What can you tell me about the research triangle area?

Is it a nice place to live?

Take your pick - all have good points.

He's not sure if he wants to move out there from the west coast. I'm thinking his salary would go a lot further in N.C. What's good/bad about the area?

my niece practices law in Raleigh, and lives in the Cary area, and she absolutely loves it. RTP area is probably considered by my boss's ultra-conservative Dad as a "liberal hub". But you'll never be starved for stuff to do, culturally.

University of North Carolina, the first public university in the country, is considered by the rest of the state as a hot bed of liberalism. Lived in CH when I first moved to NC. Housing is high priced.

Durham is a very diverse town - lower housing costs and imo a much more fun place to live.

Don't know much about Raleigh - Cary is thought of as a bedroom community (white flight) and annex to Raleigh.

Really not much difference among the three cities. Something to remember - from Raleigh to the beach is only two hours. To the mountains in western Carolina a longer drive.


Does your nephew have a family? Schools are very different from town to town.

:evilgrin:

edit: Seriously, Besides what others have mentioned, I would say your family member would have to take his work commute into consideration. Hwy 40 is the main thoroughfare from Durham to Raleigh and can get clogged during rush hour (And I am not exaggerating when I say these days traffic's reaching DC Beltway proportions). So he should take that into account. (If 40 is clogged I usually take Hwy 70 -- oddly the original road before 40 was completed. :crazy: )

Besides the counties of Durham, Wake (Raleigh), and Orange (Chapel Hill) people are now looking at housing in surrounding counties like Chatham (British pronunciation CHAT-hum)

Having said all that, there is a thriving arts community all around with crafts, music, ballet, theatre (local companies and traveling national productions). If you like a more relaxed view of life, then your family member will like it here.

Lower, I assume, than Seattle and San Fransisco. But if this particular area's a hotbed for liberalism, arts, and everything else holy and good, is it unreasonable?

but in general, people moving from other parts of the country esp. CA and NY, tend to think housing is cheaper here (true of the South in general.)

I would assume your family would think similar. Popular realtors here include Coldwell Banker, Remaxx, Better Homes and Gardens. I've never bought a house so I'm not an expert with those, just what I see when I'm out and about. Others here could probably give you a recommendation. You might want to poke around houses for sale online to get a feel for what is available at certain price ranges and what they can afford. Also, there are new developments cropping up everywhere so they might want a new home as well.

If you want to live among liberals, try the following:

Raleigh (within the belt-line), Durham, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro.

I live in eastern Chatham County and really enjoy it. It is near Chapel Hill, so it's liberal. There is a river, large lake (14,000 acres), and thousands of acres of public lands on which to enjoy nature.

As for home values in the Triangle, it really does depend. You can get an older 2000 sf single family on 0.25 acres near where I live for ~ $200K. New construction ~ $250K. Planned mix use communities have become increasingly popular around here. Expect to pay more though if you go that route.

Stay away from east- southeast Raleigh and Wake County, and stay away from Johnston County. There you will find ugly sprawl, continual congestion, and conservatives.

Lots to see and do.
Lots of culture.
Lots of activities.

Highest concentration of PhD's in the country (or that used to be the rumor...)

Hot as hell and muggy as a swamp in summer.
Decent place to be in the winter.

plenty of room

:patriot:

I feel relatively safe, too.

I prefer Northern Virginia to here, but now can't afford to move back home.
I miss the Learning Annex, medium rare burgers, the Redskins, Chesapeake Bay crabs, the history, the open mindedness, better built homes, Ocean City Maryland for their fantastic boardwalk, and of course all my friends.

In 11 years, I have yet to find a friend down here.

Did I mention the weather is glorious though? It is also a very pretty area.
Others love it here....I think I am just homesick.

Buried power lines.

My ex was from Fairfax. That was a huge gripe with him.

Check out www.itscarrboro.com. We have our very own goofy "hip hop" video. There is a lyric sheet that has links to lots of local businesses. I love Carrboro. If the commute was too much to live there, parts of Chapel Hill and Durham are nice and also North Chatham.