I just moved here about 2 months ago from Knoxville, TN, following my fiancee’s scholastic endeavours at NCSU. I came down jobless and remain that way, which I find disappointing, as I was constantly told that the RTP area (Research Triangle Park, the massive tech center between Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham) had been less mangled than most other parts of the nation. I think I’m fairly employable, but it could be that I am underqualified here and that the job market is fine.
Gas is more expensive than it was in Tennessee, about on par with what it is in Kentucky, and is significantly cheaper than California–if you’ve never been to any of those places, I can’t help you compare :). Food costs are slightly higher than TN (say, $3.50 for the cheapest milk at Walmart), but this is offset by a lower tax rate (seems to be about 6% in my municipality) and, I think, a lower (eliminated?) tax rate on some classes of groceries. Wine and beer are sold at the grocery stores, but all liquor is relegated to (as far as I can tell–could be wrong again) some very nice, large state-owned ABC outlets.
Housing seems pretty reasonable in price compared to the historically cheap market in Tennessee, but the amount of apartment/condo you get for your dollar and the locations you can get it in are astonishing. Almost every complex we toured with openings in the $550-700 range (no idea what your housing needs and payment abilities are) featured huge, well-maintained pools or ponds, carefully sculpted landscaping, “woodland” environs, high-end amenities, and easy interstate access. On the other hand, even the nicest places can get a lot of big bugs (SO MANY SPIDERS!), and utility cost seems higher here.
NCSU is a surprisingly decent school given that I had never heard of it despite living so close. It’s huge, in relatively good condition, and highly spirited. In-state tuition is pretty low, but out of state is prohibitive, and my fiancee’s ACM (Academic Common Market, enabling Southeastern students to get in-state tuition at schools if uni’s in their home state don’t offer their preferred graduate program) petition was rejected for unstated reasons, so it’s a bit less of a value for us. Put down roots in the area and it’s a phenomenal value with good staff and slightly less maddening bureaucracy than usual.
Downtown Raleigh seems relatively hip, with a good mix between glossy high-rises studded with national chains on one street and tree-lined, 2-story brick buildings featuring local color (and maybe a couple of bums) 2 minutes of walking away. Public transportation is decent for a sprawling Southern city, but the bus lines are going to take you awhile to figure out unless you’ve already got experience with them. No subway, if that’s your thing (God I miss Boston). Parking seems to hover around $2/hour in the lots I’ve found, and $7-10 event parking was typical in the Convention Center area when I was attending MLG Raleigh (if you are a gamer, MLG is a great LAN that will hopefully roll through the area again next year).
There are an inordinate number of food options in the area, and a lot of the smaller ones may not even show up in cursory searches. Ethnic foods are a much bigger deal here than in a lot of middling-to-big Southern cities I’ve been to (Knoxville, Lexington, Atlanta, New Orleans pre-Katrina), and the options are almost limitless and–yes–the Thai food is actually spicy (thank the Gods). Tons of little international markets of various sorts, too, if you’re into that.
The “American” dining I’ve experienced (all distinctly low-brow; I’m surviving on the fumes of savings at this point, as my fiancee’s income from the university is paltry at best) seems heavily centered on fried food and barbeque, and I’ve got no issue with that. I’m not actually a giant fan of vinegar-based barbeque (blame it on the Memphis proximity of my younger days), but this stuff is growing on me quick. Cook Out replaces Krystal/White Castle as the dirt-cheap, dirt-covered burger joint of choice for drunkards and poor college kids, but there are more upscale options.
North Raleigh (and the definition of just where North starts seems heavily debatable) is studded with some high-end strip malls (valet parking at a strip mall? Jesus) and cloistered housing developments I’ll never be wealthy enough to be a gardener for are scattered around, too. North Raleigh just sort of keeps going up and up, getting wealthier and wealthier, so I’ve got little experience with that.
I live in the Southwestern outcropping of the city, a couple of miles from Downtown, NCSU, Cary, and Garner. Already spoken to the first two, so the latter: Cary is a smaller, very “fashionable” but mid-range community. More expensive than Raleigh, but even more wooded, and carefully controlled (no signs for restaurants/stores aside from ground level brick placements with muted colors). It does have some signs of recent invasion by corporate America (the mall is thriving, and there are way too many tiny shopping centers hidden behind walls of trees to count), but if you’re looking for a pleasant place to drive around (rather than park and walk, like downtown), it’s nice. Bookstores, restaurants, and a really sizable Indian subcontinent neighborhood give it some flavor, and there’s even a cute little “downtown” area I recently discovered with an old-fashioned pharmacy complete with a soda fountain/milkshake bar :)
Garner just seems like a less dense southern Raleigh. It’s got some stores, some housing, and a lot of highway between it all. The Walmart there is the most persistently out-of-stock store I’ve ever had the misfortune of shopping weekly at :/. The one in middle/north Raleigh is a lot more ramshackle and difficult to get to for me, so I deal. Cary’s got a regular old Walmart, being renovated into a Super, so it’s no good either, if you need to keep your shopping cheap. Harris Teeter and Food Lion are big here if you can afford to spend more, and there’s plenty of organic food stores, too, given how educated and upscale the area is.
Finally, while there are “main drags” (I’ve come to know Tryon, New Bern, Western, Cary Towne, Walnut, S. Saunders, Capitol, and Atlantic fairly well) through town, Google maps and personal experience suggests that the interstates are often the fastest way to move around Raleigh itself (obviously you’ll use them to get to and from RTP/Durham/Chapel Hill, but you will typically stay on them or transfer onto interstate-esque state highways until you’re almost right on top of your destination). Knoxville was small enough that this wasn’t necessary (although it was doable), and the only other place I’ve ever lived a significant span of time in (Boston) was spent as a car-less student, so I’ve got no idea how this compares to other towns.
And that’s my unemployed newbie’s take on Raleigh :)
