What's Chapel Hill Like?
 

We have just planned a lolng weekend to Chapel Hill in Sept to check the area out for retirement.

In reading, looks like other places maybe to visit are Hillsborough, Carborro and possibly Apex.

Chapel Hill sounds very nice. My husband is wondering how "busy" it is and if there are nice residential areas - nice homes, streets with trees, etc.

We only have 2 1/2 days - what should be not miss?

Are you looking for a retirment community?

I grew up in Chapel Hill and now live in Durham. I wouldn't rule out Durham from your search.

I'm not sure how Apex made it onto the list (it's a Raleigh suburb and you'll have to drive to most places).

If you end up in CH, I'd recommend an area that's on the busline. Best way to get to the university and hospital. The neighborhood I grew up in is older, therefore, more trees -- and larger lots than more modern developments.

I'm not sure what you mean by busy? When I was a child, businesses closed for hte summer. No longer that way, but it's not as crowded as New York City. There is rush hour traffic congestion.

Wanderer, you can find very lovely neighborhoods with lots of trees and flowers in Chapel Hill, Raleigh/North Raleigh, Hillsborough, Cary, etc. Just depends on what you want to spend. A good realtor can fill you in on the numbers but I don't think you can go wrong in any of the areas listed above. Public transportation is not good in this area, if that is important to you! But I'm assuming you're looking for a beautiful area with a moderate climate to live in, not a *retirement village?* I'm in North Raleigh ... my neighborhood is so gorgeous right now that people should have to pay to drive through it! :p (Azaleas, Camellias, Forsythia, Red Buds, Dogwood, flowering fruit trees ... dazzling! :-) )

The Triangle is not only a great place to live, but you are two hours from the beaches, three hours from the mountains. Don't know where you're coming from, but it's pretty much "all good" here! ;;)

As a UNC grad (Go Heels!), I love Chapel Hill and try to get there whenever I can, but I'm not sure I'd want to retire in Chapel Hill proper. It's a college town--and if you're visiting on a football weekend, you'll get a feeling for what big events can do for the traffic and the atmosphere. If you're not scheduled for a football weekend, you may want to return during one so you can compare.

Hillsborough, Cary, etc., are more "normal," less student-centered areas.

HRHDHD, Go Heels is right! :) I too am a proud UNC alum.

I think where you would enjoy Chapel Hill for retirement it depends very much on your own interests. If you like sports, it can be a great environment! My grandfather had season football tickets until the day he passed away, and you'll find many older spectators in addition to the students.

The intellectual community in the area is great, considering some of the country's finest universities are close by. The combination of UNC and Duke (along with NC State, Elon, etc.) provide for plenty of wonderful lectures, programs, and performances.

Also, Chapel Hill is in a wonderful location- easy drives to the beach and the mountains, and also a few lakes and state parks nearby. In addition, there is lots of shopping, and great entertainment options on campus and in nearby Raleigh. Be aware that it is a very "driving-focused" area, however...there is a local bus, but it won't do you much good on a regular basis.

There are many beautiful residential areas and lovely homes and townhomes. My in-laws live in a great neighborhood, located near Booker Creek. There are beautiful homes, and lots of pretty tree-lined streets for "walks around the block." It is common to see people out walking their dogs, exercising, etc.

We live in Newburyport, MA right now, which is North of Boston.

We want a "somewhat quiet" area (I know that is hard to define), but not feel like we are "out in the sticks".

Musts for us are good medical care (hospital in town), university in or nearby for courses, community feel (lots of events going on), attractive community with some historic sense (vs. sprawl), safety, and NO long, cold, harsh winters!!

We don't mind snow and cold, just not 6 months of it!!

Apex made our "list" to check out only because we saw it on HGTV and it looked like a nice place.

I will say, we live in the smallest city in MA now (18K) and love it. We visited Charlottesville, VA, and while we really liked it and the downtown Mall, we thought it was too busy for us.

What areas, given our criteria, whould we focus on when we visit?

p.s. We are not looking for a retirement community (most we've seen are so cookie cutter - no trees, etc. - YUK).

We really like established neighborhoods, and love older homes. We wouldn't need anything too big - 1400 - 1500 sq ft max. We've heard CH is a little pricey, but coming from the Boston area market, think it should be comparable. We were thinking 350K to 450K price range.

What is Carborro like?

If you want quiet and small and lovely you might look at Davidson, NC, home of Davidson College. There is even a very lovely retirement community there. The hospital is an exit or so down the interstate. Charlotte is 20 miles away with many many city attractions.

We will check out Davidson, but perhaps I should quantify "small" and quiet.

We live now in a community of 20K. It's perfect. Library, live theatre, many, many gourmet restaurants, Starbucks, multiple bookstores, festivals, quaint shops, great walking city with a "real" downtown, vibrant arts community, good educational programs for adults at the high school evenings, etc.

We are willing to look at cities up to 40K or so, but think that over that size may be too large for us. However, would consider, if there are real established neighborhoods in pockets (not retirement communities) that make it seem smaller. However, we have seen that the larger a spot, the more rampant crime is, so our IDEAL is 20K - 40K.

Public transportation of some sort would be a plus - we're not there yet, but at some point I'm sure won't want to be driving all over the place.

And yes, we also would like to be near a bigger "city" for sporting events, etc.

Well, I too live in Massachusets, also on the seacoast, and I am an alumnus of UNC and just returned home from a visit to Chapel Hill last week.

Having been to Newburyport on many occasions, I think you would like Chapel Hill a lot. It has medical care, cultural events (it's no Boston, but in conjunction with Raleigh and Durham, sufficient), bookstores, NPR, and lots and lots of good places to eat. It has relatively easy access to an airport at RDU, and the population is much more liberal than in much of North Carolina. Many might find the price of real estate to be high, but coming from MA, you will find it reasonable. You are just not likely to be able to sell your place and take a lot of cash out the way people do when they mover from NE to Florida.

There is a lot of housing in the CH "area" but I would second the advice to live in town, preferably near the bus. Traffic is not severe by Boston standards but parking is very, very hard because there is little pay parking available. So you may find yourself unable to atend some events unless you can ride a bus or park and ride.

Chapel Hill was gorgeous last week, but all those flowers and all those trees cause problems for people with allergies. I am still taking Alleve for sinus pain. If I had remembered, I would have started allergy medicine before I left.

Winters are milder than NE and summers are cooler than Florida, but you will still need heating and air conditioning, coats and shorts. I suspect your utility costs for the whole year will be about the same as the cost of air conditioning in summer will balance lower heating costs. Taxes are not low, either state or local. Sales taxes are higher than MA and cover more items. Gasoline was higher than Boston, and you need to drive more.

The Chapel Hill area is not spectacularly beautiful -- it is Piedmont, not Highlands, but it is very attractive. NC is a very long state, so places that look like you ought to be able to get to them quickly (mountains and beach) are 3 and 4 hours away. On the other hand, Washington, the Chesapeake, etc are not very far away either, and you could spend many years just driving down the wonderful back roads of NC.

On balance, if we were not committed to living within walking distance of the ocean, we would move there ourselves.

Chapel HIll is lovely--no doubt. And addictive!! But Davidson just might be "it" from your description.

Thank you for the great perspective!

If nothing else, we are excited to take a look....

We were wondering about the heat - or moreso the humidity in Chapel Hill. Is is as bad as the coast of NC - say Wilmington?

Yes, will be hard to leave a beautiful seaport community. If not for the Winters... Unfortunately, we can't afford 2 places.

i went to grad school at unc. i stayed in chapel hill and worked in the summer in between. i grew up in the DC area and thought i was used to high humidity. ha! i found the heat and humidity to be much more oppressive in carolina. i felt like i was being wrapped in hot wet blanket when i went outside. i suppose you do get used to it, but it will take time coming from the new england coast.

chapel hill, especially the neighborhoods around the university are beautiful...old homes with gorgeous mature landscaping and trees.

The problem with Davidson is that it is in the sticks. The nearby city is Charlotte, which urban renewed all character out of its city center and has been trying, not too successfully, to put it back, reportedly because it has made recruiting difficult for some of the national banks that now have headquarters there. The airport is on the wrong side of the city for Davidson, and traffic is a hassle, though construction on the highways seems to be complete for the moment, removing a major unpleasantness.

Paint with a broad brush much. The area around Davidson now boasts some of the finest dining,shopping in the area. Even a Dean and Delucca. It is 20 minute drive to Charlotte on the completed I77. I don't think the banks are having a great problem recruiting although it is true that Charlotte did not value many of its historic buildings
thinking that the late 1800s was not "historic" enough. I would imagine the airport is about the same distance as these folks are in their home town.

One thing I should mention, is because we are coming from a very historic area, we want a place with some sense of history/historic buildings.

We also want to be in an established older neighborhood with tree-lined streets rather than a subdivision. That's one thing we won't budge on - although some people love them, subdivisions are just not for us.

Our dream would be to be in a historic town of 20K or so, in an older neighborhood, where we could walk to town to eat, shop, etc., and where on the outskirts of town there were the larger supermarkets, etc., but not a place that is overrun with strip malls.

We also don't want to be in what my husband calls an "isolated oasis" where it's a great little "city" but nothing for miles around it.

We recently we for a long-weekend to VA, and stayed in Charlottesville. We found that a little big and sprawling for us, so we drove to Lexington, because we heard it was historic, smallish but not too small, good shops, etc., but it was in the middle of nowhere. I would have gone stir crazy living there.

At this point I can only liken it to Napa/Sonoma valley. Where maybe Sonoma is small, but surrounding it are many, many other towns which have things to do, as well as the Napa valley. So you don't feel like you are isolated in the sticks.

We're looking forward to seeing Chapel Hill, though. Friends also recommended (on another trip) we check out Asheville and Hendersonville.

wanderer, you say, "We live now in a community of 20K. It's perfect. Library, live theatre, many, many gourmet restaurants, Starbucks, multiple bookstores, festivals, quaint shops, great walking city with a "real" downtown, vibrant arts community, good educational programs for adults at the high school evenings, etc."

I think you are trying to find your city with perfect weather somewhere else. It won't happen. Every place is different, and will have it's own charm. You might be chasing a dream here. Good luck.

No, we aren't trying to duplicate where we live, we are trying to find a similar "lifestyle" and feel.

We like getting up and being able to walk to town for the paper, we like historic areas. We like the size of where we live, and for our lifestyles, we like to have alot of stuff going on where we live but not have it be a crazy metropolis.

As you mentioned, every area has it's charm and we can appreciate that. We fell in love with Northern CA which is worlds away from what our small city looks like in almost every aspect, but it has that "special something" and alot to offer as far as activities. It's just, unfortunately, too expensive for us.

That's all we're looking for, and I don't think it's unattainable.

CH might be too large for you. Try looking at Hillsborough. Not to far from UNC, historic, and you could walk to some things from a home in the historic area (small shops, not Wal-Mart).

Apex doesn't have much history to it and is full of modern suburbs, so I don't think that will fit what you're looking for.

Carrboro is, well, Carrboro. It has a lot of apartment complexes for students, some intown neighborhoods, and more modern suburbs (and all that comes with them) being built. It is surrounding by CH on about 2/3 so it will never become huge, but it its own place. People either love or hate it. You'll have to investigate it for your needs.

This was in our paper today--proposed new arts district in Davidson. I wish you could see the diagram/pictures with it. Very exciting.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/14374557.htm

ttt

Where is Davidson?

Just north of Charlotte, NC. Although I would dispute its "20 minute" proximity to Charlotte, as has been asserted.

Wanderer, Davidson is where I have been directing you to through this thread. It makes me wonder, Wanderer.
I thought you might be interested in this paricular development. You said earlier in the thread you would check out Davidson. Whassup/

I lived in Chapel Hill for ten years. The area south of Chapel Hill in Chatham County either on Hwy 501 towards PIttsboro or on Mt. Carmel Church Rd. are good places to check out. Save on taxes if that is an issue. Hillsboro would also be nice and more convenient to Duke Hospital. Since moving to a town near Greensboro, we are grateful for much less traffic than in Chapel Hill, but that is relative. My experience with Davidson is that it was over an hour commute to downtown Charlotte on I-77 in rush hour.

Rush hour, that may be true. Other times it is much more manageable. These folks are not commuting to Charlotte.
I might add that it is "Hillsborough". I have to say that I was nonplussed by "wanderer's" question about Davidson. It makes me think they are not all that interested or invested in NC as a retirement situation.

Wanderer, I have enjoyed following your various threads. My husband and I are also a long way from retirement, but are doing the same thing you are, exploring our options now. We have the same desires you do, and actually already bought a retirement home in Williamsburg, which we are currently renting out. We LOVE Williamsburg, but are a little worried about the humidity in the summer.

We currently live in Temecula, CA, about an hour north of San Diego. It's been a wonderful community, but the growth is out of control. When we moved here, 17 years ago, the population was about 20,000.00. It is quickly approaching 100,000.00 and the traffic is unbearable. We know we will not want to stay here, but we ARE starting to re-think the west coast.

I was wondering if you ever made the trip out to Oregon to check out Corvalis and Ashland, etc. If so, what did you find? I would love to hear your opinion, as everything you describe is what we are looking for.

Hi Peggy01.

No, we haven't made it out to Oregon yet. That's still on our list to see Corvallis and Ashland/Medford/Jacksonville.

We think it will be too rainy for us, and we are not sure about the health care in this area, but we also want to see Port Townsend, WA just to know.

We just got back from a trip to Charlottesville, VA area (Lexington, Staunton, Culpeper) and found that too big and busy for our tastes or too quiet on the other extreme, although we really enjoyed our visit. Next year we have a week planned in Williamsburg.

I, like you, worry about the humidity of the Southeast. My husband has asthma, which is exacerbated by the situation.

So far, Sonoma tops our list. We actually loved Yountville, St. Helena and Healdsburg, but Sonoma was at least "somewhat" more reasonable if you bought in their retirement communities of Temelec, Chantarelle, etc.

We would like to visit Asheville as well, but it may be too big for us.

Looking forward to checking out Chapel Hill and surrounding area.

I think Oregon will have to wait until 2007.

Wanderer: I agree with you. The whole Napa Valley area is fantastic. I haven't checked out real estate prices there, but am assuming it would be out of our range.

I think I read somewhere that you have a timeshare. If you haven't already made reservations in Williamsburg, you might want to check out the Marriott Manor Club. If you belong to Interval International you can trade there fairly easily. It is a beautiful resort and is located in Ford's Colony, a residential golf community. We try to go every year, during a different season. Early November is gorgeous and you can actually go on a "get away" week for next to nothing. We had a two bedroom villa for only $300.00 a week!

Hey Wanderer!
I was responding to your questions on Virginia and am anxiously awaiting a trip report now that you're back ;-). Seriously, I realize you didn't find what you were looking for but I would love to hear about your trip when you get a chance.

Yes, thanks to all for their help!

I've just started a new job, so have been VERY short on time.

Will do trip report this weekend - we had a great time!

We are timesharing (exchange) next yr in Wmsburg, but not Ford's Colony. Forget the resort. Will post later this wkend. We tried to get that, but got another instead that looked nice.

I'm curious. What do the NC people think of Wilmington as an option? I have been told it has charm and it is on the water which is sounds like Wanderer really likes.

It is a lovely town but I think larger than they want.

Is it? I had thought it was fairly small. How large a place is Wilmington? One thing I had heard was that since the film and TV production has moved in, crime has gone way up. True?

Have no idea about crime. The movie business has somewhat slowed down I think. It is a fairly sprawling town--nice historic district on the waterfront, then on out toward the college/university on to Wrightsville. If they think Chapel Hill will be too big, I think Wilmington will.

I agree, Wilmington is choking on its growth. They're going to have to do something about the traffic situation there or will quickly lose their "lovely town" reputation.

And there are certainly some very bad pockets for crime around downtown. Not as bad, but similar to Savannah.

Hi there -- I've been following your thread, too. It's funny you mentioned Oregon. I was in Portland this past weekend and lots of your criteria are met in Portland, though I realize it it much bigger than you wanted. Maybe some of the surrounding areas will be just the ticket.

Also, have you ever looked at this website? I tried it once and it came up with some interesting options...it may recommend some towns for you that you haven't thought of yet.

www.findyourspot.com

Good luck you you!

Yes, thanks, know about "find your spot". That's where we found Corvallis, OR and Ashland, OR I think.

We considered Wilmington, but I think it is bigger than we want. I also was put off by the crime stats listed on city-data.com.

Still might to want to check it out at some point.

Another good site to use is http://www.bestplaces.net/
You can compare two cities at a time for all kinds of stats. I also use the stats at
http://www.epodunk.com/
as well

What do you all think of Asheville/Hendersonville - as compared to Chapel Hill and Wilmington?