Pros and cons of Raleigh, NC? I have a job offer on the table and thinking very heavily on picking up my family and moving from the Midwest (Nebraska). I would potentially lose a bit of salary for the hopes of a less stressful job and warmer winters. I know it is a personal decision on which way to go, but it is always nice to hear opinions from others who might have had the same situation. I have read all the pros and cons, but damn is it really that good or bad in Raleigh?

 

Moved from NJ to NC, Youngsville 16 yrs ago, :15 north of Raleigh and I love it. Always in the top 10 best places to live/work.
Cost of living is/was cheaper, housing. prop tax, car insurance etc...still get all 4 seasons although a bit milder.
2.5 - 3 hours to either the beach or mountains, within an 1-1.5 to 3 lakes (boating,fishing,swimming) 5 dragstrips within reasonable driving distance as well as Vir and NCCAR for HPDEs
Plenty of golf.
I'm an old guy, but my kids enjoy downtown Raleigh, clubs, bars, nightlife, etc...

I'd recommend you make a trip for house shopping and see how ya like it...

 

It's hard to add to what Oh1 said.

Winter is like fall up north. Spring and fall are like summer. Summer is pretty tropical.

There is plenty to do. Raleigh is about two hours to the ocean. Three hours to the mountains. 1.5 hours to VIR if you're into sports car racing. 2.5 hours to Charlotte Motor Speedway and 3 hours to Richmond Raceway if you're into NASCAR. If you like NHL hockey, we've got that. It's the only pro sports team in the area. There is minor league baseball and college sports.

If education is important, we've got universities out the wazoo with NC State, UNC, and Duke all nearby. Property taxes are pretty low. We have a pretty conservative legislature and seem to alternate between moderate Democrat and Republican governors.

My wife and I worked in Chapel Hill, but we live in Hillsborough which is about 30 miles west of Raleigh. We wouldn't want to have to commute to Raleigh from here. I-40 inbound to Raleigh can be a mess at morning rush hour. Evening rush hour coming back is worse. If you'll be working downtown, do some research on the best commute. If you're not downtown, the commutes are usually no big deal.

Do you know in what area of Raleigh you'd be working?

 

Thank you oh1vette and jcsperson for your input. Office would be in Morrisville. Have 1 middle schooler who is super excited to make the move. He is easy going, out going who loves to smile and make people happy. School for him is a top priority so we have looked at the Apex, Cary, Holly Springs areas. If there is other places to look please let me know. Wife and I are foodies and beer people. Of course I like cars and sports otherwise I wouldn't own a corvette! Being from a state that has 0 pro sports I am excited to be close to minor league and pro teams.

 

All I really know about Morrisville is that it's right under the flight path for Raleigh-Durham Airport. It is centrally located so you'd have an array of choices to shop for a home and still have a reasonable commute. It's good your kid seems to be on-board with this move.

Good luck!

 

I agree with what was said already. Lots to do here and some nice roads to travel on that aren't too far from home base. I work in Morrisville and live in Wake Forest so it's not bad of a commute. We moved to Wake Forest for the school systems too. The housing market here is going nuts and the prices are higher than ever, so I've heard it can be tough to find and purchase a house. I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

 

I can't speak to other areas since I've been in Raleigh since I graduated college (NC State) 30 years ago. I was born in IL, raised in Charlotte NC, and been in Raleigh ever since. I think all the above answers hit the nail on the head. One thing I'll add is that no matter where anyone lives around here (Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Garner, Wake Forest, Clayton, etc...) they all think their area is "THE BEST". And it's probably true. Raleigh is growing like crazy, so there are bidding wars on houses. Traffic can be a pain if you have a long commute to work. Like Clayton to Morrisville everyday wouldn't be for me but that's probably nothing compared to areas 20 miles outside of DC. I'm near Leesville High School and driving to Morrisville every day would be fine. Maybe the biggest plus for Raleigh is that if you get here and decide you hate the job, you can probably get another one fairly easily unless your skills are very niche specific. Weather is awesome in April, May, June, late Sept, Oct, and Nov. Late July, Aug, and early Sept can be hot and humid (but you still get really nice days sprinkled in there). Jan and Feb can be very cold and rainy with some sleet and maybe snow. But you could have snow one day and then mid 60s a few days later. Wrightsville Beach is just over 2 hours to the east and pretty sweet. Unless Nebraska is totally awesome and you love it with all your heart, I say take the plunge. Just buy me a beer when you get here. Oh, nobody mentioned Rockingham Speedway. They've recently reopened for HPDEs and such. Only about 1.5 hrs south. So we're in the middle of VIR and Rockingham if you like tracking your car.

 

I was born, raised, and worked here all my life. Have lots of "foreign" neighbors though. They're transplants from upstate New York, New Hampshire, and San Diego. Always ask why the moved here. Nice folks who sought a better life. I have to laugh when they tell me how "cheap" car registration, taxes and living is here.

My new HVAC repairman moved here from Connecticutt last year. Liked the area when his family visited his sister-in-law in Wake Forest. He and his wife returned home, quit their Connecticutt jobs and moved north of Wake Forest without any job prospects. He then needed to have the HVAC system in his "new" home serviced. His repairman asked if he would consider a career change. This lead to a job offer, with on-the-job training, in a totally new career field. Said he only regretted not moving here much sooner.

Beware of the skyrocketing cost of real estate. And there's no relief in sight with new employers/demand on the way (e.g., Apple's new $1 billion east coast hub coming to RTP, and VinFast's new $4 billion electric vehicle plant coming just southwest of Apex).

 

I lived in Wake Forest and it was a wonderful place to live. Everything was within 10-20 minutes, including the airport. Really convenient and lots of choices as far as grocery stores, shopping and in general other things to see and do. Yes, traffic was increasing while I lived there and probably has been since I moved 2 years ago. I would highly recommend the Raleigh area and I would try to live as close to work as is reasonable so that you don't have to fight traffic day to day. I was retired when I lived there so that wasn't an issue for me. All the best!

 

I have lived here since 2013, also spent 4 years previously NE Raleigh / SW Wake Forest area. Like others have said, it's very nice, very little to complain about really.
Hurricanes based here, so if hockey is your thing you are in luck.
Cary/Morisville are VERY nice suburbs, low crime rate, everything you could want really. I drive Cary/Morisville/Apex area, love it.

 

I came from NY 6 years ago.

I live in Rolesville with a WF address, right near Heritage HS.

Great area, but growing too fast, imo. Too many cluster type housing developments for the road conditions.

I understand why people move here since I am one of those.

From day 1 I respected the culture and traditions, and did not tell anyone how “we do things back home”.

I have thought about moving out into the countryside a little bit but development is eating up that area as well. Might as well just stay put.

Close to amenities ie restaurants, shopping, a major airport, and most importantly hospital and EMS services which unfortunately have had to taken advantage of those recently. I value the medical here. When seconds count I want help to be close by.

The grass is always greener somewhere else, I’m good here.

 

Nothing negative. Agree what others have said. I was in Durham for 21 years. In CLT
now

 

I, like you did, moved to Cary in 1996. It was a quiet town of about 50,000. The move from NY was one of the best things I ever did. Met my sweetheart, had a great job within two minutes of where I lived. Easy to get downtown Raleigh for concerts, bar scene etc. In 2008 the road near my sub-division went from one lane to three. Lots of homes being built everywhere and the traffic became tedious. With over 100,000 more folks from all over the USA Cary has become crowded.

We were interested in buying a lakehouse and did so in 1999 with the thought of retiring there some day. Well that some day came in 2016. We built a new home on the lake and eventually sold our Cary home as the traffic and congestion reminded me of NY. So....we now live in a hamlet of 400 people and are equidistant between Raleigh and Richmond either is an hour and a half drive. Best of both worlds.

Raleigh is still a great town with lots to do and we love to visit.....but it has changed as we have changed. - Fred

 

OP hasn't posted since April. I'm guessing he didn't take the job.