Thoughts on life in Raleigh, NC
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2/19/2014
Birdie, I too realized I made the biggest mistake of my life moving to Raleigh at the age of 40.
I've traveled extensively, both domestic and internationally, so I'm not comparing Raleigh to other cities without some knowledge of where else you can live, granted regardless of cost. Unfortunately my wife doesn't want to leave Raleigh, and with the real estate bubble (outside of Raleigh) I'm stuck here for now.
Why am I frustrated living in Raleigh?
1) Weather - The weather is terrible. Summer - four months of the year the temperature never drops below 90F, many days it is 100F with very high humidity. Walk outside and you are sweating in minutes. It is hilarious to see people drive convertibles with the top down in the summer, sweating profusely. During the summer months you will get mauled by mosquitoes. Spring - I never had any allergies until I moved to Raleigh. I now have lots of allergies. In the spring there are literally rivers of yellow (pine) pollen flowing down streams near my house. Cars are coated and kick up yellow pollen dust as you drive, similar to a dusting of snow, wacked. If you live near a lake, as I do, when the yellow pollen decays it starts to rot and smell like sewage. Fall - nice weather, but a short period. Unfortunately in the Fall every home near you uses leaf blowers constantly, 8am to 8pm. Positive is that I do like the winters here.
2) Geography – Raleigh is basically flat. Living in Raleigh is like being trapped in a very large topiary maze with lots of trees (both deciduous and southern pine). There are no hills high enough to be a significant landmark in Raleigh. As you drive around the area there are no easy landmarks like a mountain or an ocean to see. Instead landmarks are a Kroger grocery store, or a shopping mall, or a Waffle house. When you drive around the Raleigh area you are in a channel (the road) winding through trees on your left and right, with trees ahead and behind you. Don’t get me wrong, I love trees and forests, the Pacific Northwest is stunning. However in Raleigh you just walk and drive in an endless maze of trees. In Raleigh you literally don’t see the forest through the trees. I know, I’ve tried. Raleigh even makes trees boring. Since it is so flat in Raleigh you rarely see the horizon, or a decent sunset.
3) Location - You are 3 hours from the ocean, and 3 hours from the mountains. All of the locals are so proud of how close they are to the coast and mountains. I grew up in La Jolla, CA. In Raleigh I am 3 hours too far from the ocean, and 2 hours too far from the mountains.
4) Lakes – A positive aspect is that the Raleigh area has lots of lakes, however it ends there. Most lakes in Raleigh aren’t lakes you would swim in. Due to all of the clay in the soil the lake water is brown, visibility 6 inches. You won't be scuba diving in Raleigh. I’m not kidding; all of the lakes look like they are full of sewage. As far as I've been able to find there are no restaurants, bars, coffee houses, etc located on a lake with a water view. I don't know why, but Raleigh has succeeded in making a very boring city even more boring.
5) Parks – The parks are horrible in Raleigh. Case in point, Umstead Park. A day at Umstead involves walking through groves of trees on trails littered with rocks. If you like to look at tree trunks and twist your ankles it is paradise.
6) Roads - Cities tend to either have a “grid” type of road system (e.g. Washington DC) or a “loop” road system like Raleigh. The major freeways and roads are laid out circling Raleigh. If your destination is in the direction the loop travels you can drive it quickly. If your destination is not where the loops go, you have to hopscotch across multiple highway and road arcs (semi-circles). Commuting is a pain in Raleigh.
7) Suburb arrogance – I live in Cary, a suburb of Raleigh. When I talk to people they will openly bash where I live, and ask me why I would want to live in Cary instead of Durham, North Raleigh or Chapel Hill, since they are so much better areas to live (like they are comparing Malibu to South Central LA). All I know is whether you live in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Apex, Garner or Cary you are living in a flat, mind numbingly boring part of the world that has lots of houses, shopping malls, and a topiary maze of trees to stumble through.
8) Unworldly - I am astonished at how many people I meet in Raleigh that have never traveled west of the Mississippi or internationally. I've met plenty of locals who are in their 30s and 40s but have never bothered to travel to any west coast states. Have Raleigh locals heard of the Grand Canyon, the Monterey Coast, Rocky Mountains, Puget Sound? Anyone? Anyone? People say Raleigh is such an incredible place but many I meet have only traveled on the Eastern seaboard. When a co-worker asked me where I grew up (California) there response was... "Oh you are from the land for fruits and nuts".
9) Sports - No professional baseball, football or basketball teams. Hockey yes. On a miserably hot and humid summer night you can watch a minor league baseball game between the Durham Bulls and the Carolina Mudcats, woo hoo! Of course regarding auto racing NASCAR reigns supreme. Have these people ever been to a Formula One Grand Prix race? You know the auto races where you turn left AND right? Pro-sports wise Raleigh is podunkville. The locals will tell you how "great" college sports are in Raleigh, please refer to item #10 below on local colleges :-)
10) Colleges - The upside is that there are many well educated people in and around Raleigh. The downside is the moronic college spirit of alumni in the RTP area. Raleigh is basically a one horse town with lots of college alumni. You college defines who you are, unless you didn't go to a local school. I graduated from UCSD, so college spirit is not lost on me. In San Diego people don't typically identify themselves with the university they graduated from, at least after your mid-twenties. However in Raleigh, if you attended a local college it defines who you are. Whether you are 22, 42, 62 or 92 you've got to put the NC State/Duke/Chapel Hill bumper stickers on your car or hoveround, you need to fly your college flags outside your home. The endless conversations at dinner parties I've attended with my wife with NC State alumni telling the Duke and UNC alumni that NC State is the best university. Then the Duke alumni will tell the NC State and UNC alumni how great Duke is, and so on. If you are on the inside of the local college scene it is so important. If you didn't attend the local colleges it is of zero interest and alienating.
11) Shopping malls - There are a strangely large number of shopping malls in the RTP area for the size of the population. At least 5 mega-malls. So locals in their free time go to the shopping mall to have “fun” which makes sense when there is nothing else to do and you live in a large topiary maze. Of course in the summer what are you going to do when it is 100F out? Go outside and sweat, or eat a corn dog in the food court?
12) Poor English - I flipped passed a TV show recently, possibly "Duck Dynasty", anyway the show actually had to add subtitles for native English speakers so they could understand what the thick southern accent that the Duck Dynasty people were using. Stunning. Granted the show is located in Louisiana, but in Raleigh there are no lack of people who have never heard the phrase... "Queen's English".
One question for the Raleigh proponents... if it so great to live here why did the real estate bubble largely skip the Raleigh area? The answer is simple.
I'll stop here :-)
Labrador Retriever | Cary, NC