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BTW, I will tell you (just in CASE it helps?!) that from the way you write about Chapel Hill-Carrboro and the way you write about Boulder-Denver, it comes across to me like your heart is telling you NC is the place. You sound much more positive about it than you do about CO.
Frogandtoad... you are probably right. I feel more personal draw to that area. I'm such a dork, I sometimes go online and read news from CH and Carrboro!! I think I'm just worried about trusting my gut feeling b/c my gut feeling told me to move to AZ. While we really liked it in the beginning, we have grown to have a real distaste for it. I keep telling myself that I wasn't looking for all the same things then that I'm looking for now. I didn't have kids and family to be concerned about.. just myself and I was younger. And it does make me sad that I'll be so far from my best friend. I kind of doubt that she'll ever move back to the east - she's like you and really loves the mountains and the beach and the "west" mentality. I'm more of a "slower pace of life" kinda girl (or at least, want to be). AZ makes that hard. Everything is too spread out and there is WAY too much of a "keeping up with the Jones" mentality for me - and a complete lack of community or connectedness. I guess that more than anything is what I'm longing for - just that community atmosphere where you walk downtown or go to dinner and run into someone you know. And the diversity piece is also something I would really like to have.
Hi megh, I happen to have lived in both Boulder AND Chapel Hill and their surrounding areas, so I can give you some of the reasons why my husband and I preferred one over the other. I'll try to follow your original post and maybe add a few items of my own.
First of all, my husband and I went to college at CU Boulder, then moved to NC for grad school. We now live in Atlanta. He and I both lived in various parts of Denver burbs before and after college as well. During grad school we lived in both Chapel Hill and Durham. On to your specific questions:
1. Public schools: Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools are excellent (but the property taxes are high to match). We couldn't afford to buy a home there either, so we moved just across the border to SE Durham where the property taxes were much lower and home prices more reasonable. Durham Public Schools are not so great, but they have an excellent lottery-based magnet school program that we were going to send our daughter to had we stayed there. Wake County public schools are academically very good, but their administration is awful. Kids are constantly getting shuffled around and sort of forced into yearround schools, etc. As for Colorado public schools, I can only speak to high school/college since that's when I was there. I went to high school in Littleton/Highlands Ranch, and many of the high schools in the Denver metro area are known to be excellent (or at least they were then). Unfortunately I don't know anything about the elementary schools or the schools in north denver.
2. I think you can find this either place if you look in the right places.
3. Both of these areas have a high population of outdoorsy types with big dogs. Lots of jogging trails, etc. Both areas also have lots of live music, but the Boulder/Denver area is a better bet. We were all excited about the Carrboro/Cat's Cradle aspect of NC, but it turned out to be a bit underwhelming. Durham's music scene is kind of a joke, and Raleigh's is so-so. We were disappointed. Concert-going was our favorite past-time in Denver/Boulder. Public trans - Chapel Hill does have a good bus system, but Denver also has the light rail and is constantly expanding its service area. Bus system is pretty good too, with easy acess to ski slopes and DIA. I don't remember many farmer's markets in CO, but maybe up north of the city; NC has them for sure.
4. Both places are good picks for this, depending on where exactly you land. My husband always said Chapel Hill seems like Boulder 20 years ago, so it has an older feel to it (in our opinion). I would say that overall, Colorado is a more liberal state than NC. NC is still part of the South, after all, and has it's fair share of hicks, rednecks, and conservatives.
5. Not sure what the market's like in CO these days, but this will depend in both states entirely on the specific area you choose. You know Chapel Hill is more expensive than carrboro, Raleigh depends on the burb, same with Denver. And of course you know Boulder is expensive. Probably decent prices near both places depending on the area. We lived in Thornton for a year after college and it was up-and-coming, but boooooring. I'd be interested to see what it's like now. Broomfield was kind of the same way back then. The area around 104th and Church ranch was growing, and all along 104th out toward 25.
6. Tough call on this one. I think it all depends on you finding a community that feels close once you decide which state. City-Data forum folks ought to be able to help you with this, but you should be able to find community either place.
7. Either place has university influence. I like the Triangle because it's got UNC, DUke, Wake, State, etc. all in a small area. That usually means lots of professionals and lots of jobs. Not as much university influence in north denver.
8. NC definitely has a slower pace. It is the south, after all.
So with all that said, we moved to NC in large part because we were sick of the cold weather. We both grew up in warmer climates, and we liked NC because it actually had SEASONS. You don't see much snow in the Triangle, and the humidity can be brutal, but we gladly traded that for milder springs and falls. Personal preference. We also liked being close to both the beach and the mountains. We weren't hung up on skiing and preferred the milder smokies to the rockies. I know it's important to be close to loved ones, but it doesn't sound like either option is very close to your actual family. We left both our families in CO, then my family followed us out to NC a few years after we had children, which was wonderful. That again is just a comfort thing, I suppose. Luckily my folks have alwys had the means to visit often wherever we were. My husband's folks - not so much, so we see them less often. RDU is a lot easier to travel in and out of than DIA though.
Sorry to ramble on... I hope some of this info is helpful to you, even though it is mostly opinion and personal preference. Bottom line - We loved our time in NC and never regretted the move from Colorado. Good luck!
We are planning to relocate soon - in the next year or so- and are pretty much narrowed down to this two choices. We are having such a hard time deciding which would be the best fit for our family. In NC we are a 7 hour drive from our hometown & both sets of grandparents and in Colorado, we have great great friends (my children's "god mother"). Big decision!!!
Here are somethings that we are looking for:
1. Great Public Schools
2. Family environment that hasn't been stripped of all the adult and culturally enriching activities.
3. We love live music (folk/ indie/ jam bands/ etc), farmer's markets, viable public transporation, communities that a pedestrian and biker friendly.
4. We are liberal tree hugger types and would love to be around other tree hugger types so we can hug more trees - together!
5. Relatively affordable housing (i.e. 3-4 beds, 2000-2500 sq ft for +/- $300K)
6. Smaller city / town environment to raise children in where they can grow up with a sense of "community" and "connectedness"
7. The university influence
8. Slower pace of life with amenities in close proximity.
I am already aware that both Chapel Hill and Boulder proper are out of our price range, so to be more specific we would be looking at Carrboro, NC and maybe Louisville, Lafayette, Broomfield areas.
Any opinions??
You've clearly done your research, and lots of great opinions here. One more!:
Chapel Hill and Carrboro especially never had much of a family feel to me. (I spent 5 years in Carrboro.) You won't be able to afford that house in Carrboro, either. Last I checked (2006ish), prices in Carrboro ran about $300 per square foot, although that may have come down given the housing situation. You might be able to afford that in Hillsborough, but if you get outside of CH/Carrboro you might lose a lot of what you're looking for in terms of culture, transportation, etc. Students abound in the area, and that really was the major dynamic when I was there. It's definitely biker-friendly, and public transportation is good, although only within Chapel Hill/Carrboro.
My other qualm was that the liberal demographic skews older (lots of independently-employed or retired hippies, although not exclusively so). If you have kids, that may be okay with you, but I eventually grew weary with gray-hairs aimlessly wandering the aisles at Weaver Street Market.
I'm biased towards the West, as I'm not a Southerner at heart, either. I would jump at Boulder, if it was an option for me.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro especially never had much of a family feel to me. (I spent 5 years in Carrboro.)
Wow! Everyone that I've met that lives in Carborro has kids. While I live in SW Durham I'm surprised by the comment that Carborro doesn't have a family feel.
I know there are others on this forum with more direct experience living in Carborro with kids (calling We_love_Durham!!!) so I'll let them comment.
While I too am a western at heart, Boulder has never felt super family oriented to me. Boulder held more appeal to me when I was younger and childless. Not to say I wouldn't love Boulder once the kiddos are in college, but thats many, many, many years away for us.
Well, we lived in Chapel Hill and had many friends in Carrboro. We all had kids and there were TONS of kids running all over the streets, tons of activities for kids, etc. I have to say, I don't know how someone can live in Carrboro for 5 years and not think it's kid-friendly but imo it is VERY kid friendly. And excellent schools to go with it.
As to the grey-haired comment, I'll mention here that a few greys and kids often go together in well educated areas. Women who are well educated often wait until after grad school to have kids and so are well into their 30s (sometimes early 40s) when they have kids. There are many parents like this in Chapel Hill (as well as many who have kids younger). Everyone I know shopped at Weaver Street and had young kids. Maybe a few had some greys too.
Anyway, I think both CH and Boulder are great and one is not better than the other in an objective way.
Well, we lived in Chapel Hill and had many friends in Carrboro. We all had kids and there were TONS of kids running all over the streets, tons of activities for kids, etc. I have to say, I don't know how someone can live in Carrboro for 5 years and not think it's kid-friendly but imo it is VERY kid friendly. And excellent schools to go with it.
Well, as I may have mentioned, I don't have kids. I also never said it wasn't kid-friendly; I just said a family feel. There are kids, sure, although I don't know how many live there (but they must, since there are schools!) or where they live. Having lived most of those 5 years near the downtown area, I never saw many family-type housing units. And of course, there are always children at Weaver St. Market, but again, I don't know how many of them are visiting from Chapel Hill or elsewhere. Maybe thats an irrelevant technicality, but that's what I was thinking when I tried to reconcile "Carrboro" and "kids".
Well, as I may have mentioned, I don't have kids. I also never said it wasn't kid-friendly; I just said a family feel. There are kids, sure, although I don't know how many live there (but they must, since there are schools!) or where they live. Having lived most of those 5 years near the downtown area, I never saw many family-type housing units. And of course, there are always children at Weaver St. Market, but again, I don't know how many of them are visiting from Chapel Hill or elsewhere. Maybe thats an irrelevant technicality, but that's what I was thinking when I tried to reconcile "Carrboro" and "kids".
We are planning to relocate soon - in the next year or so- and are pretty much narrowed down to this two choices. We are having such a hard time deciding which would be the best fit for our family. In NC we are a 7 hour drive from our hometown & both sets of grandparents and in Colorado, we have great great friends (my children's "god mother"). Big decision!!!
Here are somethings that we are looking for:
1. Great Public Schools
2. Family environment that hasn't been stripped of all the adult and culturally enriching activities.
3. We love live music (folk/ indie/ jam bands/ etc), farmer's markets, viable public transporation, communities that a pedestrian and biker friendly.
4. We are liberal tree hugger types and would love to be around other tree hugger types so we can hug more trees - together!
5. Relatively affordable housing (i.e. 3-4 beds, 2000-2500 sq ft for +/- $300K)
6. Smaller city / town environment to raise children in where they can grow up with a sense of "community" and "connectedness"
7. The university influence
8. Slower pace of life with amenities in close proximity.
I am already aware that both Chapel Hill and Boulder proper are out of our price range, so to be more specific we would be looking at Carrboro, NC and maybe Louisville, Lafayette, Broomfield areas.
Hi megh, I realize it's been many years since this post, but I'm just wondering if you made the move and if so, where to and do you like it? My family and I live in Lafayette and are considering moving to the Chapel Hill area...I'm nervous bcs although I love CO, we've really struggled to connect here on a personal level and are looking for a better neighborly/family/community type environment. I've done extensive research so I know the pros/cons (weather, schools, housing, etc) and they're both great areas, so now I'm really trying to hone in on the family thing and if NC is welcoming to "transplants" Please let me know your thoughts/experiences. Thanks!!
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I think I'm just worried about trusting my gut feeling b/c my gut feeling told me to move to AZ. While we really liked it in the beginning, we have grown to have a real distaste for it. I keep telling myself that I wasn't looking for all the same things then that I'm looking for now. I didn't have kids and family to be concerned about.. just myself and I was younger. And it does make me sad that I'll be so far from my best friend. I kind of doubt that she'll ever move back to the east - she's like you and really loves the mountains and the beach and the "west" mentality. I'm more of a "slower pace of life" kinda girl (or at least, want to be). AZ makes that hard. Everything is too spread out and there is WAY too much of a "keeping up with the Jones" mentality for me - and a complete lack of community or connectedness. I guess that more than anything is what I'm longing for - just that community atmosphere where you walk downtown or go to dinner and run into someone you know. And the diversity piece is also something I would really like to have.
update?
