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Raleigh Durham

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DanLing · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 0

I'm considering taking a job in the Raliegh Durham area and I was wondering if anyone had any beta on the local scene. Seems like the closest thing is Moore's or Linville. Is there any local bouldering areas? How is life in the area?

Thanks

Ryan Williams · · London (sort of) · Joined May 2009 · Points: 1,245

It's a nice place to live. Depending on where you work, you can live quite far west without having too bad of a commute. This would put you 1.5-2 hours from Moore's Wall and Cook's Wall and just over an hour to the Asheboro boulders.

Moore's is an excellent local crag and is well worth 3-4 hours in the car for a weekend or even a day trip. The rock quality is superb and there is a nice variety of routes at all grades. The easy routes make a great solo circuit if you are after mileage. There are plenty of moderates to explore and enough hard routes to keep you busy for years. It's mostly trad with some high end sport mixed in. When it gets too cold for routes, the bouldering is excellent. Oh yea, there are never crowds.

Cook's Wall is mostly moderate sport. Obscure, but very good and warm enough to climb all winter. You won't see many other climbers there.

Asheboro is a winter bouldering area. Very good, but sort of an acquired taste. The rock is very sharp (big crystals) but once you're skin is used to it it is a nice place to climb.

There are also the New River and Linville Gorges, probably the two biggest and best destinations for hundreds of miles. Both easy weekend trips.

The best gym is the TRC in Morrisville, which just expanded IIRC. Nothing spectacular, but it is definitely a CLIMBERS gym, owned and run by climbers and frequented by some very strong people.

Quality of life standpoint, the Triangle area is hard to beat. Low cost of living, safe, all of the things you can get in a big city, with a small town feel. Obviously it all depends on what area you choose.

My only real complaint was that the population was a bit samey and boring. A lot of "norms" is what we used to say. Very segregated as well. When you are young like my wife and I were, it just got boring. We've been away for over five years now and are starting to wonder if we will like it when we move back. But we are definitely moving back. Great place to raise a family. We'll probably buy some property between Apex and Hillsborough, maybe near Jordan Lake or something. If I have enough space and I'm within 1.5 hours of Moore's Wall, I can deal with just about any "norms" the area can throw at me.

reboot · · . · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 125
Ryan Williams wrote:Great place to raise a family.
I've heard that a lot about RDU, but am never sure what makes it a good place to raise a family. Is it the education system (which admittedly is decent, at least for high school/college)? Anything else?
Ernest W · · Asheville, NC · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 25

Ditto all that was mentioned about Moore's Wall. I live on the north side of Raleigh and it takes me about 2 hours one-way to get there. For toproping, there's Pilot Mountain about the same distance away - short climbs, but some variety of grades and very easy approach. About 30 min farther west/northwest is Stone Mountain, home of enough infamous runout North Carolina slab to keep you shaking in your boots for a long time :-). For a weekend, you can't beat the Linville Gorge (a bit over 3 hours from my house to Table Rock) for all sorts of multi-pitch trad and Looking Glass (more like 4 hours) for eyebrows, cracks and aid. North Carolina is most definitely a trad area. There's a bit of bolted sport lines around, but not very many. And you'll eventually get used to the runouts, which are also pretty common.

Great climate, about same distance to the beach as to the mountains.

Ryan Williams · · London (sort of) · Joined May 2009 · Points: 1,245
reboot wrote: I've heard that a lot about RDU, but am never sure what makes it a good place to raise a family. Is it the education system (which admittedly is decent, at least for high school/college)? Anything else?
- Low cost of living (which means a bigger house, bigger back yard, more expendable income)
- Generally safe (kids can ride their bikes anywhere and you can be comfortable that they'll come home)
- Big city amenities (excellent museums, access to good music and the arts in general, job opportunities, countless extra-caricular activities including music programs, recreational sport programs, etc)
- Relatively good education system from K-12 (when compared to most other places in the southeast)
- World class and affordable university system, which most students will have access to during high school, as well as many scholarship opportunities
- Strong economy with industries that aren't going anywhere anytime soon

I could go on… I'd say of all of the places I've spent time, the Triangle is one of the only areas I'd pick to raise a family. There are many reasons it's not a dream place to live, especially if you value a diverse public or access to big mountains. Those are two things I wanted to experience, so I've spent a large part of the last 7 years in areas with either one or the other. But now that we are talking about family, NC is the place we want to end up.
Ryan Williams · · London (sort of) · Joined May 2009 · Points: 1,245

I can't emphasise enough how important cost of living is when raising a family. We currently live in London where the property values are so high that we'd have to really stretch just to buy a 2 bedroom flat with a tiny garden. That is just not the place I want to raise children.

In North Carolina, we'll be able to buy a 3 bedroom house AND a small condo at the beach or cabin in the Appalachians for the same amount of money that a 2 bedroom flat would cost in London.

I'm sure there are plenty of places in the world that are "great places to raise a family." I'm not saying that there aren't dozens in every state in the US. I'm only saying that the RDU area is one of them.

DanLing · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 0

Thanks for the info guys.

I would be working in Holly Springs.

Cost of living is a major consideration. Right now I am 45 minutes outside of Manhattan and it is expensive but surely not as bad as London.

The hard part is leaving a good crew and a good local climbing scene here. I'm 90 minutes from the Gunks and have endless options within 45 minutes of me.

John Ryan · · Poncha Springs, CO · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 170

I loved living in Raleigh but for me it was annoying how far the climbing is. Pilot is cool but still a 1.5-2 hour drive from Raleigh. There are 1.5 boulders that I know of in the state park just outside of Raleigh. Yeah the ocean is only 3 hours but I found that we just didn't get out there as often as we wanted due to the distance. If you don't mind weekend trips to get your climbing fix you'll be fine or if you are more gym oriented. If you like a quick session after work on real rock you will be disappointed.

Ryan Williams · · London (sort of) · Joined May 2009 · Points: 1,245
DanLing wrote:Thanks for the info guys. I would be working in Holly Springs. Cost of living is a major consideration. Right now I am 45 minutes outside of Manhattan and it is expensive but surely not as bad as London. The hard part is leaving a good crew and a good local climbing scene here. I'm 90 minutes from the Gunks and have endless options within 45 minutes of me.
Your cost of living will certainly be lower. You won't have climbing within 45 minutes and you won't have the Gunks. However, Moore's is like a mini-Gunks and the New and Linville, while farther away, are as good if not better than the Gunks. You shouldn't have a problem finding a good group of climbers as you'll be close to the TRC.

Holly Springs is actually a great place to work. You won't have to fight traffic on I40 and you can live on the west side of the Triangle, which means you're closer to climbing. Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs if you're into the suburbs. Chatham County if you're looking for a big plot of land. Chapel Hill if you're a member of the liberal elite and Cary if you want everyone to know you have money.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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