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I am a genuine friendly person looking for a good place to settle down. I can assure everyone here that I have no expectations at all I just observe and try and take it all in and go from there. I'm going based on my needs and of course Jobs/economy. Visiting is obviously going to be a priority also, as I don't plan on jumping ship blindly. I already made a move across the country and experienced that so planning and making sure it's the right move is important to me.
There are not too many places in the U.S I would consider but the criteria I look at when I do are
- Weather (risks, storms, extreme conditions)
- Economy (cities where I can make a decent salary and where design and tech are prominent)
- Affordable housing
- Safety
- Culture
- Friendliness
- Distance away from family (this is one of the MAIN reasons why NC is so appealing to us since family is 8 hours away)
Colorado, Austin TX and NC where the 3 top contenders based on all of the above..but obviously the other two are far away and can get extreme weather..Not excluding NC with the hurricanes and all of that.
The main challenge here for me and the job and living situation would be that I do not know where I would be working so I have no clue where to look. All I know is Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Charlotte. If I do not land a job before moving (If I move) then the plan would be to air bnb it until I find something then move somewhere close to where work is. Most companies never hire or relocate people from other states..so it gets frustrating when people say "get a job first" "come with a job" yeah that would absolute be ideal but is it always practical? I was just going to save about 20k and live off that while searching.
I may look at zillow and just take down some addresses and see what towns they are in to get a better idea and then visit a bunch when I come down.
Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
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You don't have children yet so it's a good time to make a change. It's one thing to have it rough it with a partner, it's another once it's a family. It's a conundrum with the job or relocation first,I get it. But I will say thousands of people move here every month it seems so it's doable ,one way or another. If you know LA isn't where you want to be its best to get moving while the highway is open and the baggage is light. GOOD LUCK.
You're right, I haven't been there, but I do watch the news every day. I also just moved away from a high crime area so my antennae are up. I don't want to deal with that anymore, not even a little bit. And note that I said Durham seems nice and I plan on spending time there to get to know it better. But I also never wanted to live in Baltimore even though it has some really cool neighborhoods for the exact same reason.
Comparing Durham to Baltimore is pretty extreme.....
I like the Triangle a lot, but every time I voice a concern, there's a pile on. Still waiting for that Southern Hospitality. You are required to shake those pom poms high here.
I like the Triangle a lot, but every time I voice a concern, there's a pile on. Still waiting for that Southern Hospitality. You are required to shake those pom poms high here.
What does southern hospitality have to do with asking you to back up statements you make about a place you admit you've never even set foot in?
I honestly don't know where to look because of how NC is layed out..I have no idea where I would find a job or get an offer to base my location off of. I just go off what I see and hear online and everyone points to these places. Durham was 1st but I noticed it had a bunch of ghettos..here in LA we do but it's sprawl and isolated so you are never there unless you have to be.
I'm gravitating naturally to wherever I can be closer to the central point of where the work is. It seem like that is the issue though, there is no central point like here in LA or NYC. Most of the jobs here are on what is called the "west side"
If you need a "Central point", the Triangle is kinda of inside-out from that, unless you manage to get on in RTP (mostly tech). We are 2 small/medium cities and accompanying bedroom towns that are clutered together, as opposed to a "central city" in the bull's eye of everything.
I do wish the "Durham is crime-ridden" meme would go away; it was like that 20 years ago but has cleaned up amazingly; just yesterday I went to Durham (I live in Raleigh) to see yet another Broadway touring show in their fantastic fine arts center, which has left Raleigh's fading one in the dust as far as theatre shows go. Right nearby there is a minor league baseball park and a former tobacco warehouse now made into one of the coolest places in town (which also has a top-notch advertising agency there, McKinney-Silver, since you're a designer). Duke University and Gardens are gorgeous--it's mostly the east/southeast side of Durham that can be sketchy, but name me a city that doesn't have its sketchy side (Raleigh most certainly does, also the SE part) and I'll be surprised. Go to Google streetview and look around the American Tobacco Campus and Duke East Campus and West Campus--nothing "ghetto" there. Lots of loft buildings and new apartments going up right in the heart of the "new" downtown.
Thanks Francois, that was pretty helpful. I'd send my resume to McKinney for sure..ah the agency life lol. Thanks for that! I guess it all depends where I get a job offer or land a job. Is it to far to commute from Raleigh to Durham / vice versa for work?
Durham doesn't feel dangerous at all to me, but I don't live there, so I can't really give you a complete analysis of the crime rate. I will say this though, you need to visit to really get a good feel for the Triangle area. I decided to move to Raleigh. It has a perfect blend of everything imo. A lot of people on this forum talk down about it, but there's a reason why it's the biggest city in the Triangle by a good margin, and also the fastest growing. Bigger doesn't mean better though, so you should visit and get a feel for it yourself.
I like the Triangle a lot, but every time I voice a concern, there's a pile on. Still waiting for that Southern Hospitality. You are required to shake those pom poms high here.
Some people on this forum can be very sensitive sometimes lol. I was attacked my very first post on here. I agree with you on Downtown Raleigh though. It's one of the reasons I live here.
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