4 ms·

Raleigh is a hidden treasure. Educated populace with good schools, pretty decent jobs, yet peaceful and green. Their only drawback is isolation from west coast

by NTDF9 9y ago

Raleigh is a hidden treasure. Educated populace with good schools, pretty decent jobs, yet peaceful and green. Their only drawback is isolation from west coast hubs.

cblock811 9y ago
I grew up in Charlotte and a lot of my engineer friends have settled and started families in Raleigh. It's made me consider moving there when I finally burn out on the Bay Area scene.
- junkcollector 9y ago
  I can personally attest that every place on that list is pretty damn nice except for Grand Rapids which is to damn cold! They all have low cost of living and a solid tech scene as well.
  - RightMillennial 9y ago
    Don't forget cloudy too. You can go for close to a month without any sunshine around February in Grand Rapids.
- sf_rob 9y ago
  Charlotte itself has gotten quite popular among my white collar Atlanta friends who are looking for a smaller town feel. The job market is soft but the city is very nice.
psychometry 9y ago
I'd say its main drawback is that its enclosing state looks like a right-wing hellscape compared to, say, Massachusetts. I know they have a Democrat in charge at the moment, but the non-urban residents of NC horrify me.
JBlue42 9y ago
Yeah, I'm in LA but from NC and many of my close friends are still there. I've heard Durham has also exploded. Not sure what you mean by isolation from west coast hubs. Is it because service from RDU still has to hop over to CLT sometimes? Because that does suck. Even flying home though, I have to connect via Atlanta to then hop to CLT sometimes. Travel was way easier when it was LAX/BUR -> DFW -> CLT.
- santaclaus 9y ago
  I fly SFO -> RDU direct pretty cheaply a few times a year.
  - nerflad 9y ago
    That wouldn't have anything to do with the reindeer, would it?
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    That's nice. RDU is a decent airport too. Maybe not all the amenities of some but much easier than CLT or LAX.
- NTDF9 9y ago
  I mean RDU has fewer direct flights to the west coast. That's where tech is, investors are, initial customers are. NY has an advantage that there are flights to SF, SEA all day every day.
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    Gotcha. Depends on what sort of work people are looking for. If you're trying to do a hyper-growth startup, then yes, unfortunately you still have to be near the VCs in SF. Though maybe that's also changing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15849795 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15849795 RTP has plenty of well-known companies that provide a solid base for employment in the area. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have created the same sort of money flowing into startups as happened in SV back in the day.
santaclaus 9y ago
> Raleigh is a hidden treasure. Durham is way cooler than Raleigh!
navbaker 9y ago
Seconded. It's got most of the amenities of a big city without the traffic problems or horrendous cost of living. I really miss the greenway bike paths from my college days living there!

by NTDF9 9y ago

Raleigh is a hidden treasure. Educated populace with good schools, pretty decent jobs, yet peaceful and green. Their only drawback is isolation from west coast hubs.

cblock811 9y ago

I grew up in Charlotte and a lot of my engineer friends have settled and started families in Raleigh. It's made me consider moving there when I finally burn out on the Bay Area scene.

junkcollector 9y ago
I can personally attest that every place on that list is pretty damn nice except for Grand Rapids which is to damn cold! They all have low cost of living and a solid tech scene as well.
- RightMillennial 9y ago
  Don't forget cloudy too. You can go for close to a month without any sunshine around February in Grand Rapids.
sf_rob 9y ago
Charlotte itself has gotten quite popular among my white collar Atlanta friends who are looking for a smaller town feel. The job market is soft but the city is very nice.

psychometry 9y ago

I'd say its main drawback is that its enclosing state looks like a right-wing hellscape compared to, say, Massachusetts. I know they have a Democrat in charge at the moment, but the non-urban residents of NC horrify me.

JBlue42 9y ago

Yeah, I'm in LA but from NC and many of my close friends are still there. I've heard Durham has also exploded. Not sure what you mean by isolation from west coast hubs. Is it because service from RDU still has to hop over to CLT sometimes? Because that does suck. Even flying home though, I have to connect via Atlanta to then hop to CLT sometimes. Travel was way easier when it was LAX/BUR -> DFW -> CLT.

santaclaus 9y ago
I fly SFO -> RDU direct pretty cheaply a few times a year.
- nerflad 9y ago
  That wouldn't have anything to do with the reindeer, would it?
- JBlue42 9y ago
  That's nice. RDU is a decent airport too. Maybe not all the amenities of some but much easier than CLT or LAX.
NTDF9 9y ago
I mean RDU has fewer direct flights to the west coast. That's where tech is, investors are, initial customers are. NY has an advantage that there are flights to SF, SEA all day every day.
- JBlue42 9y ago
  Gotcha. Depends on what sort of work people are looking for. If you're trying to do a hyper-growth startup, then yes, unfortunately you still have to be near the VCs in SF. Though maybe that's also changing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15849795 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15849795 RTP has plenty of well-known companies that provide a solid base for employment in the area. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have created the same sort of money flowing into startups as happened in SV back in the day.

santaclaus 9y ago

> Raleigh is a hidden treasure. Durham is way cooler than Raleigh!

navbaker 9y ago

Seconded. It's got most of the amenities of a big city without the traffic problems or horrendous cost of living. I really miss the greenway bike paths from my college days living there!