Topic: Anyone from Raleigh, NC ?

[mono]

I'm (seriously) considering a move to Raleigh in about a year -- never been there, but I've heard great things about it.  I've spent time in Charlotte, but it's too suburban-sprawl for me.  The only part of Charlotte I really liked was North Davidson St (the NoDa), but it was so small there's no way I could live there.

Just looking for opinions/tips from anyone who lives or has lived there about areas to look at.  I'm not in any position to buy a home, so renting is where it's at for me.  Here in Toledo, there are tons of neighborhoods consisting of lots of duplexes/townhomes with garages --- anything like that down there?  I'm in my mid 30s and like that sort of bohemian, artsy culture, where there's lots of young people running around and being creative and innovative.  However I'm also getting to the age where I like the quiet, so I don't want to live somewhere that's bumping music till 3AM every night.

I'm planning on visiting there in about 6 months to scope it out, just looking for some ideas on where to start.   Thanks in advance to anyone who can lend me some wisdom !

[MikeZ]

Might want to look at Asheville NC as well.
Never visited there personally but everyone that I know that has had nothing but good things to say about the area.
Lots of great food, beer, local music and amazing roads.

[nccb]

There are lots of townhome/duplex communities surrounding Raleigh.  I live south of Raleigh in Garner.  If you thought Charlotte was small, Raleigh is even smaller but in terms of a good music scene Raleigh/Durham area are awesome.  Garages tend to be harder to come by in the south unless you pay more, at least everywhere I have lived.  My favorite areas downtown are Fayetteville St. and Moores Square.  A really nice area that is on the outskirts of town but that is still built up is the Northhills area.  If you landed a place to live there, you literally would not have to go anywhere to do anything you wanted.

While Raleigh's economy has been a lot better than other areas of the country, make sure you have a job lined up before you move here as they are still hard to come by. 

[mono]

thanks!   yeah i was going start throwing resumes around a couple months before i want to move there.  I've got a bit of a savings which would get me through about 9 months of being jobless, but I'd prefer to not spend it on something that's not a greasy motorcycle part or a beer.

[mono]

also, it's not that i thought Charlotte was small -- it's huge compared to where I'm living now - but their little "artsy/hip" area on North Davidson is literally like 2.5 blocks long.   I'm looking for that but larger, which I've heard Raleigh is a great arts city.  I make art in my spare time and would like to get some stuff in galleries/shows or whatnot.  there's a great arts scene where I'm from, but the economy is still down and no one is (or has been, or will be for a while) buying much art. 

[nccb]

Yeah, there are several art festivals/shows throughout the year here and the farmers market at Northhills tends to have artists selling things alongside the local farmers.  If you let me know closer to when you may come down I may be available to show you some cool spots, or at least take you out for a beer.  I'm from outside Charlotte originally and tend to only go downtown for some of the bars or museums.

[mono]

sounds good!  it's gonna be a while, but I'll letcha know. 

[Xnavylfr]

Are you LOCKED into the Raleigh area??? I live just west of Winston-Salem in RURAL area but only 2.5 miles from I40..   Winston has a lot of artsie stuff downtown and lot's of crafters. There are apartments here but sometimes hard to find due to all the Colleges/ Community Colleges.   Easy to find houses in the country at fairly cheap or equal  in prices and only a few miles from town!!



Xnavylfr(CHUCK)

[mono]

well, I'm looking for a job in the tech insdustry - hopefully with a large company that can provide good future opportunity (i'm pretty dead-ended in my career right now, as i work for a small, but very nice company).  that means that I'll probably be looking for downtown-ish work, so if i could live there and make the commute not suck, that would be ideal.  i like city life, although the amenities of the 'burbs are sometimes harder to find too close to downtown. 

been scoping out the area to the east of Moore Square in Raleigh as a possibly good place to look.  Being a few blocks away from all the hubub would be aces.