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I'd agree: a lot depends on where you're working. I wouldn't want to commute from Raleigh to Durham or vice versa, though plenty of people do it all the time.
In terms of the "most popular" vs. "least popular" -- I'd suggest you look upon that as a mirror of WHO moves to the Triangle, and WHERE they move to.
Personally, my wife and I love Durham; we chose Durham after looking at Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Cary and Apex. None of the other cities met what *we* were looking for.
But the things that mattered to us -- being in a more historic/urban-feeling area, greater diversity, close proximity to a top university and knowledge jobs -- are going to be different than what matters to others.
I tend to find that people who are relocating from a suburban environment... from the Route 495 belt of Boston, or Long Island/Westchester -- and who would never think about living *in* the cities they live around... numerically, they tend to prefer Raleigh/Wake Forest/Cary-style areas, or suburban parts of Durham in its southern or northern edges.
But I'd be cautious about getting caught up in a question of where is "more" or "less" popular.
Personally, I get nervous about falling back on school rankings like "Excellent with Distinction," which really come down ultimately to the socioeconomics of a school; are its students predominately wealthy or not? For instance, most of the students in Durham Public Schools who've gone on to Ivies in the past few years do so out of a magnet school program at Hillside, which academically has suffered for its base population due to economically-segregated school assignments in Durham. Magnet programs are also very popular in Wake County, and you may find yourself caring more about getting your kids into the best fit program form them regardless of which school that's in.
Whichever community you choose to move to, I'd encourage you to get engaged with real people who live there, by connecting with prospective new neighbors or through neighborhood email listserves, which reach a broader and more local population than what you'll find on a message board. Good luck.
I don't know why people get so worked up over this decision. Find an apartment as close to your office as possible and rent for 6 months. In those 6 months, explore all that the area has to offer and make your own decision instead of relying on what us bunch of idiots say you should or should not do. My wife and I moved here 3 years ago and got an apartment in Morrisville that was only 6 miles from my office. We put all of our stuff in a storage facility and moved again 9 months later, once we decided what area we liked best.
I don't know why people get so worked up over this decision. Find an apartment as close to your office as possible and rent for 6 months. In those 6 months, explore all that the area has to offer and make your own decision instead of relying on what us bunch of idiots say you should or should not do. My wife and I moved here 3 years ago and got an apartment in Morrisville that was only 6 miles from my office. We put all of our stuff in a storage facility and moved again 9 months later, once we decided what area we liked best.
Right-O, NewUser.
Nin Tai,
All you will get here are opinions from people, many of which are not formed in objectivity.
If the decision has been made that you are moving to the area, nothing will prepare you better than getting here and learning what works for YOU. That may differ from the conclusions you draw from the preponderance of subjective advice on CD.
I don't know why people get so worked up over this decision. Find an apartment as close to your office as possible and rent for 6 months. In those 6 months, explore all that the area has to offer and make your own decision instead of relying on what us bunch of idiots say you should or should not do. My wife and I moved here 3 years ago and got an apartment in Morrisville that was only 6 miles from my office. We put all of our stuff in a storage facility and moved again 9 months later, once we decided what area we liked best.
I generally agree, but it's a bit more complicated when there are two school aged children involved (especially because where you live essentially determines what school they will attend).
My first recommendation would be CH for schools, but I don't know if your budget would work. I'd look at finding an apartment that feeds into Cary High School, Green Hope, or Panther Creek if those are convenient for work.
Since you are a single mom, I would definitely agree that finding a place near to both school and work would be optimal. Will definitely make your life easier.
I generally agree, but it's a bit more complicated when there are two school aged children involved (especially because where you live essentially determines what school they will attend).
So the kids will go to a school for 3-6 months that MAY not be the one they eventually wind up in. It ain't gonna kill them, or even scar them for life.
So the kids will go to a school for 3-6 months that MAY not be the one they eventually wind up in. It ain't gonna kill them, or even scar them for life.
Depends on the kid--keep in mind everyone has a different personality and some kids roll with the punches and others have very difficult adjustments. We rented for 18 months and when we bought we limited ourselves to the school my daughter started at because this is her 5th house (she's 6) and we wanted her to have some stability. We passed up better deals and newer houses to stay at the school. Going to three different high schools is not easy for many kids (I have some personal family experience with this). If offering stability to her kids is a concern for the OP, she might find an apartment near work that has good school assignments and then when/if she buys stay with that assignment if possible.
I'll add that you should not discount a city, area, or school just because someone on a thread say's it's not the place to be. Many times the poster is only quoting from stats or what they've heard and not first hand experience, for which, there is no substitution.
As for schools, my now MS daughter was in a Wake County elementary School of Distinction & within a couple of yrs it lost that and scores went downhill, requiring intervention for SOME students. Yet, her education remained the same quality, the teachers were the same, I was on the PTA board so got know more about this. I have seen some inside the beltline (hi $$ real estate) area schools that have always had great reputations, and then suddenly they are listed as requiring intervention. Yet, friends who had their kids there raved over the school.
I think this echoes what another poster said about finding the right program for your child and disregarding the other stuff.
We parents in Wake Co don't know what to expect from our "new' Board of Education team, so trying to explain it to an outsider is not possible. See www.wcpss.net
PS - one of the ways our schools are rated (if you will), is by a end of grade test (EOG) for ALL students. Students are broken up into groups such as non native English speakers (ESL), Special Needs, etc. If ONE of these groups fails the yr end test, then the entire school fails as it brings down their scores. So, as you can imagine, it's not a true assessment of what type of education your child will get - unless they are in one of the failed groups.
Everyone has been great! Thank you for all your responses
Yes, it is my decision and a major part of that lies with my children. One particular OP had said that there would be concerns for him to leave schools ranked, "excellent w dist" and I appreciate your concern. Yes, I am blessed to have my children attend good schools, but I am seeking for a "better" quality of living.
Our unemployment rate is a whopping 13%. Now I know we've all felt the sting of the job cuts, but some cities are more affected by others. On top of that, we've had over 26 murders in a city with only 300,000 people. Our population has declined tremendously, there's nothing for my children to do, and the people here have become narrow-minded and hopeless.
I'm an optimist. I love life and I love to make my children happy. It's time for ME to be happy and I feel that it's time for me to find a better quality of life for MYself.
Now I'm not saying I'm going to find that in NC. Some of you may say, "a city is what you make it"; that may be so, but there is nothing about my city that appeals to me anymore.
I also appreciate the OP's concern about my children's education. Yes, education cannot be stressed enough in my home, and my son is going to be on tv someday with his intelligence (lol) but my children are going to be ok and they will be able to adjust to different surroundings.
The parents on this post understand where I'm coming from to want a good education for my children and that is just what I plan on continuing whether it's in North Carolina or someplace else.
Thank you all!!!!!!
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