# Alpharetta, GA vs. Raleigh, NC



## BikinCO

I am about to take a new job and am looking into moving to Alpharetta, GA or the Raleigh, NC area. So locals, tell me what you think of these areas for cycling and raising a family.

Thanks in advance.


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## chuckice

I've lived in Raleigh & Chapel Hill...now Durham. Been to Alpharetta, GA several times and couldn't even imagine choosing Alpharetta over Raleigh. Raleigh is a little too crowded for me now but still much better than Alpharetta. Can't go wrong for the raising a family side of things...riding is good but no real climbing to speak of. Lots of group rides and some good/fast ones too...


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## BikinCO

chuckice said:


> I've lived in Raleigh & Chapel Hill...now Durham. Been to Alpharetta, GA several times and couldn't even imagine choosing Alpharetta over Raleigh. Raleigh is a little too crowded for me now but still much better than Alpharetta. Can't go wrong for the raising a family side of things...riding is good but no real climbing to speak of. Lots of group rides and some good/fast ones too...


Thanks. We are looking at the Cary/Apex area. What do you think? We would love to live in Asheville because of the mtns and the artsy culture but I will be working in Raleigh and Atlanta most of the time, I believe. How does the culture in The Raleigh area compare with Asheville. We lived in Keystone and Vail, Colorado for a long time and are looking for an active/athletic, educated and artsy location.


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## canthidefromme

Durham is pretty educated/artsy if you know the right places to look. Also great road riding.


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## jch2112

I've lived in the Cary/Apex area for 33 years. The road riding is pretty good as long as you go after 6pm on the weekdays. On the weekends, the back roads are fairly empty. The mountain bike scene isn't too bad here either. Raleigh and Cary have a pretty good MUT system. Apex, not so much. 

There isn't much of an artsy culture here unless you head to downtown Raleigh. Chapel Hill and parts of Durham have a better artsy scene and they are more of a "college town" than Raleigh. Most of Wake county is centered around families and children.

Education is a sticky topic in Wake county. Too many kids and not enough classroom space. The Wake School Board just lost their court case to turn a number of elementary and middle schools to year round. As for the status of teachers, I think the majority of the teachers in Wake county are good teachers. But I'm a bit biased as my wife teaches high school English. 

Real estate in Wake County is a seller's market right now and I don't see it reversing anytime soon. The asking prices for homes in our neighborhood have gone up almost $20k in 3 years.

Here are a few links for you:
http://www.townofcary.org
http://www.apexnc.org
http://www.wral.com - local tv station
http://www.newsobserver.com - local newspaper

If you are looking at any specific areas in Cary/Apex, shoot me a PM and I'll give you the low down.


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## BikinCO

jch2112 said:


> I've lived in the Cary/Apex area for 33 years. The road riding is pretty good as long as you go after 6pm on the weekdays. On the weekends, the back roads are fairly empty. The mountain bike scene isn't too bad here either. Raleigh and Cary have a pretty good MUT system. Apex, not so much.
> 
> There isn't much of an artsy culture here unless you head to downtown Raleigh. Chapel Hill and parts of Durham have a better artsy scene and they are more of a "college town" than Raleigh. Most of Wake county is centered around families and children.
> 
> Education is a sticky topic in Wake county. Too many kids and not enough classroom space. The Wake School Board just lost their court case to turn a number of elementary and middle schools to year round. As for the status of teachers, I think the majority of the teachers in Wake county are good teachers. But I'm a bit biased as my wife teaches high school English.
> 
> Real estate in Wake County is a seller's market right now and I don't see it reversing anytime soon. The asking prices for homes in our neighborhood have gone up almost $20k in 3 years.
> 
> Here are a few links for you:
> http://www.townofcary.org
> http://www.apexnc.org
> http://www.wral.com - local tv station
> http://www.newsobserver.com - local newspaper
> 
> If you are looking at any specific areas in Cary/Apex, shoot me a PM and I'll give you the low down.


Thanks for the info. Housing cost where I live are ~$125/ sq ft and Cary/Apex seems to be about the same. What do you know about the Scotts Mill/Magnolia neighborhood in Apex?


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## jch2112

BikinCO said:


> Thanks for the info. Housing cost where I live are ~$125/ sq ft and Cary/Apex seems to be about the same. What do you know about the Scotts Mill/Magnolia neighborhood in Apex?



My wife and I looked at Scott's Mill when we were house shopping, but we ended up near downtown Cary. Nice houses, nice neighborhood, but I've heard that the HOA (http://www.scottsmill.com/) is a bit of a pain....but that was a couple of years ago, it could be different now. It is in a good school district. Apex High is one of the top 5 high schools in the county...and hey, I went there. It is pretty close to shopping. There's a huge shopping center at US 64 and NC 55 and there is an LBS nearby, Cycling Spoken Here. 

I used to live on US 64 close to Kelly road so I remember when all of those subdivisions were farm land! Olive Chapel Road can get a little crowded during peak times, but most roads do around here. A plus to Scott's Mill for road riding is that you can get on Old US 1 and ride for miles. Lots of folks out there on the weekends, and I'm one of them.


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## dawg

They both strike me as heavily sprawling suburban/exurban areas. Niether would be a cycling paradise. Assuming you aren't specifically restricted to Alpharetta in GA, you may want to look into Roswell just to the south where the Chatahooche Nat'l Rec area is located (a more established town, mayor is a cyclist and advocate) and Woodstock, GA, to the northwest which is an interesting town where Blankets Creek MTB is located. Unexpectedly perhaps, North Atlanta suburbs would actually be much closer to the mountains than Raleigh, even somewhat closer to Asheville for that matter.


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## aslanspaws

I agree with Dawg. Roswell has a very well established cycling community, and you're less than an hour from Dahlonega up GA 400. There are plenty of places to ride that are away from the urban sprawl setting/feel.


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## Kennedy

If you don't mind traffic, sterlized chain restaurants, no culture unless you travel 40 minutes into Atlanta and like living on a people farm (tract homes neighborhoods with no trees), choose Alpharetta.

I think it also depends frankly on how much you have to spend on a home. The nicer neighborhoods (golf communities, gated communities) are far costlier (over $350k). There are plenty of developments where they flatten 10 acres, put down 50 homes and plant 8' dogwoods and maples in the under $300k category.

I live in Atlanta. One of the few who say that and actually live in-town. I venture OTP (outside the Perimeter I-285) and up GA 400 towards Roswell and Alpharetta only under duress. The last time we went up that way for a 7 pm cocktail party, we gave ourselves an HOUR to travel 23 miles and needed every minute to arrive on time.

If you need to go to the airport from Alpharetta to get to Raleigh and you do that during normal business hours (8 am to 6 pm) - you'll need over an hour *without traffic* to get there. 

Its suburban hell.


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## BikinCO

Kennedy said:


> If you don't mind traffic, sterlized chain restaurants, no culture unless you travel 40 minutes into Atlanta and like living on a people farm (tract homes neighborhoods with no trees), choose Alpharetta.
> 
> I think it also depends frankly on how much you have to spend on a home. The nicer neighborhoods (golf communities, gated communities) are far costlier (over $350k). There are plenty of developments where they flatten 10 acres, put down 50 homes and plant 8' dogwoods and maples in the under $300k category.
> 
> I live in Atlanta. One of the few who say that and actually live in-town. I venture OTP (outside the Perimeter I-285) and up GA 400 towards Roswell and Alpharetta only under duress. The last time we went up that way for a 7 pm cocktail party, we gave ourselves an HOUR to travel 23 miles and needed every minute to arrive on time.
> 
> If you need to go to the airport from Alpharetta to get to Raleigh and you do that during normal business hours (8 am to 6 pm) - you'll need over an hour *without traffic* to get there.
> 
> Its suburban hell.


Thanks, you just talked me out of moving to Atlanta. look out Raleigh, here I come.


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## Kennedy

BikinCO said:


> Thanks, you just talked me out of moving to Atlanta. look out Raleigh, here I come.


Great! Keep yer carpetbaggin arse outta here!!!!!! :wink5:

Seriously, Atlanta proper is a great place to live. But you'd have to send your kids to private school. The suburbs just have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth. Vanilla, pre-packaged, curbside takeaway crap.


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## dawg

Kennedy said:


> Great! Keep yer carpetbaggin arse outta here!!!!!! :wink5:
> 
> Seriously, Atlanta proper is a great place to live. But you'd have to send your kids to private school. The suburbs just have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth. Vanilla, pre-packaged, curbside takeaway crap.


Have you been to Cary, NC?


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## BikinCO

Kennedy said:


> Great! Keep yer carpetbaggin arse outta here!!!!!! :wink5:


I ain't no carpetbagger! I am American by birth and Southern by the grace of God!


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## 32and3cross

Raleigh comments:

Ralrigh downtown is growing and has come up alot in the last 5 years as far as Bars and Resturants some are chains but most are not. Its easy to have your pick of food on any given night. There is a growing gallery scene in down town as well both main stream and underground. The real trick is how close to downtown can you live, luckly my wife and bought a house in a hood that really came up from student slums at the right time (i.e. before the prices went through the roof) so we are walking distance from Gleenwood south and downtown proper. 

The Raleigh cycling scene is pretty good. There are 2 good hard rides that leave from the city the harrington grove ride in N Raleigh and the local super hammerfest the mission valley ride that leaves from mission valley shopping center (11 mins ride from my house). Cary rides are easily reachable on the bike or the car and its easy enough to get out to the country roads from the city if you can put up with teh traffic for about 30min to get there. There are actually some nice bike paths in the city if you know where to look and a great series of fire roads in Umstead park that are perfect for cross bike training. Add to the the RBC center is perfect for short intevals and sprints as well as a few other locations like that. As it has been mentioned there is no real climbing in the aera but lots of rolling hills tend to keep the riding inetresting. If your a road racer theres a decent number of local races over the season including 2 NRC crits as well as at least 3 TT series in the triangle area. Im sure theres more Im missing.


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## bonkmiester

32and3cross said:


> Raleigh comments:
> 
> Ralrigh downtown is growing and has come up alot in the last 5 years as far as Bars and Resturants some are chains but most are not. Its easy to have your pick of food on any given night. There is a growing gallery scene in down town as well both main stream and underground. The real trick is how close to downtown can you live, luckly my wife and bought a house in a hood that really came up from student slums at the right time (i.e. before the prices went through the roof) so we are walking distance from Gleenwood south and downtown proper.
> 
> The Raleigh cycling scene is pretty good. There are 2 good hard rides that leave from the city the harrington grove ride in N Raleigh and the local super hammerfest the mission valley ride that leaves from mission valley shopping center (11 mins ride from my house). Cary rides are easily reachable on the bike or the car and its easy enough to get out to the country roads from the city if you can put up with teh traffic for about 30min to get there. There are actually some nice bike paths in the city if you know where to look and a great series of fire roads in Umstead park that are perfect for cross bike training. Add to the the RBC center is perfect for short intevals and sprints as well as a few other locations like that. As it has been mentioned there is no real climbing in the aera but lots of rolling hills tend to keep the riding inetresting. If your a road racer theres a decent number of local races over the season including 2 NRC crits as well as at least 3 TT series in the triangle area. Im sure theres more Im missing.


...you live in Cameron Park or over on Park St...???


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## 32and3cross

bonkmiester said:


> ...you live in Cameron Park or over on Park St...???


nope Boylan Heights


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## tarwheel2

I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs between Sandy Springs and Roswell. At that time, Alpharetta was considered Hicksville. It's now just part of the urban sprawl. What's nice is it's proximity to the Chattahoochee National Recreation center and the N. Georgia mountains.

However, I have lived in Raleigh for the past 20 years and I would pick it over Alpharetta handsdown. Raleigh is a much more planned metro area than Atlanta, with more parks, bike trails and less clutter. Downtown Raleigh used to be pretty sleepy, but the nightlife is picking up. The entire Triangle has a very active cycling community, with lots of great roads to ride on, particularly if you head away from the cities. Here are links to Triangle bike clubs for some idea of local rides:

www.ncbikeclub.org
www.tarwheels.org
www.raleighgyros.com


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## MWT

I've lived in Altanta for nearly 40 years and I've ridden here for nearly 20 years. I can say without reservation Alpharetta is one of the worst suburbs for riding in the entire city. As others have pointed out, Roswell is far better.


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## rab

MWT said:


> I've lived in Altanta for nearly 40 years and I've ridden here for nearly 20 years. I can say without reservation Alpharetta is one of the worst suburbs for riding in the entire city. As others have pointed out, Roswell is far better.


While Alpharetta is certainly classic suburbia, I personally don't feel it is nearly as bad as several have made it sound. I am really curious how it is so much worse than Roswell, which is only slightly closer to downtown ATL. Roswell and Alpharetta essentially occupy the same smear of N. Fulton county, so if you live in one you will still have most of the benefits of the other. If anything, isn't housing more expensive on avg. in Roswell?

From Alpharetta you have many roads which can quckly have you out in the country off the heavily travelled routes, just keep heading north. To do this from Roswell you basically have to go through Alpharetta first.

A few pros of the area, some as previously mentioned...

Close to a big city which has just about everything to offer
(airport IS over an hour away, but at 40+ miles you can't expect much better)
Close to some very good mountain riding
Lots of good group rides of varying levels
Little warmer climate, nice in December and January, so you can truly ride year round

some cons:

close to big city
traffic (you can learn how to deal with this without that much trouble most of the time)
Alpharetta is classic suburbia 
rapidly growing without good planning
no "college town" influence or feeling

One other option perhaps (?) would be living farther north of Alpharetta, get you away from suburban sprawl and into endless ride options, close to mountains etc.
Not sure about schools, could be an issue, but housing would be cheaper than Cary.
If you could swing it and don't want to live in a suburb, this would be my personal choice.

I don't think you can go wrong with Raleigh in the end, but I would check both out in person if that is possible.


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## MWT

Roswell has won awards from the League of American Bicyclists for its bike-friendliness; Alpharetta most certainly has not. Check out www.bikeroswell.com


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## bonkmiester

32and3cross said:


> nope Boylan Heights


I was gonna guess that next......

I am bummed that North Road Cyclery left town....use to go there alot...


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## ashpelham

I don't want to keep bashing on Atlanta metro here, but it really isn't a good place to live if you enjoy road riding. For that matter, the mountain trails are pretty far away too. It's just not hospitable for much of anything except driving and spending money at shopping malls. Sadly, Birmingham, AL metro is very similar. No true natural habitats, like Chattanooga, which has a beautiful riverwalk to enjoy and a pretty active cycling scene. There is just no way to tell you how difficult driving in Atlanta is. I lump all of the 'burbs in with Atlanta, perhaps unfairly, as that is where the most congestion is. 

I've cycled in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Cary/Apex/godknowswhatelse on occasion and I liked it. The vibrance of having that many large Universities that close together just cannot be underestimated. Even for a family man, it's nice to have that kind of energy and creativity around you. Now, if they could just finish I-40....

I have spoken highly of Charlotte on this forum before. If it's at all a possibility, it should be considered. Suburban sprawl didn't seem as awful to me, but I lived 6 miles from my office and frequently rode my bike there. Charlotte's cycling community is large, and quite a number of races are planned each year, with phenomenal participation. Charlotte is much closer to mountains and Asheville for you. It's on I-85, roughly halfway between Raleigh and Atlanta (with Raleigh being a bit closer). It really is a nice place to live, and easy to live close to it all.


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## CaseLawZ28

ashpelham said:


> I have spoken highly of Charlotte on this forum before. If it's at all a possibility, it should be considered. Suburban sprawl didn't seem as awful to me, but I lived 6 miles from my office and frequently rode my bike there. Charlotte's cycling community is large, and quite a number of races are planned each year, with phenomenal participation. Charlotte is much closer to mountains and Asheville for you. It's on I-85, roughly halfway between Raleigh and Atlanta (with Raleigh being a bit closer). It really is a nice place to live, and easy to live close to it all.


Unless you live in Uptown Charlotte and work in the uptown area, traffic is HORRIBLE. I dread every time I have to go to Charlotte. I-85 and I-77 are a nightmare.


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## BikinCO

*More information*

It might make more sense for me to live in the Atlanta area. I start my new job on Monday June 4th but will not move until after the start of the new year, so I time to figure out which city to live in. I will work from home and my clients are in Alpharetta and Madison. Being close to the airport is not as high on my priority list as good schools, active community (pool, tennis courts, side walks, playground, pocket parks) and access to good road biking from my house (like a 30 mile route to ride at lunch). I don't mind driving 30 minutes to an hour for longer weekend rides.

The Raleigh area is still in play but I might be spending more time with my Atlanta area clients.


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## tennis5

my 2 cents on Alpharetta/Roswell...been a GA resident most of my life...I can get from Alpharetta/Roswell area to downtown Atlanta in about 25 minutes as long as it isnt during rush hour. Roswell does have good areas to ride with designated road bike courses and several group rides go out every week from either Roswell or Alpharetta. Silver Comet Trail (50+ miles of 12 foot wide sidewalk) is about 25-30 minutes away...good shopping, good restaurants, and decent nightlife...new outdoor amphitheatre in the works in Alpharetta and will be really nice...if you like to ride a MTB, there are plenty of trails a little north (30 minutes or so)...mountain towns 45 mintues north with mountain road rides...Lake Lanier is within 30 minutes...Appalachian trail an hour away...most major sports teams (they may suck, but we have em...lol)...yes, there are some cons to Atlanta, but it is a fun city and has a lot of things to offer and a lot of people move here...so something about it must be right...isnt as bad as some make it sound.


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## QuixoticNotions

BikinCO said:


> It might make more sense for me to live in the Atlanta area. I start my new job on Monday June 4th but will not move until after the start of the new year, so I time to figure out which city to live in. I will work from home and my clients are in Alpharetta and Madison. Being close to the airport is not as high on my priority list as good schools, active community (pool, tennis courts, side walks, playground, pocket parks) and access to good road biking from my house (like a 30 mile route to ride at lunch). I don't mind driving 30 minutes to an hour for longer weekend rides.
> 
> The Raleigh area is still in play but I might be spending more time with my Atlanta area clients.


I'm a GA girl and don't know much about Raleigh, but I will be moving to Alpharetta shortly.
It is definately a suburban center, and those have their drawbacks, but it is a nice area. Nice community-- good schools, lots to do (and in most of Alpharetta, lots to do within walking distance if you want to ditch the car for the afternoon). It doesn't have a "flavor" -- but it's just not that far from Atlanta if you need to go take a culture break!
If your clients are in Alpharetta, you won't have to deal with the Atlanta traffic (which is horrible, but they just expanded 400 and it is nowhere like it used to be) It is not far from a lot of nice rides up in North Georgia or the Silver Comet-- and weekdays, there's the Alpharetta Greenway. I can travel between Stone Mountain Park and Alpharetta in less than an hour, and it's further than the other locations, I think.
It's not perfect, only 13 miles each way end to end and some walkers to contend with, but it is something, and better than a lot of suburban areas I've been in. 
Thought GA was getting some bad press in this thread-- and wanted to add my opinion that it shouldn't be knocked out of the running so easily. Beautiful state.


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## carter1

I grew up in Raleigh as a kid. We moved to Apex 10 years ago. We have seen tremendous growth out here, but its still easy to get away from the traffic. Agree that there's not too much extended climbing, but there are plenty of routes that have some climbs out by Jordan lake and towards Chapel Hill. These climbs are easily incorporated into a 35 miler from my house (Charleston Village off Old Jenks Rd). Good luck.
c


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