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After seeing a few of these threads about people never leaving their "base" town(s) I felt like I needed to interject an observation and then a story. It seems like the strategy in NC is to make it so nobody ever has to leave their immediate town for anything. For example, I live in Holly Springs. There are at least 5 Walmart stores within 20 miles. One in Apex, another off of Tryon Rd in Cary, another in Holly Springs, another in FV and the last one in Garner on 401 headed towards downtown from FV.
When we visited here in 2003 we stayed near Crossroads Plaza in Cary. My friend's brother owned a restaurant in Knightdale, so we went there to check out his restaurant. We made conversation with quite a few folks while there, one thing that really stood out to us is that there were some people that told us they hadn't been to Cary in 10+ years. After we left, my wife & I thought Cary is only 20 or so minutes from Knightdale and we thought it was extremely weird that people hadn't been 20 minutes outside of Knightdale in 10+ years. Where we are from in CNY, it's nothing to drive 20-30 minutes to go somewhere.
I moved here from Fayetteville and also think it's weird.
I moved here from Fayetteville and also think it's weird.
Why ? I live less than 10 minutes from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, a major mall, and lots of great restaurants (both chain and mom-pop) ..... why would I venture to Cary/Apex/Holly Springs/Clayton/Knightdale etc unless there is something to draw me there. I do go to Durham to see the Bull's and shows at the DPAC but what short of a leisurely Sunday drive would draw me to those other places. Come to think of it we use to do just that 30 years ago but that was before these 'little places' became congested with their own traffic.
I moved here 7 months ago from Nashville, TN.
1) The beautiful trees. I had no idea Raleigh was the "City of Oaks" until I moved here.
2) Thunderstorms aren't as bad here compared to TN. They seem to fizzle out mostly before they reach Raleigh.
3) How much driving I have to do. Everything is 20-30 minutes from me, but I live in Clayton. I have to go to Smithfield or Garner for most chain stores.
4) How many transplants live here. I've only met 1 person who was born and raised here.
5) No gutters on houses. Never saw a house without gutters in TN or GA where I grew up.
1- people are friendly and open to new friendships
2- people are not as angry, surly and cranky as where I came from
3- everything is new and clean
4- people are much more active
5- fall and winter are friggin' awesome
6- cars down here do not come with turn signals
7- biscuits!
Why ? I live less than 10 minutes from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, a major mall, and lots of great restaurants (both chain and mom-pop) ..... why would I venture to Cary/Apex/Holly Springs/Clayton/Knightdale etc unless there is something to draw me there. I do go to Durham to see the Bull's and shows at the DPAC but what short of a leisurely Sunday drive would draw me to those other places. Come to think of it we use to do just that 30 years ago but that was before these 'little places' became congested with their own traffic.
You don't have to go to them all the time, but I just find it weird to live any where for years and not venture to any of the surrounding towns for any reason. There are always food spots worth checking out. Had delicious goat burger at the general store in Saxapahaw, Always find nice spot to try out in Chapel Hill, since it's 24 hours, went to go check out 21c Museum hotel in Durham in the middle of the am, The Phoenix Bakery in downtown Pittsboro is absolutely delicious, Hillsborough has some pretty good restaurants too and it's riverwalk is a cool place to chill and eat something from weaver st. market, etc etc. I get it that a lot of stuff is already at each person's area, but there are things that are not, and worth checking out from time time. For years to go by and not check out nothing is weird to me.
First thing I noticed was how obsessed everyone is with sports. "Carolina blue" is a completely legitimate description for a shade of blue around here, and so is "Dukie blue" to a lesser extent.
I've also noticed people don't seem to leave their areas very often. My friend in Cary has lived here for 3 years but has never been to Chapel Hill. On the flip side, I've been in the Triangle for 1 year now exactly, moved to Durham for the first 10 months now in Carrboro and the only times I've been to Cary have been to meet him at Crossroads or at a restaurant. I still go to Durham often and even Raleigh sometimes too, was just in downtown to eat at Tir Na Nog which was AWESOME I love that freakin place man.
This is more of a North Carolina thing than a Triangle thing, but a lot of people don't really seem to know much about other areas of this state. At least the people I've run into. Girl I was with the other night who lives in Graham, was talking to her about the Renaissance Festival in Huntersville, well I asked her where is Huntersville? I already knew it was outside of Charlotte just wanted to see if she knew, and she giggled and said she had no idea. Was talking to my buddy from Cary at work the other day about the Lexington BBQ Festival and he said hm, where is Lexington? I had to tell him in between Charlotte and Greensboro. My ex girlfriend from Hoke and Moore County had no idea what the "Research Triangle Park" was when I told her of my new job there. It's just sort of bizarre.
I assumed that since this was considered the research and tech triangle that we would have better or at least the same sort of internet service that we had in Tampa.
Ha! Wrong..... it seems odd to me that Time Warner is the main cable internet co and is so rubbish.
In regards to people not leaving the area, it also sounds strange to me at first. I visit a lot of different towns where I live for restaurants but also events like street fairs. Considering where I live now (Long Island) is very much a driving area, not walking area, I'd think it would be similar to Raleigh but I guess not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenspott07
5) No gutters on houses. Never saw a house without gutters in TN or GA where I grew up.
This is foreign to me. Why not? Because the red clay makes water run off rather than get absorbed into the soil at the base of the house?
Loving this thread to get a 'feel' for the area.
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