Raleigh - Durham Area Huddlers

[Footballjoe]

I have applied for a job in Raleigh. I would be shocked if I did not get an interview and feel as though I am would be a contender for the job. What can you tell me about the City? Good places to live, the bad. What about the traffic at rush hour? Do you know anyone who works for the City or its Housing Authority? Any info you can provide would be appreciated.

[Footballjoe]

Perhaps a downside to moving in the Raleigh area is that there are no huddler's. Or even worse, no one know what fantasy football is.

[Big John]

Perhaps a downside to moving in the Raleigh area is that there are no huddler's. Or even worse, no one know what fantasy football is.

There are a few, but had not seen this yet.

[detlef]

If the job is in Raleigh, you're likely going to want to live in Raleigh. Perhaps we're spoiled but many who live here don't hop from one city to the next as often as you'd expect considering that the names are always said together as if they were one city. It's about a half hour drive or more depending on what part of each city you're driving to.

 

Now perhaps that says something nice about the place, that people consider a half hour drive to be something barely worth enduring. Rush hour traffic is still rush hour traffic, but if you live in a major urban area, you'll find ours pales by comparison. The 1-40 corridor does get bumper to bumper between the two cities every late afternoon, but it's not like you're not moving. And that's as bad as it gets.

 

I live in Durham and think it's the coolest of the 3 cities that make up the triangle (Chapel Hill being the third, much smaller city of the three). However, I still wouldn't live here if I worked in Raleigh. Something that bears mention is that Durham and Chapel Hill are much closer to each other than either is to Raleigh.

 

What I like, in general about the area:

 

It's very progressive and educated. Certainly the amount of colleges have a lot to do with this. This isn't to say that everyone is a bunch of hippies (Chapel Hill and Carrboro not withstanding), just that people are rather hip. Supposedly we have the highest per capita PHD ratio in the country.

 

Also, the local economy is holding stronger than the national average. Heck, commercial vacancy rates have actually gone down for 5 consecutive quarters. This despite the fact that there's a ton of new stuff coming on-line. In fairness, I'm not sure how they rate this because much of the "new" stuff is really old stuff that has been remodeled. If these, previously uninhabitable, spaces were considered vacant before, then that explains much. That said, it's still rather impressive.

 

It's so damned green. As in, trees everywhere. It's really evident when you fly in. Over any other somewhat major city, you notice endless sprawl and concrete. But when you approach RDU, you just see trees for miles and miles and then, out of nowhere, you're over the airport. Very cool. So, you can be downtown, surrounded by tall buildings and drive maybe 15 minutes in a number of directions at be at a farm. So that's cool. As a cyclist, this is great.

 

If you like good food, it's a very cool place to live. All the foodie mags are constantly mentioning this area as a hidden gem for good food. Certainly it compares very favorably to any market of it's size. The only time anyone every complains it's because they're comparing it to NYC or San Fran or something, which is obviously a stupid comparison. "You just can't good Chinese like they have in SF Chinatown". Oh really? Say it isn't so.

 

Fun for sports. It's a mecca for college hoops, there's two minor league ball clubs, both with nice and new stadiums (Durham Bulls being very cool and right in the middle of the burgeoning downtown). A lot of people really follow the Canes (who lost in the Eastern Conf. Finals this past year) and, of course, the Panthers and not far away. Thing is, because so many people here are from other places, you're bound to find fans of tons of pro teams. And sports bars are everywhere.

 

That's all for now. pm me with any other questions.

[Footballjoe]

Thanks Det.

[reddogs2020]

I'm loving Greensboro. Went to college in Durham. The Triad is a definitely a good place to live.

[Big John]

I'm loving Greensboro. Went to college in Durham. The Triad is a definitely a good place to live.

Moved back there2 years ago

 

And welcome back!

[KSUChiefsTarheelFan]

If the job is in Raleigh, you're likely going to want to live in Raleigh. Perhaps we're spoiled but many who live here don't hop from one city to the next as often as you'd expect considering that the names are always said together as if they were one city. It's about a half hour drive or more depending on what part of each city you're driving to.

 

Now perhaps that says something nice about the place, that people consider a half hour drive to be something barely worth enduring. Rush hour traffic is still rush hour traffic, but if you live in a major urban area, you'll find ours pales by comparison. The 1-40 corridor does get bumper to bumper between the two cities every late afternoon, but it's not like you're not moving. And that's as bad as it gets.

 

I live in Durham and think it's the coolest of the 3 cities that make up the triangle (Chapel Hill being the third, much smaller city of the three). However, I still wouldn't live here if I worked in Raleigh. Something that bears mention is that Durham and Chapel Hill are much closer to each other than either is to Raleigh.

 

What I like, in general about the area:

 

It's very progressive and educated. Certainly the amount of colleges have a lot to do with this. This isn't to say that everyone is a bunch of hippies (Chapel Hill and Carrboro not withstanding), just that people are rather hip. Supposedly we have the highest per capita PHD ratio in the country.

 

Also, the local economy is holding stronger than the national average. Heck, commercial vacancy rates have actually gone down for 5 consecutive quarters. This despite the fact that there's a ton of new stuff coming on-line. In fairness, I'm not sure how they rate this because much of the "new" stuff is really old stuff that has been remodeled. If these, previously uninhabitable, spaces were considered vacant before, then that explains much. That said, it's still rather impressive.

 

It's so damned green. As in, trees everywhere. It's really evident when you fly in. Over any other somewhat major city, you notice endless sprawl and concrete. But when you approach RDU, you just see trees for miles and miles and then, out of nowhere, you're over the airport. Very cool. So, you can be downtown, surrounded by tall buildings and drive maybe 15 minutes in a number of directions at be at a farm. So that's cool. As a cyclist, this is great.

 

If you like good food, it's a very cool place to live. All the foodie mags are constantly mentioning this area as a hidden gem for good food. Certainly it compares very favorably to any market of it's size. The only time anyone every complains it's because they're comparing it to NYC or San Fran or something, which is obviously a stupid comparison. "You just can't good Chinese like they have in SF Chinatown". Oh really? Say it isn't so.

 

Fun for sports. It's a mecca for college hoops, there's two minor league ball clubs, both with nice and new stadiums (Durham Bulls being very cool and right in the middle of the burgeoning downtown). A lot of people really follow the Canes (who lost in the Eastern Conf. Finals this past year) and, of course, the Panthers and not far away. Thing is, because so many people here are from other places, you're bound to find fans of tons of pro teams. And sports bars are everywhere.

 

That's all for now. pm me with any other questions.

 

good info here....3 minor league teams in the area...PM me as well, and if you need a hotel room in Chapel Hill, I can help you out...4 Diamond for pretty f*n cheap. There is a really good "Almost Asian" restaurant in the area as well, that you should check out.

Edited July 18, 2009 by KSUChiefsTarheelFan

[reddogs2020]

And welcome back!

 

'preciate that.