Tell Me about Raleigh or Atlanta
 

Next fall, my boyfriend will probably be attending either GATech or Chapel Hill for his Analytical Chemistry PhD. I'm considering following him to whatever school he chooses. Kinda nervous since I've been in Florida my whole life (except 2 years in Japan) and all my family and friends are here. I don't know anyone in Atlanta or Raleigh!

So, help me make my decision! :)

I'm wondering about a few things with each city. Is it expensive to live there? Easy to find a job (I'm in marketing right now)? What fun things are there to do? How cold does it get there? *remember...Florida girl here! It never gets below 30 degrees here!

Pretty much anything you can tell me about these two cities would be great.

Thanks!!!!

Love HOTlanta - lived there for 10 years, GREAT shopping, interesting people and good ol' southern hospitality

Raleigh however is very beautiful


thats a tough decision - I'm split - either one would be wonderful :)


EDITED to say: it depends on what kind of traffic you can handle. Atlanta traffic is terrible....Indy 500 meets skeet shooting.....some days its great other days its gridlock. Like any major city really. The airport is also a ZOO.

Atlanta is cheap or expensive depending on what area you end up living at in Atlanta. If you live down town near GA Tech it will be expesnive. If you go more out to the burbs t won't be that bad at all. Finding a job all depends how much expierence you have and your field. It's pretty hard to judge the job market for next fall though, things can change real quickly.

OK....
Chapel Hill isn't in Raleigh, Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill (psychotic NC resident here! :)) .

If you're moving to the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill--NC State, Duke, UNC are the respective colleges), I'd suggest living IN Chapel Hill. Why??

There is more to do in Chapel Hill. Parties are better, food is better, music scene is better--it's a much younger crowd. Raleigh is more of a regular town than a college town and it can get boring. Plus, it's not as attractive a city as Chapel Hill is. Raleigh is only 30 minutes away from Chapel Hill for big concerts and NHL Hockey but given the choice I'd live in Chapel Hill any day. Plus, my bet is that you can find cheaper rents in Chapel Hill, and there's much better public transportation there too. I can't begin to describe how much better Chapel Hill is than Raleigh. I mean, Raleigh's great too, but if you had a choice....

yay for the triad.

nc is awesome. i moved here from cali and i love it.

The Triad is different from the Triangle. I used to live in the Triad.

Triangle: Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill

Triad: Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem <==BG's stomping grounds

yup yup. i was just sayin i love the area. i been to chapel hill and the city looks awesome.

Are you in Greensboro? I used to live in High Point.

yah. i live in greensboro, near high point and jamestown??

i been here 9 months and i still get confused as to which is which.

I'm in Raleigh. You would not want to live in Raleigh if he was at UNC. Traffic is terrible in between Raleigh and Chapel Hill...there is a lot of construction (the NC State Flower is the Orange Barrel now...). Chapel Hill is a charming city for the most part and the school is good...but I'm not sure that Chapel Hill is much different than any other city really. There is more of a seperate college section of town and then a business section, etc. Raleigh is different because the University is downtown in the middle of things.

High Point is a lot larger than Jamestown, but they kinda run into one another, yes. They are both in the southeast corner of Guilford County.

ACK!!! JUST REALIZED THIS WAS MY 1000th POST!

yah i live in adams farm. i always thought they were the same city, just a different name.

Raleigh
 

I just moved to the Raleigh area. I have to agree with those that have said if your bf chooses Chapel Hill to live in Chapel Hill--Raleigh is a bit of a commute. I really haven't been here that long so it is hard for me to give you an honest opinion--I am still figuring the place out! I do have a friend who recently moved from Charleston, SC to a suburb of Atlanta and she likes it, but is already ready to move back to Charleston. She has had a hard time finding a job in her field (engineering) and so she has returned to school for her MBA. Either place really wouldn't be too bad--there are positives and negatives to both. I am sure you would be happy wherever bf decides to go. I vote with whichever school is the best education for his major.

I've lived via proxy in Raleigh for 7 years now (my mom lives there, so I'm always there). It's a family town....VERY family. It is starting to get expensive and crowded...I've only been in Chapel Hill once when I visited our chapter there and it was very charming. The career opportunites are very small there if you aren't in education, IT, medicine, or agriculture. There isn't much to do down there compared to a big city like Atlanta....

I visited Atlanta quite a few times when my cousin lived there (last visit was July 2002) and it's not bad. Its suburbs are very extensive, traffic is a biatch. Booming area, so the career opportunities are falling from the sky! But it has all the small town charms in a large urban area...

Between the two, I would pick Atlanta if I were a young couple, Raleigh if you are ready to start a family....

Ditto, ditto, ditto. Chapel Hill has MORE local flavor and LESS traffic. The best of both worlds ;)