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I was reading another thread and it made me think of something that I've thought since I moved here from Massachusetts. I find that people that live here, even those that came from out of town like myself, are overly concerned with something being inconvieient. If something is outside of a 3 mile radius of their home, it is almost like that is driving to another universe!!
Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a town MORE convienient than Cary? How many Starbucks, supermarkets, parks, shopping options, daycares, schools, dry cleaners does there have to be in order for someone to be satisfied? Perhaps the quality of life here has fostered a very convienient life-style and those coming from out of town are expecting that level of convienience before they get here so they are "pre-spoiled" but I quite candidly find it obnoxious sometimes. I have neighbors that drive 15 minutes to work and you'd think you were forcing them into a labor camp each morning.
Personally I feel "inconvenienced" whenever I read a post that gerneralizes the behaviors of so many people in a diverse area based on someone's observations of a handful(or less) of people.
I'm not generalizing, I'm reporting what I've witness and observed. Isn't that what this forum is meant for? It was not meant as an insult but a point of discussion that I felt would spark some interest. I find the area unbelievably convienient and I'm quite surprised whenever I hear someone that lives in Holly Springs, for example, not know where or how to get to South Point for example....or hear how someone who lives in Central Cary how far away their commute is to RTP...etc, etc.
I think its a fair observation, and accurate. Consider that the Triangle was named as one of the metro areas most heavily impacted by increasing gas prices. Why? Because most of us have to drive EVERYWHERE. There's no doubt that I have a lot of stores/restaurants/etc... convenient to my home, but they're only convenient if I'm in my car. For example, there is a Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Rite Aid & a number of restaurants about 1.5 miles away from my home, but there is NO good way to walk there. I can (and do) ride my bike sometimes, but that's still not as convenient as walkability IMO. Just my 2 cents!
I guess I was considering inconvienience in terms of using your car and didn't even consider walking or riding. From that standpoint, unless you live at StoneCreek Village in Cary or other similar type community, it is not a very "walkable" area.
In regards to your comment about driving EVERYWHERE, my guess is that a lot of that has to do with the fact tha the main job location areas (RTP, downtown Raleigh, etc) do not have the transportation systems that a city like NYC, Boston or Chicago have in place. In suburban Boston, you can park at a commuter parking lot and hop on the train.
I actually am glad that people feel inconvenienced when they are forced to drive everywhere. Being forced to drive everywhere all the time is what drives the area's dependence on the automobile. The sooner people start demanding a lifestyle where they can safely walk or ride a bicycle to do some of their daily tasks, the sooner we will be able to move away from auto-centric lives and reliance on oil. I personally don't see that as a bad thing.
I came here from Miami, where life in general is an inconvenience. However, I made sure that even when I lived there that I made my choices based on my "inconvenience" quotient - how much inconvenience I would tolerate. I personally don't like spending any more of my life commuting to work than I need to, so I chose to live as close as possible to work and made sure I had a reverse commute. I did the same when I moved here after I got a feel for this area (it's hard to do right off the bat without knowing more about the way things work in a new place). Even though my first year was spent living much farther from everything than I personally am happy with, I still thought that everything was pretty convenient despite the distance.
I'm certainly not going to complain about convenience here, and I will always question a move to new neighborhoods that are far away from a lot of things. The only time these complaints bother me is when someone moves to some newly developed neighborhood with nothing close by and then says, "Why isn't <insert name of big box retailer of your choice> in my neighborhood???" That bugs me. But people generally wanting a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly neighborhood is not a bad thing. It is all about choices, though, and up to this point the Triangle has chosen to be spread out rather than compact.
I moved to the part of Cary that did because of the extreme convenience. Really, anything I could ever need is within a few miles from my house and being in central Cary, I can walk to everything (although I don't always). But I could! There are plenty of sidewalks and crosswalks. I can walk to the mall, the Post Office, the grocery store, the library, the bank and plenty of other shopping and next year my daughter will be able to walk to high school.
To me, driving to North Hills, anywhere off Capitol Blvd or Brier Creek seems like a different country and I not only dread it, but I avoid it if possible. Saves me a ton on gas!
The inconvenience could possibly have to do with the very poor infrastructure
Single lane roads, rampant construction that block the said roads, insane drivers who think the road is their personal race track.... I have a six mile commute that takes me the best of 50 minutes each way.
I love driving around on the weekends - its almost like a vacation.
Solution: Stop and go lights for freeway merges, stop construction vehicles, or oversized trucks from plying the commuter heavy roads during day light hours.
I agree with you Harry, although I wouldn't generalize everyone in the Triangle. This area is much better for me then the DC area was in many ways. Everything is easier to get too and You don't need to drive 30 miles in Bumper to Bumper traffic to get home from work. 60-90 minute commutes in the DC area are commonplace.
For me to go into DC at night from the suburbs was a nightmare. Here you can drive into downtown, find easy parking, have a nice time, and then get home before 4am.
Thanks Waterboy...but I really am not generalizing as I mentioned earlier. I have lived here for a while, talk to a lot of neighbors, co-workers, parents of my kid's friends, etc, etc. and my opinion is based upon an overall reflection of their collective response to issues of inconvienience.
"Lamishra" mentioned above that driving from Central Cary to Briar Creek seems like "the other side of the world". THOSE are the types of comments that I hear a lot and to which I'm referring. A quick hop on 540 to Briar Creek from there seems like a no-brainer to me if you were looking for some nice shopping, perhaps a dinner with family, etc. To "dread" that drive is a very good representation of something that I hear quite often and I'm curious as to why this is so prevalent in the area.
I live in the southern portion of Cary and have friends that live in a new subdivision near Cary Park. They have been here much longer than we have and therefore, have had more time to get to know the area, good places to eat, good places to take the kids, etc, etc. Shortly after we moved here, we invited them over and because they admittedly don't go beyond the 3 mile square radius of their house, they had a horrible, horrible time with directions and it took them through parts of town they had never seen. They are from the North also and so this supports my point that this issue of inconvienience is not just reserved for those that have lived here for years.
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