if you want more of the same you will definitely find it here. If you move away from the Raleigh/Cary/Apex/Fuquay area a bit, you can still find some nice towns. (I can suggest a few if you'd like). There are pros and cons to every place, so it depends what you are looking for or what's bringing you here. Go online and read the Raleigh News & Observer to get a better feel for the area.
If you have kids, beware that no place in Wake county is immune from frequent redistricting, so don't let a realtor tell you that your kids will go to such and such a school b/c that can change year to year, unless you go private.
Thank you for your quick and honest response. You are correct in stating our marine layer, accompanied with the comparison of a "but it's a dry heat" when it's hot, we are not use to humidity. We are looking for a lifestyle change, one that is not so hurried, lesser traffic than ours, which is horriffic. I would like to get back to a lifestyle that is not so material based, one with not keeping up with the Joneses. I do have a high school aged child, so that is interesting. Havn't found that info before, even when checking the school district info. Any other information regarding neighborhoods would be appreciated. Thanks again, take care--
Good news - I'm not a realtor! Just someone who's lived in this area for nearly 20 years and frequently go to or through Cary. We live 25 miles south of Cary, so our weather is the same, as is pretty much all of Central N.C. Hot and muggy in the summer, typically in the 90's June-Sept., though we've hit that mark as early as April or May, and I remember a Thanksgiving about 14 years ago where it was close to 90 so it's fluky. But you can count on at least 5 months of hot, humid weather. I had family in So. Calif and visited at various times of year out there, and I can tell you the weather is nothing like here. The humidity that you have sometimes in the summer (I think my cousin called it "marine" weather or something similar) doesn't even come close. Even after all this time, I will find it hard to breathe on occasion - and I'm healthy and not old! The best way to describe the humidity is sticky and muggy. If you have allergies (I don't, but know plenty of people who do) you will suffer!! Early Spring (March & April) are beautiful with lots of flowers blooming. Fall is also nice with leaves changing color and more agreeable temps. Winter is variable - no snow to speak of the last couple of years, but we have had a couple of significant snow storms over the past dozen years, with 6+ inches. Even if only a couple of inches fall, everything will shut down, and the kids love it b/c they will get out of school until the buses can run on all rural roads so that can mean a week in most cases. Even if it snows, the winters are short and decent weather by March.
Cary is known by NC natives as "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees", if that tells you anything. But I think the main dislike of newcomers seems to be directed toward NY/NJ folks sometimes perceived as "loud" types, and not as much toward Midwesterner's (like myself) & Westerner's whom I think are considered less offensive for some reason. We're just plain old Yankees, as opposed to obnoxious Yankees as I've gathered from some of my native NC friends. (By the way, anyone not originally from the South is a Yankee... I've wondered if that includes people from Hawaii??) Bottom line, some people will welcome you, others won't.
Cary is very crowded and suburban with lots of traffic and construction, strip malls and chain stores/restaurants, but you are used to that in So. Calif so if you want more of the same you will definitely find it here. If you move away from the Raleigh/Cary/Apex/Fuquay area a bit, you can still find some nice towns. (I can suggest a few if you'd like). There are pros and cons to every place, so it depends what you are looking for or what's bringing you here. Go online and read the Raleigh News & Observer to get a better feel for the area.
If you have kids, beware that no place in Wake county is immune from frequent redistricting, so don't let a realtor tell you that your kids will go to such and such a school b/c that can change year to year, unless you go private.
MariGirl ... Like MMB, I'm thing of moving to NC also. I lived in So.Cal until I was 38, and now live around Portland, OR. So, I appreciate very much the descriptive insight between Calif. humidity & NC humidity; it certainly helps an out-of-state person with perspective. Since, I have asthma, could you explain a little more about why the muggy humidity triggers allergies?
Also, MMB asked about bugs, & I'm curious not just about NC bugs, but also the snakes I hear so much about. There's not much of a bug problem in Oregon, but even the best of homes, could have cockroach problems in L.A. That just use to creep me out!!!! As I read some of the NC posts, it seems as if running into very large bugs & a hugh snake population is just a common occurrence in most areas of NC. Is that true??!? Would you please, use your CA knowledge to offer a comparison here? Thank you, (another) Mari
MariGirl, I am also looking for a small town outside of Raleigh. My husband is possiblity starting a job in the Garner area so am interested in some small town living south of there. Can you recommend any friendly, laid back towns? Something away from the hustle and bustle Oh, and I do have horses so, horse country would be great! thank you!
My family and I are thinking about moving from southern California, where we have lived all our lives, to Cary, N.C. Will someone, besides a realtor, tell me what the weather is truly like? I'm interested in the feeling of the summer months, humidity and are bugs a problem, such as mosquitos? Is there any sense of ill-will toward Californians? How is the social, family life and the general feel of the area. I appreciate your honesty and help! Thanks so much!!
Weather in the summer is hot and humid. Good news is that electricity is much cheaper, so running the air conditioner won't put you in the poorhouse.
Rain is very unpredictable. It can be a sunny summer day, in the 90's, and all of a sudden it will cloud over and rain like crazy for 20 minutes, then the sun will come back out. Very strange if you're used to So.Cal.
Bugs. We have every size and shape known. Most of them are smaller than Volkswagens. Depening on your area, you may have ot's of misquitioes. Stock up on Off and citronella candles. If it wasn't for misquitioes, we wouldn't get to watch the bats do thier nightly feeding.
The social life is good, if you like people who care more about their families than their new BMW.
I really don't want to split hairs, but I can't help but point this out... Can we pls say NYC or LI and not simply NY when complaining about those notoriously rude transplants? NY is a big state and the majority of it is more like NC than not. Being from upstate NY and having lived in Raleigh before, my hairs bristle a bit when I am lumped in with that stereotype on these boards and in person from others unfamiliar with NY. I don't expect the average person to already understand that, just illuminating. If one cares to know, Central, Western and Upper NY are like a different planet than the much smaller by scale, but more populous southern parts.
Also, Raleigh, etc., is not So/No. CA minus the materialism, and sprinkle a little humidity. we live in a consumerist culture, it's everywhere, just more obvious where there is more $ like parts of CA. it will be more apparent in say, cary than clayton. 3 of my siblings live in CA: hermosa bch, long bch and mill valley. I know that they would not like NC, except maybe asheville. NC lifestyle is much more conservative than u may imagine. They are surprised I am leaving Boston to move to Raleigh, they joke I will be soon voting republican and home-schooling my kids.
So. CA weather is the best in the country, maybe the world. u won't have it as good anywhere else. if u go with that attitude, u won't be dissapointed.
I really don't want to split hairs, but I can't help but point this out... Can we pls say NYC or LI and not simply NY when complaining about those notoriously rude transplants? NY is a big state and the majority of it is more like NC than not. Being from upstate NY and having lived in Raleigh before, my hairs bristle a bit when I am lumped in with that stereotype on these boards and in person from others unfamiliar with NY. I don't expect the average person to already understand that, just illuminating. If one cares to know, Central, Western and Upper NY are like a different planet than the much smaller by scale, but more populous southern parts.
I understand you. It drives me nuts too when folks discuss things like weather, education, growth, employment and crime in NC when they really are talking about those aspects of NC life as it pertains to Raleigh or Charlotte. It's really confusing to out-of-staters. They all seem to think the NC summers are hot and humid and that the schools are overcrowded. The cities in the NC Mountain Region have about as much in common with Charlotte and Raleigh as Glens Falls, NY has with NYC.
MariGirl, I am also looking for a small town outside of Raleigh. My husband is possiblity starting a job in the Garner area so am interested in some small town living south of there. Can you recommend any friendly, laid back towns? Something away from the hustle and bustle Oh, and I do have horses so, horse country would be great! thank you!
Consider looking south of Garner:
1) Clayton - still some small town feel to it, though growing by leaps and bounds with people driving into Raleigh.
2) Look on a map and follow 401 S. Some open land b/w Fuquay and Lillington, and Lillington is definitely still a small town.
3) Look on the map again and follow 42 b/w Fuquay and Sanford. Some nice open areas there as well.
4) A trek, but really nice horse country further south in Moore County around So. Pines. That would be at least an hour commute using back roads, but that area is known for horse farms and an annual Steeplechase.
I live in Lee County - Sanford, and know many people who ride and keep horses either on Lee County land or Moore county.
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Thank you for your kind help--
Oh, and I do have horses so, horse country would be great! thank you!
A side note
NY is a big state and the majority of it is more like NC than not. Being from upstate NY and having lived in Raleigh before, my hairs bristle a bit when I am lumped in with that stereotype on these boards and in person from others unfamiliar with NY. I don't expect the average person to already understand that, just illuminating. If one cares to know, Central, Western and Upper NY are like a different planet than the much smaller by scale, but more populous southern parts.
