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I'm a little old lady relocating to be closer to my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. My mother was from South Carolina, my dad's mother from Louisiana, so I have some basic cultural grounding. However, there are some details I'd appreciate Forum readers clarifying.
First, in the Midwest, sidewalks are standard equipment except in new (after 1960) subdivisions, so people don't walk in the streets. Another reason we don't walk in the streets is the very high probability of getting run over. I read on this forum that's not the case in NC.
Someone suggested walking on the grass if walking in the street scares you. That would get you into a world of hurt in the Midwest -- you do not walk on private property. What's the etiquette in Durham/Chapel Hill?
Second, you WILL get a traffic ticket in Michigan if you pass on the right on the shoulder. You stand a good chance of getting a ticket for failing to use turn signals including for lane changes. From my three trips to visit the family, this doesn't seem to be the case in the Triangle. What does the law say?
Third, my son says I'd better observe interstate highway speed limits because they're strictly enforced. From the state line to the Triangle everybody seemed to be following the rules on my first two trips. The third trip, in mid-November, it became clear around Winston-Salem that I would be run over if I did. I finished the leg from there to the Triangle over the speed limit but at the same rate surrounding traffic was traveling. What should I have done?
Finally, I just lost out on a house I was interested in buying because it sold in 26 hours. My realtor and I haven't decided if I should just rent for a few months to avoid this scenario. If I did, I've noticed few places willing to rent for as little as three months. Any recommendations/suggestions warmly welcomed.
Thanks
I'm a little old lady relocating to be closer to my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. My mother was from South Carolina, my dad's mother from Louisiana, so I have some basic cultural grounding. However, there are some details I'd appreciate Forum readers clarifying.
First, in the Midwest, sidewalks are standard equipment except in new (after 1960) subdivisions, so people don't walk in the streets. Another reason we don't walk in the streets is the very high probability of getting run over. I read on this forum that's not the case in NC.
Someone suggested walking on the grass if walking in the street scares you. That would get you into a world of hurt in the Midwest -- you do not walk on private property. What's the etiquette in Durham/Chapel Hill?
Second, you WILL get a traffic ticket in Michigan if you pass on the right on the shoulder. You stand a good chance of getting a ticket for failing to use turn signals including for lane changes. From my three trips to visit the family, this doesn't seem to be the case in the Triangle. What does the law say?
Third, my son says I'd better observe interstate highway speed limits because they're strictly enforced. From the state line to the Triangle everybody seemed to be following the rules on my first two trips. The third trip, in mid-November, it became clear around Winston-Salem that I would be run over if I did. I finished the leg from there to the Triangle over the speed limit but at the same rate surrounding traffic was traveling. What should I have done?
Finally, I just lost out on a house I was interested in buying because it sold in 26 hours. My realtor and I haven't decided if I should just rent for a few months to avoid this scenario. If I did, I've noticed few places willing to rent for as little as three months. Any recommendations/suggestions warmly welcomed.
Thanks
We do have sidewalks in NC...most neighborhoods have them no matter if they were built before or after 1960... potential exception being if you are in an unincorporated area.
Depending on where you are looking and in what price range...houses in many areas of the Triangle tend to sell the day they are listed. (especially true in areas like Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, North Raleigh,and South Durham for single-family homes under $350k). I can't imagine trying to buy a SFH from out of state in this area unless you are able to come down for a weekend and have your pick of what happens to come onto the market that weekend....or if you are OK with buying a place site-unseen. Chances are that is the main reason people would suggest you rent first.
I agree, most neighborhoods in Raleigh have sidewalks. Some don't, usually because they were in the unincorporated county when they were built and subsequently they got annexed. Part of my subdivision has sidewalks, part does not. (My part does.) For that matter, part of my subdivision is in the city and part is still in the county.
Unincorporated areas of the county are more likely not to have sidewalks, but some do.
Your real estate agent can help you sort this out if sidewalks are a must-have for you.
Regarding other questions:
1. Passing on the shoulder on the right is illegal in NC, just like I believe in other states. People do that all the time though, especially when turning right on red, some just have to squeeze by and can't wait. I have not seen anyone given a ticket though.
2. Highway speed - IMHO when there is dense traffic it is safer to go with the flow. But it is, of course, illegal to drive over speed limit in any state. Make sure to keep right when you drive slower than others.
3. Not using turn signals is just stupidest mistake a driver can make. If memory serves, there was some law passed not long ago regarding no turn signal leading to an accident.
I mostly drive to/from work and have not seen a lot of traffic law enforcement but my husband frequently tells stories of someone getting pulled over when he travels local roads during the day. In general. I don't feel NC is much different from other states we lived in when it comes to traffic enforcement.
Most likely there is some public statistic regarding types of tickets issued if that's of interest to you.
I'm from the Midwest (central IL) and there is definitely a comparative lack of sidewalks here. I'm mostly familiar with the suburban neighborhoods around this area (Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Wake Forest) and they tend have sidewalk on "only" one side of the street; there are a fair number of pretty nice subdivisions with no sidewalk. Only the newest nicest developments have sidewalks on both sides of the streets. This is different from the Midwest where most suburban type neighborhoods, old and new, regardless of price points, have "dual sidewalks".
I find this particularly interesting because the weather is so much worse up there so you'd think the situation would be reversed.
We have always lived in neighborhoods with sidewalks but some do lack them. It seems to be true the further out you live in raleigh at least. As for driving you can generally get away with 5-10 over on interstates but never speed in a school zone.
Houses sell like crazy in some areas especially if they're nicely updated and under 350-400k. We had three houses we put offers on the day they hit the market at over asking and lost out on all three. The house we purchased we put an offer in within hours of hitting the market for 10 over list and gave them 12 hrs to decide. Given that I'd look into renting and a good realtor should be able to point you to short term options. Several realtors are on the board so I'm sure they'll chime in. Good luck!
Well, I live in an area with very few sidewalks in residential areas (central west Durham). In my immediate neighborhood, we walk in the street unless the street is iced over and then we walk on grass/snow. But some main roads don't have consistent sidewalks (this means you, Old Chapel Hill Road), and when we do walk on them we walk on grass or we'll probably get run over. As an aside, I asked the city for a sidewalk on that road and it's way down on the list.
My neighborhood was built in the early 80s. Apparently in Durham the rule is that any new construction must have sidewalks, but the old neighborhoods don't have to (which is why on that road I mentioned you see some sidewalks that end suddenly).
Turning signals - a lot of people don't see the importance, sadly...
I speed a lot, though.
I think it might be tough to buy a house here w/o being here? Others can weigh in but for example, my next door neighbor's house was in contract four hours after it was listed. Maybe you can find a short-term apartment rental?
Short term rentals are available at most apartments, but the rent will obviously be more expensive than a 12 month lease. Why not sign a six month lease and figure out where you want to live first?
We rented an apartment last year and just bought a house. It gave us enough time to get used to Raleigh and figure out what we really wanted in regards to neighborhood and home styles.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Very few sidewalks in the older neighborhoods in Chapel Hill. That turned us off on a lot of neighborhoods. We wanted a place where our children can safely walk. The newer neighborhoods seem to have them.
We purchased in an area where the neighborhood has a single sidewalk per road. It is not uncommon to be walking along and the sidewalk ends and that is along some fairly major roads. The Town of Cary seems to only have sidewalks put in as property is being developed and if your route goes past undeveloped land then there is no where to walk. I am flabbergasted that the Town of Cary has not put sidewalks along Carpenter Upchurch between Morrisville Pkwy and High House. There is a number of high school students that walk on the edge of the road and at some point someone will be hit.
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