Originally from CA? Give me your thoughts!

[SarahMom]

Originally Posted by K. Dunn

Got a 2-story house for sale for about $230K with great schools nearby?

Sorry to be a downer K. Dunn, but you mentioned the magic word - schools. Lots of folks here now said they wish someone had warned them, that they had NO idea, even though they'd 'thoroughly researched city-data'. Wake has the 4th largest school system in the US, and growing (at least for now) The reassignments have happened yearly, breaking up neighborhood groups of kids who attend the same school, sending traditional schedule to year round and visa versa. We know one family who was reassigned five times in five years and never moved. Very unstable. And there are no pockets to hide in, believe me. Its really a mess. You should check out some of the posts on the topic. It could be a tie breaker. Other than this blemish, we love this area. Unfortunately, since it has to do with our kids, its a really, really big negative.

Durham and Chapel Hill, on the other hand, are NOT in Wake.

[K. Dunn]

Originally Posted by SarahMom

Sorry to be a downer K. Dunn, but you mentioned the magic word - schools. Lots of folks here now said they wish someone had warned them, that they had NO idea, even though they'd 'thoroughly researched city-data'. Wake has the 4th largest school system in the US, and growing (at least for now) The reassignments have happened yearly, breaking up neighborhood groups of kids who attend the same school, sending traditional schedule to year round and visa versa. We know one family who was reassigned five times in five years and never moved. Very unstable. And there are no pockets to hide in, believe me. Its really a mess. You should check out some of the posts on the topic. It could be a tie breaker. Other than this blemish, we love this area. Unfortunately, since it has to do with our kids, its a really, really big negative.

Durham and Chapel Hill, on the other hand, are NOT in Wake.

Thanks Sarahmom, my wife has been reading a lot about that and worrying. Does sound messed up and unstable. We too thought we should check out Chapel Hill for that reason alone-pain that the school re-districting can cause someone to want to live somewhere else. Don't they realize how this affects families, both those who already live their and possible incoming ones?Very unfortunate

[K. Dunn]

Thanks again infodigger! Lots of good info! Now let me ask you a question direct. Are your kids going to public or private school? If public have you had any of the problems that I read about regarding all this re-districting going on in Wake County?

Originally Posted by infodigger

I moved from SF Bay area last year... It was a spontaneous decision to move out of CA. I still work for CA company ..but remotely from here in triangle. Your lucky you can do so! I am still looking over their. I wouldn't call our decision to move spontaneous, but, we too have been thinking and researching it now for about 2.5 yrs!

Comparing the 2 is like Apples to Oranges and the fact is I like them both equally and cant really compare.. so let me tell you what made me move here.. I spent a about a year researching to move out of CA to "somewhere" and this place was top on the list. The reason for the search was 2 main reason..i.e Kids and Family/relatives. Kids our # 1 reason too, even though we do already live in a nice area, but worried about the future as they grow and go into the later Jr High and high school yearsKids are young..but watching the outcome of some kids in that place.. it would take a lot of effort and stress(both parent and kids) to keep em in line and in good way. My thoughts were.. if I were to get them to a place where they can grow up reasonable in a better env. and good schools...etc.. then when times comes to reap advantage of CA..we could always move back and at least the kids now have a good foundation and happy younger years. But at same time.. what if you cant (or family doesn't want) to move back..then local place should satisfy.. This is where triangle area wins.
Other reason was all my realtives are in east coast. So this town was kind of an equal distance from all. No family over their, but my in-laws will follow us anywhere we go within 1-2 years, were very lucky
Costs - It was actually cheaper in Bay area.. (other than housing).
Diversity - Excellent mixture out here living in harmony. You wont feel like you are in an international airport.
Weather - Very comparable. Hey, you can actually swim in beaches, lakes and pool.. water is warm. SF bay area water was always cold.
Airport - Now thats gonna be a winner too... International airport with direct flights to europe destination like London Good to hear, my wife likes to see family in the UK every couple of yearsand Paris. Direct flights to NY and several other cities. Plus newly opened terminal with latest gizmos....they can see ya almost n*ky with the new body scan thinggy..
People - as all mentioned... Friendly.. you can still find folks saying "excuse me" before cutting/crossing in front you while you are 'still' staring at a shelf in a store.
Food - Dont worry.. plenty of various kinds of restaurents. Mexican restaurent are plenty too. They are quiet a good size of hispanic population here. Whew
Smoking and Booze - Booze sales are restricted to gov.t managed stores and regular stores can only sell wines etc. Smoking is not restricted as in CA. So there are restaurents and some places where folks smoke... but its a tobacco state..and so I don't expect to do anything about it for sometime. Still find those states funny, but I am sure we will adjust, not much of a drinker myself, and my wife only likes a glass of wine at night!
Universities are plenty.. take your pic. Likewise for your kids..(if any). they can still be around. Would love to see them stay and go to school nearby at all the excellent choices, would be ideal as a worried parent
Medical/Health - There is lots of research and excellent hospitals and you would some of the best solutions out here..if ever in need.
Train - Relatively good interstate train service.. unlike out local trains in CA. No local inner city trains. You have direct trains to NY, DC, FL etc.Now I didn't know that, really good to hear. We love a good train ride!

Traffic - Areas needs some improvements as they didn't expect the growth and were not ready to manage it well. Road upgrades or constructions take for ever(same in CA). There are certain areas which get clogged during work hours.. but there is lot of alternate routes.. which I would say 90% plus folks dont know about or dont care to know about.

The list goes on.

Basically, I like em both and hence have homes in both cities. It took us 3 months to figure out we like the place and by 6 months we had bought a home here.(of course I am Realtor and that helped us in the whole process. )Hey, that's cheating! Lucky

We did get some snow flurries already this year.. which is very rare here and very rarely happens.. We did get couple time last years.. they dont stay on ground too long.. prolly an hour or so. Kids enjoy them.Your right they would love that!

Good luck on your research and move. We are here to welcome ya.

Very nice of you to say that, thanks!

[K. Dunn]

Originally Posted by twoisbetter

Yes...Irvine = Cary....when people from home ask what its like, thats what I tell them. Personally, Irvine wasn't my cup of tea, so when I saw Cary, I knew it wasn't either. We chose Holly Springs.

Like your comparisons! Has Holly Springs had the same problem with their kids being re-dsitricted as the rest of Wake County? If you don't have any kids, have you talked to anyone their in Holly Springs giving you their two cents? Thanks.

[Irvinegal]

Wow, there's beena lot of activity on this thread! Wanted to remark to Liza that I never compared Irvine to San Diego. I did say that getting to San Diego from Irvine - which should be a pleasant, short drive - has become an awful crawl in recent years especially on weekends gas become a 2-3 hour, intolerable drive in bumper to bumper traffic the entire way. Talk about a mood killer! I think that San Diego itself, especially around downtown, is lovely and fun. Getting TO San Diego is not much fun.

Sorry, but it is a crock for anyone in LA or OC having quick easy access to both mtns and ocean. You'd need to be able to leapfrog over the traffic.

To Sarahmom, I agree that the Wake school system is messed up. There should be neighborhood schools. Busing doesn't work.

[twoisbetter]

Originally Posted by K. Dunn

Like your comparisons! Has Holly Springs had the same problem with their kids being re-dsitricted as the rest of Wake County? If you don't have any kids, have you talked to anyone their in Holly Springs giving you their two cents? Thanks.

Unfortunately, this yr it has....at least we think it might, but the reassignment for this yr isn't final. We thought we were safe from reassignment because 2 yrs ago, we applied and were accepted into the only yr round school in the area. But last yr, they converted one to yr round that is closer to our home. So now they want to reassign us to it. The good news is that its the best school (test score wise) in this area, so I ain't complaining. And my kids will have a few friends being reassigned with them, so they will know somebody.

I recently gave this advice to a friend who is looking to buy a home in Wake county: When you buy, make sure that you like not only the closest or next closest school to you. You need to be happy with the closest 5 or 6 schools to you...because you may end up in any of them. Luckily, all of the schools in the Holly Springs area good schools.

The whole thing makes good ol school districts like in CA sound like heaven. But really, it isn't that bad as long as we get a good school.

[twoisbetter]

Originally Posted by Bilirubin

So that makes:
Raleigh = Santa Ana
Chapel Hill = Laguna Beach
Durham = Garbage Grove (it's really Garden Grove, unless you're from the area).

Hey, I lived in Garbage...I mean Garden Grove!! But I lived on the west side...Eastgate...which was a great area.

[twoisbetter]

Originally Posted by Bilirubin

So that makes:
Raleigh = Santa Ana
Chapel Hill = Laguna Beach
Durham = Garbage Grove (it's really Garden Grove, unless you're from the area).

Ok, let me try a few more:

Morrisville = Rancho Santa Margarita
Knightdale = Costa Mesa