Finally moved from Buenos Aires, high schools, housing, social life? (Raleigh: rental, condo)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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After years of savings and dreams, we´re finally relocating to the US, hopefully to the Chapel Hill area,or Wake County where we are right now (we rented for a few days a house in Brier Creek area)
As we came with a teenager we´re looking for high schools and already furnished houses to rent, being these two the parameters for our decision as where to relocate.
So if you please would you help us by commenting on
1. What do people do along weekends in these places? We come from a very big city and although we love the trees and silence at some point we may need something different? (We hope we can make new friends!)
2. If you had the possibilty, why would you choose to send your kid to certain school instead of another? Only the rating?
3. What would be a reasonable rent (to start) for this area, for a temporary rent for a furnished 2+bed/3+bed house or condo?
Location: River's Edge Inn, Todd NC, and Lorgues France
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[quote=RuthieMoves;47101876]Hi there!
After years of savings and dreams, we´re finally relocating to the US, hopefully to the Chapel Hill area,or Wake County where we are right now (we rented for a few days a house in Brier Creek area)
As we came with a teenager we´re looking for high schools and already furnished houses to rent, being these two the parameters for our decision as where to relocate.
So if you please would you help us by commenting on
1. What do people do along weekends in these places? We come from a very big city and although we love the trees and silence at some point we may need something different? (We hope we can make new friends!) quote]
I am sure many of us dream about visiting an exciting city like Buenos Aires.
What do you like to do in Buenos Aries on the weekends? I lived in Los Angeles briefly and I can do pretty much the same things here as I did there. Go listen to some music, get together with friends, go to the beach (takes longer than it did in LA because I lived right at the beach).
You name it, people probably do it for fun, although for mountains or beach, you'll have to travel a few hours. What did YOU used to do? I'm sure you can find it here.
Where is your job located? That will dictate where you want to live. Chapel Hill has the "best" schools in the area but is also the most expensive.
More detail on what you're looking for would help narrow down choices.
As others have said, you will likely be able to do much of what you did back in Buenos Aires, perhaps with a little less choice...
On your question about a furnished house: when I was planning my move, at one point I thought about a furnished place (when I was thinking to rent for a while). I did not find much that I liked. Many things were either very student-oriented, or short-term places paid by companies for their relocating staff.
If you have a good relocation package, you might want to consider one of these places. If we are allowed to mention companies, Oakwood comes to mind.
So my recommendation is to think about renting the furniture. I think that way you can look for the rental you like (since the furnished places are not many) and get a basic package of furniture, to tide you over until either your shipment comes or you buy what you like without pressure. Again, if this is allowed, I'd suggest Cort which is one I looked into.
Good luck ... it is hard to do everything at once. I moved back to the US after 24 years outside, and it was overwhelming.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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You are not going to find the Raleigh/Durham area to be anywhere near as exciting or world-class like Buenos Aires with regard to cultural amenities. There will be nothing like the historic architecture, a theatre district, a first-rate opera house, world-class museums, etc. There are no large avenues with shops and restaurants or 24-hour nightlife in the Raleigh area.
The population of the city of Buenos Aires is 3 million with a metro population of 13 million. And the city population density is 35,000 people per square mile! In comparison, the population of the city of Raleigh is 1/2 million with a metro population of 2 million. The density of Raleigh is only 3,000 people per square mile. It's very spread out here! Buenos Aires is considered an Alpha- city in the world. Raleigh is considered a Gamma city.
You will find the city core of both Raleigh and Durham to be relatively small, particularly compared to what you are used to. Chapel Hill is a college town of about 60,000. Outside of the downtown areas, you have to drive pretty much everywhere you need to go. You will find museums here and there throughout the region, some nice parks and green space with lots of bike/running trails. There is a minor-league baseball team in Durham and a major league hockey team in Raleigh. Durham has a theatre that gets touring Broadway shows and there's a theatre in Raleigh. There are some music venues in each town. The area is known as the home of Duke and UNC. Duke has beautiful architecture and UNC is a pretty college campus. There aren't any major historical tourist sites to draw tourists to the area. The state's tourist areas are primarily the beaches - about 2 hours away from Raleigh and the mountains - about 3-4 hours from Raleigh.
This area has a reputation for being a safe, family-friendly, highly-educated area that is mostly suburban in nature with lots of trees/greenspace and two downtown cores.
answers by the numbers:
1. Raleigh weekends are for your children. ballet, volleyball, whatever.
2. 4-year college admissions. that's how we choose the school we did.
3. 2Bed furnished with excellent schools: $3300/month. 3B: unlimited.
3+ bed furnished have the highest demand in the temporary market
due to larger international families (children+grandparents) moving
to this area.
You are not going to find the Raleigh/Durham area to be anywhere near as exciting or world-class like Buenos Aires with regard to cultural amenities. There will be nothing like the historic architecture, a theatre district, a first-rate opera house, world-class museums, etc. There are no large avenues with shops and restaurants or 24-hour nightlife in the Raleigh area.
The population of the city of Buenos Aires is 3 million with a metro population of 13 million. And the city population density is 35,000 people per square mile! In comparison, the population of the city of Raleigh is 1/2 million with a metro population of 2 million. The density of Raleigh is only 3,000 people per square mile. It's very spread out here! Buenos Aires is considered an Alpha- city in the world. Raleigh is considered a Gamma city.
You will find the city core of both Raleigh and Durham to be relatively small, particularly compared to what you are used to. Chapel Hill is a college town of about 60,000. Outside of the downtown areas, you have to drive pretty much everywhere you need to go. You will find museums here and there throughout the region, some nice parks and green space with lots of bike/running trails. There is a minor-league baseball team in Durham and a major league hockey team in Raleigh. Durham has a theatre that gets touring Broadway shows and there's a theatre in Raleigh. There are some music venues in each town. The area is known as the home of Duke and UNC. Duke has beautiful architecture and UNC is a pretty college campus. There aren't any major historical tourist sites to draw tourists to the area. The state's tourist areas are primarily the beaches - about 2 hours away from Raleigh and the mountains - about 3-4 hours from Raleigh.
This area has a reputation for being a safe, family-friendly, highly-educated area that is mostly suburban in nature with lots of trees/greenspace and two downtown cores.
Bienvenidos! Mi familia es de Argentina y voy por lo menos una vez por ano a BA. Having said that, what this person wrote is on point. There isn't much to do here that's comparable. The walk-ability factor is zero, so you can't just walk to the theatre or a museum. The museum downtown is quite nice, but I can't think of much more to do there other than eat. And the food is nowhere near as good as what you'll find in BA.
Google is your friend. "Things to do this weekend near me" is a query it can easily handle.
You can always find things to do. There are museums downtown that are free. Art museum is not Metropolitan but personally I loved it. We have great restaurants. There are many historical places. Tobacco district in downtown Durham is wonderful. Pick up Indy newspaper at Whole Foods and you'll see a lot of events, concerts, etc.
There are many posts here on where to take out of town visitors, go through them.
Personally, I don't go out much and instead enjoy spending time with friends, cooking something or my other hobbies. If you need friends check meetup website. Sign up to volunteer at school. You will have a full calendar quickly.
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