Quality of Life is very high - 12/21/2006

I am a native Southern Californian who is recently transplanted to Cary about 4 months ago in Sep. '06. The people: In contrast to some of the other opinons I have read the people here are quite pleasant, sure there are a few rude individuals but they are everywhere. The native southerners here are the nicest people I have ever met. There are plenty of people here from big cities, L.A. and N.Y. and they of course have brought their attitudes along with them. Traffic and Commute Traffic is not near as bad as the 405 or the 5 at rush-hour. In CA I worked about 25 miles from home and I commuted 1 hour each way. In Cary I work about 15 miles from home and I commute 20 minutes each way during rush-hour. I'd call that a big improvement. But be careful where where you choose to live and plan your route carefully. If you choose to live in Apex, Holly Springs, or even south Cary and you intend to commute to RTP be prepared for a 40 minute+ commute. Family Life: Cary is packed with families with young children and play dates galore. Cary has plenty of parks to visit and is close to the "city life" that is offered by Raleigh and Durham. Cary has beautiful 'Greenways' for biking or hiking and plenty of nearby lakes for picnics, fishing, and water sports. Cary, Raleigh, and Durham always have special shows or festivals taking place. Even the local grocery stores sponsor special events and tours of local farms. So there is always plenty to do and nearly all events are kid friendly. Cost Of Living: The cost of living here is much lower than So. Cal. Groceries can be a little more expensive here but the cost is more than offset by the lower cost of housing. Housing in So. Cal is 3 to 4 times more expensive than it is here. Rent in So. Cal. (Irvine for example) can be more than double what it is in Cary for a comparable apartment. Utilities is about the same, property tax is about the same, and income tax is about the same as So. Cal. With the cost of housing so much lower in Cary it is not even close to being 'a wash' as one opinion stated. All in all I really like it here.

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Cary isn't all it's cracked up to be, trust me.. - 12/17/2006

I've been here for a year and although it's not a bad place to live overall, think twice, maybe think 10 or 20 times before you drag your family and everything you own out here to find out that NC has some of the highest state income taxes in the country. Also the food bill is horrible out here! Traffic, well that is just what happens in any city as it starts it's growing pains, it simply can't be helped. The only thing I really dislike out here is the high taxes and you get zip for them! Bad roads and thank God I have no kids cause you get bad schools as well. I don't have a clue what NC is doing with all this money but I can assure you, you get nothing in return for paying 8.25% income tax and another 7% sales tax.. I'm seriously thinking about moving back home to Texas where at least you aren't taken to the cleaners when you buy a house or pick up your paycheck. Movers beware! Think, think, and think some more before you throw away $1000's to move here nad then throw away $1000's more on a state income tax that gives you nothing in return. If I didn't have such an awesome job here, I'd have already gone back home to Texas..

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Cary's Quality of Life???? - 12/11/2006

Cary is not what it seems on paper. Coming from Southern Calif., I was used to rude people and traffic. But you ain't seen nothing until you have lived in Cary. Rude, unfriendly people rule in this town and horrible traffic everywhere you go is an understatement. At least in Cali, you had beautiful beaches and mucho to do. Here, think again. The weather has been great and home prices are less, but the taxes are about the same with groceries and many other things higher. All in all the cost of living seems to be a wash. Did I mention the schools. The schools are almost all year round, and undergoing alot of reorganization. If you want a mess with the schools, the roads, and lots of building projects started but not completed, you might like it here. I don't know why Cary is rated so well, and I would think twice and visit much before moving here.

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Re: Jobs - 9/21/2006

Jobs? What jobs? There are no jobs in the RTP area for high tech types, period. I lost my job three months ago. I am a very highly qualified EE with a masters degree. In three months, I've had two interviews here. Neither a winner. My son graduated a year ago with a computer engineering degree. He has only had about three interviews in that year, with no winners. Why is it so bad? As I understand it, in the past few years there have been large lay-offs at Nortel, Cisco, IBM, and Sony, all with huge, now nearly empty campuses here. I've only been here a year and a half, and am now planning on moving out somewhere else to get a job. Would you like to buy my house?

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RE: Moving from Florida to Cary - 8/17/2006

Hi there - I myself am a native Floridian and we moved to Cary 3 years ago - unfortunately we only stayed a year because we missed the family but now feel it was a mistake to move back to Florida. We LOVED Cary - and it is a wonderful place to live! It is very clean and safe and there is plenty to do. Housing is quite reasonable in the area, although Cary is more expensive than say Raleigh or other neighboring communities, such as Holly Springs or Apex. It was so beautiful in fall and spring. It does get quite hot in the summer, hotter than my home on the East Coast of Florida, but I could handle that as that was only for 3 months out of the year as opposed to 11 here! I think it is quite a sophisticated area with probably a lot of good job opportunities and there are a lot of educated people in the area. I would highly recommend moving there - we may be moving back up there when I finish school in a couple of years. Good luck!

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Thinking about moving to Cary, NC from the Hagerst - 8/10/2006

My husband and I are thinking about moving to Cary from Hagerstown. I have several questions about Cary though. First, I am a Biologist and my husband is in IT, how easy would getting a job be? I know RTP would be great for us, but is there any insider info I'm missing? Second, how is the work commute time? Up here in Hagerstown, everyone commutes to Frederick (which is 40 min. on a good day) and everyone that lives in Frederick commutes to the Washington DC area (1 hour on a good day). I'm sick of the idea of bedroom communities and long traffic-packed commutes to work and I want to be able to finally afford to live where I work. Is this possible in Cary? Also, is the area child-friendly, we are thinking about having kids soon and want to move where there are lots of other kids and a young population. And lastly (this one may be a little hard to describe) I am looking for a town with a sense of pride. In Hagerstown houses are run down and front yards are often times littered with trash/junk, etc. I'm looking for a town that looks clean and where people take pride in their houses/possessions. If anyone has any thoughts your input would be greatly appreciated! -Maureen

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Moving from SW Florida to Cary - 7/30/2006

My family and I have thought about moving out of Florida and going up to Cary, North Carolina. Before we make a decision I have several questions about the area. If anyone reading this post can answer I will be very grateful. We moved down here to SW Florida almost 3 years ago. It has been a HUGE mistake. Cost of living is skyrocketing and the salaries that companies are offering are in the $22,000 to $25,000 range. Plus add hurricanes, hot and humid weather that lasts for months at a time, bugs, outrageous fees for homeowners insurance and taxes etc... We are looking for an area that offers us good paying jobs. I am a real estate paralegal and my boyfriend was in IT for 25 years and he has owned his own painting business. Housing that the average person can afford and a safe place to live. I have done alot of research in the past few months and Cary continues to come out on top of any poll in the best places to live catagory. But you can't believe everything that you read. Hope to hear from some Cary residents that can tell me the good and the bad about living in North Carolina. Thank you.

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Jobs - 5/25/2006

I am a current resident of Bowie, MD and have been looking for employment in the RTP area so our family can relocate to Cary. It appears to be difficult to obtain any interviews even though I have a top-secret SCI clearance and over 10 years of techncial experience. After 2 months of sending out resumes with very little response, I am now apprehensive on whether this is a good choice. I get job offers for over 100k+ in the DC metro area quite frequently. Would someone give me some insight on the job market in the RTP area. Thanks!

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Technical Jobs - 5/25/2006

I am a current resident of Bowie, MD and have been looking for employment in the RTP area so our family can relocate to Cary. It appears to be difficult to obtain any interviews even though I have a top-secret SCI clearance and over 10 years of techncial experience. After 2 months of sending out resumes with very little response, I am now apprehensive on whether this is a good choice. I get job offers for over 100k+ in the DC metro area quite frequently. Would someone give me some insight on the job market in the RTP area. Thanks!

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Jobs in Cary - Top Secret Positions - 5/24/2006

I have been looking to relocate from Bowie, MD to Cary for over 3 months now. I am a Sr Network Engineer with over 10 years of technical experience but it seems there is a lack of response from any of the companies in which my resume has been submitted. I currenlty have a TS/SCI clearance. I know the schools are much better and the crime is low, but what is the overall economy like? In the Washington DC Metro area, I get offers on a constant basis but Cary seems totally different. Am I correct?

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The place beats any stereotype one might have abou - 5/24/2006

Moved here from Seattle and never looked back. Just love it here: people, climate, proximity to the ocean and the mountains, how green this place is, the educational opportunities (three Top 100 colleges within a 1/2 hour drive). It helps that the cost of living is very moderate as well.

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Cary's Population - 5/22/2006

I love your book "Best Places To Raise A Family". But you have Cary's population wrong. There are over 100,000 people in Cary. Was the population you listed for Cary just for the 27513 zip code? Akef

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questions about relocating - 5/18/2006

1)Is there public transportation? I'm not planning on ever owning a car, or even getting my license for that matter! ..So I need to be in walking distance of everything I plan to go to, or I need affordable transportation! 2)Are nice apartments that aren't too costly hard to find? All I need is a little one-bedroom for myself, but don't want to spend more than $650-$700 a month. 3)Are there actual nice malls with NICE stores ie Express, American Eagle, etc..? 4)Are there ever worries of tornadoes or hurricanes? 5)How far is the drive to the ocean? 6)How is the job market for elementary school (esp. preschool) teachers? Thanks! I'll keep checking back here for replies, or you can email me at atvingiscool@yahoo.com Sarah

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"Any Town", USA - 4/28/2006

My family and I moved from New England to Cary a couple of years ago. We were drawn by its favorable rankings in the press, and to escape the long Northern winters. The town is pleasant, with friendly neighbors, decent schools (for the South) and nice weather. Like most places, Cary has some issues to consider prior to packing up the U-Haul. 1) Lack of defined character. If you remember the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons with the characters running past a repeating backdrop, you've seen Cary. Eckerds, Walgreens, major chain restaurants and supermarkets all repeat in a smorgasborg of franchising frenzy. Adding to the mix, building codes require homogeneous facades and landscaping so you'll regularly find yourself lost for the first few months. If you're looking for some Southern charm, there is the "Old Cary" area, comprised of several square blocks of the oldest homes (mostly tiny brick ranches and 60's split levels), which cluster around a quaint downtown district (gas station, bakery, library, etc). Unfortunately, they are also within whistling distance of the railroad, which rumbles through at all hours, and takes special delight in repeatedly blowing the loudest air horn I have ever heard. We are over a mile away and it awakens us on a regular basis. Another adjustment (if you're not from the South) will be the large number of single-story strip malls which snake along the major roads. Although this peculiar 70's throwback has been dead for decades elsewhere, it lives on here with a vengeance. 2) Unchecked growth. There are few if any controls on commercial or residential development. Housing developments, strip malls and pharmacies sprout up daily. A town planner once told me he could not recall a single time they had refused a zoning change request from a developer! As development speeds along, Cary absorbs land from the surrounding unincorporated areas in a shotgun approach. Therefore, as the population grows, so does the land area of the town. There are grassroots efforts by those living in the outlying areas to avoid absorption (coupled with 80% tax increase), but to little effect. An unfortunate offshoot of all this expansion is the need to widen many of the formerly sleepy country lanes, resulting in folks losing a sizable chunk of their front yards while simultaneously seeing their home value drop by as much as one-third. 3) Minimal real estate appreciation. Agents will disagree, but we have witnessed little in t

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Cary, NC SChools, etc. - 4/27/2006

I am a NC native having moved to Cary about 8 years ago to be closer to work at downtown Raleigh. Cary is not as diverse as other areas (i.e Durham), but there are differences in areas within Cary. The older neighborhoods (where we live) were established as a Raleigh bedroom communities several decades ago tend to have longer-term residents, many from NC. The newer subdivisions on the west side are primarily transplants working at the Research Triangle Park with a lot more turnover and a result tend to have less of the benefits of North Carolina culture/sense of place. Schools here are ranked well for NC, which historically has had terrible pre-college education, so I am not sure what that means. A real negative for me is that most NC school systems are county only based (in contrast to Virginia). Because Wake county is HUGE, there may be school choices (magnet, etc.), but long busing is rampant and there is little community feel to the local schools (kids going every direction). Our kids are both home schooled (strong community here) and are in private Christian school. There are many families here (as well as growing number of retirees). Church is important to many here and there are many good faith communities, both Catholic and Protestant. Overall the values are good (although a tendency towards affluent materialism), it is clean and safe, reasonably cheap and uncrowded compared to other metro areas, although it has experienced rather constant growth pains.

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schools - 3/25/2006

Hi...my husband and i are considering relocating to the Apex/Cary area. We are very interested in the Catholic schools, but are realizing it may be difficult to get our kids in. Any info on the catholic schools? Any info on which town or area to live in for the public schools? My husband was thinking Cary if we go public schools. I've heard the public schools are excellent. Anyone out there with any information that would help...i would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, Kristie

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feedback on Cary for K - 2/16/2006

K---pros: Cary is one of the safest communities in the U.S., it is clean, it is suburbia, lots of trees and well manicured vegetation, great outdoor ampitheatre, charming downtown, good schools, close to Raleigh for more cultural options, should have no trouble finding work--lots of jobs--would guess that distribution would not be a problem---lots of job and population growth, guessing it is largely Republican. Housing in the area has not yet spun out of control although Cary is pricey for the area. Lots of strict building restrictions. Weather is mild but humid in Summer--wind rarely blows. trees give it a "bug in a rug" feel. Great Parks and greenway system. Streets well maintained and wide. Good dining options. great golf courses. Cons: Some traffic congestion in shopping areas and interstate commutes, area hard to navigate initially (i.e. confusing) because all buildings and blocks look the same (not a grid either), it is white and wealthy in general. Lots of franchises but signs are limited to minimize gaudiness. No billbords. Heard it lacks a sense of community but if you have children that may be your connection. Cary is a southern acronym for "containment area for retired yankees"

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Moving to Cary/Pros and Cons? - 2/16/2006

My family and I are considering moving to Cary. Can anyone give pros and cons? My husband in in Distribution, any jobs in the close area for that type of work or is it all research and tech? Traffic, living, things to do, etc??

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Reply to Anne, and differences from Miami to Cary, - 2/8/2006

Anne, you are very welcome. Cary is really a nice area. The only thing I don't like is the very high state income taxes, 8%, on top of your Federal taxes. Ouch!! Otherwise it's very nice place and the cost of living overall is less than Phoenix or Miami. As for Miami and what is different here in Cary, NC.. EVERYTHING is different!! The people, the weather, the scenery, the lifestyle, the traffic (or lack thereof).. There is no comparison to Miami or Phoenix here. All three of these locations are unique from one another. Oddly enough, though I have only just moved out here in Dec., today I received a perm job offer back home with a huge national corporation in Austin, TX. and they matched what I am getting paid here. So I'm heading back home to TX the first of March. Afterall, Austin is ranked as one of the top 10 places to live in the US, low cost of living, no state income tax, in the Texas Hill Country, and is known as the Music Capitol of the World. There is more live music in Austin every day than anyplace else in the country! I have truly missed living there the past few years and I am very happy and excited to finally be going back home. I wish everyone the best of luck in wherever they decide to go or stay, but there is just something about Texas that makes a Texan long for home..

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Thanks for the info! - 2/3/2006

Yeah I really like Az to but I've been here for yrs from NY and ready for a change soon. We have made a nice amount of money here in Real Estate and could live nicely in NC and the jobs seem plentiful and well paying. Can you write again in a few months and let me know if you still like it or if you come across anything else that would be helpful info. Thanks again for your reply!

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