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It depends on where you're moving from. If you've experienced the food scene of a big city, then what's on offer in the Triangle would never be considered on of the pros of moving here. For me it's been one of the hardest adjustments after Boston. Just sayin'.
Depends on your POV. I spent just over a decade living in Cambridge, and find the best restaurants in Durham to be every bit as good as anything I could get there. OK, that's not totally true -- we still stop by Changsho for Chinese food, which is hard to come by in any quality in Durham or the Triangle. And, getting to Addis Red Sea was easier than making it to CH for Ethiopian.
But overall, the diversity, price and quality of restaurants -- and the added benefit that so many of them are chef-owned -- make me far happier in the Triangle.
OP, I grew up in Orlando, so am somewhat familiar with Tampa. I still like downtown St. Pete and have a soft spot for Sarasota, my familial home going back to the turn of the 20th c., but in general, Central Florida is a cultural and intellectual wasteland. It is the refuge of the hard-scrabblers, the economic exiles, in the modern economy every bit as much as for the Cracker cattlemen of my ancestry, not a place where life is truly enjoyed. Run, don't walk, away from TPA!
It depends on where you're moving from. If you've experienced the food scene of a big city, then what's on offer in the Triangle would never be considered on of the pros of moving here. For me it's been one of the hardest adjustments after Boston. Just sayin'.
Well, they're moving from Tampa, not Boston. Having visited Tampa and the St. Pete area I'm comfortable saying that the dining scene is at least on par, especially if you include all of the Triangle. May not be able to get as good of a Cuban sandwich, although Old Havana in Durham is quite good.
Thank you for clarifying what you meant. Yes, it does sound different, for sure. Well, I guess we will have to see. Do you think it is true to all middle schools in CH? How about the high schools? Do you have that socioeconomic gap there as well?
Actually Northern Virginia and near DC was also on our (or rather just my) list (I love Alexandria!) but my husband is against it for whatever reason so it is not an option for us. It is also a lot more expensive and we are afraid we would 't be able to afford it.
If you are moving partly due to traffic, for the love of Pete please do not move to anywhere near DC.
It depends on where you're moving from. If you've experienced the food scene of a big city, then what's on offer in the Triangle would never be considered on of the pros of moving here. For me it's been one of the hardest adjustments after Boston. Just sayin'.
I have. Poppydog is right. You haven't experienced even half of what you could have - and it's fine - but you really are incorrect.
I am not sure, of course, hence my post, but I am pretty confident that I could adjust. When we moved here 11 years ago (from NYC) there was nothing around us other than gators and cows and birds. Despite being a city girl myself, I really loved the peacefulness and the beauty that surrounded us. We still do! But our area is one of the fastest growing areas of Tampa Bay and it got supercrowded. Urban sprawl has gotten out of control and that created a ton of problems like increase in crime rate, road congestions, lot of accidents, and overcrowded schools. So hopefully, I will be able to handle the small town lifestyle, but we will see...
Chapel Hill does NOT qualify for a "small town" in that regard...traffic is really snarled to get anywhere, IMO (even though the buses are FREE!), and with so many people moving in from elsewhere, it doesn't have that "everybody knows each other and greets each other like neighbors" small-town attitude. People can be kind of transient if they work for the university and are here for a few years then move on. And, there is more htan a little bit of snobbiness due to the vastly higher education (and generally income) levels of the populace compared to anywhere else in the area, certainly no small-town mindset.
You might look into Mebane (pronounced "Mebbin"), much more small-townish, down the road from CH, or Hillsborough, north of CH, for "real" small towns. In Mebane, you'd want to be sure you were on the Orange county side for the schools, but it definitely has a "small town" atmosphere while being very close to Chapel Hill.
Chapel Hill does NOT qualify for a "small town" in that regard...traffic is really snarled to get anywhere, IMO (even though the buses are FREE!), and with so many people moving in from elsewhere, it doesn't have that "everybody knows each other and greets each other like neighbors" small-town attitude.
Boy, that has certainly not been my experience as a long time resident of Chapel Hill. Traffic is rarely ever an issue for me. I don't go on 54 bypass at rush hour or during games, but other than that I think traffic is pretty easy. It rarely takes me more than 10 minutes to get anywhere, certainly not more than 15 unless there's been an accident or something.
I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS see people I know at the grocery store and other spots about town. In fact sometimes I'm not feeling social and would rather NOT see people I know, but have to just put on my boots and grin and bear it. It's a super friendly place in my experience. And often these are new people I've met, too, not just old friends I've had a long time. People are genuinely friendly (I'm actually pretty introverted and don't particularly make a big effort in that regard either).
No to Mebane. Not what Barbus is looking for at all.
We just moved to CH last summer from a NJ suburb of NYC, having lived and eaten in London and Paris for the 10 previous years. Don't let anyone tell you that food in the triangle is not amazing...... While the variety of ethnic foods may not always be easily accessible, as in NYC, the focus on local, fresh ingredients here raises the level of cooking to something we did not often find in NYC.....
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