Is Raleigh/Durham the next Portland? (Charlotte, Greenville: sales, buildings, skyline)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I assume Bobro's referring to the OP's post history over the past month, asking about Raleigh vs Columbia multiple times, and not just this thread. There is a consistent theme. I could believe that that is a troll account. Could also be sincere, and the odd prose in that first post in this thread is just the result of posting during a ketamine trip. Some people do just have odd opinions. I could believe either.
I'm sure there is someone out there who sincerely believes Portland isn't urban or progressive enough, so it's time to move to Columbia, South Cackalacky - the 'Paris of the Piedmont' as they say. I see crazier opinions all the time on CD.
Well come on shouldnt that tell u how bad Portland is if I am picking "South Cackalacky" over it for better options, including Florida I chose SC over as well.. U know nothing fool.
I met trans people at least online out of SC. Again, I think NC is too much like the north and I got enough reminders that I dont want to live in the bulk of the state. i met a few nice people but I also met at least 5 nutcases including Truthfully. Trisha, richlife of road trips, Patrick Braun out of the BWC in Wilimington. Dont even ask what that stands for. and then a stalker from NC who stalked me but she moved to Idaho and stalked me the whole damn time I lived in Oregon, shes fom Hickory orig though so dont get me started on a lot of NC. I had a few friends but a lot have been nuts too in that state. Oh and I forgot Savage Live as well. Then another dude also I didnt like, seemed like a southern midwest kinda surfer persona I think he was in Wilmington. THEN a woman closer to the coast who was like Antebellum acting on the 100. Wanted slaves to do her yard, she just didnt trust the black ones, but she liked darker caucasians.
Its almost like its NJ mixed with the south to me so a lot of north and then some of DC might influence it too I'm thinking. Then u got Georgetown which is as big as Wake Forest, then Duke and NC.
SC now: Kevin Garnett, if thats the avg black dude, thats fine with me. I kinda relate to his game, same with Dennis rodman too. Some ppl think I seem like rodman too, just Italian.
2 T girls I met, nice as hell, even 3.
Sgt Slaughter, still not bad if thats the avg old white dude in SC.
People also have moved there from other places, just not to the level that NC has.
One dude I didnt like but he was in a trailer somewhere so no biggie and called himself "Evil Abe", not a prominent town of SC like some of those ppl I listed were in NC.
Im making none of this up folks, this is all fact. No troll job being done. This is not a character. This all happened and this is all what I believe.
I've been seeing many of these sorts of threads pop up recently in the Triangle and Triad forums where some OP from parts unknown starts a thread and begins comparing Raleigh or the Triangle to some other NC or SC city...and even Portland (on the west coast). They even come into the Triangle threads and start to bash Raleigh and Durham for things like being boring, bad traffic, overpriced, etc., but yet people keep moving here in large numbers. I'm not sure what the rationale for this is, other than in their minds they think that somehow they are convincing people that the Triangle is not as good as reported and these other areas are better.
In any event whatever the strategy, it's pointless. Most people make up their own minds about a place based on their own personal preferences and the ability to find the type of employment that they seek. These sorts of rogue threads are futile at best.
I'M NOT MAKING IT UP THEN IF PEOPLE HAVE SAID THOSE THINGS!! The patterns are too much like Portlands and people move into Portland and hate the cold humid like some hate the hot humid in NC and then the clouds/rain. People get stuck though and cant leave but come due to some circumstance. While I believe raleigh AND Durham beat Portland, lets not ignore that within the south it is one of the most expensive now to move to and live in and the snobs are some of the highest in the region its in. Which to me = Its catching up to Portland and Seattle living. Plus TECH.. Tech is a red flag to someone like me. Tech jobs coming in means 0 opportunities for me, someone who is of color, not black but indigenous Italian, who is trans and who is low income. I am old fashioned in the sense I dont want tech facilities and Amazon moving into where I live.. so SC is in fact a fit vs this place.
Raleigh is compared to Austin, Portland for several reasons. One is the fast growth, and also the tech industry and highly educated work force.
Raleigh got thrust into the national spotlight in 1993 or 1994 being called the Best Place to Live in America.
Since then, it has received so many accolades and high rankings across all categories that any news one merely elicit a yawn these days from the locals.
Raleigh's fortes include a being a great place to raise a family and a unique compromise of so many good things America has to offer. None define it on their own, but so much is within easy reach, like the mountains and the beach and it's an attractive region of the country.
Raleigh is all about understated quality over quantity, I keep trying to tell Charlotte boosters that Raleigh doesn't aspire to be anything more than what it already is. It's not in a race with Charlotte to become a big city, and tall skyscrapers aren't on people's minds in Raleigh.
As the state capital for the state comprised of hundreds of small towns, Raleigh reflects the state perfectly.
Raleighites are always aware that it is just one part of big, wonderful state and there is a concerted effort to be fair with resources and spending to the entire state.
That isn't always easy, and often Raleigh will get less in order to give the rest of the state more.
All of the old, run-down government agency buildings are a testament to that.
Never in NC do you see extravagant buildings for the whatever county or state agency it's for.
So Raleigh's underwhelming skyline does seem appropriate for what it is, an overgrown country town.
That a good thing for a state full of Mayberries, which is also a compliment.
As lacking as Raleigh's skyline is it's still better than Columbia. Still, that it even gets suggested just underlines the need for everything on the drawing board for downtown Raleigh to just go ahead and GET BUILT already so people stop going on about the skyline here.
I saw em both and I like Columbias better even. raleigh looks so lame duck, I Hate to tell u.
Columbia has a nice look and nicer places to walk. I like the neighborhoods, the layout.
I always see Raleigh compared to these other cities (Austin, Portland etc....) but these cities are popular because they have their own identity and culture/way of life. What is special about Raleigh? I feel that Raleigh is just known for being a bedroom community that has a great balance between quality of life and cost of living. Nothing wrong with that, I just don't get the comparisons between us and other trendy cities.
Thanks, this sounds closest to whats fact but most people dont wanna believe it. I dont even live there but I sense a ton that its just like how u said it.
eh all and all you assessment is pretty good we dont have good urban bones like columbia and our region is being loved to death with transplants. I would honestly say stay away for the next ten years because we are at an inflection point with growth and honestly we're not poised to rise to the occasion
reading your vibe you might enjoy greensboro or winston-salem
no offense there isnt a single city in the country where you will be unable to find a progressive to complain about racism perceived or otherwise from a data and achievement perspective north carolina cities are some of the best cities for black people.
portland sucks
Thanks for giving me some credit at least. I am not an over enthusiastic person on this area here because I seen and experienced Portland which is the same in the sense that tons of people came but it cant support all those people and it does have a vibe similar to that, how it might have been a decade ago almost and more so the new upscale parts like West Linn, Sherwood, Tualatin mall, Tigard, Beaverton. That might as well be raleigh in a nut shell just add some buildings to it. Nothing special. This should be a warning to the people here. I talked about this for a reason. I know I did.
U think I would like those towns in NC huh?
I look at it like this, each USA city has racism in it, but its the levels of it, what kind can u tolerate vs one that u cant kinda thing. FL is, but someone is still caucasian who would not be white out here for instance, things like that. Like George Zimmerman, he would not at all be white in Oregon but in FL he was so he used whiteness to kill. Out here though, that changes.. once ur the POC like I have been out here, u get defensive and u even start to hate white people too, just like the blacks do. No joke, I am soooo not trolling best believe. So know what I did?
I lived into it, I got tanned when the sun was out, went bare chested, grew the hair out and I look close to a Native American now.. no joke.
LOL This is too funny. Raleigh ain't nothing like Portland, OR or Columbia, SC.
Columbia, SC ???? Really ??? LOL
Again u didnt read it all.. goddamn I thought u people out here were supposed to be sharper. I didnt once compare Columbia as a town, I did compare the new parts of Portland though which is most of it now.
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