Good And Bad
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8/19/2008
First the good:
Schools are great, the town is beautiful, well-educated population, funky, academic, a sense of managed and responsible growth. Mainly due to the university, the town is very diverse, compared to most of the rest of the South. Crime rates are generally low, though there's a serious homeless problem downtown (they know where the money is, I guess). Depending on your political views, the local political climate is very wealthy-left wing, which may or may not be a virtue. There is a strong tradition of progressive politics, though that has largely been swallowed up by money during the last decade or so.
Then there's the bad:
Cost of living is way out of whack with NC, and the rest of the metro area. Most people who work in town can't afford to live here, and I would wager that many of the people who have put this place on the map (namely, the creative types that spearheaded a very dramatic renaissance here during the 1980s and 1990s, and were here long before RTP commuters and amenity migrants who have gentrified the town into a bedroom community that's too dishonest to describe itself as such) are getting priced out in droves. Very, very sad.
dave | Carrboro, NC