Is the View from the D.C. Beltway worth the cost of ones patience, sanity, and quality of life???As some of you may know, CHefdino is from the DC area. Well, closer to Annapolis if you know the area but you get the picture. I moved to the Triangle area of North Carolina about 8 years ago. (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) When I first moved to this area I was constantly complaining about how it was not as nice or as cosmopolitan as D.C. and the suburbs. I missed the foods, the convenience, the people, the opportunities, and in general, the way of life. Everything about North Carolina was slower, backward, and in general lacking in something.
What a difference eight years and some needed attitude adjustments have made.Now that I am acclimated to this area I was so wrong in my opinions. First, there are more ethnic restaurants within 20 miles of my house then I had in downtown Annapolis. I have everything from Vietnamese Pho to Haute French cuisine. There are more ethnic supermarkets here then you can shake a stick at so if you cant find a restaurant you certainly can find the ingredients to make the food yourself. ( We do need a good Jewish deli, but I have never lived anywhere that didn't need that. We do have Arab Halal markets so we still can find any of the ingredients.) So foods are no longer an issue.
The convenience of living in D.C. was all about perspective and a little snobbery on my part. Yes, the Smithsonian system of museums is hard to touch as well as the many other historic or educational opportunities that I took for granted while I lived in D.C. are hard to compare to anyplace let alone compare to North Carolina. Yet I found that NC has a rather large selection of museums and even more historic sites in and around Raleigh that you can visit at anytime. As far as education goes how do you beat having Duke, NC State, U of N.C. , ECU, as well as every county having its own community college with tuition for instate residents being lower then most place in the nation. Oh and they are all within a half hour. Having said that how long does it take to get anywhere at anytime in D.C.??? I live in the suburbs of Raleigh. About 20 miles and 20 minutes from anywhere, at anytime. Yes that includes rush hour. And isn't convenience about time??? I have the time to get to work, put in 8 hours, get home, and still put in 18 holes of golf on "ANY" given day. I have the time to live and not just go to and from the job. That is not something most people can do in D.C. I also live 1 hour from the Beach, the Mountains, and 3 major lake systems. Yes, this area is convenient.
I would spend time talking about the people but I have found that people are people anywhere you go. If you prefer one group over another you can find any of that here. I would like to say that the people are nicer or friendlier or maybe more family oriented or something positive like that but after 8 years I have found that there is nothing different in a broader view then this one comment. "Just because a person lives around "The Beltway" doesn't make them part of the powers that be." When I lived in D.C. I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder about being from this area. Like maybe this made me a little better then some others who were not from this area or had experienced the life of the area. I quickly found this perspective to be wrong in so many ways once I moved here that telling you why its wrong is not worth doing. If you don't know why you will figure it out eventually or die ignorant. Having said that, people are people. (Now Hippietim, I know this goes against a previous post of mine. When I lived in DC I may not have been looking for the same things I look for here for my family. So before you say it...YOU TOLD ME SO.)
Now how about opportunity??? This area of the country has more masters and phd's then any other place in the world. The technology sector here is second only to silicon valley and the medical sector is second to none. There is opportunity a plenty everywhere you look.
Last is the "Way of Life". My example's of this for NC is easy. My 2000 sf house on a half acre anywhere in the DC area would cost at least $350,000 to $450,000. Here in the triangle its between $140,000 to $220,000 tops. My auto insurance is less then half what I paid in DC and my taxes are less. I am a member of a 27 hole golfcourse country club with full gym, 2 indoor pools, 3 outdoor pools one of which is a kiddy fun center. The cost for my family of three is $200.oo per month with no initiation fee. This includes cart and green fees as well as short term day care while we work out at the gym. This area of NC has so many golf courses that I could play a different course everyday for a month and not travel further then one hour from my house. And getting tee times is nothing but a phone call. Oh and did I forget to mention that I
DID NOT take a paycut coming here??? How about the fact that I don't see hookers or drug dealers on any kind of regular occasion unlike driving through either Baltimore or D.C. and having them accost you at every corner. Or more importantly have my children deal with this. I am not saying they are not here. But this element is not allowed to just "Hang Out".
In summary, how could I go back to 2 hour commutes, outrageous housing prices, crazy overcrowding, traffic everywhere everyday?? Where half a months pay makes your house payment and the other half barely covers your expenses??
In NC I come home from golfing and make dinner. I talk to my wife about her day as well as spend some time with my daughter. Its not yet 7:00 pm as I grab a smoke , sit on the porch, and watch the evening start. I don't hear traffic. I don't see overcrowding. My child could play in the street and not get run over. I can run to the store in under 5 minutes if I need to and dinner and a movie don't take $100.00 and 5 hours. I could go to the NC museum of natural History in 20 minutes and not wait to get in or out and still spend 3 hours just looking around.
I am my family miss some people in D.C. but we are not going back to that.
Anyone want to come visit???
-CHefdino-
