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OT: seeking Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area living info


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Hi all,

 

My first post here since the incredible transformation!!!

 

I am seeking sage advice/insight on where I should consider renting in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. I am selling my Detroit-area home and relocating to Noth Carolina. My wife passed away early last year and it is time to make a change, and since I love sailing my great lakes sailboat I want to use it year-round rather than for 6 short months.

 

I still want to work and know there are are great opportunities in the Research Triangle, while berthing my sailboat in Morehead City.

 

So here is my ask: where is a good area for me to check out for living? Initially, I will rent, as I do not want to buy just yet. That will come later.

 

I want to live where the action is or at least a thriving music/arts community as I am now single with kids all grown.

 

Any info you can provide will be deeply appreciated!

 

Rock and Roll.

 

Thanks,

Steve

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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Sorry for your loss, Steve. I lived in Durham for awhile in the late 90's. That's a long time ago now! But I found downtown Durham to be a thriving, stimulating place, rife with good music, with a bit of Portland-y alternative vibe. Chapel Hill felt more like a traditional college town. Raleigh felt more like a state capital. If I were moving back I'd aim for close to downtown Durham. But I'm sure someone here can provide a more current impression.

 

I thought it was a wonderful area to live in if you can stay out of the traffic. The traffic can be horrible, not just rush hours but also getting to the mountains or shore on weekends. And I say that as someone who has always lived in places with lots of traffic.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I see a MAKCFH coming! ;)

 

Good to see you here, Steve. :thu:

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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I am sorry for your loss, Steve.

 

I relocated from Pittsburgh to Charlotte in 2015. All things considered, there are so many great things about the move from a rust belt city to North Carolina.

 

I looked at several areas around Raleigh and Charlotte, and ended up picking Charlotte for reasons related to my work travel and the larger city (although the areas of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are still a major metro area combined).

 

From the standpoint of a place to raise children, my wife and kids were very partial to Cary, NC. There are some nice areas around there like Apex and Holly Springs that were less developed when we toured the area 4 years ago, but like Charlotte there tons of housing development everywhere.

 

As a musician, I would probably opt for Chapel Hill, and specifically, Carrboro. I would totally vote for Carrboro as the place that would best check all of the boxes for that type of thriving arts/music vibe and I really like its artsy feel, local eateries (instead of strip malls and chain restaruants), local music spots and walking distance to the amenities at UNC Chapel Hill. I have a friend who plays drums around that area and always has a cool jazz, funk, blues or jam band outing in that scene.

 

I don't know Durham as well, but I have been around the Duke Campus and it's a nice place... but would make a strong recommendation to get on the internet and learn about Carrboro.

 

Message me privately if you have any questions about relocating to North Carolina, in general.

 

Jeff

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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Carrboro

Town in North Carolina

 

Description: Known for its progressive vibe, Carrboro is a small town filled with craft galleries, organic grocery stores, and indie music venues like the storied Cats Cradle. The Arts Center presents cutting-edge plays and exhibitions, and the Carrboro Farmers Market offers handmade pottery and baskets alongside regional produce. Artsy coffee shops and laid-back farm-to-table restaurants are clustered on and around Main Street.

 

Population: 21,544 (2017)

 

That's where I would go.

 

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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I've spent some time in Carrboro. Interesting little town - great beer fest in the summer. Plus there's this:

 

 

Korg Kronos 61 (2); Kurzweil PC4, Roland Fantom-06, Casio PX-350M; 2015 Macbook Pro and 2012 Mac Mini (Logic Pro X and Mainstage), GigPerformer 4.

 

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Steve, Im so sorry for your loss.

 

In addition to the places already mentioned, you might want to check out Hillsborough. Its a small but growing town west of RTP and about 15 minutes from Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Durham. Kind of a historic, artsy vibe with good restaurants and not too crowded. Ive been here about 12 years and love it. Its about midway between Raleigh and Greensboro, so its convenient for gigging.

 

Good luck with the move! PM me if you need any more information or want to meet for a beer when you get down here.

 

Edit: One downside about Hillsborough is that it would be a bit farther from Morehead City than some of the other places mentioned.

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4: IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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Steve, I've been in Raleigh for 28 years, worked at IBM and Qualcomm as a HW design engineer during that time. I'd be happy to share my experiences in the area with you. Is there a PM function on this board? (I'm not a very experienced user, I lurk here more than I contribute).

 

My initial advice would be that if you want to get to/from the coast frequently, I'd advise living on the side of the Triangle closest to the coast. Southeast Raleigh (downtown area) can be tricky real-estate wise, I can explain more privately. You may want to look into the Garner area, it's a quick hop onto NC70 to get to the coast. That said, if you end up working in RTP, the commute traffic will not be fun heading from Garner to RTP every day!

 

Lou

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I lived in Chapel Hill from about 1971 through 1982. Back then it was a super laid back hippie town and I loved it. As I was leaving, it was transitioning from hippie to yuppie and I was beginning to feel that I no longer fit in. Real estate ca. 1971 was insanely, stupidly cheap. Real estate now--anywhere in the area--is expensive. Chapel Hill, back then, tended to attract more of the academic sort. Being a nerd/geek/whatever this week's term is, I was in my element.

 

Carrboro was more folk-ish, maybe a little country. Given that Chapel Hill and Carrboro share a common border, you wouldn't think that they'd have such different personalities, but there it is.

 

Durham, home to Duke (Chapel Hill is the main campus for the University of North Carolina), is a whole 'nother ball o' wax. Duke is--or was, I don't know about now--primarily known for medicine and divinity. To the extent that you might grant truth in stereotypes, the arrogance of doctors and the holier-than-thou attitude of certain religious people pretty much defined the feel of Durham as a town.

 

Raleigh has NC State, but also is the state capital. Politicians tend to feel that they're on a different plane of existence, and Raleigh is no exception. While Duke students would frequently visit CH and vice versa, State students rarely interacted with us. Yes, Raleigh's a little further down the road, but there was also a bit of a standoffish attitude. Raleigh's not all that big as cities go, but they had a cosmopolitan attitude that led them to feel that going to Durham or CH was too far out in the sticks.

 

Back then the satellite communities were virtually nonexistent (okay, technically Carrboro was a bloated add-on to CH, but still...). Now they're huge, fueled by people seeking a cheaper option for living in that area.

 

UNC, Duke, and State are all excellent schools. I don't go for this tribal nonsense about "my" school being the "best." That's stupid. You can see where that mindset takes you by looking at the United States today. I went to UNC and double majored in geology and psychology, areas where UNC exceled. But if I were interested in becoming a surgeon (ain't gonna do religion), I wouldn't hesitate to go to Duke, or if I wanted to become an engineer, I'd happily sign up for State.

 

So, what's it like today? I don't know from personal experience. My sister still maintains ties to the area and had a house there until a year or two ago. Her stated reason for leaving was that she was tired of the heat. She had no complaints otherwise. If things were the way they were back in the '70s, I'd move back there in a skinny instant. Now, I'm not so sure.

 

But I still have fond memories and you can't take those away from me.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Steve, I've been in Raleigh for 28 years, worked at IBM and Qualcomm as a HW design engineer during that time. I'd be happy to share my experiences in the area with you. Is there a PM function on this board? (I'm not a very experienced user, I lurk here more than I contribute).

 

My initial advice would be that if you want to get to/from the coast frequently, I'd advise living on the side of the Triangle closest to the coast. Southeast Raleigh (downtown area) can be tricky real-estate wise, I can explain more privately. You may want to look into the Garner area, it's a quick hop onto NC70 to get to the coast. That said, if you end up working in RTP, the commute traffic will not be fun heading from Garner to RTP every day!

 

Lou

 

Thanks! I'll reach out to you sometime later this week. Steve

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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My Professional Websites

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Steve, First off condolences for your loss. I have spent my life in NC and mostly the Triangle Area. (Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh). There are many small surrounding communities that would be close enough to both work and the coast. Hilllsborough, Pittsboro, Carrboro are closer to Chapel Hill. That music scene in those areas has been vibrant for years and is a bit more eclectic with a younger influence. Durham downtown is really booming with new restaurants and music venues, but there are areas around Durham that are more dangerous. (Higher crime rate in Durham than surrounding towns.) Raleigh is more the new yuppie area of affluent young folks. Around Raleigh are many small towns. Cary, Apex, Fuquay Varina, (South) Wake Forest, Knightdale, Windell, (North East) Garner, and Clayton (East). You will want to see how the traffic flows to where ever you work because some areas are jammed up every day!!! Charlotte is much like Raleigh only on a larger scale. Hope this helps some, ALSO you may want to look at Oriental, NC to park your sailboat. I good friend/ guitar player just retired there because of his love for sailing year round.

Jimmy

 

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho

NEW BAND CHECK THEM OUT

www.steveowensandsummertime.com

www.jimmyweaver.com

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Steve, First off condolences for your loss. I have spent my life in NC and mostly the Triangle Area. (Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh). There are many small surrounding communities that would be close enough to both work and the coast. Hilllsborough, Pittsboro, Carrboro are closer to Chapel Hill. That music scene in those areas has been vibrant for years and is a bit more eclectic with a younger influence. Durham downtown is really booming with new restaurants and music venues, but there are areas around Durham that are more dangerous. (Higher crime rate in Durham than surrounding towns.) Raleigh is more the new yuppie area of affluent young folks. Around Raleigh are many small towns. Cary, Apex, Fuquay Varina, (South) Wake Forest, Knightdale, Windell, (North East) Garner, and Clayton (East). You will want to see how the traffic flows to where ever you work because some areas are jammed up every day!!! Charlotte is much like Raleigh only on a larger scale. Hope this helps some, ALSO you may want to look at Oriental, NC to park your sailboat. I good friend/ guitar player just retired there because of his love for sailing year round.

 

Interesting..... not married to Morehead City--just have some peeps there..

 

BTW is ITGITC (Tommy) still around?????

 

-steve

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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My Professional Websites

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Interesting..... not married to Morehead City--just have some peeps there..

 

-steve

 

Steve, I don't know anything about facilities for docking your sailboat, but you may want to check out the Wilmington / Wrightsville Beach area. The only reason I suggest that is because I-40 runs straight there from the Triangle, so it's a quicker trip than to Morehead City. From RTP to Wrightsville Beach is about a 2:45 trip, to Morehead City it's about 3:45.

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4: IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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Steve, ITGITC is still around and will likely pop in at some point. We catch a cold brew every once in a while!

Jimmy

 

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho

NEW BAND CHECK THEM OUT

www.steveowensandsummertime.com

www.jimmyweaver.com

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I live in the New Bern area, about 45 miles from Morehead. I do service work for a Real Estate agency in Oriental (and grew up in Pamlico County). Oriental claims to be the "sailing capital of the world," may be a bit hyped but there are a LOT of sailing folk there. If you go to the Raleigh area, definitely try to get on the eastern side if you want to go to the coast. While I-40 presently goes from Raleigh to Wilmington, US 70 is being brought up to Interstate standards in the next few years (and will be called I-77).

The rich folk and politicians in Raleigh have been wanting for years to be able to go to Morehead with no (or very few) traffic signals and slowdown towns in the way - and they have ponied up to get the construction going.

 

Even as small as Oriental is, there is a bit of a music scene there. New Bern is a bit larger, and has more of a scene (although if you are wanting the type of scene found in a large city like Charlotte or Raleigh, certainly no where near that large). I expect the scene to grow here, because the UNC Medical and the local hospital are going together building a large Cancer Center here that will attract a lot of medical professionals (the local Oncology Center already is very well equipped with the latest and best in equipment - I had 45 radiation treatments last year). The Center will for all practical purposes become "UNC-East" for most procedures because our state isn't so high N to S, but is quite wide E to W.

 

Real Estate in many of the towns near Raleigh (or the "Triangle" area as Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham are called) has gotten rather pricy in recent years; as large corporations and research setup in places like the RTP (Research Triangle Park).

 

I spent about six months in the Durham area (living in Hillsborough) a number of years ago, and there are definitely areas better stayed away from at night.

 

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Jim

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I live in the New Bern area, about 45 miles from Morehead. I do service work for a Real Estate agency in Oriental (and grew up in Pamlico County). Oriental claims to be the "sailing capital of the world," may be a bit hyped but there are a LOT of sailing folk there. If you go to the Raleigh area, definitely try to get on the eastern side if you want to go to the coast. While I-40 presently goes from Raleigh to Wilmington, US 70 is being brought up to Interstate standards in the next few years (and will be called I-77).

The rich folk and politicians in Raleigh have been wanting for years to be able to go to Morehead with no (or very few) traffic signals and slowdown towns in the way - and they have ponied up to get the construction going.

 

Even as small as Oriental is, there is a bit of a music scene there. New Bern is a bit larger, and has more of a scene (although if you are wanting the type of scene found in a large city like Charlotte or Raleigh, certainly no where near that large). I expect the scene to grow here, because the UNC Medical and the local hospital are going together building a large Cancer Center here that will attract a lot of medical professionals (the local Oncology Center already is very well equipped with the latest and best in equipment - I had 45 radiation treatments last year). The Center will for all practical purposes become "UNC-East" for most procedures because our state isn't so high N to S, but is quite wide E to W.

 

Real Estate in many of the towns near Raleigh (or the "Triangle" area as Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham are called) has gotten rather pricy in recent years; as large corporations and research setup in places like the RTP (Research Triangle Park).

 

I spent about six months in the Durham area (living in Hillsborough) a number of years ago, and there are definitely areas better stayed away from at night.

 

 

Mind if we stay in touch..... ?

 

-steve

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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My Professional Websites

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Steve,

 

Have you planned a visit to the triangle? When you have a travel plan, let us know. It"s time for me to pay my social dues. I live in Apex, and will happy to host a gathering of fellow musos from the forum. There"s a fire pit for grilling and a grand piano and lots of boards for playing.

 

What do you think?

 

Jack

 

 

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Steve,

 

Have you planned a visit to the triangle? When you have a travel plan, let us know. It"s time for me to pay my social dues. I live in Apex, and will happy to host a gathering of fellow musos from the forum. There"s a fire pit for grilling and a grand piano and lots of boards for playing.

 

What do you think?

 

Jack

 

 

my plans are still coming together. I'm thinking early august. Still not sure where i'll land in NC, as i am thinking semi-retirement, and in the IT field can do remote projects.

 

i can bring a bass and rig and we can all jam....

 

 

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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My Professional Websites

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wow! what an incredible response! heartwarming.

 

although i know this is the Keyboard Corner, and i do play keys, i am really a bassist. so if anyone is looking for a pretty darned good bassist and backup singer......

 

 

-steve

 

And the music that interests you is...?

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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If you are anything remotely IT work is plentiful in the triangle. The metro area as defined by the census (I believe) is about 2 million, which surprised me when I was moving here two years ago. What"s also really cool is how close Duke/NC Chap/NC State are to each other. My daughter had some friends out to visit a couple weeks ago and we pulled off two campus visits in two days, schools are 20-30 minutes apart. I would definitely figure out where you were working prior to picking which area to live in. Commuting daily between Durham and Raleigh would ideally not be a thing to do during rush hour, because it will take an hour.

 

Fantastic restaurants and what I consider a perfect airport are real pluses. Oh, you can chuck you snow shovels...I sure did.

 

Feel free to drop me a line anytime!

 

Steinway L, Yamaha Motif XS-8, NE3 73, Casio PX-5S, iPad, EV ZLX 12-P ZZ(x2), bunch of PA stuff.
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Steve,

Of course we can stay in touch. I'm not always here, but frequently here. Note that most of my experiences in the middle of NC was years or even decades ago (only lived in Raleigh for 2 years attending NC State, for instance). I do check for PMs when on here. I grew up in Pamlico County (where Oriental is), went away for a bit, lived in New Bern area for years (helped put the TV station on the air, and moved up with them, also ran a business here - and run another business now).

 

I'm old enough now (77) that I don't do full time, but I do love doing remote stuff for my commercial clients when possible instead of having to drive to site. I do general networking and computer stuff, with both PC and Mac. A bit of specialty in making them work cooperatively together.

 

Don't totally throw away the snow shovel - about once every 25 years or so New Bern has suddenly wound up with two to three FEET, but many years there is very little. Even been able to ride around with the top down on the convertible some Christmases.

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Jim

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wow! what an incredible response! heartwarming.

 

although i know this is the Keyboard Corner, and i do play keys, i am really a bassist. so if anyone is looking for a pretty darned good bassist and backup singer......

 

 

-steve

 

And the music that interests you is...?

 

Grey

 

Anything.I easily cross genres.

 

I consider myself a pocket player, ensuring the drive, working closely with the drummer providing the beat and basis to propel the tune; but, when the spirit moves me, and when helpful to the tune, rip off some astonishing yet tasteful licks/riffs.

 

 

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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My Professional Websites

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(a bit OT) I played electric bass until my fretting hand started cramping up, so switched to keys. Still spend a good bit of my time doing LH bass (our praise band doesn't have a separate bass player). Definitely working close with the drummer, secondarily rhythm guitar, looking for that pocket.

 

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Jim

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(a bit OT) I played electric bass until my fretting hand started cramping up, so switched to keys. Still spend a good bit of my time doing LH bass (our praise band doesn't have a separate bass player). Definitely working close with the drummer, secondarily rhythm guitar, looking for that pocket.

 

This is cool. :thu:

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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My Professional Websites

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Steve, do let us know when you make a trip up. I am sure we can round up a few fellas for a beverage and eats.

Jimmy

 

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho

NEW BAND CHECK THEM OUT

www.steveowensandsummertime.com

www.jimmyweaver.com

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Steve, do let us know when you make a trip up. I am sure we can round up a few fellas for a beverage and eats.

 

Will do. in August sometime. Looking forward to it. I'll bring at least a bass, maybe even my amp if i have enough room. Unless you can scrounge up some sort of a bass amp..

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

--------

My Professional Websites

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