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My wife and I are considering a move and would like to know if you think this area would be right for us, and if so, what areas you think we should consider. We are considering this area in addition to some areas around DC and Pittsburgh, so I'll post the same background I provided in some other threads.
About Us
We are a mid-30s Black/African-American couple currently residing in downtown Atlanta. We have a son who is currently 16 months old. My wife is originally from Ohio and is an ER physician working in two of the hospitals in the downtown area. I am originally from MD, am a Kenan-Flagler MBA, and do marketing strategy for a company intown. We live in a very diverse neighborhood, which we value tremendously (our street is almost exactly half black and half white, mostly professionals, a gay couple, an interracial couple, etc). We want our son to have a multi-cultural/multi-racial upbringing because that is what we experienced coming up. As far as income is concerned we have our debts pretty well managed and are ok financially.
Why are we considering a move from Atlanta?
Primarily, we want to move to a city that is closer to family. My wife's parent's are in Columbus, my brother-in-law is in Detroit, and my parents and brother are right outside of DC. As such, we are trying to find a place closer than Atlanta (ideally driving distance, but that would be hard for Ohio and Michigan). We want to ensure that our son doesn't only have a "holiday" relationship with his extended family, and want to put ourselves in a position to be closer to our parents as they age.
In addition, my wife and I both went to college in Atlanta, and have grown tired of the negatives of the city. Crime is pretty bad and feels like it's getting worse. The transportation infrastructure has been outpaced by the population growth, so traffic is awful and not getting better anytime soon. Politically, I would consider us left-leaning centrists, and unfortunately, the South is the South down here in our opinion.
Lastly, we live in the city now but want to move to a more suburban environment. In Atlanta, suburban options appear to be 1) live around all blacks (which we don't want), 2) live in a conservative-dense area (which also includes low diversity), and/or 3) live in an area that is very far out and would cause a miserable commute. Plus, public school options seem to be lacking in the metro area in general, so while we would consider private school, we don't want that to be the only viable option.
We do enjoy the restaurants in town, the weather, the vibe of the city, and the culture, but these are outweighed by the negatives at this point.
So, why Raleigh/Durham/Cary/Chapel Hill?
Frankly speaking, I enjoyed my time in Chapel Hill, but I was mostly in campus studying and such. I have no clue what it would be like to raise a family in the area.
From a job perspective, my wife would obviously try to find a position with a University or a private group. For me, there is a likelihood that I will be able to stay with my company and work from home as a remote employee, so commute isn't a huge issue.
Assuming that that the area could potentially work, here are the things we care about the most, in no particular order:
1) Great public school options
2) Some diversity (doesn't have to be like what we have now, but don't want our son to be "the only black kid" per se)
3) Nice homes with a decent amount of land. New construction or relatively new homes, in a subdivision, would be preferable.
4) Low traffic
5) Not a painfully long drive to the city if we want to enjoy some culture
6) Safe area, with walking trails, good neighbors and residents, etc
7) Considering that we are coming from Atlanta, some cultural options/good restaurants, etc, would be nice to have.
Sorry for the very long thread, but thanks for reading and for any guidance that you can provide for us. Very much appreciate it.
Hi! You have so many options in this area re: places to live that will give you the school, location, and most of your requirements. I can sum it up for you until others post with more specifics.
Thinking primarily of your wife's commute & a newish home, if she worked at Duke, RTP or UNC you could live around Southpoint Mall area in Durham. I have a couple of former colleague/friends who live there, work at Duke and love it for the nice homes and easy commute. Chapel Hill, I really don't know enough about the homes there.
Raleigh - there is WakeMed, Rex, Duke Raleigh Hospital (old Raleigh Community). So you could live in the area outside I-540 off Six Forks or Falls Neuse. It's nice there, and close to Falls lake.
There is Cary and Apex for newer homes, most of the area there is newly built compared to Raleigh so you will find more home choices in more $$$ ranges. Whereas N. Ral will be on the higher end but should be in your budget range. Western Wake hospital in centrally located in Cary.
If you would take an older home built in 40's - 60's, you could look at inside the beltline area in Raleigh. Mostly Five Points or North Hills. You'll find a lovely home, possibly renovated, on a big lot, with excellent schools and likely in a walkable neighborhood. Now you will be the minority there but the schools are currently diverse. Also, there is a new neigborhood in North Raleigh at Wake Forest off Falls of the Neuse Rd and Capital Blvd, it's called Wakefield. It has a golf course, and homes in different price points. Some mansions, some townhomes, and inbetweens. The schools there are excellent and are in the subdivision.
Know that Wake County Public Schools is going thru a change due to a shift in the board to members who are for neighborhood schools. This is all TBD, too soon to say what's going to happen. www.wcpss.net is their site.
Search for threads about other concerns, things to do, etc..there are loads on them on here.
Good luck!
Last edited by RaleighLass; 02-14-2010 at 06:32 PM..
Reason: added "cary"
The days of the Triangle having "low traffic" are LONG gone. Sure, compared to Atlanta or DC (or other large cities), it may be lower, but it has grown dramatically just since 2000 and is getting markedly worse each and every year. If you lived here and wanted low traffic, be sure to live very close to wherever your job is. And of course, you'll be making sure you have jobs lined up BEFORE moving. But the population is just growing far too quickly for roads to keep up with it.
Neighborhoods with diversity are the easy part here.
Have you considered Charlotte. Would be more of a halfway point between DC and Ohio. A little closer to DC. though. Charlotte has more of a downtown area and city feel. The Triangle has more of a suburban feel even in Downtown Raleigh. I know you wanted something suburban but I feel the Raleigh area is more suburban that the suburbs Atlanta. I'm wondering if it would be too slow for you. Raleigh is diverse but I think Atlanta has more diversity.
In Raleigh, I think Chapel Hill would suit you better. You have the hospitals of Duke and UNC. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools are very good. I feel that Durham and Chapel Hill have some of the better restaurants like you would see in Atlanta. Not as many though. Chapel Hill is more liberal and has a more intellectual feel. Just thought I would put that out there because many people have a strong opinion on this whether it's in favor or opposition.
In Atlanta, have you checked out Sandy Springs including the Dunwoody area that was just incorporated into Sandy Springs? The Perimeter area might suit you well and still close to downtown.
Come and visit and stay awhile! When my kids were little, I really appreciated the parks and rec in Raleigh - the city/suburbia has great playgrounds and parks to escape with your little one. When you do come visit, be sure to check out Marbles Museum on Moore square - it is a nice time with your little one - there is a great play/exploring area. Pullen park is another great downtown park - and if you want to extend your drive a bit, Blue Jay Point is a great county park off of Six Forks in N. Raleigh.
Come, visit, eat, stay awhile and get a feel for the area before making any decisions. Perhaps a D.C. Family member can drive down to meet you and you can both see and visit each other.
Have you considered Charlotte. Would be more of a halfway point between DC and Ohio. A little closer to DC. though.
What? How is Charlotte Closer to D.C.?
There's nothing wrong with what I said. Charlotte is definitely more a halfway point. The distance between Charlotte and OH is about 7 hours where Charlotte to DC is about 6.5 making Charlotte a little closer to DC.
jln69, I think the other poster was misreading your post as I was initially. I thought you meant that Charlotte was a little closer to DC than the triangle, but you were saying Charlotte would be a good halfway point between Ohio and DC and would be a little closer to DC than it would be to Ohio. It might be worth looking into, but Charlotte traffic can be pretty miserable. If the OP is looking to get away from Atlanta, Charlotte might not be the best choice since that seems to be what the Queen City is modeling itself on.
OP, Chapel Hill is a great place to raise a family. The Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools have a great reputation — one of the best in the state.
DC is about 4-5 hrs from the triangle depending on which triangle city is your origination point. See google maps for more info.
I think you could find plenty of newer neighborhoods in Chapel Hill or Carrboro that would meet your criteria. I live in an older one and while the diversity is not as extensive as the one you describe we do have all sorts of different folks here. I imagine the newer neighborhood you're looking for would probably have even more diversity.
We have a fair amount of cultural events at UNC and in town w/o having to leave town, but certainly Raleigh and Durham are both just a hop and skip away if there's something going on over there that's interesting. I prefer a smaller town and in CH I rarely have to ever deal with traffic. I know folks who love Durham (and it is an up and coming creative locale of it's own) and folks who love Raleigh. Raleigh is definitely going to have more traffic than other points in the triangle, but it probably doesn't approach Atlanta standards yet.
Your wife would have plenty of job possibilities in any of the three cities. Great food, especially in Chapel Hill and Durham, but I hear Raleigh has some good eats, too.
Come back and visit and see what you think. There's a lot of caution thrown around here to folks who are speculatively looking to relocate, but I think with your job situations you have it better than a lot of folks who are looking for an IT position, for example.
There's nothing wrong with what I said. Charlotte is definitely more a halfway point. The distance between Charlotte and OH is about 7 hours where Charlotte to DC is about 6.5 making Charlotte a little closer to DC.
Yeah. Last week I clocked the trip from my garage in Raleigh to the 14th Street Bridge in DC at 3 hours 50 minutes. And, I drove the speed limit the whole way! (which was a personal first)
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