Just back from RTP area of NC

[dejr_8]

I just got back from a job interview in the RTP area. We spent parts of Sunday and Monday looking at houses/land and communities.

We liked the area and have a few comments...

Everyone we met had outstanding manners (what a change from Boston).

Does EVERYONE go to church on Sunday in their Sunday bests.

The center of Graham NC looks like a town right out of a movie set.

We ate lunch at a place called S&Ts in Pittsboro NC. Again it was like being on a movie set. Classic small town America.

Is all new construction in "planned" communities with large granite/stone entrances with Home Owners associations?

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I don't know about the entire area, but SIL and her family live in Cary in a development, Hunt something....with big time association dues, walking trails, a pool for the subdivision, etc. Everyone down there did seem to be very nice, although DH and I joked that every family we saw with a dog had a Golden--"welcome to Cary, here's your golden retriever"...
SIL's husband is jewish and I know they go to temple services each week and there is a large supportive jewish community in that area as well as a nice Catholic church (SIL is catholic--gets confusing, doesn't it)
If you go back and have kids go to a restaurant called "O'Charleys"--kids under 10 eat free EVERY DAY! Or at least they did in December. We ate there twice! I wish they had one here in Toledo!
Robin M.

 

[dejr_8]

We did eat at O'Charleys (with kids) and neither of us (wife and me) could finish the meal - The portions were HUGE

Of course there was room for dessert.

 

[kadaten]

Welcome to the South! I think you'll find most people down here have good manners and are very polite (with exceptions for the large cities where there are lots of transplants). I love it here...born and bred!

Yes, most places new construction tends to be in developments with HOA's and entrances. As a plus, they also usually come with amenities like pools, tennis courts, well-kept common areas, playgrounds, etc. They will have a variety of rules...make sure you read the covenants before agreeing to buy....just to make sure you can live with them. Developments without HOA's do exist, but there are fewer of them, at least in my area and where family lives (VA, GA, SC, NC). If you don't want to be in a development, you'd just have to look for a lot somewhere and contact your own builder. They just don't do many spec houses. As for the developments, up here when someone decides to sell their land (usually a farmer getting out the business) they want to do it at once, not in smaller transactions, so they sell to a developer who builds an entire development. It's just economy of scale.

Good luck in your job interview and new home search! Most people who come south like it, although some do end up missing the bigger cities of the Northeast. All my best to you!