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Well, I don't necessarily agree that Raleigh residents want the area to be a snooze where people have NO access to cultural events. If someone moves here with the intent to live in seclusion and shut down to what the world (ie LIFE) has to offer, than I think THAT person missed the mark, and I recommend them to move to Montana or North Dakota, it is REALLY quiet there so I've heard!
When I said "we", I meant me & my family...not all of Raleigh. We've live on both coasts and in many areas, so we are hardly sheltered. We travel ALOT with our kids. But its give and take...you can't have a 264 events on Ticketmaster and live in a smaller size city...for us, the priority is our children, and we want them to grow up like we did, free to visit neighbors, play in the street (culdesac) and safe. To some degree we are sheltering them...from traffic & crime & big city life.
If I were young and single, I don't know if this area would be my thing either...
Well, as a family, we find something to do every single weekend.
There are off broadway shows all the time (broadway series south), the Eno River and festival,Umstead Park, my kids can never get enough of the Durham Science museum, there are free concerts all summer long on Moore Square, First Friday, Artsplosure, various artwalks, live music downtown (not all local groups), plenty of shows and concerts at Regency Park in Cary, weekly stuff going on at the fairgrounds, the International Festival, Diwalli, The Greek Festival, Frech Fesitval, Exploris, Movies on the lawn at the Art museum and at Regency Park, the planetarium, Duke Gardens, The Durham Bulls, The Mudcats, the Carolina Hurricaines, roller derby, The Carolina Ballet, the NC Symphony, the primate center, author readings at Quail Ridge bookstore...just to name a few things we find to do!
I was searching the internet for info on the Raleigh area. We will be moving soon to that area. I am heading down tomorrow just to get a feel for the area and neighborhoods. My husband will be working in downtown Raleigh. We have a middle school child so schools are important. I keep hearing Cary is the place to be. The Wake County Schools are suppose to be the best but as I have learned that usually means they are big and overcrowded. Any suggestions?
I was searching the internet for info on the Raleigh area. We will be moving soon to that area. I am heading down tomorrow just to get a feel for the area and neighborhoods. My husband will be working in downtown Raleigh. We have a middle school child so schools are important. I keep hearing Cary is the place to be. The Wake County Schools are suppose to be the best but as I have learned that usually means they are big and overcrowded. Any suggestions?
Cary may be the place to be. I like it. Been here 10 years from Pennsylvania.
But there are so many very nice places to choose from, and something for almost anybody in several counties in the Triangle, it is impossible to make a blanket statement that any one place is "the place to be."
When I said "we", I meant me & my family...not all of Raleigh. We've live on both coasts and in many areas, so we are hardly sheltered. We travel ALOT with our kids. But its give and take...you can't have a 264 events on Ticketmaster and live in a smaller size city...for us, the priority is our children, and we want them to grow up like we did, free to visit neighbors, play in the street (culdesac) and safe. To some degree we are sheltering them...from traffic & crime & big city life.
If I were young and single, I don't know if this area would be my thing either...
I couldn't agree more. I had a blast as a young, single person trying some extremes of big city and total wilderness, and I might have been bored here in my early twenties. Now I have a family and focused on my child and her needs and not focused on Ticketmaster.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lamishra
Well, as a family, we find something to do every single weekend.
There are off broadway shows all the time (broadway series south), the Eno River and festival,Umstead Park, my kids can never get enough of the Durham Science museum, there are free concerts all summer long on Moore Square, First Friday, Artsplosure, various artwalks, live music downtown (not all local groups), plenty of shows and concerts at Regency Park in Cary, weekly stuff going on at the fairgrounds, the International Festival, Diwalli, The Greek Festival, Frech Fesitval, Exploris, Movies on the lawn at the Art museum and at Regency Park, the planetarium, Duke Gardens, The Durham Bulls, The Mudcats, the Carolina Hurricaines, roller derby, The Carolina Ballet, the NC Symphony, the primate center, author readings at Quail Ridge bookstore...just to name a few things we find to do!
Seriously, I've never found myself without things to do here either, and I'm one who has lived all over the country and spent a good deal of time in large cities. I'm probably more likely to do the things lamishra listed above than to purchase tickets on Ticketmaster, so it works for me. What I would say is that because the Triangle area is spread out into several smaller cities, it can take a wee bit more work to figure out what's going on where, but I'm never at a loss for activities. We're outdoorsy, so with the exception of the summer, we're often out hiking on weekends.
There are times I miss big city life- my friends in DC are able to practically raise their children at the Smithsonian. And when I feel that pull, we hop in the car and spend a long weekend in DC. I'd rather live here and take trips to DC than vice-versa!
The Triangle area is not for everyone. Thank God, as I'd not really want to stay here if the population was 50 million! It's for me, and that's all that matters.
In the 10 years I've lived in the Boston area as a mom with kids, I've purchased tickets from ticketmaster (i.e., gone to a concert) less than 10 times. And most of those have been in the past 2-3 years as our older kids have been responsible enough to babysit.
Now as a student living here--that was a different story! Same thing with bars and nightlife.
Well the ticketmaster was a gauge to determine the activity in those cities. Not necessarily you HAVE to get the tickets from there or watch shows sold through their system...
In any case, I fail to see the connection between "young and single" and "cultural events". Does that mean that a person at some point in their lives must get married and have 2-5 kids and move to a cul-de-sac and close themselves in a 24-hour Museum of Sience patronage and isolate themselves from what is going around the world? Is this what the Triangle is about? Gosh I hope not. I have many friends who are either married with no kids or they have kids but still manage to live their lives without having to seclude themselves in a family obsessed neighborhood filled with cul-de-sacs and minivans!
Well the ticketmaster was a gauge to determine the activity in those cities. Not necessarily you HAVE to get the tickets from there or watch shows sold through their system...
In any case, I fail to see the connection between "young and single" and "cultural events". Does that mean that a person at some point in their lives must get married and have 2-5 kids and move to a cul-de-sac and close themselves in a 24-hour Museum of Sience patronage and isolate themselves from what is going around the world? Is this what the Triangle is about? Gosh I hope not. I have many friends who are either married with no kids or they have kids but still manage to live their lives without having to seclude themselves in a family obsessed neighborhood filled with cul-de-sacs and minivans!
What's wrong with the Museum of Life and Science? I go there all the time!
Actually, I somewhat agree, but I don't necessarily equate what I find on Ticketmaster with cultural events. I may be a mom, but that doesn't stop me from once in a blue moon sneaking over to the Cat's Cradle to check out a good indie band.
It's a fine balancing act. As a mother, I do want my child to live in an environment that fosters growth, stability and well-being. I also want my child to have other children nearby- socialization is important. So, despite my aesthetic ideals, I have found myself checking out "family" neighborhoods because, like it or not, it's where other children can be found. There's not a single baby or toddler in my neighborhood right now, and that's an issue. I don't think it makes me "family obsessed" to take my role as a mother seriously. Too many people in my generation were raised by people who were too busy going out and "finding themselves" to pay much attention to their kids, and the result is that there are a lot of screwed up Gen X'ers running around with attachment issues.
And on the other hand, I don't want my child to grow up in this artificial, sterile, "safe" suburban area with no roots in the "real" world beyond. I don't want some bored, angsty, skateboarding brat with a sense of entitlement and an overinflated sense of his or her own problems who thinks that the world begins and ends with their zip code. I want them to step outside their little bubble to have a wide variety of life experiences. I want them to open their minds.
If you can figure out how to strike the perfect balance, then you can probably write a book about it and sell millions of copies.
My regret about this place is that the people here are sooooo much different than the people in the cities I've lived in. Ugh!
I'm curious, what about the people in RDU don't you like?
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