Raleigh/Triangle area Mamas

[mum1day]

I usually don't post here, but I knew it would be the best place to gather some useful information about a potential move.

My DH has been given a golden opportunity which would require us to move to Raleigh and we are seriously considering this move from the DC suburbs. This is something we never thought we would do, because NC seems so far south to us. My DH is a yankee, so this is a HUGE move for him.

We are going down in a few weeks to check the place out, but would like to get some info on good areas to look in the Triangle area. I've been told by close friends that Chapel Hill is my kind of place (liberal, kind of crunchy, etc.) and I wonder if there are other places around that are similar to this (Online, I've looked at Chatham County, but know nothing about the area other than I can have a Chapel Hill address without paying Chapel Hill prices). We currently live on 4 acres, and will live on no less than 2, so that plays a huge role in where we live as well as the school district--it has to be a good one.

I would really appreciate any help you could offer and thank you in advance!

[holliam]

Hi there!

We moved here in 5/03, and like your DH I NEVER thought I'd live here. We too are die-hard yanks! However, this area is very diverse. I honestly know very few people who are from this area originally.

We actually LOVE LOVE LOVE the area. Very family friendly. Still not over-crowded. We drove through NOVA/DC in Nov en route to PA. DH used to live in the area, and it was so funny to be driving through a "real" city. People here complain about traffic, etc. but it's nothing like the northeast cities or CA (we moved here from Bay Area CA).

You mention liberal, crunchy. That's us! We have several AP groups in the area, babywearing, diapering, API meetings, AP playgroups. We have a whole network of crunchish friends.

I love the Chapel Hill area, but it is higher costs. The schools are excellent. There is a private Waldorf school there too.

If you want at least 2 acres, you're going to be hard-pressed to find it in Chapel Hill. Consider Hillsborough (though not Chapel Hill schools) or Chatham County. Pittsboro is there, and it is kind of up-and-coming but it is directly south of Chapel Hill. It's still very rural but tons of housing developments going in. Much cheaper and much more land.

We are living in Cary, which I don't think you'd like. Smallish land. Really suburban. Very family-friendly but far more mainstream. We are here because it's close to my office, but we plan to build a home in Chatham County in the next couple of years. We plan to homeschool so schools are not as much of a concern for us.

Feel free to PM me. Beth (brittone2) moved here last year, and it's been wonderful having her here! There are also a lot of other local mamas here! Other than Beth, I've met Melissa and Marielle from here.

Holli

[mum1day]

Great, thanks so much for the info! Looks like we are moving, just trying to find the perfect area--so I'll PM you!

It looks like Chatham County might be the best place for us.

Thanks, again!

Natasha

[brittone2]

I got lots of great help from the ladies here when we were prepping for our move. We lived in PA about an hour outside of Philadelphia before relocating here so DH could attend UNC for his PhD. We looooove it here :) Truly!! I agree, the area is quite diverse. In the actual triangle, IME there are just as many "transplants" as natives, especially in Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, so it hasn't been too much of a culture shock or anything :) Life moves a tad slower but I enjoy that. Traffic isn't bad at all in comparison to what we faced in Philadelphia, although it does get busy at times.

We would have loved to live in Chapel Hill as it would have been nice and close to UNC and lots of things to do. It definitely wasn't in our budget for what we wanted though. We have a large dog, we wanted some land (we lived in a rather tight little neighborhood before where the houses were very very close together), and we needed to be budget-conscious. Chapel Hill's public schools are amazing but the real estate prices are very high for single homes and there isn't much land. There are Chapel Hill addresses that don't have CH schools I believe so that's something to be aware of. CH also has free public transportation throughout the city. There is public transportation to and from many parts of the triangle. Hillsborough just added a bus route that runs to/from Chapel Hill too.

We looked closely at Durham but again, most homes in our price range were very close together, with virtually no yard, or on .25 acre or less. You are closer to shopping, etc. though, which is nice. Durham schools seemed to get mixed reviews...I don't know much about that topic.


It takes us about 40 mins to get to Raleigh, give or take. It would be more in rush hour.

Hmmm...what else? There are nice malls (although I'm not a mall crawler myself) at the Streets at Southpoint in Durham and the Crabtree mall in Raleigh is pretty nice too. There are lots of fun things to do...lots of music (the co-op has music 2x per week out on the lawn which is a nice gathering place for families...kind of like a little park where people hang out, picnic, play with their kids, etc.). In the summer we go to the Carolina Inn to hear free bluegrass on the lawn...again, lots of fun families and kids hanging out. Being near UNC and Duke means there are some nice attractions...there is a great museum in Durham called the Museum of Life and Science which is very very kid friendly (petting zoo, an outdoor train ride, butterfly house, insectarium, plus a regular hands-on type museum). There is a planetarium in Chapel Hill. Lots of free cultural/arts/etc events go on in the area.



You can definitely find liberal and crunchy down here. We absolutely love it. The people are very kind for the most part, the weather is great, and we've been so happy to be here. Holli has been so kind to us since our move and we've really enjoyed getting together with her family!! We'll have to meet up if you relocate. We were pretty happy with our realtor if you need any recommendations.

HTH.