Hellobee Boards

I'm not from there, but have friends who moved down there because the job market was better than in DC (at least for the wife who is a lawyer in one particular field...I forget what it was though). I think they're in Raleigh.

I know that they were house hunting at the same time as us a few months ago, and although things were way less expensive there, the market was a lot tougher and there was tons of competition when they put in offers.

I live in Raleigh (right near downtown in an historic neighborhood) and work in Durham. We have an 11 month old and so far have found it to be a great place for kids. Our neighborhood is filled with young kids and we have a nanny share with another family in our neighborhood. There are tons of kid-friendly activities in the area - look up Marbles kids museum (Raleigh), Pullen Park (Raleigh), Museum of Life and Science (Durham), and the Wake County libraries (we go to the Cameron Village branch - great storytimes!) to start.

The school district - Wake County - is on the whole very good but there have been reassignment issues in the past 5ish years. I can't speak to that directly bc it's not much of an issue in my neighborhood and I obviously don't have a school-aged LO yet, but something to be aware of.

I lived in Cary briefly before moving to Raleigh and it's definitely very much suburbia but extremely, extremely family-friendly.

Child care is pretty expensive, I think - the 5-star centers we were looking at (downtown Raleigh area) were in the $1300ish range for the infant room. We pay $1300+taxes for our half of a nanny share.

Let me know if you have other questions or feel free to wall me and I can give you my email address!

We love living right outside Raleigh! Just from my experience it's very very young family friendly. Tons of parks, museums (for kids and adults), theaters, pools. I think it's super easy to make mom friends, I've met several at local parks.

I live in Cary and love it! It is absolutely family friendly with great parks, family friendly restaurants, museums (like the ones @jape14 mentioned) and really safe. I think in general the cost of living and child care is pretty reasonable - I've mostly seen people talk about "city" prices and it's not nearly that bad so that's a plus. It is suburban but has grown a lot in the last decade so it's not nearly as dead as it used to be. But it's really easy to make mom friends at parks and around neighborhoods because people are very friendly. Feel free to wall me if you have any specific questions. I grew up here and came back like @autumnleaves 'cause its just so lovely IMO.

I live in Durham. We absolutely love love love living in Durham. I am also a nanny for a family in Durham, so I know all the kids activities in the area. There is so much going on! The libraries in Durham have great programming, there are various story times at different places, the Museum of Life and science is fantastic. You can check out the SoDu Parents Posse on FB and they will answer any questions you have (they're very honest). Durham has so many local restaurants and breweries. I've found that everywhere is pretty kid friendly. My husband and I try to talk all our friends into moving to Durham.

@Anagram: with that much experience I doubt finding a job would be an issue. as far as location, all of the surrounding areas are nice too. they all kind of blend together. on a given day I might be in apex, morrisville, cary, and raleigh without driving more than 15 minutes in any one direction. durham is nice too. we have a membership to the museum @MamaB: mentioned and we go at least once a month!

also, I feel like we need a triangle area meet up! I had no idea there were so many in the area!

@anagram: it totally depends on where you live and what exactly you mean by suburban hell there are a LOT of areas there that are just your typical suburbia (cul-de-sacs and chain stores), but many of them have lots of families and built-in parks/schools/pools/etc that end up being spots to gather & meet people. Especially having kids, it wouldn't be that hard to meet at least other moms....there are lots of transplants.

My biggest issue when we lived there (4 years of undergrad, then most recently 5 years during residency) was that you do a lot of driving. There aren't a lot of super walkable areas -- that is to say, you can probably walk around your subdivision to the pool or the park, but you are going to have to drive to dinners, etc. There are exceptions to that rule, but they are mostly the specific city centers (raleigh, durham, chapel hill, or maybe hillsborough). Driving between the cities is do-able but can be a huge pain. I would definitely focus your search close to wherever you guys would be working because the working commute is a bitch.

Schools are hit-or-miss. Durham's public schools are mostly terrible. Raleigh's are a mixed bag. Cary's and Chapel Hill's are pretty decent. Year-round school might be a pain for you with working there, but now that I'm a parent, I can see why people love it -- vacations spread throughout the year!

We loved Durham, but there is still a fair amount of crime in the areas closer to all of the "stuff" downtown.

All of that being said, there is a lot of great stuff about the area! Good weather (awesome autumns!), great restaurants, excellent local music scene, sports, and a convenient airport.

@Anagram: both of my sisters are new teachers (no experience besides student teaching) and both just got jobs in the Wake County school system! So it seems fairly easy to me.

@Mrs. Lion: yes, we should totally have a meetup!

@Anagram: there are lots of neighborhoods with amenities in this area - if you focus on those there's nothing really to stay away from. I would look at Preston which is an older planned development with neighborhoods and the neighborhoods that are off Cary Parkway near Bond Park. Park Village, Wellesley are also great family neighborhoods with amenities close by. Twin Lakes, Kitt Creek, Amberly are newer ones to check out. Ones that are a little further in Cary and older and very nice are Lochmere and MacGregor.
Buckhurst is a neighborhood in North Cary - it's not as big as the other ones I mentioned and may not have all the amenities but it's near downtown Cary, the greenway, and would be a very short commute for your husband.
Wall me if you need a realtor rec. I worked with one last year who I'd rec.

@Mrs. Lion: I'm interested in meeting other area bees too!

We considered moving from the Boston area to the Triangle area because it's one of the few tech hubs around the country. In doing my research, it seemed like the suburban areas had better schools. We thought the suburbs looked really cool because they had amenities that you just don't have around here - neighborhoods with walking trails, their own pools (many with slides and splash pads), club houses and social groups.

But it seemed like for shopping and restaurants and any other kind of activity, that you would need to drive. Probably to a strip mall.

You've gotten way better advice from everyone else than what I can give, but I just wanted to say that my SIL and her fiancé live in Raleigh and they love it there!

I don't know how much you care about superfast Internet, but I just heard from friends who live in Morrisville that they've seen Google Fiber trucks out installing this week. The whole area is supposed to get it soon but the rumors have been that they're starting in Morrisville or Cary, and that seems like good evidence for Morrisville

@looch: haha the weather would be enough for me the cost of living is an added bonus!

Oh, and to add that @MaryM is right about the market being competitive right now. Houses are selling FAST. Many in the area have gone under contract the day they are put on the market, or just within several days.

@Mrs. Lion: Haha I don't think I've mentioned it since we first started our Feb 2015 moms board last summer. All of us here should definitely have a meet up soon!