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Real Estate & Homes in Raleigh-Durham - North Carolina - Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina homes and communities
Raleigh-Durham
 
The Research Triangle Ten years ago, it seemed that the whole population of Raleigh-Durham, N.C., could be brought to its feet by the announcement of a single “best of” list. When Money Magazine named Raleigh-Durham “The Best Place to Live in America” in 1994, locals beamed with pride and non-locals apparently took a second look.
Suddenly, Raleigh-Durham was on the map as a serious metropolitan destination. Young professionals, academics, students, entrepreneurs, scientists and retirees moved here in droves. By the end of the decade, the area's population had grown by almost 39%, reaching more than 1 million people.
These days, Raleigh-Durham is so used to receiving “best of” accolades that each new one is another feather in the proverbial cap. But local pride has not diminished; it has just matured. And newcomers have not stopped coming; they're just a little less surprised by what they find when they get here. In case you haven't heard yet, that's plentiful jobs, a diverse arts scene, clean air and good weather.
Raleigh and Durham are, of course, two separate cities, each with its own distinct heritage and character. But it's as a joined unit that they've become the scene of an economic, cultural and real estate boom. Together with Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham make up what has been known for 50 years as “The Triangle” — a sort of constellation, if you will. Three prestigious universities are the stars.
It's not hyperbole to say that the University of North Carolina, Duke University and North Carolina State University made Raleigh-Durham what it is today. The world-famous Research Triangle Park was built on their reputation, and it was there — in the research laboratories of the medical, pharmaceutical and technology companies that moved into the park — that the area's economic success really took flight.
From the three main points on the Triangle, growth has swept in all directions. It's a classic “boomburb” effect, in that residential developments have filled in the gaps between the traditional town and urban centers — and then some — giving Raleigh-Durham residents plenty of breathing space rather than the overcrowded closeness of the typical big city.
At least a dozen smaller towns in the surrounding topography have been caught up in the frenzy and now proudly identify themselves as part of the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area.
This is how it happens. This is how a group of small cities and towns becomes a thriving metropolitan area while holding onto an enviably low population density, a friendly atmosphere and an all-around high quality of life. This is how a Southern metropolis embraces new people and customs from across America and the world while keeping the essence of its warm and hospitable past.
Six out of seven people who move to Raleigh-Durham say they would do it all over again. So what are you waiting for?
Raleigh-Durham Fast Facts *Population: 1,031,600
*Median resident age: 31 years
*Median household income: $44,816
*Median house price: $173,100
Average annual rainfall: 42 inches
Average temperatures: 76.7°F in summer; 41.3°F in winter
*Information provided by 2000 Census
Weather The favorable central North Carolina climate is a big factor in many people's decision to move to Raleigh-Durham. The area's mild winters, with an average high of 52°F, certainly compare favorably against the colder climes of the Northeast or upper Midwest. Periods of shirt-sleeve weather in January or February are not unheard of.
That's not to say Raleigh-Durham is immune to weather extremes. Summertime can bring scorchers, and indeed the thermometer tops 90°F about 25 times in a year, while temperatures drop below freezing 82 times in an average winter. But the overall picture is one of moderation and the gentle drama of distinct seasonal changes. Snow, if it happens at all, is usually gone within a few days, while ultra-hot days in August rarely go on for too long without a cooling thundershower.
Transportation Like most of America, Raleigh-Durham is car country. Two major interstate highways cut right through the area, providing the nervous system that connects commuters, shoppers and culture buffs to the many options on offer across the Raleigh-Durham area. Buses are so far the only form of public transportation. Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill all have their own municipal systems, while the Triangle Transit Authority runs buses connecting all three places — and some key shopping destinations along the way.
Highways I-40 and I-85 link Raleigh-Durham seamlessly to places like Richmond; Washington, D.C.; and Greensboro, N.C. They also ensure that the coastal resort areas at Wilmington, N.C., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., are within a couple of hours' reach, making them popular second-home destinations for Triangle residents.
Raleigh-Durham’s centrally-located airport is small and accessible, and it has been the recipient of considerable investment in recent years, with more development planned to keep pace with the area's population growth. Several major North American carriers fly in and out of the airport, with flights to most U.S. destinations and a few international ones.
Local campaigns to curb car usage by constructing a light railway have so far not succeeded, but you can get out of town by train. The Carolinian, operated by Amtrak, connects Raleigh to Charlotte, N.C., in one direction and Washington, D.C., and New York City in the other.
Housing Although house prices have inevitably risen in Raleigh-Durham, in line with the area's economic boom, plentiful availability of land for new developments has been a moderating factor. “Variety” is a buzzword of the local real estate market. Whether you'd like to live in a condo, a bungalow, a pine-shaded duplex, a downtown warehouse conversion, a country club status home, a Victorian mansion or a rural getaway, you'll probably find it somewhere in Raleigh-Durham.
The average house price is in the $170,000 range for the greater Raleigh-Durham area, but the spread is broad. In some of the outlying communities, you could still pay as little as $80,000 for a home, whereas country club residences in more exclusive parts of the capital could run you $1.5 million or more.
What's Not To Like? In a word? Traffic. Or more specifically, being stuck in it. Raleigh-Durham’s highway infrastructure simply wasn't built with the current level of population growth in mind, and despite seemingly constant attempts to widen highways and build more roads, drive-time congestion just gets worse.
Having said that, Raleigh-Durham’s congestion problem is still probably nowhere near as severe as the woes faced by certain Northeastern or Californian commuters, and savvy locals know how to cope, relying on back roads, traffic-report websites and flexible commute times to avoid the worst.
Furthermore, shortening commutes has become a key factor in the way some local communities have evolved. The town of Cary, for example, with its many new, upscale housing developments, is among Raleigh-Durham’s (and the nation's) fastest-growing communities, thanks in large part to its close proximity to the 40,000 jobs at Research Triangle Park. And downtown revitalization programs in Raleigh and Durham mean that walking is becoming an increasingly viable way to get around, at least in parts.
Speaking of downtowns, those who are keen on ultra-urban environs like skyscrapers and subways, may want to think twice before moving to Raleigh-Durham. This just isn't that kind of metropolis. Raleigh-Durham is “one big sub without an urb” went the tongue-in-cheek joke by local author Hal Crowther in the mid-1990s.
But most people who move here are delighted by the combination of elbow room and cosmopolitan amenities — and by the absence of big city problems like crime and unemployment. Besides, with new life being breathed into once-neglected downtown settings, Crowther’s jibe is not as true as it used to be.
Communities Given that Raleigh-Durham is not a single city but a joined up “triangle” of places, each with its own identity and separated by miles of green space that are gradually filling in with new developments, the area offers more than the usual diversity in the different communities that you might decide to call home.
Downtown Raleigh: The revitalization of downtown Raleigh could be one of the South's great success stories of the current decade. Converted and new apartments in the leafy environs of the nation's only planned state capital — within walking distance of galleries, offices and governmental buildings — could give the Triangle the urban jolt it needs to really stand out in the Creative Economy. Traditional homes in nearby Mordecai, Boylan Heights and 19th-century Oakwood will only become more valuable as downtown Raleigh continues to come back to life.
Old Raleigh Neighborhoods: Tree-lined streets, restored 1950s bungalows and coffeehouse culture have drawn graduate students and young professionals to the Five Points neighborhood, while new condo complexes along Glenwood Avenue are also proving popular, not least for their “inside the beltline” proximity to downtown. Ditto for the older homes in the Carolina Country Club, which may well contain the most expensive real estate in the Raleigh-Durham area.
North Raleigh: Raleigh's 1990s sprawl mainly went in one direction: north. As such, many of the city's chain restaurants and stores are located here, and so are a whole lot of subdivisions, with homes worth anywhere from $100,000 to $900,000.
Downtown Durham: With its impressive arts venues, sassy cafes and converted tobacco warehouses, downtown Durham is a happening place, and its loft-style apartments and other new homes are gaining in popularity among grad students, young professionals and empty nesters. Durham is an especially popular destination for the arty set, many of whom have moved here from cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Trinity Park: This Durham neighborhood next to Duke University's East Campus is made up of large, historic homes and neo-traditional homes and row houses.
Treyburn: Also in Durham, this newly developed area rivals the Research Triangle Park and could be the answer to anyone put off by potentially congested commutes. It combines research facilities with manufacturing area and space set aside for residential development and recreational activities.
Chapel Hill: Home to America's oldest state university, Chapel Hill is a college town in the traditional sense, with a beautiful, oak-canvassed campus at its center and an edgy (for North Carolina), postcard-perfect shopping street. Older homes near the campus are among the nicest (and priciest) in the Raleigh-Durham area, and the quality of life here is extremely high. Unless you intend to work for the university, plan on a daily commute. Chapel Hill is about 10 minutes from Research Triangle Park and 35 minutes’ drive from Raleigh.
Carrboro: Traditionally seen as an extension of Chapel Hill, Carrboro’s 13,500 population is growing in its own right, with a number of new subdivisions cropping up and the gradual gentrification of houses and duplexes previously left to carefree student rentals. Carrboro has a high density of artists, as is evidenced by the number of interesting lawn sculptures and the gallery spaces in Carr Mill Mall, which occupies the textile mill that used to be the town's main employer.
Fearrington Village: Located on the site of an 18th-century dairy farm, this mock village of 1,500 people near Chapel Hill offers residents and guests access to a five-star restaurant, picture-perfect shops and some beautiful English-style gardens. Existing homes start in the $350,000 range. New homes and homesites are also available. With an onsite medical facility, Fearrington Village is an ideal retirement destination.
Cary: Not that long ago, Cary was the butt of all the Triangle jokes, because it was seen as a place with no history and no soul. Now the town is beginning to be recognized on “best of” lists in its own right, and most people have stopped laughing. With a high median income ($77,091) and one of the highest percentages of Ph.Ds in the country, plus idyllic neighborhoods, a historic downtown and back-door access to Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh-Durham airport, Cary could be just the community you've been looking for.
Small towns: Maybe you're looking to live not in but near a boomtown. If so, the Triangle is surrounded by small towns with just the sort of Southern hospitality you've read about, all within a half-hour’s drive of metropolitan employers and cultural offerings. Take a drive around Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Garner and Wake Forest, among many others, and you could find your new home town. Hillsborough, which has a Colonial-era village at its core, is a particularly delightful outpost.
Attractions Raleigh-Durham has become famous because of its economic and educational successes, but the area doesn't skimp on leisure-time attractions either. Taken as a whole, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill offer up a rich tapestry of museums, galleries, gardens and other interesting, family-friendly ways to pass the time.
The North Carolina Museum of Art: Housed in a modern building set into a rural landscape just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina's large collection of public art includes Roman statues and works by Botticelli, Raphael and Georgia O’Keeffe. The museum hosts major traveling exhibitions and a year-round program of educational and cultural events.
University gardens: Each of the big-three area universities has a beautiful public garden within its campus, and they are especially impressive when the wisteria and tulips bloom in the spring. The Sarah P. Duke Gardens, overlooked by the neo-Gothic architecture of the Duke campus, are the most well-known of the three, and visitors tend to make a beeline for the formal, tiered garden, which bursts with color almost year-round. The North Carolina Botanical Gardens, off Highway 55 near the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, offer less color but more space: several miles of woodland trails for walking or jogging.
Ackland Art Museum: One of the finest small art galleries in the country, the Ackland is a hidden gem, with a permanent collection that includes a Rubens, a Pissarro, a Bernard, and a Rodin, as well as other important European and American works and impressive displays of African and Asian art. With strong ties to the UNC art department, the Ackland hosts a rotating calendar of provocative exhibitions and events.
Morehead Planetarium: One of the largest planetariums in the United States, the Morehead Planetarium occupies a renovated 19th-century building on the edge of the UNC campus. The projections in the Star Theater have been wowing school students and their parents for decades, and laser shows and other special shows are staged according to the season.
Exploris: This one-of-a-kind global experience center in Raleigh offers children fun and innovative insights into the world's cultures, environment and commerce. Exhibits include art, sculptures and a piece of the Berlin wall, plus a lot of interactive experiences, like the opportunity to meet international pen pals.
Downtown Raleigh museums: With its carefully planned green spaces and majestic, neo-classical government buildings, comparisons between downtown Raleigh and the nation's capital are inevitable. Lately, Raleigh has been dubbed “The Smithsonian of the South” for its many museums, and the name is not without merit. The North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Museum of Life Sciences both have benefited from major investment and the city's visionary approach to community education.
Shopping One of the surest signs of Raleigh-Durham’s transformation from a group of easy-living Southern towns into a thriving (albeit still easy-living) modern metropolis is the number of new, cosmopolitan stores that have opened. The area's outmoded shopping malls built in the 1970s and 1980s have either shaped up or been eclipsed by sparkling new complexes like The Streets at Southpoint and the Triangle Town Center, anchored by the highest of high-end department stores. Where money goes, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Pottery Barn follow.
Revitalized shopping districts like Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, Ninth Street in Durham and City Market in Raleigh return shopping to its roots — with the addition of galleries, handmade jewelry shops and other eclectic offerings, that is.
Book lovers will be delighted by Raleigh-Durham’s well-established independent bookshops. Furniture buyers will be impressed by the number of interesting furnishings boutiques. And food lovers will revel in the selection at Chapel Hill's gourmet destination, A Southern Season. Those who prefer their vegetables organic and their sandwiches with hummus or tofu will love Weaver Street Market in Carrboro or the area's several Whole Foods outlets.
Recreation Perhaps a little surprisingly for an inland area, water sports are among the most popular recreational activities in Raleigh-Durham. With the Eno and the Neuse rivers passing through, plus several lakes nearby, opportunities for canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing and boating are abundant.
Land-based activities like camping, hiking and horseback riding take advantage of the same natural settings, while golf courses, tennis courts and indoor sports facilities are also plentiful.
In truth, though, it's the spectator sports that locals really get passionate about. With three major university teams playing virtually side-by-side, this is ACC country through and through, and the rivalries between Duke, Carolina and N.C. State are as legendary as the coaches and players (Dean Smith and Michael Jordan, to name just two) those teams have produced.
Professional sports have also begun to make their mark on Raleigh-Durham, with the Carolina Hurricanes giving hockey a loyal following since they took up residence at the Raleigh's RBC Stadium in the late 1990s. Women's United Soccer Associations Carolina Courage plays its home games in Cary.
Dining and Nightlife The truest form of eating out in Raleigh-Durham revolves around a single food: pork barbecue. It's the food North Carolinians feel most passionately about (secret sauces have been known to die with their maker, and minor feuds have been fought over the question of whether tomato is or isn't an appropriate ingredient). Bullock’s in Durham and Cooper’s in Raleigh are both legendary barbecue joints, among many others.
On a more contemporary level, Raleigh-Durham chefs have played a key role in turning traditional Southern cooking into a modern art form. Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill and the Magnolia Grill in Durham have gained national renown for their innovative but satisfying style of cooking. Of course, regional cooking of the down-home variety is also alive and well here. Mama Dip's Kitchen in Chapel Hill is a well-known and irresistible example.
Non-Southern food is available in abundance, too, of course, from upscale Italian eateries to organic delis to eclectic urban and ethnic restaurants. Add a jazz trio or an Irish folk band, and you could say that the best of the area's nightlife revolves around food. But there is plenty else on offer, from indie-music or classical concerts to wine bars to nightclubs and coffeehouses.
Arts and Culture Raleigh-Durham has a rich cultural scene, not just for a place of its size but for a place of any size. The area is a Southern literary hub, with several of the South's most influential publishing houses and scores of well-known writers: Charles Frazier (“Cold Mountain”), Reynolds Price (“A Long and Happy Life”), Alan Gurganus (“Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All”), Kaye Gibbons (“Ellen Foster”) and Daniel Wallace (“Big Fish”), just to name a few. With so many academic institutions and good, independent bookshops in the area, readings by local and visiting literati happen all the time.
Chapel Hill was a beacon for indie music fans in the 1990s, producing bands as eclectic as the Ben Folds Five, Superchunk and the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and there are signs that the area's influence in the music world may be on the rise again. Collectively, Raleigh-Durham is home to several record labels and a major music distribution house.
Visual artists are drawn to Raleigh-Durham by the fresh air, academic scene and diverse population. Events like First Friday, when the artists’ studios in Raleigh's City Market are opened to the public, keep getting bigger. The performing arts scene includes regular performances by the North Carolina Symphony, the Carolina Ballet, several professional theater companies and Broadway shows previewing on their way to New York. The highly prestigious American Dance Festival makes Durham feel like Manhattan-South each June and July.
Two free weekly tabloids, The Independent and The Spectator, list the area's current cultural offerings. Pick up a copy and explore what's on for yourself.
In Books and Film If you can't make it to Raleigh-Durham to check out the lay of the land in person, you could get a virtual glimpse or two through the magic of the movies. The Kevin Costner film “Bull Durham” was shot in Durham; “Weeds,” “Kiss the Girls” and “The Handmaid's Tale” were shot in and around Duke University; and “Patch Adams” was filmed in on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
While Raleigh-Durham is home to a who's who of famous American authors, few of them, it seems, are given to setting their work in their hometown. If you believe that serious literature is primarily about suffering, that may be a kind of silent tribute to the tranquil life most people experience in the Triangle.
Doris Betts’ “The Sharp Teeth of Love” starts out in Chapel Hill but soon moves west, to Utah, where most of the action happens. The celebrated humorist David Sedaris has written extensively (and hilariously) about growing up in Raleigh in his books “Naked,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” although it's worth pointing out that Sedaris’ childhood took place in the decidedly pre-boom years. “You know you're living in a small town,” he wrote, “when you can reach the ninth grade without ever having seen a mime.” Very funny, but Raleigh isn't the “small town” it once was.
Employment “Research” and “development” are the two most popular words in the Triangle economy. Research Triangle Park, the public/private research park in the heart of Raleigh-Durham, is a world-leader in biomedical, pharmaceutical, environmental and technological research, and home to household-name employers like Dupont, Syngenta, GlaxoSmithKline, BASF and Nortel Networks.
Raleigh-Durham rode the Internet wave in the mid to late-1990s with an enthusiasm barely matched by the Silicon Valley itself, and while a number of those white-hot start-ups are no longer with us, a legacy of well-established high-tech companies remains.
Success breeds yet more success, and as companies like IBM, Sony Ericsson and Verizon draw more talent to the area, more companies seem inclined to move here, creating yet more jobs. The development of N.C. State University's Centennial Campus and the newer research facilities at Treyburn in Durham suggest the research boom may is now even bigger than the Research Triangle Park phenomenon can contain.
With two major university medical centers and a number of health care organizations to choose from, medical professionals will find plenty of career possibilities. In fact, Durham alone is home to five hospitals and many other medical-related industries, proudly calling itself “The City of Medicine.”
Needless to say, academic career options are plentiful. It takes a lot of people to run 18 institutions of higher learning. And finally, Raleigh is a capital city, and as such is a natural gathering place for politicos and would-be bureaucrats.
Education With its 2004 list of “Best Places with the Best Education,” in which Raleigh-Durham ranked No. 1, Forbes.com brought the list mania that has fueled the Triangle's population growth full circle. Raleigh-Durham’s cultural and economic success would never have happened without the academic institutions that made the area a natural hub for research and development.
Raleigh-Durham’s educational landscape is, in and of itself, a great reason to consider living here. The big three universities of UNC, Duke and N.C. State are internationally recognized institutions, and yet they are merely the most well-known of 18 universities, colleges and community colleges in the area. Full-time students are not the only beneficiaries of so many educational options. Many retirees have been attracted to the area by the possibility to sit in on classes, use the excellent libraries and take advantage of the lectures and other cultural happenings that only a university setting can provide.
Parents will be pleased to know that Raleigh-Durham-area public schools are also highly competitive. Wake County Schools, Durham County Schools and Chapel Hill/Carrboro Schools have all been ranked among the best in the nation; all have outperformed statewide targets. With so many Ph.Ds and university facilities to lean on in the local community, it's no wonder.
Of course, there are plenty of private, religious, charter, magnet and even residential schools for parents and children who prefer a less conventional route. In short, Raleigh-Durham is an area where education is supported absolutely, and it shows in test scores, surveys of students’ ambitions and the area's continuing economic boom.
Where is Raleigh-Durham?
Written by Jonathan Holt exclusively for HomesParadise.com.
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