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I am a 23 year old single male finishing my nursing home admin. licensure up North. As much as I would love to live in a big city, recent graduates with minimal experience have much easier times finding adequate jobs in smaller cities like Raleigh, especially in my field. I've heard great things about Raleigh and need your help answering these Q's to decide if it is worth pursuit:
- Is Raleigh weather as good as I think? A lot of sun, temperate
- I play tennis/golf/hike/kayak/etc. Is Raleigh an outdoorsy community?
- Does downtown Raleigh have a high concentration of college age/early 20s adults?
- Is there a prevalent population of young, attractive, educated women in the area?
- If you were a single mid-20s male in my shoes would you want to live in Raleigh?
Thanks for your help. I am looking for a smaller, somewhat young, active city and from what I've heard Raleigh may fit the bill
I imagine the majority of the college/20s areas are going to be around the universities. Out of the different young communities in the area which do you guys recommend
Yes, I think Raleigh and/or the Triangle as a whole could be a good fit for you, based on what you've described. I first came to Raleigh when I was single and in my mid/late 20's, and it was a good place then, and (in my opinion) even a better place now. Of course, there are other great cities for someone in your situation to consider, also, but Raleigh and the Triangle certainly is a worthy possibility.
Of course, one of the biggest factors will be landing employment. Jobs are definitely not as plentiful here as they were a few years ago, but it's still a reasonably good place economically. If you have a job lined-up or at least strong leads on a job, or perhaps if you have enough of a cushion saved up that you could afford to take the chance of moving without a job, then you should be in good shape. If not, you may want to focus on that first.
As to your specific questions, you mentioned the climate. Yes, I and many people love the climate in Raleigh, but not everyone does. I don't know where up North you're coming from, but compared to much of the northern United States, Raleigh is really only "temperate" during the winter. Summers here can be long and intensely hot, and are definitely not temperate compared to most more northerly places. Personally, I like the summers here, and find the intensity and duration of the heat just about right (by contrast, to me, summers in the Gulf Coast and Florida are just too long and hot and humid). But you hear plenty of people bitching and moaning about the summer heat and humidity in central North Carolina, especially if they're accustomed to milder climes. But if you're up for it, the climate here may suit you very well.
Raleigh and the Triangle is a fairly outdoorsy place. Perhaps not quite as overtly so as some of the cities I've been to in the western United States, but not bad. And there are plenty of opportunities for the activities you mentioned here or fairly near here, and lots of people who participate in them,
And yes, naturally, the highest concentrations of college age to early 20's people are in the areas around the various college and university campuses in the area, especially the three huge universities. But there actually are a lot of people in those demographics throughout the region as a whole, so you can find concentrations of them in lots of places. Downtown Raleigh (and also Downtown Durham) do have a lot of people in their early 20's, too (and in fact are sometimes criticized as being a little too young adult-oriented for some people's taste), and could be good places for someone like you. As a matter of fact, if I were in your situation and moving to the Triangle, that's exactly where I'd want to live: somewhere in or around Downtown Raleigh or Downtown Durham, provided it jibes with your work location, budget, and other considerations. But if even if you didn't get to live there, there are lots of other good places for someone like you to live all across the region. And wherever you are in the Triangle, there are tons and tons of young and more-or-less eductaed women to be found in many places. I'm not sure how to gauge how "attractive" they are on the whole, but speaking as a fellow heterosexual male, I've found the women in the Triangle to fall across pretty much the same spectrum of attractiveness (to me) as in most other medium-sized urban/suburban metro region in middle America that I've been to. Generalizing more than that about hundreds of thousands of individual human beings doesn't really make sense to me.
Hello, KingSpring85,
I'm not sure how to gauge how "attractive" they are on the whole, but speaking as a fellow heterosexual male, I've found the women in the Triangle to fall across pretty much the same spectrum of attractiveness (to me) as in most other medium-sized urban/suburban metro region in middle America that I've been to. Generalizing more than that about hundreds of thousands of individual human beings doesn't really make sense to me.
Best of luck!
I'd say it's more the typical small to medium sized urban SOUTHERN metro region. I've always found that the women in the southeastern region of the country to be slightly above average.
Was in the triangle area this past weekend from out of town. Took a drive around the triangle. If you wanna see a bunch of attractive ladies, go to Chapel Hill and take a drive down Franklin....let's just say I'm really surprised there aren't more traffic accidents in the area. While I was in Durham, there were a lot of lovely ladies in the downtown area, as well as some of the green spaces and parks near the Duke campuses. Raleigh I didn't really see much "talent", but perhaps it was the wrong time of day or something, with nearly 30k students at NCState I'd be surprised if there weren't plenty of fun & attractive ladies. Sure the locals know more, but thought I'd give my drive by opinion.
It's not a small urban area compared to many cities up North. It is when compared to NYC and Boston.
And it's wicked hot in the summer. And I've not been bothered by Florida in August.
really?? I mean, I'll agree it's wicked hot in NC, but lol, Florida in May-Aug (and on into October/November for that matter) can be absolute hell on earth, particularly in the Orlando to Gainesville/Lake City corridor in the middle of the state (inland/swampland).
really?? I mean, I'll agree it's wicked hot in NC, but lol, Florida in May-Aug (and on into October/November for that matter) can be absolute hell on earth, particularly in the Orlando to Gainesville/Lake City corridor in the middle of the state (inland/swampland).
Agreed. I live in both Raleigh and Florida and have many comparisons from leaving one city by plane and being in the other in a matter of 100 minutes. The humidity levels in Florida can make Raleigh feel arid in comparison. The nights in particular are much nicer in Raleigh than they are in Florida. Thankfully I don't live in Central Florida or the Gulf Coast cities where it's even hotter and possibly more humid than Miami.
Back to topic. I'll add the Raleigh's young adult community is highly educated in comparison to most of the country. My place in Raleigh is DT and it's really come alive in the last decade. There are tons of venues to hang out with like minded individuals and more seem to open every month. It's an exciting time to be young and single in the capital city.
really?? I mean, I'll agree it's wicked hot in NC, but lol, Florida in May-Aug (and on into October/November for that matter) can be absolute hell on earth, particularly in the Orlando to Gainesville/Lake City corridor in the middle of the state (inland/swampland).
Really!
But the important point is that compared to Northern summers, it's wicked hot here and something to consider before moving.
I imagine the majority of the college/20s areas are going to be around the universities. Out of the different young communities in the area which do you guys recommend
I don't know many "young communities" and certainly, not nkowing you or your tastes, we can't really "recommend" one. Best thing to do is come for a visit, where your questions will be answered firsthand, and talk to a real estate agent who can show you around.
We certainly have a lot of your-age folks moving here and the downtown area does not lack things to do. You might find the summers long, hot and humid; it's all a matter of what you're used to. You might find the area too churchy or conservative, or provincial, or too much traffic--all a matter of what you're used to.
Where would you be moving from? It might help if you had a frame of reference for us to compare to. But really, if you're even considering moving, a visit and a look into jobs in your field is the best first step. Then you can asked "informed" questions like "I looked at A, B, and C neighborhoods, what are differences among them?" etc. Rather than just "Should I move there?
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