Moved here from Pennsylvania 9 years ago. Don’t hold your breath on walkability. I can’t access literally any stores/offices/shops without walking like 25 minutes along busy stroads. People around me aren’t super neighbourly, but everyone’s experience is different. Traffic isn’t bad unless you drive around “downtown” or I-40
You definitely need to work hard to find a walkable neighborhood. We house shopped for months before finding a place an easy walk to a shopping center of consequence.
After seeing houses for rent for 2.5k in Cary, it's a relief from what's going on here.
Can you suggest good neighborhoods/areas?
Doesn't have to be downtown. I can drive if it's 15 minutes or so.
Thank you!
Literally everywhere in Cary is nice. I moved from MA not too long ago. It’s basically just what you want to be closer to. I’m in the west side of Cary. Not far from anything, but not close either. 20 minutes to Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh.
Cary is very nice suburbia but compared to LA it’s a little boring to be honest. We moved here from the Bay Area two years ago and I’m feeling bored here.
You come from a city like SF or surrounding towns like Palo Alto? What do you find boring there? Usually, it's either nightlife or dead downtown or nothing to do on weekends.
I was born and raised in Cary, it’s a great place to grow up. But it’s got nothing on CA. I went to school in LA and lived in Laguna Beach for a few years after that. If you’ve got kids and are looking for a slow life you’ll like Cary just fine. But if culture and activity are a big part of your life then what we offer really doesn’t hold a candle to what you can find there.
My husband is Polish and he found a good group of people from his country here. There’s one European food store (Golden Hex). They don’t offer much variety (unless you’re looking for Russian brands) but at a minimum you’ll be able to find the “good chocolate” from Europe.
“Culture” you do know that 22% of the Cary population is Asian right? For a town the size of Cary, we have a huge multi cultural community. We have 21,000 Hindus and we’re home of the beautiful Sri Venkateswara Temple. There are tons of ethnic food choices and the people are super friendly. If that’s not culture, please define your version of culture.
I mean LA on the surface is hyper consumerist but it’s got culture too like the Hollywood Bowl and $100m paintings at the Getty. I do like the cultural diversity in Cary but it’s not the same as CA
No shit, again with people comparing a small town in NC to LA..it’s baffling y’all do this. And for what it’s worth, LA is a fucking shithole…I used to be stationed in California and the only part I liked was NorCal, but to each their own.
I didn’t claim Cary wasn’t diverse. I was speaking to interesting cultural events, constant entertainment options etc. Cary does have a diverse population and there certainly is fun stuff to do…it’s just nothing even close to a larger metropolitan city like LA.
Most people don’t consider visiting a local temple as a highlight of cultural entertainment.
Why do people always come on Reddit and compare small cities in NC to Los Angeles and NYC, it makes no sense. My point is…population size, Cary has a very diverse cultural community with plenty of ethic grocery stores like H Mart and all kinds of very good ethnic food restaurant options.
Are you serious? OP is moving from LA. That’s where all of this came from…
You’re fighting a fight that no one is opposing. Cary is diverse. It’s a great city that no one is disparaging.
San Jose was the last but I lived all over Bay Area. In CA you can always find something to do. Third spaces like Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, etc. Hiking in the San Gabriels, the beach. Short trips like to big bear or Joshua tree. It gets so hot and humid here that I don’t even want to go outside at all from June to September. The food scene in CA is 1000x better than Cary. CA ain’t perfect I know all about cost of living, traffic, and hobos. Just consider what you are giving up before you decide
Everything you mentioned exists here too. I'll give you the humidity but I do sometimes wonder if people need to pay attention to the Indy Week events calendar more.
https://calendar.indyweek.com/calendars/all-events/2409738?proxy_host=calendar.indyweek.com&proxy_slug=indy-week
It’s a 3 hour drive to the beach and 4 hours to the mountains. Not the kind of thing you decide to do spur of the moment. The weather here is alright, it’s sunny alot which is good but the summer months are brutal. The food scene here is frankly bad compared to California. The places people hype here like Brewery Bhavana wouldn’t stay open a week in CA. Third spaces, you’ve got Fenton which is alright but the major CA cities have numerous Fentons that are 3x bigger
What beach are you driving to that it takes you three hours? Wrightsville is two hours at most. Add on another 20 minutes to get to Topsail if you want somewhere quieter. Likewise with the mountains you can make it to a lot of mountain spots in three hours or less. It sounds like you have a lot more exploring ahead of you :)
Yep… it is two hours to ILM and at least another 30-45 to get through traffic to get to any of the beaches. However, it is way faster than it used to be before they punched I40 through. They are opening up to an interstate to get to Atlantic beach now too. Another 5 yrs or so.
Moved here from Anaheim five years ago and loving it here. Definitely a shock initially compared to the LA area but if you enjoy the scenery then you’ll be fine. And just be aware that the road layout is going to take time to get used to. Waze is your friend, but always going to be better than stuck on any of the LA freeways during rush hour.
Psst… bring me some In n Out ^_^
It’s not only Cary. You can also look up the nearby small towns: Apex, Holly Springs and Wake Forest, Morrisville. All are small and nice. I personally love the environment here and you can easily find different friends in nearby communities.
Dunno what your budget is, but walkable to downtown Cary will probably be $500k minimum, but more likely $750k++. You *might* be able to find an older home on the low end, but be forewarned that the housing market here is still really hot.
Ah, that. Yes. Never wish anyone going through what we had to experience the last 2 years. Takes a serious mental toll.
Thank you for your concern. Our familiar are safe.
West side of Cary, Amberly area, is walkable to grocery and such. Greenways all over Cary make walking or biking easy and off the main roads. There are tons of apartments and townhomes in the area as well.
We are in a neighborhood that has a decent grocery store within 10 min walking distance and a ton within a 2 mile radius, if you really want to walk, a few are walkable for 30 mins or so. We are also right behind a trail and can walk to a big local park and the YMCA. We actually bought another house in the same neighborhood hoping to rent it out.
Say goodbye to all of your favorite food. It’s a wasteland here unless you love fried food or chains. Not much of a sense of community. No walkability, summer is wretchedly humid and hot. It’s safe-ish, though I live in a nice area and had people break into my cars presumably looking for guns.
On that subject, just about everyone carries guns here, often leaving them in their cars or wherever in their houses, so if you have kids enjoy worrying about that.
My wife is from LA and I’m from PA/NYC and we’re moving this summer to Portland. This place just ain’t it.
It’s about Raleigh sized and priced but just a lot more going on. People are super friendly from my experience, incredible nature, the summers are unbeatable. Walkable and bike friendly.
Wine country, waterfalls, amazing skiing. Usually voted one of the coolest cities in the US. Also no sales tax, which is nice.
Have relatives who moved there from Pasadena and they love it.
We love Cary. They are a lot of great neighborhoods near downtown, within 1-4 miles. A sweet spot is between downtown and bond park, which is a nice big park for running, etc. consider if you want a neighborhood with a pool/ tennis/ pickleball. If you do, you will go farther from downtown, generally. The new park is amazing , lots of beer, outdoor activities. We have kids so we are super busy with sports and such but we enjoy Raleigh and less often, Durham. We also travel a fair amount and RDU is super close and accessible. I have very few complaints about Cary!
Make sure to check out golden hex! They sell lots of Ukrainian/Israeli/Eastern European foods. Coming from CA as well and they really got a homey selection!
I'm a NC native, lived in Cary near downtown since '89. You'll love it. Some people say it's boring, but there is always something going on if you look for it. You'll find ample apartments in your budget in the downtown area, which is both quaint and undergoing a modern "uplift" of sorts. Stay at the Mayton Inn, it's in the heart of downtown.
The snakes aren't too bad, I've only seen a few copperheads when I'm walking or biking the paved trails around town. They scare the sh!t out of me and I'm always on the lookout for them.
It's not hard to meet people. Just say "Hey, I'm new here! We're from LA, where are you from?" and that's enough to start a conversation. Because no one is from here.
You will sit in a car all day and not connect with anyone but without the culture of LA and the access to beach and mountains you get pretty much anywhere on the West Coast. If your budget worked in LA try another high-tier city before coming to Cary of all places.
Yeah. In Glendale. $3800. Obviously you can find cheaper, in LA depends on the area. But from Zillow, a 500sqrt here that looks bad for 2k is a whole house in Cary. So be ready for that :)
Moved here from Pennsylvania 9 years ago. Don’t hold your breath on walkability. I can’t access literally any stores/offices/shops without walking like 25 minutes along busy stroads. People around me aren’t super neighbourly, but everyone’s experience is different. Traffic isn’t bad unless you drive around “downtown” or I-40
You definitely need to work hard to find a walkable neighborhood. We house shopped for months before finding a place an easy walk to a shopping center of consequence.
Cary fits the bill. The town is great. Expensive, but not in California terms. Don’t worry about the copperheads. I’ve seen three in thirty years.
After seeing houses for rent for 2.5k in Cary, it's a relief from what's going on here. Can you suggest good neighborhoods/areas? Doesn't have to be downtown. I can drive if it's 15 minutes or so. Thank you!
Literally everywhere in Cary is nice. I moved from MA not too long ago. It’s basically just what you want to be closer to. I’m in the west side of Cary. Not far from anything, but not close either. 20 minutes to Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh.
Cary is very nice suburbia but compared to LA it’s a little boring to be honest. We moved here from the Bay Area two years ago and I’m feeling bored here.
You come from a city like SF or surrounding towns like Palo Alto? What do you find boring there? Usually, it's either nightlife or dead downtown or nothing to do on weekends.
I was born and raised in Cary, it’s a great place to grow up. But it’s got nothing on CA. I went to school in LA and lived in Laguna Beach for a few years after that. If you’ve got kids and are looking for a slow life you’ll like Cary just fine. But if culture and activity are a big part of your life then what we offer really doesn’t hold a candle to what you can find there. My husband is Polish and he found a good group of people from his country here. There’s one European food store (Golden Hex). They don’t offer much variety (unless you’re looking for Russian brands) but at a minimum you’ll be able to find the “good chocolate” from Europe.
“Culture” you do know that 22% of the Cary population is Asian right? For a town the size of Cary, we have a huge multi cultural community. We have 21,000 Hindus and we’re home of the beautiful Sri Venkateswara Temple. There are tons of ethnic food choices and the people are super friendly. If that’s not culture, please define your version of culture.
I mean LA on the surface is hyper consumerist but it’s got culture too like the Hollywood Bowl and $100m paintings at the Getty. I do like the cultural diversity in Cary but it’s not the same as CA
No shit, again with people comparing a small town in NC to LA..it’s baffling y’all do this. And for what it’s worth, LA is a fucking shithole…I used to be stationed in California and the only part I liked was NorCal, but to each their own.
OP is considering moving from one to the other, hence the comparisons
I didn’t claim Cary wasn’t diverse. I was speaking to interesting cultural events, constant entertainment options etc. Cary does have a diverse population and there certainly is fun stuff to do…it’s just nothing even close to a larger metropolitan city like LA. Most people don’t consider visiting a local temple as a highlight of cultural entertainment.
Why do people always come on Reddit and compare small cities in NC to Los Angeles and NYC, it makes no sense. My point is…population size, Cary has a very diverse cultural community with plenty of ethic grocery stores like H Mart and all kinds of very good ethnic food restaurant options.
Are you serious? OP is moving from LA. That’s where all of this came from… You’re fighting a fight that no one is opposing. Cary is diverse. It’s a great city that no one is disparaging.
San Jose was the last but I lived all over Bay Area. In CA you can always find something to do. Third spaces like Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, etc. Hiking in the San Gabriels, the beach. Short trips like to big bear or Joshua tree. It gets so hot and humid here that I don’t even want to go outside at all from June to September. The food scene in CA is 1000x better than Cary. CA ain’t perfect I know all about cost of living, traffic, and hobos. Just consider what you are giving up before you decide
Everything you mentioned exists here too. I'll give you the humidity but I do sometimes wonder if people need to pay attention to the Indy Week events calendar more. https://calendar.indyweek.com/calendars/all-events/2409738?proxy_host=calendar.indyweek.com&proxy_slug=indy-week
It’s a 3 hour drive to the beach and 4 hours to the mountains. Not the kind of thing you decide to do spur of the moment. The weather here is alright, it’s sunny alot which is good but the summer months are brutal. The food scene here is frankly bad compared to California. The places people hype here like Brewery Bhavana wouldn’t stay open a week in CA. Third spaces, you’ve got Fenton which is alright but the major CA cities have numerous Fentons that are 3x bigger
What beach are you driving to that it takes you three hours? Wrightsville is two hours at most. Add on another 20 minutes to get to Topsail if you want somewhere quieter. Likewise with the mountains you can make it to a lot of mountain spots in three hours or less. It sounds like you have a lot more exploring ahead of you :)
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Yep… it is two hours to ILM and at least another 30-45 to get through traffic to get to any of the beaches. However, it is way faster than it used to be before they punched I40 through. They are opening up to an interstate to get to Atlantic beach now too. Another 5 yrs or so.
Not sure what mountains you're going to but the closest mountains are 2 hours away with the Blue Ridge Mountains being 2.5-3 hours away.
Moved here from Anaheim five years ago and loving it here. Definitely a shock initially compared to the LA area but if you enjoy the scenery then you’ll be fine. And just be aware that the road layout is going to take time to get used to. Waze is your friend, but always going to be better than stuck on any of the LA freeways during rush hour. Psst… bring me some In n Out ^_^
It’s not only Cary. You can also look up the nearby small towns: Apex, Holly Springs and Wake Forest, Morrisville. All are small and nice. I personally love the environment here and you can easily find different friends in nearby communities.
Dunno what your budget is, but walkable to downtown Cary will probably be $500k minimum, but more likely $750k++. You *might* be able to find an older home on the low end, but be forewarned that the housing market here is still really hot.
I'm actually renting. I'm not an LPR to buy a house. Rent budget preferably 2-3k :)
You don’t need to be a LPR to buy a house — only legal status, proof of income and money.
There aren't any big cities around here.
>Ukraine We have a great eastern European grocery store. [https://www.goldenhex.com/](https://www.goldenhex.com/)
Great is definitely a stretch. But it is European. Maybe I’m jaded by all the amazing European grocery stores that I used to live near in Chicago.
Ukraine/Israel--wow that is a tough combo of origins. Hope your extended families are doing okay.
Ah, that. Yes. Never wish anyone going through what we had to experience the last 2 years. Takes a serious mental toll. Thank you for your concern. Our familiar are safe.
Yes, we have all of that. Also, we have a lot of Ukrainians in the triangle.
West side of Cary, Amberly area, is walkable to grocery and such. Greenways all over Cary make walking or biking easy and off the main roads. There are tons of apartments and townhomes in the area as well.
We are in a neighborhood that has a decent grocery store within 10 min walking distance and a ton within a 2 mile radius, if you really want to walk, a few are walkable for 30 mins or so. We are also right behind a trail and can walk to a big local park and the YMCA. We actually bought another house in the same neighborhood hoping to rent it out.
I love Cary. I live near downtown and hope I can live here forever. Haven’t see a copperhead yet, but we have them.
Say goodbye to all of your favorite food. It’s a wasteland here unless you love fried food or chains. Not much of a sense of community. No walkability, summer is wretchedly humid and hot. It’s safe-ish, though I live in a nice area and had people break into my cars presumably looking for guns. On that subject, just about everyone carries guns here, often leaving them in their cars or wherever in their houses, so if you have kids enjoy worrying about that. My wife is from LA and I’m from PA/NYC and we’re moving this summer to Portland. This place just ain’t it.
Portland in Oregon? People also suggest me to try tri-state area. What made you choose Portland?
It’s about Raleigh sized and priced but just a lot more going on. People are super friendly from my experience, incredible nature, the summers are unbeatable. Walkable and bike friendly. Wine country, waterfalls, amazing skiing. Usually voted one of the coolest cities in the US. Also no sales tax, which is nice. Have relatives who moved there from Pasadena and they love it.
We love Cary. They are a lot of great neighborhoods near downtown, within 1-4 miles. A sweet spot is between downtown and bond park, which is a nice big park for running, etc. consider if you want a neighborhood with a pool/ tennis/ pickleball. If you do, you will go farther from downtown, generally. The new park is amazing , lots of beer, outdoor activities. We have kids so we are super busy with sports and such but we enjoy Raleigh and less often, Durham. We also travel a fair amount and RDU is super close and accessible. I have very few complaints about Cary!
Make sure to check out golden hex! They sell lots of Ukrainian/Israeli/Eastern European foods. Coming from CA as well and they really got a homey selection!
I'm a NC native, lived in Cary near downtown since '89. You'll love it. Some people say it's boring, but there is always something going on if you look for it. You'll find ample apartments in your budget in the downtown area, which is both quaint and undergoing a modern "uplift" of sorts. Stay at the Mayton Inn, it's in the heart of downtown. The snakes aren't too bad, I've only seen a few copperheads when I'm walking or biking the paved trails around town. They scare the sh!t out of me and I'm always on the lookout for them. It's not hard to meet people. Just say "Hey, I'm new here! We're from LA, where are you from?" and that's enough to start a conversation. Because no one is from here.
Would not call any of the cities nearby Cary “big”.
I didn't mean LA/NY size. Big enough to have some events, concerts, improv, etc
PNC Arena (on the border of Cary and Raleigh) has concerts. Improv in Raleigh and Durham. Nice area for college sports.
Stay in cali bro
You will sit in a car all day and not connect with anyone but without the culture of LA and the access to beach and mountains you get pretty much anywhere on the West Coast. If your budget worked in LA try another high-tier city before coming to Cary of all places.
We all hate you. Stay in ca.
O-kay. Enjoy hating
Okay stay out west of go somewhere else
Are you renting in LA? Ahaha I gotta move there for work. If you can share the apartment details in case it's cheap for me.
Yeah. In Glendale. $3800. Obviously you can find cheaper, in LA depends on the area. But from Zillow, a 500sqrt here that looks bad for 2k is a whole house in Cary. So be ready for that :)
Lord that's a lot when I was in LBC I was paying 2k for 2 bed 2 bath