12 Reasons Why You May Not Want To Move To Raleigh!

12 Reasons Why You May Not Want To Move To Raleigh!

Are you considering relocating to the Raleigh area and you're wondering if it'd be a good place for you and your family? We like to keep it real and share our personal experience as six years ago my family and I decided to relocate and had Raleigh on our radar. So today I'm going to keep it real so you won't be shocked or surprised like us at some of the things we were not prepared for.

Today we'll talk more in detail about 12 reasons why you may not want to move to the Raleigh area and let you decide if you want to dive in feet first like we did and live this type of lifestyle or not. Raleigh used to be America's best-kept secret, but the secret is definitely out now. For over 20 years, Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill, also known as the Triangle, has been recognized as a top place to live by Money Magazine, and it consistently ranks high in quality of life and job growth.

Ford's even ranked Raleigh second for businesses and careers. We moved to Raleigh at the beginning of 2018, and it's been amazing to see the growth in the past six years since we've been here. A lot of people reach out to me and ask what it's really like living here, what we like and what we don't like, and I do like to keep it real.

Looking back at our relocation journey, I'd say depending on how quickly you embrace Raleigh for all that it offers versus comparing it to your previous state Or what it has or doesn't have, the sooner that you'll settle into your new lifestyle here. There's a big difference between visiting our area for a week versus actually living here. I'd say it took us a good year before we really got a feel for the area and then actually two years Before we finally said, okay, this is really our home home and where we're gonna stay for the long haul. Hey y'all, I'm Brandy Nemergut, a local realtor right here in Raleigh.

Okay, let's just go ahead and jump right on in and we're going to get started with the first reason you may not want to live in Raleigh and that's going to be the competitive real estate market. The real estate market here in Raleigh continues to be on fire with Raleigh ranking second hottest real estate market in the U.

S. followed by Durham coming in fourth. And we are still dealing with a low inventory and high demand as people continue to move here, not only from across the country, but from across the world. The pandemic has definitely changed things and now more and more people can work remotely from home and are choosing other states to live in that are more affordable and livable cities like Raleigh.

And although the Triangle has become more expensive, its cities still remain cheaper than the national average. The median house price in Raleigh, North Carolina, is 484,000 compared to other cities like California, with a median price point of 830,000. New York at 839, 000 and Miami is 699 000. So again, comparing Raleigh, North Carolina, median house price comes in at 484 000 and all that the area has to offer in comparison to those competing cities.

You will find that Raleigh doesn't look so expensive after all. Next, let's talk about the traffic and lack of public transportation. Nowadays, no matter where you live, it seems like people complain about traffic, and depending on where you're moving from is how you'll feel about Raleigh's traffic. I will say in the six years since we've moved here, Yes, there is more traffic and there's a lot more road construction going on, which is going to help our infrastructure here and we continually grow.

But traffic here seems hell still in comparison to places like California, New York, Miami, DC, or Atlanta. I'll take our traffic any day. And if you're coming from a big city, you may be surprised And a bit disappointed to find out that Raleigh really doesn't have a great public transport system in comparison to other cities.

And most people rely on a car to get around in the Raleigh area. So if you're used to, say, hopping on the subway, you're definitely not going to find that here. Now we do have a bus rapid transit project in the works. and it's roughly going to be about 20 mile route that will actually connect downtown Raleigh to downtown Cary and there will be sidewalks, bike and greenway connections.

However, if you are someone that doesn't want to own a car and loves getting around by city, Public transportation, unfortunately, you're not going to find that kind of convenience here in Raleigh. Next, let's talk about the fact this is not a tourist destination. One of the things that attracted us to Raleigh was the fact it's not too big and it's not too small.

Coming from L. A. and Orange County in California, we wanted a smaller vibe that still had enough to do. Yet, we are also still within a five hour drive of so many different destinations and states to enjoy. Raleigh is considered a mid sized city with around 490, 000 residents. and our metro area has roughly 1.

6 million and our area does continue to grow with an estimated 70 plus people who move here each day in Wake County. So depending where you're coming from, you may think that our city is too small and doesn't have enough to do, especially if you're coming from say Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, or even Florida.

There's definitely not a lot of hopping in nightlife here. But from our point of view, there's still plenty of things to do here, not just in the Raleigh, but also in the Durham and Chapel Hill area, which is also known as the Triangle. And that's one of the many things that we do love about this area is that there is always some sort of festival or event happening.

There's local farmer's markets, museums, lakes. And if you like beer, there's a lot of different breweries here that are family friendly and dog friendly. With live music we have great coffee shops bakeries lots of greenway trails to hike bike walk If you love the lake life, there's lots of opportunities to go boating or kayaking Paddleboarding.

So if you love the outdoors, you'll definitely have a lot of activities to enjoy here personally in my opinion Raleigh has that small town vibe with most of the big city options. So it's a nice balance But if you love a big city Big city life with great nightlife options, Raleigh might be a little bit too quiet for you.

Next, we do not have quick beach time. Now, if you live in Southern California like we did, or even Florida, and you're used to a quick 10 15 minute drive to your favorite beach, Unfortunately, you're going to be heartbroken to know that you cannot just hop on your bike or ride into the breezy sunset.

Although Raleigh is close to the beaches, it's around a two to two and a half hour drive to your nearest beach. Now you can still make it a day trip or a weekend trip, but But you won't be sippin on margaritas and eatin tacos after work, overlooking the ocean waves. That's definitely one thing that I do miss.

Heading over to Huntington Beach after work for dinner, or doing my morning runs to the pier and back. Wrightsville Beach is going to be our closest beach to Raleigh, which is about a two-hour drive. And that's actually the first beach that we visited when we moved here. Now, if you are a beach lover as much as we are.

There's lots of nice beaches here from the Outer Banks to Carolina Beach, Ocean Isle, Topsail, Surf City, and even Emerald Isle, which is actually where we have a beach house. That's how much we couldn't stand not being close to the beach. On the brighter side, for water lovers, Raleigh does have a lot of amazing lakes.

So if you want to discover the perks of the lakeside There's everything locally here to enjoy from swimming or kayaking to paddle boarding Boating fishing and more jordan lake state recreation area has a little beach area But again, it's not the ocean So if you love the beach life and can't bear to live without it And now it'll become more of a fun Special occasion trip in your life.

You might not want to move to Raleigh. For all you sports fans out there, beware We only have one pro sports team No, nfl, nba or MLB if you are a huge sports fan, This one may be a tough one for you, especially if you're coming from major cities like california New york chicago or denver that have all four pro teams sport teams from NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.

Just know that Raleigh only has one pro sports team, the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes. Raleigh is actually a college town, specifically sports basketball. There's NC State Wolfpack, UNC Tar Heels, and Duke Blue Devils, all within a 40 minute drive of each other. And the nearest NFL team is of course the Carolina Panthers and the NBA team is the Charlotte Hornets.

Both are going to be in Charlotte, which is about a two and a half hour drive. And the nearest MLB team is going to be the Washington Nationals in DC, which is about a four and a half hour drive. But, we do have the world famous Durham Bulls baseball team that is just 30 minutes up the road in Durham, which is always a fan favorite.

And, if you love soccer, you're in luck, as soccer is a big deal in North Carolina. We have the North Carolina men's team here, and we also have a National Women's Soccer League. But if you love living in a city with all four pro sports teams, you're not going to find that here in Raleigh. Next, let's talk about capped schools.

Now, this one was a surprise for me, and it always surprises our clients, is the capping and the overflow of the schools. Because of the continued growth of people moving to Raleigh, Several elementary, middle, and high schools sometimes reach the maximum number of students that they can effectively teach.

As a result, some schools may place an enrollment cap on the school. If you've recently moved to your home and are assigned to a CAP school, your child may be assigned to an overflow school. Now I know how frustrating this can be as many others just like us a lot of times choose our particular neighborhood to live in the base of the school that it's assigned.

And just like I mentioned, Up front, if you do have kids and are expecting that they're going to end up going to a certain school based on the house address you're wanting to buy, if a particular school is important to you, please make sure that you check the Wake County School website and even if it says it's capped, give the school a call and find out how long the wait is and if there's only certain grades that are currently capped.

So if schools are important to you, then you might not want to move to Raleigh without first researching the areas you want to live and see if the schools have any capping. Next, let's talk about the lack of diversity in food. When we first moved here in 2018, the food scene was a bit lacking for us.

especially when it comes to Mexican food. I mean, my husband grew up in San Diego and we lived in LA County. So we had some amazing food right in our backyard from Mexican to Italian, Asian, Mediterranean, and yes, even barbecue. So when we came here and found the Southern classic dishes with lots of fried options, buttered, creamed, lots of biscuits, And then there was the barbecue that was vinegar based and not red sauce based.

We were like, what planet have we landed on? And then I probably gained about 10 pounds after discovering a lot of these foods. If I'm being honest. So I will say fast forward in the six years we've been here, I'm not sure if the food scene has really gotten that much better here or if it's just the fact that we've been able to find our way around all the areas and locate some really good food, but I'm sure it's probably a combination of the two.

Raleigh has continued to gain accolades for its food scene and is even called the tastiest town in the south and has award winning chefs like James Beard, along with innovative new restaurants and concepts that keep coming to our area. However, if you talk to a lot of people who move here, especially from California like us, Or even new york texas or florida They do complain a lot about the quality of the food seen here and the lack of flavor in comparison to their previous state My hubby and I are definitely foodies and we actually plan our vacations around where we're going to eat Is anyone else out there do that or is it just us?

So personally speaking if you are coming from a foodie city, too You You may be disappointed in Raleigh. Thankfully we didn't move here for the food and I am a good cook. At least that's what my husband tells me. So don't get me wrong here. You'll still find lots of decent food and some really good food.

But if you live in California, for example, there is not a comparison in the Mexican food here that there is there. And, if you're coming from New York, you're going to be hard pressed to find a lot of good delis, bagels, Italian food, and authentic New York style pizza. I will say New York Bagel and Deli is amazing and they have several locations.

And coming from Florida, you won't have as many Latin inspired food or tapas, though again, we have a handful of favorites here. It's personally just not the same to me It's definitely something you'll have to come out venture out and experience and please when you do find an amazing place Please share it with us so if you're a huge foodie fan and have really high caliber of expectations on the whole food experience, you might not want to move to Raleigh.

Now let's talk about pollen. One thing that surprised us when we moved here was the amount of pollen. There is a three week period where there is just a thick yellow film over everything. I actually had no idea what it was when I first woke up and saw everything on my patio covered in that thick layer.

And when it rains, there's just Streams of yellow flowing water. And boy oh boy did my allergies flare up. We have everything from tree grass and ragweed, pollen, and a non-Fun fact, Raleigh ranks fifth in the nation in pollen severity. So if you're coming here and you have some issues with your lungs or sinuses and struggle with allergies related to pollen, you're probably gonna need a good allergist.

Which I do have a few that I can recommend And if not, you may want to consider not moving to Raleigh. Now, one of the top questions I get asked about when people reach out to us is about the hot and humid summers. And they ask me, is it really that hot and humid? I will always say, yes, it definitely does get hot and humid here.

Especially if you're coming from the West coast where there's dry heat versus humidity. In the summer months, you're not likely going to be sitting outside having a picnic. But our temperatures do average anywhere from the mid 80s to 90s with the hottest months being in July and August. However, unlike some other states, the good news is we do experience four seasons here with spring and fall being absolutely beautiful.

It reminds me most of our California weather and our temperatures can range anywhere from the fifties to seventies throughout these seasons while our winter months are pretty mild. Generally, our temperatures can range from the thirties to fifties, but there is a running joke here. that you can experience all four seasons in one week or even a day.

And if you already live on the East coast, many of our clients tell us the weather is just the same or sometimes their summers are even worse than ours, especially if they're coming from Florida. But we do have air conditioning to cool us down, but then you're going to go into stores and restaurants.

and freeze your little tootsies and need a sweater. So I'd say it took us really a good two years to really acclimate to the humidity here. But now we can easily come and go within the summer hot summer times and we're just fine. When it comes to rain, it rains a lot here, which is of course why we have such a lush green forest atmosphere here.

Now on average, it rains about 47 inches per year, which compared to Southern California, we only saw around 11 inches of rain. And even though it sounds like a lot of rain, it really doesn't seem like it, and as quick as it does come, it can be gone again, while other times it will rain for a few days. Now, unlike Oregon, the sun actually comes out afterwards.

Hurricanes are another thing that many are concerned about when moving to Raleigh. Now, I grew up in California, so we had to worry about earthquakes. And did those earthquake drills at school where we had to hide under our desk. So, when I first moved here and I heard about hurricanes, I was actually pretty freaked out.

The good news, if we look at the date from 1851 to 2022, it shows while North Carolina is fourth on the rankings for hurricanes, there hasn't been any category fives, only one category four, and there's only been six category threes. So what does that actually mean? Yes, we do get hurricanes. But history shows it's very few and far between that they will actually be destructive hurricanes, especially considering here in Raleigh, we are not on the coastline, which is where the majority of ones have typically landed here locally.

We typically get a lot of wind and rain and sometimes some power outages. with some branches or a few trees that may fall down. Now we learned after our first power outages to definitely have a generator in your garage at all times. We even had an electrician come in and install a switch so that I can actually just plug it in, flip the switch, and say let there be light and we're good to go.

And the good news about hurricanes versus earthquakes like California is typically you have several days warning so you can actually prepare or leave the area. So for me, that's a definite plus. At the end of the day, wherever you live, there's going to be some type of natural disaster that could be a potential problem.

But if pollen, hot and humid summers and hurricanes, Have you worried you may not want to move to Raleigh now moving on from weather to bugs when a place is hot and humid And there's a lot of rain Along with ponds and lakes you'll find a lot of bugs now We have everything here from mosquitoes to chiggers cicadas flying cockroaches ticks And yes, even snakes Now one thing you'll notice here is a lot of people have screened in porches the reason why You It's because it keeps those pesky bugs out so you can still enjoy the outdoor breeze minus those buggy bugs and you can actually get pest control service.

We have Mosquito Joe and earlier, like I mentioned, snakes. The most common venomous snake in North Carolina is the Copperhead snake. Depending where you live, you may never see one or you may see many each year. If you live near a natural water source or forestry area, you may likely encounter one. We usually see up to seven a year.

Because, just for reference, I live on a three-acre wooded forest with a stream running through, and I back up an 86-acre farm. So, I expect it. If you live in more of a planned master community, it's gonna be much more rare for you to run across. My husband actually had his leaf blower out once and he was clearing the leaves.

And that copperhead stood straight up, and it was mad. It was pretty scary. So they are typically out in the day in the spring and fall, But they do hibernate during the winter season, which is definitely fine by me. Now speaking of the forest I find it a bit humorous that some people visit here and say that they feel Claustrophobic with how many trees are actually here and the fact that they can't see anything You when they drive around and that they're just in a tunnel of trees.

Personally, I think the trees are so beautiful and once you've been here for a while and you leave and go somewhere like Los Angeles or Las Vegas, it's definitely the strangest thing seeing all the buildings just wide open. Going back to LA, it seems kind of dingy and we come back to Raleigh and we drive home through all the trees and we're just smiling ear to ear.

There's just something about nature and the trees and it just seems so much more peaceful. So if you enjoy nature, you will definitely appreciate all the trees here. Personally, we think it's very calming and I feel like you can just breathe a little bit better. There's certainly pros and cons to anything in life and we strongly believe that the pros of living in Raleigh far outweigh any of the negatives.

And there are many beautiful neighborhoods and rich history in Raleigh and the surrounding towns and we personally love calling it home. Now if these reasons don't deter you, we'd love you to come on down and visit and explore the area and see if Raleigh or one of the surrounding towns sings to your heart and calls you to find it as your new home.

And if you have any questions about relocating to the area, And you're looking to purchase a home, we would love to help. All you have to do is reach out to us. My number's right here on the screen. Whether you want to give me a call, shoot me a text, or send me an email, we would love to chat. Till next time, we'll see y'all later.