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Just curious, what exactly isn't level about the playing field currently? Are the schools and teachers better in higher income areas, or is it strictly a factor of parent involvement?
It's about the distribution of resources to make sure that the toughest cases aren't concentrated.
Quote:
"There is a lot of evidence that it's just sound educational policy, sound public policy, to try to avoid concentrations of low-achieving students," said John H. Gilbert, a professor emeritus at North Carolina State University in Raleigh who served for 16 years on the county school board and voted for the plan. "They do much better and advantaged students are not hurt by it if you follow policies that avoid concentrating low-achievement students."
I agree that the district needs to do a lot more about transportation and not sending kids all over creation, and that crowding is a problem. But they are spending $2 Billion building 18 new schools.
Thank you everyone for the feedback.. I appreciate it. We have both lived in many different places and are pretty adaptable. My question is more focused on which town to choose. Unfortunately we are pretty used to long commuting, so commute aside, which is the nicest area? We will be visiting, however I'm not sure even after 6 months I'll have the knowledge that some of you that have lived there for years have.
Does North Raleigh have the same "town" feel that somewhere like Garner would have?
Is Cary worth the higher prices, or is it more and more overcrowded ?
We like community events, farmer's market, things like that.
Is Hillsborough just too far from everything?
We moved out here from Denver 6 months ago or so. So far we REALLY like it. I'm in tech as well and didn't have a job lined up when moving here. I had about 4 phone interviews before we left Denver. I got multiple offers and took the one that made sense to me (good life/work balance, great benefits, etc) within 2 weeks of moving here. Before we moved out here, we knew we wanted to live in Durham. Once we moved here we rented an apt for a bit, and also really liked Chapel Hill and Carrboro. But, we decided to stick with Durham because of diversity, proximity to my job, also we really dig Durham's vibe. Think of Durham as like Austin 15-20 years ago. It has a pretty cool vibe, but not for everyone. If you prefer clean/new cookie cutter homes with Targets/Starbucks... then Durham maybe is not for you. But, if you like old(er) homes, record stores, independent coffee shops, artsy stuff, farmers market, people with tattoos and tattoo shops in every corner... then, give it a chance, you may like it. Not sure if you can get anything for $350K though. Prices are going up here and there are bidding wars. We had to pay above the asking price because we totally fell in love with our mid-mod house, which came with a little under an acre of land -- something unheard of in Denver and I am sure in Bay Area.
I have been to parts of Cary and Apex -- not for me. I am pretty sure lots of people like it though. They say schools are good there, but I do not have kids so it never interested me. If I had kids or planned to have them... I'd probably buy in Chapel Hill, personally. I have never been to Garner.
Hillsborough is super cute. I have met lots of people from there. Everyone I have met seems super artsy which I absolutely love. I have gay friends who live out in Hillsborough and seem to really love it. A church close to their home had a big rainbow flag last time I was there... so, seems pretty open to all kinds of people. You do see confederate flags here and there, too. Not a lot in Triangle though. You see more of them if you get to rural areas.
TBH, if you have lived in different places you will be just fine here. I lived in different states and countries as well and I find Triangle to be just like everywhere else -- you meet people with progressive views, conservative, libertarian, etc. Just create your own bubble and live in it, whatever it is. Durham happens to be pretty liberal. I know as many MJ loving hippies here as I did in CO --the difference is that the hippies here live on their 2 acre land and drink raw milk, have chickens and grow their own food... but have bad weed.
If you like hiking -- you'll love it here. Trails are everywhere and you can find parking ANY time. I have been to "popular" trail heads like on Saturday after 9am... and can find parking easily. There are tons of free events, music, etc. You just have to know what's happening and get out to do stuff, be part of the community. There are lots of "art walks" and events. Just recently we had one where you could just go to artists' studios, learn about their work.
I would say my QOL went up drastically since moving here. NO more worrying whether or not it's going to snow tomorrow... I literally still run in a t-shirt and tights, because it's still pretty warm in the evenings for me (might be different for you, but coming from CO -- this is still a t-shirt weather for me for running/jogging). Traffic is totally manageable... no more getting stressed looking for parking, you actually can go out and have a good meal without paying $100 per plate/person. If you are spending that much, then you are in a really really good restaurant here. So, definitely, check it out. I do not think you'll regret it. Just make sure you have realistic expectations and definitely make sure you can take the humid summers. I have lived in humid places before, but I know people who moved out here from CA and HATE the summers.
Edit: grammar... English isn't my first language.
Last edited by HatchChile; 11-25-2019 at 02:30 PM..
We are from the Bay Area and moved to North Raleigh (very close to Wake Forest) about 15 years ago. Overall we are very happy here.
We looked at several areas and crossed them off the list for various reasons. Cary was probably the closest match to the Bay Area and the closest commute for hubby since his job is in RTP however we decided we wanted something a bit different than the Bay Area. We also looked at Durham since my husband grew up there and his parents were still living there (it was the reason for us moving) however both of us were not very happy with the schools and the crime so we scratched that off the list. We also looked at places like Fuquay Varina, Holly Springs, Garner etc however at that time they just seemed a little too far out there and seemed pretty isolated. However in just the past decade they have really grown so I'm not sure what those areas are like now. We also bought some property out in the country while still living in North Raleigh however sometimes the grass is not greener on the other side. It was fun for a bit but ultimately the dream we envisioned was not reality.
So at this point we will continue living in North Raleigh until our daughter gets married and has children. If it is more than a couple hours from here (she currently lives in Charlotte) we will probably move to where she is.
We want to live somewhere with progressive/liberal minded people.
Please stay in Cali and don't come here. Move to sac, or san bernardino or river side. House are cheaper there.
Why is California suck? Is it over populated? I don't think so. For comparison, Cali land mass is about the same as Japan. However, only 15% of land in Japan is habitable. Don't know about cali, but I bet it is a lot more than 15%. BTW, The population of Japan is half the US. So why is California suck, that is for you to decide.
I lived in OC and the Bay for 30 years, it was once a great state and I love it. Wish I can find a place like it again. That was when thing was more balance with both the left and right struggling for power. But when the left basically took complete control, it slowly turned in to a miserable place to live.
Having say all of that, it would be nice if NC is a little bit more socially liberal. Just don't go to the trouble of moving to a nicer place and do everything you can to turn it into a dump.
Now, I was not born here. the country that I was form is a **** hole. And sometime, I look at my people and shake my head. We should bring the good thing about our culture with us. But leave all of the **** behind. Why the hell did we come here and do everything can to turn this country into a **** hole. I don't know.
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