I've moved to North Raleigh from Northern Virginia. Why? My business case said so. If anybody is trying to get out of rat race of getting/keeping highly paid jobs to keep up with high costs, spending quarter of life on crowded roads, long commutes, introducing yourselves to your kids once in a while, what are your options? find a place that is not a rat race and move there. No brainer. You need a place where you can afford a house (keeping mortgage down), where there are lot of companies within short commutes (15 to 30min, keeping Gas costs down), good schools (kids go to universities from home, keeping costs down), shopping areas closeby, indian community, city that is not too big nor too small, weather not snowy nor too hot. You take all this into equation, only Raleigh/Cary/Durham triangle area stands out. On top of that, add the top rankings of Forbes and US News for best cities (Cary, Raleigh), on top of that add best universities within short distances (Duke, Wakefield, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State), on top of that add best wake county schools with ABC scores of over 95 (Greenhope, Cary, Leesville etc.) with honor and excellence awards.

If you take the equity on your house in high cost cities, you may get same or bigger houses here cash down, pay off your cars, you are not only out of rat race, you are debt free and half retired too.

My advise is, crunch your numbers, research the place and factor in long term plans for your family. You won't be wrong moving to Raleigh/Cary/Durham Triangle area. Keeping that way going forward is upto you.

Mr.Kakarlamudi,

Please stop preaching ! U are boring !! Do whatever u wanna do...but stop lecturing others !!

Dude, ofcourse you are bored. It's beyond your comprehension. I am trying to help few in these forums who have similar questions that I had once.

thanks Kakarlamudi for the advice-we are thinking of moving to NC from MA in a couple of months. i've heard ppl say that cary is very good to live in-what about other towns like apex, or any other place that's close to RTP?

Realtors have a lot of time saving, valuable information about the area, schools, activities, property values etc.

Maybe I can help you once you get here. I'm a licensed Realtor/Broker in the RTP area, and I can help you with purchasing your house and looking for a rental for the time being.
I will also be able to help you with some of your closing costs. Wanna find out how? Call me : 919-623-2211

Ruchi what are u doing this weekend ?

Clueless,

I live in Chapel Hill so I have to give my biased plug for Chapel Hill/Carrboro. Although Cary and Raleigh got top 10 nominations from Money magazine last year, Chapel Hill-Carrboro received the number #1 ranking from Money back in 1994. Wake County, which Raleigh/Cary/Apex are in, have good schools but the school districts are a mess. Because of rapid expansion the school districts are always in a state of flux and there is uncertainty from year to year as to whether your kids are going to be going to the same school next year. Chapel Hill/Carrboro has managed its growth much better and thus doesn't have this problem. Chapel Hill/Carrboro students across the board on average have the highest test scores in the Triangle-- and indeed in the whole state. Check the NC school report cards website to confirm this for yourself. Also, if you prefer a small, university town atmosphere then Chapel Hill/Carrboro is for you. Chapel Hill is only 20 minutes drive from RTP and given that you are driving opposite to the heaviest flows of traffic on I40, the travel time is about the same. There is one drawback to these advantages, however. Home prices in Chapel Hill/Carrboro is relatively high. Cary is high too but Chapel Hill/Carrboro is the highest. But the good thing is, because of managed growth Chapel Hill has enjoyed very stable and robust appreciation of property values, even in this last year when housing markets elsewhere have flattened or collapsed.

You're going to hear 20 different things from 20 diffrerent people. You really need to check it out for yourself and see what fits best for you.

Regardless of which town you choose both have several things in common: great year round weather, 2-3 hour drives to beaches and mountains, and lots of job opportunity. Think of the Triangle as the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry of places to live.