Need a change... (Raleigh, Durham, Cary: hotel, homes, job market)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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My husband I currently live in Ybor City, FL (historic district in Tampa). We have a 3 1/2 year old son. The crime, the cost of living, the humidty... the list goes on and on.... has us thinking about moving.
My husband is in upper management in the IT field, I am an accounting clerk, but want to work part time when our son starts kindergarden.
He has lived in TX, KY, NYC and FL. I have lived in OH, NC, KY and FL.
Obviously with my husband being the "bread winner" - we are looking for locations that have jobs in his field. The locations we have found that have jobs, have seasons (which we both miss) and are good for families are:
Fargo, ND
Ft. Collins/Denver, CO
Raliegh, NC
I'm looking for opinions, comments, suggestions... anything that can help us make our decision.
Thank you!
Can't help you with the job issue but I can tell you that this may not be the place for you if you are looking for low humidity! It is very humid here in the summer and many people find it unbearable.
I've spent a lot of time in Ft. Collins - wife's from there and I went to college in CO - and it's a lovely area. It's funny though, we love the snow and seasons, but after being away from it a while, then moving to NC, this is the perfect amount of winter for us. Any more and we wouldn't like it. Cost of living in Ft. Collins/Denver/Boulder is getting higher (about a mile), home prices that is, and I think the Raleigh-area is a bit more reasonable - if that's a big factor. Things change fast though.
It is more humid here in the summer (I'm comparing to St. Pete), but less humid here on a "year-round basis" - if that makes sense. When I was in St. Pete last month I found it pretty humid, but there's no humidity in the spring here when the temperatures aren't as high.
I'm not in IT, but a lot of people that contribute here are, and they don't paint a rosey picture. Lots of companies downsizing and laying off - IBM, Sony/Ericson, Nortel, Lenovo. From what I gather, SAS is one of the premier companies to get in with, and it always seems to be one of the highest-ranked places to work.
But honestly, since you asked for an opinion, I'd suggest you stay where you are. For now. You could find a job up here, move, then in 2 months be laid off. Talk to the Fidelity folks that relocated down here from up north, only to be laid off before their boxes were unpacked. If your jobs in Tampa are secure, suck it up and ride our economic downturn/depression/whatever out. Maybe what you need is a daytrip to Treasure Island and a few mai tais.
I've lived all over and in whole, I like this area probably the best. But to give you someplace else to consider, look at Reno (seriously), especially if you are outdoorsy. Lots of tech jobs growing in that area. Winters not severe, 30 minutes to Lake Tahoe and skiiing, hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, mountain biking, etc, close to the bay area (4 hrs to San Fran, 3 to Napa Valley), low-ish cost of living, nice areas to live in outside of town, low traffic, always something going on. The gambling and downtown isn't really an issue, because there's no reason to ever go downtown, or even near it, unless you wanted to. Good college town, and a pretty educated society. When I was there I read that Reno was the "best read" city, meaning that they read the most books per-capita - I'm not sure I believe it though, but since I was actually reading at the time, it was hard to argue with it. Reno is the one place that I'd probably go back to if I could (spent 5 years there), and I have 3 girls under age 5.
Can't help you with the job issue but I can tell you that this may not be the place for you if you are looking for low humidity! It is very humid here in the summer and many people find it unbearable.
I personally think the humidity here has nothing on FL humidity. I thought I'd be miserable here during the summer too, the way the locals and others not from FL talk of the humidity here. However, being a Miami native (who happens to hate humidity) and having spent three years in the swamps of north-central FL, it just doesn't feel as bad to me here. Maybe it's because the evenings cool down a bit more here to provide relief from the afternoon peak. Not to mention, we might get a few weeks of scattered "high" humidity days compared to 6-9 months of it in FL. It's all relative to what you are coming from. I think the OP would do fine here weather-wise unless she is looking for a place with absolutely no humidity ever.
Fargo, ND on the other hand sounds like a major weather culture shock (and overall culture shock coming from Ybor) to me!
Last edited by miamiblue; 04-24-2009 at 08:22 AM..
Can't help you with the job issue but I can tell you that this may not be the place for you if you are looking for low humidity! It is very humid here in the summer and many people find it unbearable.
Not even close to FL humidity here, you will like the weather. As for picking, my guess is a toss-up between Denver and Raleigh. Before you decide, I might suggest considering how conservative you want the area to be (unsure of how to do it, but this would've been a huge factor in my decision making). I can't speak for Denver, but Raleigh is pretty conservative (no matter what others here try to tell you). In the end, it's still a small city... smaller than the Central FL area.
Thanks to all that replied.
As I said, I have lived in NC (raliegh and wake forest) and the humidity is not as severe as it is in Tampa. I don't think it would be an issue.
Reno? Seriously? I'm not so sure about that...
We moved from Tampa to Cary in 2006. Leaving Tampa was the best thing we did. Anyway, my take on the humidity is that in July and August there probably isn't a lot of difference, but in May, part of June and September NC is much more pleasant. The summers in Tampa were just too long for us. I think the Triangle area is a great place to raise a family although I'm personally a bit leery of the schools in Wake County.
I've lived in both Fort Collins and the Triangle and I like them both. I only LOVE one though...Fort Collins! For me, the Front Range of Colorado is tough to beat. Fort Collins proper is a bit small and offers limited jobs, especially given the tech downturn over the past decade. Because of that, homes are actually quite affordable and have appreciated very little over the past 7 years. The closer to Boulder and Denver you get, the higher home prices are, however the more job opportunities you'll find.
The biggest downsides I found in Colorado is the feeling of being landlocked and the inability to quickly escape winter. Note: I moved there from Flagstaff where we had cold winters and lots of snow, but warm sunshine and dry trails were less than 45 minutes away in Sedona. A beach trip from Colorado requires considerable time and money, whereas in the Triangle you simply drive a couple of hours and then get a hotel for the night or make the drive home. That might be quite a transition coming from Tampa.
The Triangle region is a great place to live. You can get a quasi-city feel in Raleigh & Durham, plenty of suburbia, small towns and rural...your choice. Raleigh and Durham both have great historic neighborhoods if that's what you're looking for again. I won't bother with differences in the Triangle's towns here b/c there are numerous posts on this forum extolling the virtues of one area or another. I will say, however, that I find the Triangle area hard to beat for raising a family. As much as I loved Colorado, I've passed up opportunities to move back now that we have kids and our family is nearby in NC.
As for Fargo...I laughed when I saw it mentioned with Raleigh and Ft. Collins. Oppresively long and cold winters, flat boring landscapes, damaging floods (at least this year) and nowhere nearby to easily escape the mundane weather and surroundings. Its also relatively small and very isolated, so the job market there has to be quite limited. Housing is cheap there for a very good reason!
Tampa is brutally humid in the summer. You sweat the second you walk out the door. It beats us, though It is still uncomfortably humid here in the summer after June. St. Pete might not be as bad if you get the breeze from the ocean. I found the NE east coast of FL much more comfortable than NC. You might want to check it out. My family lived in Ormond Beach for a while. Its dry here for now.
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