Tell me about Raleigh, NC

B

BigSHELL

25+ Posts
I had a job interview today that I thought was going to be for an Atlanta territory... they threw me a curveball and said that position might be full, however Raleigh, NC is open (along with other cities).

I have never been there nor do I know anyone that has lived there... I thought I would come here to see if anyone had any first hand experience.

I am a 25 year old female that has been living in Dallas. I am very social... so a solid nightlife is important to me.

Any feedback is very much appreciated.
 
Great place to live. Beautiful area with three large schools nearby(UNC, NC State, and Duke), as well as the state capitol. I spend most of my time in Cary, so I am not familiar with the social scene, but given the above, I can imagine the scene is very good.
 
My soon-to-be in-laws live out in Cary and we go out there every year or so. Cary strikes me as kind of a North Carolina version of Frisco, but with trees and hills rather than Frisco's treeless prairiescape.

Downtown Raleigh really has nothing going on, but I understand they are trying to change that. There is an impressive performing arts center down there and a handfull of bars.

But for the most part, the bars and nightlife (so far as I can tell) are centered around the universities, which means that it is a bit spread out from Raleigh. But Raleigh is still a fairly nice town from what I've been able to tell, even if not terribly exciting. And it's only a two-hour drive to both skiing and the beach, which is pretty rare outside of California.
 
My son is a grad student at UNC. Great nightlife in Chapel Hill. Most of the people your age live in one of the areas surrounding the Universities mentioned above, and commute to work in Raleigh. The commute can be as much as an hour, even with the great Interstate system in the Raleigh area. You need to find out exactly where the company you are interviewing with is located in the Raleigh area - "Raleigh" could mean anywhere in the Raleigh - Durham - Chapel Hill triangle. It would be better if you didn't have to work in downtown Raleigh, because of the commute, but the area is considered to be one of the best places to live in the U.S.
 
You will be losing a lot of Dallas stuff. There aren't a lot of great restaurants in Raleigh like there are in Dallas. The shopping in Raleigh caters a lot more to college students and younger people than does the shopping in Dallas. But Dallas doesn't have a good college scene like Raleigh does.

As far as skiing goes, there are a number of ski resorts in the Smokey Mountains. Certainly, the skiing isn't as good as it is in Colorado or Utah, but it's still skiing just a couple of hours from home.
 
I recently (June) moved to Raleigh after living in Austin for the last 9 years. While it's not as cool as Austin, I've had a great time here. I live near downtown Raleigh and work in Durham. Depending on where you work and live, you could have a decent drive because the Triangle (as they call it) is pretty spread out. Raleigh to Durham is about 25 miles, but it only takes me ~30 minutes, so it's not like you're sitting in traffic on MOPAC.

As far as places to live, other posters are right about Cary being like Frisco (I'm originally from DFW). What I was told before I moved here was:
I) Don't move to Durham. Besides Duke, the majority of the city is pretty bad as far as crime. It's an urban town that has not yet seen much of a revival. Nightlife is scarce except for a few places around Duke.
II) Chapel Hill is a cool place but the nightlife is very much a college town nightlife. It's not like Austin where there's 6th St., West 6th St, Warehouse District, etc. It's a younger crowd for the most part.
III) Raleigh was the place that I was encouraged to live even though it's further from my work than the other two. Raleigh has a better post college nightlife. While there aren't as many options as Austin or Dallas, you can find bars that have a bit older crowd. I'm 27 and I have found a few places that I like a lot. Raleigh is very easy to get around in and when people here complain about traffic, I have to laugh.

Outside of nightlife, Lawyer was right that it's in a good location (2 hours from Mountains; 2 hours from Beach) and the highways are lined with trees as opposed to billboards. It has a bit more of a small town feel than Austin or definitely Dallas. There is no such thing as Tex-Mex here although I have found some places that have edible mexican food and tolerable margaritas.

I hope this helps. Please regard this however you see fit for a First Time Poster. I've lurked for years, so at least I think I'm on a friendly board to start posting.
 
As far as shopping and restaurants - there's not near as much as Dallas, but you have to take into account the size of the metro area. In the Triangle area, there's 3 good malls one with a Nordstrom, one with a Saks. Not sure what you're looking for specifically though...

One of the things I miss most about Austin is the restaurants. There's some good places here and I'm still discovering the area, but I haven't found the variety to be as good as the Metroplex or Austin.
 
Nordstrom and Saks... that is nice to know. That gives me an idea of what other stores would be within the mall.

Does it have a decent sushi restaurant? I might be able to live without Mexican (of course, I say that now...). Heck, it would probably be a good thing!!

What would you say the % is of people 25-35 in the area? Are we talking Fort Worth sized?

OH! And what about the music scene?? I know it isn't going to be Austinesque, nothing is... but does it attract decent shows??

I really, really appreciate you all's responses. I still have two interviews remaining and I am not even sure if this is where they would want me if hired, I just want to be prepared to give an answer when asked if I would consider/move.
 
I'm not 100% sure about Sushi but I've heard of some places that people here really like.

I would say that the nightlife is on par with Fort Worth or maybe a little better.

Music scene? Not as many people that I'm into seem to come to town, although there's a cool place called Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill that a lot of up and coming bands come to. Other than that, it's mostly big names at the amphitheater similar to Smirnoff or The Woodlands pavilion.

Good luck with your interviews.
 
Kanki is a really good Japanese restaurant in Raleigh (Crabtree Valley Mall). The sushi was voted best in the area for ten years. If you don't like them, there are about twenty other sushi places to try.

I think someone asked what skiing was two hours away:

Wintergreen orSki Beech There are several others. I have been to Sugar Mountain and Wintergreen and the latter is really nice.

I grew up near the triangle and there are a lot of things to do but it's definitely not in the league of Dallas. You won't have a problem finding social events or people to hang out with. Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill (the triangle) is host to so many colleges it is ridiculous. Duke, Peace, St. Mary's. Shaw, St. Augustine, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, NC Central, Meredith, etc. The night club scene is...hmm...not very sophisticated (to be nice). I know people from here journey to the
Longbranch or to the Ice room located within. I preferred Chapel Hill tho' for club crawling. There are some really great pubs (Hibernian and Tir Na Nog are two I can think of) hidden throughout downtown.

I second the "stay away from Durham" as a place to call home. Friends of mine live in Durham and although they are in a decent area, unless you are living near the Eno in one of the really nice developments, you will be constantly checking your door locks.
 
Don't do it!! I am telling you now, if you move over there your going to hate life. I moved to Cary from SFO bay area, it was a reverse culture shock to say the least. There are very few good restaurants, the BBQ is vinegar based which takes too long to get used to.

The social seen is pretty week imo. They say you can "ski" 2 hours away, and although thats true it is really a ****** mountain. I mean if you like to ski on a 300ft run full of ice then have at it. I might be exaggerating a bit but I used to go to Tahoe alot when i lived in sfo bay area and the two don't even come close to comparable.

I really tried to enjoy myself out there. I mean there are a bunch of lakes and trails that you can run or ride on. If you had boat it could be fun. After being there for 6 months I decided I could not live there, it took me another year and a half to get out. I moved back to Austin!!
 
I had the option to move to either Raleigh or Atlanta. Most of the people I spoke to who had lived in Raleigh told me to opt for Atlanta. From what I was told, unless you were of college age or married with a family, Raleigh would not be a fun place to live.

I really enjoy Atlanta and very happy I didn't move to Raleigh.
 
LOL @ staying away from Cary.

The pretensiousness is staggering. Over development has poisoned a once cute little village type community.
 
I recommend checking it out before committing to anything.

I went to a wedding in 2000 in the Outer Banks. I booked late and had to fly into Raleigh-Durham. I collect college shot glasses and needed an NC State for my collection.

So I looped around, got off the loop, and drove along a nothing road on the way to the campus. Nice campus, beautiful trees, boring brick building, but beatiful trees. Then drove back. There seemed to be a whole lot of nothing.

That was 7 1/2 years ago and urban areas can change a LOT in 7 1/2 years, but... it didn't look like any place I would ever want to live full time. I really recommend that you not make this decision without checking it out.
 
Mrs B-Taco and I lived out there from 2003-2005. We're now back in Austin. Although we're empty nesters, it's a great place to raise a family; excellent cost of living. For a younger crowd, there's Chapel Hill (although heavily college-oriented). However, the Glenwood Ave area of Raleigh is being actively developed as a great evening area for young singles. If you pick Raleigh, then try to live ITB (inside the beltline) or near it to get a neat, neighborhood feel.
For sushi, Penang in Chapel Hill is very good. For Tex-Mex, there are a bunch of restaurants, but they all have the same menu (over 100 combinations of tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, etc). The seafood out there is excellent. 42nd Street in Raleigh is fantastic.
Weather - generally pretty good. Although, much cooler than Texas, the Gulf Stream off the Outer Banks keeps the freezing stuff to an occasional occurence.
Pretty good airport with lots of connections and Southwest keeps most fares reasonable.
PM if you want more info.
 
Oh yeah. Very important. There are few "traditional" clubs there. Due to the liquor laws, there are pubs or restaurants with a major bar inside. Actually, I liked it because the pubs had awesome draft beer selections and there was some excellent non-chain restaurant dining throughout the area.
Several of my work colleagues were in bands, so there's a lively music scene.
 
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