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As everyone has indicated, public transportation here is not that great. So if I were moving to Durham, I would choose to live near the center of town where there are a number of renovated tobacco warehouses that usually have cool apartments that you can rent or sublet. From a center city apartment you can easily walk to great restaurants, entertainment, shopping and, of course, to Duke the city's major employer. This is a bicycle friendly city and for quite a few people it's their major form of transportation. We have taxis and Uber here; taxis are reliable, but I haven't read such great reviews of Uber.
Crime. Of course, there is some crime in Durham, but as far as I'm concerned, not a worry. Look at the crime statistics for an area before you buy or rent. They're pretty revealing.
I agree with what others have said about finding a job without an advanced degree. I think one of the reasons this is especially true in the Triangle is that there are many, many PhD's who arrive with spouses with advanced degrees who are competing for jobs. Some start off as house-spouses, but most eventually want to get back in the job market and by then know their way around this relatively small town. They have developed a network and so hear about potential vacancies before they even occur. I don't mean to discourage you - though I probably have - because there is a great deal of turnover in population here and thus frequent job vacancies.
Give Durham a try. It's an exciting place to live. Always something going on. I love it here.
I've been here in Durham for about two and a half years, I live in the low-rent side of town, and I've never seen an area that I would consider crimey or scary. The panhandlers around Village shopping center can be annoying but that's about as bad as it gets.
If you're from the Rust Belt this will be like Disneyland to you.
I'm from Chicago proper. There's nowhere in Durham that concerns me for crime in comparison. It still doesn't mean I'm not careful at night if I'm alone. Overall I'd pick Durham any day over Raleigh & even Chapel Hill.
Good luck w/the job hunt. Indeed.com and craigslist would be good to get moving on as close to your move as possible.
I'm flexible as far as jobs , but don't want to be in retail anymore. I've looked at jobs and such to get some idea. It doesn't seem as bad as NYC where it's very competitive to even get an entry level job.
I'm from Chicago proper. There's nowhere in Durham that concerns me for crime in comparison. It still doesn't mean I'm not careful at night if I'm alone. Overall I'd pick Durham any day over Raleigh & even Chapel Hill.
Good luck w/the job hunt. Indeed.com and craigslist would be good to get moving on as close to your move as possible.
Respectfully, I'm NYC born and raised. I could wend my way through the five boroughs using every available back road, cut-through and alley way to get from Point A to Point B; I routinely traveled through some of the very worst neighborhoods that exist anywhere. And when we drive to see a Bulls game and take Hwy 98 driving west, that part of Durham makes me think to lock my doors and not get too close to the car in front of me at a red light in case I need to pull out quickly.
Little bit skeptical of your claim to have experienced the dangerous areas of NYC. I didn't just walk through those neighborhoods , I lived in Brooklyn in the early 90s (think back to crack induced crime wave ) . No part of Durham is comparable. I take my chances in Durham any day of week in any section of town compared to some parts of NYC (Red Hook, Bed Stuy...etc).
Little bit skeptical of your claim to have experienced the dangerous areas of NYC. I didn't just walk through those neighborhoods , I lived in Brooklyn in the early 90s (think back to crack induced crime wave ) . No part of Durham is comparable. I take my chances in Durham any day of week in any section of town compared to some parts of NYC (Red Hook, Bed Stuy...etc).
Agree completely. Comparing going to a Bulls game to the worst parts of NYC? Thats ridiculous.
I have worked in Newark NJ for over 40 years in a fairly safe area known as the Ironbound section and I have had my car broken into numerous times hubcaps stolen in broad daylight the whole nine yards. And this after the area has gone from an area with older homes and factories of one kind or another to nearly all new two family construction.
To compare the ghetto of Durham for the lack of a better word to some of those areas up North is ridiculous. Doesn't mean I would walk around at 2 in the morning alone though.
I have worked in Newark NJ for over 40 years in a fairly safe area known as the Ironbound section and I have had my car broken into numerous times hubcaps stolen in broad daylight the whole nine yards. And this after the area has gone from an area with older homes and factories of one kind or another to nearly all new two family construction.
To compare the ghetto of Durham for the lack of a better word to some of those areas up North is ridiculous. Doesn't mean I would walk around at 2 in the morning alone though.
Yup. Went to college in Newark, drove through some pretty intense scenes daily, live in Durham now, Durham has nothing comparable. I regret not buying in downtown Durham and am not sure I can even afford to now.
NYC2RDU did seem to mean a specific part of Durham around Hwy 98, and I admit I haven't driven out that way that often, but I don't remember anything being all that sketchy?
OP don't worry about Durham, focus on the job. I was warned away from it too and am glad I didn't listen. Other towns are fine, but if someone's going to work in Durham it's a very good idea to live there.
OP, it is tough to compare cities in the North to a city like Durham because the cities in the South that are similar are going to be bigger in terms of land. Meaning, outer city Durham is likened to first or even second ring suburbs in similar Northern cities. Just take a look at land area of different cities to see what I am saying and annexation law differences play a part in this. This in turn can effect things like crime and poverty rates, as well as other stats, when comparing different cities.
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