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Tell me about the Raleigh, NC area...

H

Herbie Chesnutt

Guest
Mar 19, 2010
947
603
Wake Forest, NC
#1
Hey guys.

My wife and I are thinking about relocating to Raleigh, NC. I'm wondering if any locals here on TB can clue me on the area.

I'm a Seattle native and my wife is from the bay area. We've lived in Denver now for almost 12 years. We have three children (12, 10, 7) who are NOT sports kids. Rather, they are extraordinarily chipper little people who are nerdy book reader types, play multiple instruments, and are shockingly talented artists (manga, comics, Pokemon, etc). My primary concern is locating schools my artsy kids would fit into.

We are in our 40s. I'm in IT and she's a public policy analyst. We don't drink or party hard, but we do love good food (real food like BBQ and fresh seafood simply prepared and Cuban is our current obsession) and we take in a lot of local live music here in Denver.

So tell me what you think about the area. Good high schools. Culture. FOOD! Music scene. Inside tips for when we visit next month.

Thx!!
 
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#2
I can't speak for the specifics of Raleigh, but I have lived in or near Durham for the last 15 years. Best place I have ever lived: easy, affordable, the people are great. Culturally, I would say that living near downtown affords you a lot of what you probably enjoy about Denver. I moved here and joined a band within a couple of months. I've played with dozens of projects in every conceivable genre. The food scene here is completely off the hook.
 
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#3
bolophonic said:
I can't speak for the specifics of Raleigh, but I have lived in or near Durham for the last 15 years. Best place I have ever lived: easy, affordable, the people are great. Culturally, I would say that living near downtown affords you a lot of what you probably enjoy about Denver. I moved here and joined a band within a couple of months. I've played with dozens of projects in every conceivable genre. The food scene here is completely off the hook.
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That's the stuff right there. Thank you for the feedback!! We are pretty excited about the prospects of this move. Moving kids is always rough though. You hate to disrupt their scene. We are looking at specifically the Apex/Cary areas. Apex High School. Green Hope. Cary High. Any recent grads from those schools or their parents running around these boards?
 
#4
I went to a conference in downtown Raleigh a couple of years ago. LOTS of great bars and restaurants and easy pedestrian traffic around the city, plus, you can still smoke in bars and restaurants there (at least you could then). My cousin lives in the suburbs of Raleigh and likes it very much.
 
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#5
Herbie Chesnutt said:
That's the stuff right there. Thank you for the feedback!! We are pretty excited about the prospects of this move. Moving kids is always rough though. You hate to disrupt their scene. We are looking at specifically the Apex/Cary areas. Apex High School. Green Hope. Cary High. Any recent grads from those schools or their parents running around these boards?
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I apologize for my lack of knowledge about the public school systems, due to the fact that my dudes are only 2 and 4. I have a good friend who moved here a couple of years ago. His kids go to school in Apex and seem to have made the transition ok. As a whole, this area is cosmopolitan enough for artistic kids to find their place.

I moved in the opposite direction... 20 miles north into the country. When I first moved here, Apex was practically considered a frontier town on the fringe of civilization. Things change rapidly in the Triangle!
 
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#6
bolophonic said:
I apologize for my lack of knowledge about the public school systems, due to the fact that my dudes are only 2 and 4. I have a good friend who moved here a couple of years ago. His kids go to school in Apex and seem to have made the transition ok. As a whole, this area is cosmopolitan enough for artistic kids to find their place.

I moved in the opposite direction... 20 miles north into the country. When I first moved here, Apex was practically considered a frontier town on the fringe of civilization. Things change rapidly in the Triangle!
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Nah, man, thanks for all the info. Invaluable.

Yeah, it seems that area is exploding. I guess my biggest fear is getting my kids into a school that was all sports (Basketball and Football) and had no other groups. Looking through school websites further out like Garner, Clayton, and Fuquoy Verina it seems that the clubs and options outside of sports are pretty limited. But Apex and Cary seemed similar to the schools here in Denver. Drama, orchestra, art clubs, etc.
 
#7
I live just south of Raleigh by about 15 miles.
Both of my kids (22 & 17) are in several local bands here and there is a pretty good live music scene, although a few staple clubs have shut their doors in the past few years. Some clubs are starting to put age restrictions on musicians (18+), which really sucks.

My oldest is one of several Band Managers for the "2112 Rock School" (at "2112 Percussion" in Raleigh), where kids of varying ages, skill levels and musical focus are formed into bands, rehearse for 6 weeks and then play one-off shows. Both of my sons have participated in the Rock School. It has opened doors to forming new friendships and band opportunities for both kids and parents alike.

Just last night, I drove with my eldest to Greensboro for a gig (a rare, but raucous Wednesday night gig). Between Raleigh, Durham, Carrboro, Greensboro, Fayetteville, Jacksonville & Winston-Salem, there are some pretty good live music towns within a couple hours drive.

Good luck.

Steve
 
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#8
ack said:
I live just south of Raleigh by about 15 miles.
Both of my kids (22 & 17) are in several local bands here and there is a pretty good live music scene, although a few staple clubs have shut their doors in the past few years. Some clubs are starting to put age restrictions on musicians (18+), which really sucks.

My oldest is one of several Band Managers for the "2112 Rock School" (at "2112 Percussion" in Raleigh), where kids of varying ages, skill levels and musical focus are formed into bands, rehearse for 6 weeks and then play one-off shows. Both of my sons have participated in the Rock School. It has opened doors to forming new friendships and band opportunities for both kids and parents alike.

Just last night, I drove with my eldest to Greensboro for a gig (a rare, but raucous Wednesday night gig). Between Raleigh, Durham, Carrboro, Greensboro, Fayetteville, Jacksonville & Winston-Salem, there are some pretty good live music towns within a couple hours drive.

Good luck.

Steve
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Dude, 2112 Percussion is such a great resource. I haven't been there in a long time, but when I was refurbishing a Tama kit (that I pulled out of a dumpster on Duke campus), they had everything I needed.
 
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#9
Regarding schools: When we moved here 16 years ago (from NJ/NYC), I focused on Wake County (as opposed to Johnston or Harnett counties), due more to reputation and available PSAT/SAT statistics. Honestly, I can't really tell how educated anyone is anymore as they're usually buried in their phone. Both of my kids came up through the Wake County Public School system, and they both know how to read and write and stuff like that, so it could be worse. J/K.

The folks here are fairly friendly and outgoing.
There is some good food to be found in Raleigh, albeit some places are incredibly overrated to me.
Downtown Raleigh is neat. Plenty of parking downtown, and they have an annual Music and Arts festival (SparkON) in Sept., right downtown.
The downside: Barely anyone uses their blinker, they do not merge well and everyone seems to be on their phone while driving.

2 hours from the Carolina Beaches (via I-40). 2.5 hours to the Outer Banks (OBX), which is one of my favorite places on Earth.
 
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#10
ack said:
Regarding schools: When we moved here 16 years ago (from NJ/NYC), I focused on Wake County (as opposed to Johnston or Harnett counties), due more to reputation and available PSAT/SAT statistics. Honestly, I can't really tell how educated anyone is anymore as they're usually buried in their phone. Both of my kids came up through the Wake County Public School system, and they both know how to read and write and stuff like that, so it could be worse. J/K.

The folks here are fairly friendly and outgoing.
There is some good food to be found in Raleigh, albeit some places are incredibly overrated to me.
Downtown Raleigh is neat. Plenty of parking downtown, and they have an annual Music and Arts festival (SparkON) in Sept., right downtown.
The downside: Barely anyone uses their blinker, they do not merge well and everyone seems to be on their phone while driving.

2 hours from the Carolina Beaches (via I-40). 2.5 hours to the Outer Banks (OBX), which is one of my favorite places on Earth.
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Yeah, proximity to beaches is a HUGE draw for us. I lived most my life around water then relocated to Denver because of work. Never thought I'd miss rain and water as much as I do. Just the idea of getting up at 6 on a Sat and be on a beach with a Starbucks in my hand by 9 sounds like heaven.

You guys are the best. This is exactly what I needed to hear. I have family all over Atlanta, and I even lived there a bit myself. I spent 10 years in New Orleans back in the late 70s and early 80s. So I'm ok with "The South" for the most part. But I also know that there are some less than desirable aspects of certain parts of our great nation. That's a nice way of saying, I don't want to pull my kids from a great school then put them someplace where they get called "fags" everyday simply because they play music or are into drama. Maybe that time has passed and schools and kids aren't like that anymore. But a dad's gotta dad, you know.
 
#12
I've made 20 or 30 business trips to Raleigh/Durham. I liked it a lot. Great people, restaurants, weather and baseball! I'd immigrate there in a flash, if it wasn't such a pain to become a citizen. We have an inch of ice on everything today and I wish i was in North Carolina. Good Luck!
 
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#13
Herbie Chesnutt said:
Yeah, proximity to beaches is a HUGE draw for us. I lived most my life around water then relocated to Denver because of work. Never thought I'd miss rain and water as much as I do. Just the idea of getting up at 6 on a Sat and be on a beach with a Starbucks in my hand by 9 sounds like heaven.

You guys are the best. This is exactly what I needed to hear. I have family all over Atlanta, and I even lived there a bit myself. I spent 10 years in New Orleans back in the late 70s and early 80s. So I'm ok with "The South" for the most part. But I also know that there are some less than desirable aspects of certain parts of our great nation. That's a nice way of saying, I don't want to pull my kids from a great school then put them someplace where they get called "fags" everyday simply because they play music or are into drama. Maybe that time has passed and schools and kids aren't like that anymore. But a dad's gotta dad, you know.
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As far as kids at school - yours is an interesting outlook. Neither of my kids were into sports, which was initially somewhat of a blow to me as I came from an very athletic family. I was somewhat concerned about the lack of athletic participation, but they never seemed to get hassled about it at school (we live outside of Fuquay-Varina, and both of my sons went to F-V Middle and High Schools). They've made quite a few friends through their music and both have a few classmates that go to their shows and come over to watch/listen to rehearsals, etc. Are there rednecks? You bet - but for the most part they seem like the harmless, mud-loving rednecks...

Not sure what else you're into, but for family entertainment, we go to live music shows, and there are several places within a hour or so to ride dirtbikes/ATV's. Raleigh has a better than anticipated club hockey scene with several rinks in Raleigh, Wake Forest, Garner and Cary.

Also, I forgot to mention Mike Conn's shop in Raleigh (ConnSignment Music). Mike is a super nice guy and has a shop that offers some great instruments (usually a terrific selection of basses). He's also a kind heart. On our drive to Greensboro last night, my son told me that he went there to buy me a B3 pedal for Christmas and Mike sat down with him (essentially gave him a bass lesson) and just shot the shinola for 45 minutes.
 
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#14
ack said:
for the most part they seem like the harmless, mud-loving rednecks...
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Hilarious!

Well, I had a bad experience when I was a kid. So I was born in Seattle, but in 1975 when I was five my family moved us to New Orleans. Nawlins is a pretty cosmopolitan city. And by the time I was in my teens in the early 80s I was fully into punk and goth and dressed all sorts of weird. Well in '85 my parents moved us back up to the Puget Sound, to Tacoma, which in 1985 was pretty much a timber town full of NW rednecks. The culture shock was a little too much for me at 15. I had every thick necked guy in school trying to beat my a$$ simply cuz I looked "weird." I eventually dropped out in my 10th grade year cuz I got tired being called a fag and being chased around school. I had friends, sure, but each day in school was hellish. I just don't want to put my kids in that same spot.


So F-V.... Nice place? I gotta say, the amount of house you can buy out there is pretty enticing. We are bringing my elderly in-laws to live with us too. He's from Hickory, NC so thinking this move will be a nice way for him to spend the last part of his life, back home-ish, you know. So in all, 7 people, two cats and a high energy dog. Need space and rooms. F-V and Clayton are on the backup list if Cary/Apex don't pan out. Garner too. I work from home (remote for a company out of Philly) but my wife will most likely work at the capital or near it. Commute bad from F-V?

If I'm asking too many questions just tell me to sod off. But any insight you can lend is greatly appreciated.
 
#16
Herbie Chesnutt said:
Hilarious!

Well, I had a bad experience when I was a kid. So I was born in Seattle, but in 1975 when I was five my family moved us to New Orleans. Nawlins is a pretty cosmopolitan city. And by the time I was in my teens in the early 80s I was fully into punk and goth and dressed all sorts of weird. Well in '85 my parents moved us back up to the Puget Sound, to Tacoma, which in 1985 was pretty much a timber town full of NW rednecks. The culture shock was a little too much for me at 15. I had every thick necked guy in school trying to beat my a$$ simply cuz I looked "weird." I eventually dropped out in my 10th grade year cuz I got tired being called a fag and being chased around school. I had friends, sure, but each day in school was hellish. I just don't want to put my kids in that same spot.


So F-V.... Nice place? I gotta say, the amount of house you can buy out there is pretty enticing. We are bringing my elderly in-laws to live with us too. He's from Hickory, NC so thinking this move will be a nice way for him to spend the last part of his life, back home-ish, you know. So in all, 7 people, two cats and a high energy dog. Need space and rooms. F-V and Clayton are on the backup list if Cary/Apex don't pan out. Garner too. I work from home (remote for a company out of Philly) but my wife will most likely work at the capital or near it. Commute bad from F-V?

If I'm asking too many questions just tell me to sod off. But any insight you can lend is greatly appreciated.
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All good. I must say that kids have changed over the years, even here in the south. I grew up in central NJ (near Newark) and moving all around helped me understand that regional cultures are like tattoos.

Fuquay-Varina is nice - it's out of the way. It's grown in population (maybe tripled?) since we moved here in 2000/2001, and the road infrastructure is having a hard time keeping up (that's a nice way of saying that city planners aren't planning for growth very well). I moved here after working in NYC for the previous 8 years because this place reminded me of Mayberry - it's no longer quite that quaint. I commute to RTP (near Durham) and it takes me about 35-40 minutes. They've been building the I-540 Bypass around Raleigh for almost 20 years and it's about 2/3rd's complete.

My property taxes have gone up about $400 in 15 years! (probably because I'm still on well water and septic system). You can own quite a bit of land/house here for a fraction of what it costs in areas this close to a city.
Apex and Cary are nice towns and Cary is an appendage of Raleigh. Lots of shopping and shopping traffic - like any other metropolitan area, I guess. Pretty low crime rate in Cary.

Wake Forest and towns nearby (north of Raleigh) are also booming. Some really nice houses being built near Rolesville.

If there is any specific info you need that you can't get online, just ask. I can throw whatever literature you want in an envelope and get it to you.
 
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#17
Herbie Chesnutt said:
Yeah, proximity to beaches is a HUGE draw for us. I lived most my life around water then relocated to Denver because of work. Never thought I'd miss rain and water as much as I do. Just the idea of getting up at 6 on a Sat and be on a beach with a Starbucks in my hand by 9 sounds like heaven.
Click to expand...
Raleigh is also only about four hours east of Asheville NC, a scenic town in the mountains with a nice cultural/food scene of its own (and a growing microbrewery industry). I lived outside of town for close to five years in the '90s and go back occasionally. It's especially nice during leaf season. I also highly recommend a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
 
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#18
Proximity to the mountains and ocean is a big perk of living in the Piedmont region. I moved to Durham before its current renaissance and I've been delighted to participate in the movement to turn it into a cultural destination. Now we live on a giant farm in Person county, which is extremely affordable and has not yet become overdeveloped. It is 20 miles outside of Durham, completely surrounded by farmland. The people out here in the country have accepted me and my family almost without exception and nobody ever bats an eye at my total tattoo sleeve, stickered-up rock and roll nonconformity.
 
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#20
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