Research Triangle
 

I am relocating to the triangle next summer. Can someone give me a general overview of the area. What are the rents like, jobs, people, and weather? I know these are pretty random questions but I would like to hear from some people than a guide book.

Where is the Research Triangle? I'm familiar with the Golden Triangle in San Diego area.

Having trouble posting this -- probably too long, so I'll split in 2. (Sorry if this eventually pops up repeatedly.) <BR> <BR>First installment: <BR>:-) If you post after midnight EDT, most people who respond only know West Coast info..... :-) ) <BR> <BR>Research Triangle = Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC. Included in that now is also Cary. Sometimes abbrev. RTP = Research Triancle Park, which is an actual place where many corps. and govt. agencies are clustered along I-40. In the Piedmont (semi-plain) region of NC. 2 hrs. from Wilmington Beaches, 4 hrs. from mountains. (Outer Banks beaches are 5 hrs., thanks to crummy roads.) <BR> <BR>Sam, it would be helpful to know where you're coming from (big/small city; coastal vs. inland, etc.) to know how to answer. And in which "corner" of the Triangle is the "reason" you're locating (your job/partner's job, or whatever)? <BR> <BR>Also if you "search" on Durham or Raleigh or Chapel Hill, you will find quite a bit of material -- and I believe there was one thread a few months ago that was almost identical to your question. <BR> <BR>But in any case, welcome in advance! <BR> <BR>Quick answers: 1. rent -- much, much, much cheaper than big city/coastal costs. For $600 you can get a very nice 2 BR; for $1000 you may be able to get a decent house and for $2000 you can get pretty much whatever you would want. Chapel Hill is pricier than elsewhere largely because of the crush of students and the reputation of the schools (more on that if you have kids and care). A lot of recent arrivals, however, look to Cary -- a newer, spiffier, and often more upscale community. <BR> <BR>2. Jobs. Don't you have one? Why are you relocating? Pay scales are not quite what urban and coastal areas would pay, but there are some cushy jobs -- some "yuppie" professionals are doing very well, thank you, esp. given the moderate cost of living. The Pretend-Its-Not-A-Recession is hitting this area with layoffs, but go to www.citysearch.com and click on Raleigh to get an idea of what's here. Lots of technology and science (legend has it that RTP has the densest population of PhD's in the country, but it's mostly tech./science) -- SAS, Sysco, Glaxo are big employers, as are the universities (Duke, UNC, NCState). EPA and NIH have installations. Military isn't far away in Fayetteville, etc. etc. <BR> <BR>3. People. Remember that NC is at heart a rural state with a long memory but not a huge amount of wealth except concentrated in a few hands in a few small areas. <BR> <BR>However, in the RTP area, there are lots of carpetbaggers in among the true Tar Heels (ref: Tar River _or_ occasional bits of mysterious tar that appear in the ocean or rivers unrelated to manufacturing), but still strong Southern accent, which means gracious, ardently partisan sometimes, socially and sometimes politically conservative, suspicious of "northerners" which actually means just northeasterners -- there isn't too much antagonism toward westerners and midwesterners, particularly those from more rural areas. If you like basketball, this is ground zero for that form of mania. If you like soccer, it is also big here (esp. women's, w/new WUSA team the Courage). Football takes over the fall, however, so that will be what you see first. The Durham Bulls provides some minor league baseball excitement; the Hurricanes are relatively new to the area and it's been a hoot to watch N. Carolinians learn about hockey -- lots more excitement in the recent playoffs with a blood-feud developing between the 'Canes and the Devils (who have a blood-feud with just about everybody, anyway). <BR>

Second installment: <BR>4. Weather: easiest question. LOVELY in our long autumns and springs. Winter is short (more or less the 6 weeks between 1/1/ and 2/15) and typically visits a couple of stretchs when the day-time temperature stays below freezing, and once in a great while it gets into the single digits. Sometimes we get short rises into the 60s and 70s, but usually, day-time temp. hovers between 40-55 and night-time is right around freezing. THAT means that we get hit with ice storms much more often than "real" snow storms. We have some winters with no snow at all; in 1999 we had a record-setting blizzard of 1-2 feet, which was remarkable because the normal total for an entire year is less than a foot. Typically it's one or two "dustings" and maybe one 3-inch fall. However: Dustings, 3-inc falls, and ice storms bring the area to its knees. Nothing moves until the thaw. <BR> <BR>Summers are long (mid-May to mid-Oct.) and June, July, and August can be intense, with long stretches of hot (80s-90s), humid, sunny weather punctuated by occasional thunderstorms that don't cool off much. However, because we aren't an urban "heat island" with lots of concrete but rather groups of buildings surrounded by tall pines and elms and magnolias, the nights usually cool off back into the 70s or lower. It's also not that common to have temperatures over 100 -- it seems to happen often that NYC and WashDC and Chicago are hotter than we are. And everything's air conditioned, unlike in those northern cities that never seem to understand that they are going to have killer heat waves. <BR> <BR>You hear NC and think hurricanes. Yes, they come through -- it's just a matter of probabilities. The RTP area is almost 200 miles inland, so by the time most hit, it's mostly gusty rain. Many hit the coast and bounce back into the ocean. Hurricane Fran in '96 was devastating because the eye held in tact all the way to Durham, a very rare occurrence -- news stories typically just showed luxury beach houses falling into the ocean surf, but Fran did $% billion damage to inland property and killed 27 people. Floyd in '99 just emptied rain over the area east of the Triangle and the floods were catastrophic to the more rural areas there. But many seasons go by with nothing or one or two hurricanes that are the equivalent of an 8-hour heavy rain/thunderstorm. Nothin' to it-- just try to buy milk before the storm warnings go up, because people here have a knee-jerk reaction: Hurricane Watch means line up in the stores and buy every quart of milk and every battery in sight. Also all the potato chips and beer. It's a law. <BR> <BR>Does that help?

Re:typo: look under the % on the keyboard and you'll see that Fran did $5 billion damage..... a storm of the century. But we don't get hurricanes every year and when we do, it's usually down to 30-40 MPH winds and rain by the time we see it.