Pros And Cons Of Living In Chapel Hill NC - Things Have Changed!
Pros And Cons Of Living In Chapel Hill NC - Things Have Changed!
Are you considering relocating to the Raleigh area and you've heard of the suburb Chapel Hill and you're wondering if it would be the perfect spot for you and your family? Chapel Hill is referred to by many as the southern part of heaven and once you're here I'm sure you'll agree. It's home to several museums, historical buildings, majestic trees, and beautiful gardens and of course the beloved UNC Chapel Hill.
It has a growing economy and a diverse population. So it's more than just a college town and it has a lot to offer. Today, I'll be going over the pros and cons of living in Chapel Hill. If you want to find out more of that information, stay tuned. Cause we're at it next.
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Now Chapel Hill is part of what you may have heard of as the triangle. It connects Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill. So when you draw that on a map, It makes a triangle, which is why we're referred to as such. And sometimes you'll just hear people refer to us as Durham Raleigh. Now, Chapel Hill is going to be the smallest population of the three with approximately 61, 000 people living in Chapel Hill.
Although it does rank fourth biggest city in the triangle. Now, just to give you some perspective, Durham has approximately 288, 000 people, where Raleigh has about 472, 000. Now, not to get into mathematics or anything, but Cary has about 180, 000. So, Chapel Hill is a lot smaller like Apex. which has around 63, 000 people just for reference.
So again, Chapel Hill is going to have a much smaller village town feel out of the triangle itself. Now a little fun fact about Chapel Hill is actually split between three counties. You have Orange County, Chatham County and Durham County. Whereas Raleigh, for instance, only has Wake County. So starting off with pro number one, it's going to be location.
Now, Chapel Hill has really great access to the triangle, even though when you look on a map, it may seem a little bit further away. There's some great road systems here that make connecting through the triangle really easy. If you want to head into Durham, you can access Highway 15, 501, or even University Drive, which cuts from Durham to Chapel Hill.
Another pro is the great living options. Now, depending on your lifestyle, you'll find a nice variety of communities here, ranging from townhomes to single family homes. Some are going to be close knit together while others are going to give you a wide range of space. And if you want more of a master plan community, again, where you have lots of friends and neighbors.
We have that, or if you're wanting more of a rural and serene setting with more acreage, we have that too. On the north and south side, if you like the countryside and that rural feeling, that's where you're going to find those areas. So you can literally go from small town, city vibe, and then expand out to some beautiful countryside.
Now earlier in this video, I mentioned the three counties. So that's something that you're going to want to take into consideration when it comes to taxes in school districts. They'll be different say if you're in Orange County, which is what most of Chapel Hill is, but then you do have pockets of Durham and Chet and Chatham County as well.
Now according to niche. com, it's also rated third best suburb to live in North Carolina. These communities are beautifully designed and absolutely gorgeous. And with that, I'll come with my first con, which is going to be price point. Now, Chapel Hill is going to be one of the most expensive places to live in the triangle.
The median price point in Chapel Hill is roughly about 660, 000. And if you take townhomes and condos away from that, then the number jumps to 740, 000. Now, a townhome will run you approximately 450, 000. And my personal opinion of Chapel Hill, it seems very educated, cultured, and artsy. And again, it does have great schools and the university and some really unique homes, as well as luxury homes.
It's definitely a beautiful area if the price doesn't deter you. But again, if you're coming from the West Coast, say California, Or up north in New York, these prices might still seem mild to you. Another pro, it's a foodie paradise. Now, if you've watched some of my videos, you know I'm a foodie at heart.
We just love to eat food and try new things. According to Bon Appetit Magazine, they rated Chapel Hill one of America's Towns. There's such a great restaurant scene, nightlife, which I know a lot of other suburbs really lack. And if you ask me, it probably has something to do with the college population here.
You'll definitely want to check out Elmo's diner. They serve breakfast all day. Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? I know I do. Or you can check out Sub Dogs for a late night burger or some specialty hot dogs. They stuff them with chili. They do chili cheese fries. They'll add jalapenos, coleslaw. So delicious.
Or you can go to 411 West and have some fresh pasta or wood fired pizza. And again, since we have some late night fun here, if you've had a little too much fun, you can stop at Time Out and have a delicious meal. Chicken cheese biscuit. How's that for a college town? And did I mention they're open 24 7? I don't know how many things are open 24 7 out here, but they are.
There's definitely not a shortage of good food here. Another pro is gonna be the things to do here. Now, I know earlier I mentioned that we have several museums here. For the art lovers, check out Acklin Art Museum. For basketball fans, make sure to check out Carolina Basketball Museum. We also have Chapel Hill Museum and Kids U for the children.
One of my favorite places to go though is the Moorhead Planetarium. Now we went on a field trip. A lot of kids go to field trips here and inside you can explore all the things with space. things to do with all the history of it and who created it. They have little hands on things for them to do. They do a really cool live show where they do all these experiments and have things stretch and expand and explode.
So it's very interactive for the kids. And then they have this really cool, uh, theater. No seat is a bad seat. You sit down, you look up, and you're just looking at all the planets, all the stars. So you can definitely stay there for a couple hours with the children, and it's a great time, very educational.
And there's a lot of great outdoor space, so if you want some fresh air, you want to look at the beautiful flowers and blooms, check out the North Carolina Botanical Garden or the Poker Arboretum, which is on the UNC campus. Speaking of schools, that's another pro are our great schools. Chapel Hill has some really great schools and according to niche.
com, it gives the school ratings an A plus and the Chapel Hill and Carver schools ranked number one in best school districts, top 10 district with best teachers and top 20 places. If you're a teacher looking to relocate and in general, Chapel Hill is a very educated place. So if education is important to you, this is a great option.
There's also eight colleges here, including one of the oldest public universities in the country, which is University, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, UNC, and I believe they have about nearly 30, 000 students now. So you really can't go wrong with schools within Chapel Hill. No matter what county you're in, the schools here are a big draw for people.
And while we're on the subject of schools, that also can bring me to another con, depending who you are, could be a pro, but that's going to be the fact that it's considered a college town. It's dominated by nearly 30, 000 students. Again, depending on your age, or where you're from, or what you like to be surrounded by, again, that could be a pro or a con.
But in saying this again, the area is very upscale, you can definitely tell from the price point. But in comparison to say, Durham or Raleigh, those cities aren't as dominated by the college students, even though you have two major universities between Duke University and NC State and Raleigh. Now another pro are going to be commute times.
Chapel Hill isn't too far of a drive if you have to commute into the RTP, which is going to be roughly about 20 minutes. And if you need to head into Durham, you're going to be looking at about 30 minutes and then into Raleigh about 40 minutes, which is going to bring me to another pro, which is jobs.
Now about a quarter of the Chapel Hill professionals work in an office, an admin, or sales type fields, as many of the jobs are connected to the university. And there's also plenty of other professions like finance, business, transportation, and even material production. Another pro, there's great shops and stores.
You'll find a lot of great shops and restaurants off Franklin Street, and you'll find more things geared towards the college students on East Franklin, all the way to more of an eclectic style. As you go towards West Franklin Street, it's definitely a place to visit and explore and you can even do a self guided tour at UNC campus, which is over 700 acres.
They have a little interactive map that you can scan on your phone and you can walk to all the cool little places that it takes you. You can see the stadium. the water well. And then for the day to day stuff, I know a lot of people want to know, is there a Target? We have a Target. It is on the smaller side, but we do have one.
And then as far as groceries, we have Trader Joe's. We have Aldi's. I know a lot of Northerners love Wegmans. In California, we didn't have one, but I know in Raleigh and in Wake Forest, we have one as well. So that's really nice. We got three Wegmans that I know of. So again, as far as day to day shopping, you definitely have plenty to choose from.
Now weather can be a pro or a con depending where you're coming from. I know coming from the west coast, it was a bigger deal for me because while I enjoyed the four seasons, the springtime was really difficult for me with all the allergies and the pollen. Now if you're a northerner, it's probably going to be more of a pro for you because we're going to have a lot less snow than you're used to.
But the good news is if you do want snow, You're more likely to get snow as Chapel Hill is on the north side of Raleigh. So again, we have four seasons. It's really nice because overall they're pretty mild. Spring and fall are my absolute favorites, especially if you love being outdoors. There's so many greenways, you can walk, run, bike.
So definitely best two seasons to come and visit us. Summer's hot and muggy, but the good news is they only last a couple months. And they're gone. And as far as rain, depending where you're coming from, I know in California we averaged roughly 11 inches per year. Here, rainfall, we average about 46, 47 inches.
So that is why it's so green and luscious, but we definitely have rain. And speaking of rain It's raining right now. I don't know if you can hear it on my skylights. If you found this video helpful, please click the like button so other people like you can find this information as well. I know we went over some pros and cons, and I had more pros than cons.
It's really hard to find cons besides price point with Chapel Hill. Because it's just such an amazing place to live. And I hope y'all are able to come down and visit soon. Now if you have any questions, whether it's relocating to Chapel Hill or anywhere within Raleigh or the surrounding area, please feel free to reach out.
Again, the number's on the screen. You can call me, email, text me. However you want to get a hold of me, I got your back when relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Brandy Nemergut, Realtor ~ eXp Realty Raleigh, NC
919-583-6895
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