My Blue Heaven
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5/25/2023
I attended university here in the early 90s and came back around 2005 and never left. I'm surprised at the other negative reviews honestly. Yes, housing is pricey in Raleigh, it has gone through the roof in the last five years, apartments included, and the city allows predatory developers like KB Home to throw up shoddy homes on the outskirts, but our tax rate and overall prices are still much cheaper than many big cities, and there ARE benefits to living here. The weather is warm, usually sunny, and we have very clean water and air. With three R1 universities in the Triangle, there are ALWAYS cultural and sporting events if you bother to look (check out the IndyWeek publication). It's a college area, so if you like college sports you'll be good. Very good. If you like pro sports, you'll have to settle for the Bulls, Hurricanes, and women's soccer. Raleigh and Cary have several outdoor concert venues that bring in varied shows (Red Hat, Koka Booth). There are excellent state-funded museums of art, history, and natural sciences in Raleigh, further art museums at all three major universities, and further science museums in Durham and Chapel Hill. Raleigh and Durham have monthly art walks and galleries. All three major universities have gardens/arboretums that are pleasant to walk. The ones at Duke and UNC are particularly nice. Raleigh has an incredible network of greenways along Neuse River and other locations, along with the Umstead State Park's network of trails. Durham has the long and winding tobacco trail for biking. You can rent boats in Raleigh on Crabtree Lake and in Durham/Chapel Hill on Jordan Lake. There are more micro breweries in this town than one could ever count; very chill to hang out. Raleigh has a couple of fun food halls downtown like Morgan Street food hall. Unlike other parts of the south, the entire Triangle is progressive with well-educated people who are inclusive of diversity. The Morrisville suburb of Raleigh is a melting pot of eastern religions with unique houses of worship and a cricket league started by Indian ex pats. Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill all have award-winning chefs and restaurants, although I will admit we have way too many hamburger chains. As far as public schools go, the Wake County Public School System is pretty good for a southern system and has some award-winning magnet schools. With all of Raleigh's economic wealth, of course there are also tons of private schools. We have a decent airport with direct flights to London and Paris. We are on the east coast train line with options to get to DC and further north in lieu of driving Virginia's shameful stretch of I-95. Like others, I will criticize Raleigh's inept city government which has a massive tax base but can't seem to figure out how to pick up leaves before April each year (they literally have one leaf collection truck for a million people, and offer two "passes" per season). The city also approves way too many boring apartments-over-retail buildings in a quest for urban density which is fine, but they all look the same rather than having any unique architectural style. The city has no plans for transit outside of rapid buses which no one is going to take. Most people would be happy if they would just build simple turns outs for buses instead of buses stopping in the middle of major two-lane highways in bustling north Raleigh at rush hour. So yes, lack of vision by city council is an issue. Traffic here can get backed up in places, but the state has invested quite a bit of money in widening interstates east of town, US 64 through central Cary, and finishing the entire 540 outer loop. Just live in the right place and have some backup routes, and you'll be fine. I hosted a visitor from Europe a few years ago who commented that Raleigh seemed more like a village than a city, and I would have to concur. You don't really get the impression you are in a major urban area with over 2 million people when moving across the wider Triangle with all of its sprawling, tree-covered, middle class neighborhoods, and some would call that boring, but I call it comfortable and peaceful. If you want chaos and skysc****rs, go to New York or the traffic hell of Philadelphia. If you want comfort, come here.
Kevin | Raleigh, NC