My cousin’s family is in Raleigh. Good city, lots of high tech in RTP, great universities.

If you like Carmel Valley, you’ll like this neighborhood:

http://www.zillow.com/search/Search.htm?addrstrthood=Round+Brook+Circle&citystatezip=raleigh%2C+nc+27617&GOButton=%3CSPAN%3EGO%3C%2FSPAN%3E

Raleigh is indeed a bit rough around the edges. Cary is nearby, and is a bedroom community for the many people associated with NC State and the many high tech businesses in the area. You won’t have any trouble finding places near Raleigh with good schools, including Cary and Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina. Durham, home of Duke, is also a bit rough, but has some good schools.

It’s the South. It’s different from Southern California. If you’re going to move there, make sure that you are willing to embrace that change. I’ve lived in both Southern California (grew up there) and in the south, and I loved both. There are annoying and negative things about the south, but wonderful things too.

Raleigh is indeed a bit rough around the edges. Cary is nearby, and is a bedroom community for the many people associated with NC State and the many high tech businesses in the area. You won’t have any trouble finding places near Raleigh with good schools, including Cary and Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina. Durham, home of Duke, is also a bit rough, but has some good schools.

It’s the South. It’s different from Southern California. If you’re going to move there, make sure that you are willing to embrace that change. I’ve lived in both Southern California (grew up there) and in the south, and I loved both. There are annoying and negative things about the south, but wonderful things too.

You may want to check out this website, it has alot of very good information.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/raleigh-durham-chapel-hill-cary/

I used to work in Morrisville and stayed at house up in Durham. My family stayed behind as I didn’t want to relocate, so I’d commute down there once or twice a month, but initially spent a lot of time there. I was up in Ohio, and didn’t want to relocate (worked out well for me) for various reasons, none of which had to do with the area.

Cary is probably the most Carmel-Valley like city. Actually Chapel Hill is supposed to be nice, I didn’t go down there very often, so I can’t really say for sure. Durham has some nice parts but was mostly kind of a dump. The home I stayed in was a 5600 Sq. Foot house of a guy who made a killing day trading and sold out and built a house (in the nick or time before the crash). The thing I hated was driving by the projects to get home.

In my mind not a bad place to relocate, though I’ll still choose to stay here and rent, unless I can move for the exact same salary. I don’t see that happening. Much like SD, you might want to consider living somewhat near where you work. Raleigh to me, was a little less southern, though I don’t have any hangups about the south. The traffic can be a pain. Other bedroom communities south of town are Apex and Forest Hills. North Raleigh as I recall had some nice areas.

North of town is a master-planned community called Wakefield Plantation, that seemed pretty nice, including it’s own schools. Also Wake Forest is just northeast of Wakefield Plantation. In case if my company was going to make me move, I was looking into a lot of new developments around Morrisville-Carpenter area due to the proximity to the office. I can’t recall the name of the place.

I used to work in Morrisville and stayed at house up in Durham. My family stayed behind as I didn’t want to relocate, so I’d commute down there once or twice a month, but initially spent a lot of time there. I was up in Ohio, and didn’t want to relocate (worked out well for me) for various reasons, none of which had to do with the area.

Cary is probably the most Carmel-Valley like city. Actually Chapel Hill is supposed to be nice, I didn’t go down there very often, so I can’t really say for sure. Durham has some nice parts but was mostly kind of a dump. The home I stayed in was a 5600 Sq. Foot house of a guy who made a killing day trading and sold out and built a house (in the nick or time before the crash). The thing I hated was driving by the projects to get home.

In my mind not a bad place to relocate, though I’ll still choose to stay here and rent, unless I can move for the exact same salary. I don’t see that happening. Much like SD, you might want to consider living somewhat near where you work. Raleigh to me, was a little less southern, though I don’t have any hangups about the south. The traffic can be a pain. Other bedroom communities south of town are Apex and Forest Hills. North Raleigh as I recall had some nice areas.

North of town is a master-planned community called Wakefield Plantation, that seemed pretty nice, including it’s own schools. Also Wake Forest is just northeast of Wakefield Plantation. In case if my company was going to make me move, I was looking into a lot of new developments around Morrisville-Carpenter area due to the proximity to the office. I can’t recall the name of the place.

My very good friend just moved to Cary and loves it. It’s a beautiful area with good schools and lovely homes. My mother-in-law has lived in Durham for the past 6 years and would never leave. There are some “south” influences, but it’s not as heavy as other deeper south states. Before we moved to San Diego, I really wanted to move there, but my husband wasn’t able to find a job at his level, so we ended up in San Diego. The weather is nice (not as nice as San Diego). Raleigh is an interesting city, but I will say there isn’t as many recreational opportunities as San Diego. It does have a strong sense of community and family values, if that’s what you are looking for. I would definately check out Cary. You can buy a very lovely home for much, much less than here, but I’d wait, their housing market is hurting.