When you drive through Raleigh, it's easy to
see why the founding fathers nicknamed it "The City of Oaks." But the city's
natural beauty is just one of many drawing cards that has transformed this
once-sleepy southern town into one of the nation's most desired destinations for
business, technology, culture and family life. In fact, MSN House and Home named
the city the “Best Place to Live” in 2003.
The city of nearly 300,000 residents boasts
premier cultural centers, including the N.C.
Museum of Art and the famed
North Carolina Symphony.
The museum houses paintings and sculptures representing more than 5,000 years of
artistic heritage – from ancient Egypt to the present – as well as traveling
exhibits, movies, lectures and workshops.
From events such as
Artsplosure, Oktoberfest, the
International Festival and the
State Fair to the multitude of college and professional sports, there's a
wide array of choices for the young and old, the mellow and bold.
Falls Lake
provides swimming, boating and fishing opportunities year-round, and
Umstead Park
offers miles of woodlands for hiking, picnics and nature outings.
Alive-After-Five brings
local musicians to the center of downtown each summer, where Raleigh's nightlife
has seen a burst of new restaurants, clubs and even several authentic Irish
pubs.
First Night Raleigh has become an annual family tradition for thousands of
residents, who descend upon Fayetteville Street Mall each New Year's Eve to
watch the giant acorn drop.
Some
of Raleigh's most popular restaurants are located in the heart of downtown, from
the upscale Second
Empire – set in a historic house – to
Greenshield's Brewery, to Cooper's Barbecue, serving up sweet tea and
delicious Carolina barbecue. The Angus Barn
steak house on Highway 70 near the airport and Char Grill (hamburgers and
fries) downtown are considered local landmarks, and newer restaurants offering
savory fare of all types can be found in shopping plazas throughout North
Raleigh.
Entertainment options range from an evening at Charlie Goodnight's Comedy Club, which draws top-name acts from around the country, to live jazz concerts at Cappers in North Hills Plaza. Country enthusiasts can two-step on down to the Long Branch off Wake Forest Road for live entertainment and dancing. And theater patrons shouldn't miss the annual production of Theatre in the Park's "A Christmas Carol," a comedic interpretation of the Dickens classic that has become a Raleigh holiday tradition.
The 20,000-seat
RBC Center, which is the new home for
N.C. State basketball and the
National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, has created a lot of
excitement in Raleigh. Downtown, two additions next to the stately Memorial
Auditorium have completed the BTI
Center for the Performing Arts complex. The
Exploris Global Experience Center, a $40
million museum, uses interactive displays to explore other cultures – including
an exhibit of a portion of the Berlin Wall. And the
N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences is
in its gleaming new high-rise building, with looming dinosaur replicas peering
out from a huge dinosaur dome visible from the street below.
You'll find plenty of comfortable
neighborhoods in Raleigh. The Cotton Mill, located downtown off Capital
Boulevard, is one of the hippest places to live, thanks to a renovation that
turned this 130-year-old textile factory into 50 condominiums. Other condos and
townhomes followed, including Park Devereux, 510 Glenwood and Governor's Square.
More condominiums are located near the
lively collection of shops and restaurants known as City Market. Within walking
distance are Moore Square (where the city's symbol, the giant acorn, resides)
and the Moore Square Art District, where local artisans design and showcase
their work at Artspace.
Historic Oakwood, Raleigh's prized
19th-century neighborhood, is within walking distance of downtown. Beautifully
renovated
gingerbread
Victorian homes in rainbow colors line the picturesque neighborhood's streets.
The neighborhood is close-knit, with a strong association that conducts a
popular Christmas tour of homes each year.
Historic Mordecai is within walking distance
of the state government complex and Peace College. With its turn-of-the century
bungalows, Mordecai may be the only place to find an older home at a bargain
price.
The completion of a highway beltline (I-440)
around Raleigh in the 1980s brought a new term for the city's residents when
describing where they lived: inside the beltline, otherwise known as Old
Raleigh. The area offers a central location, neighborhoods with sidewalks and
less traffic, and distinctive older homes with the charm of a bygone era.
Boylan Heights boasts late 19th-century and
early 20th-century large homes of diverse architectural styles. An added plus:
The neighborhood is close to the State Farmers Market, where you can buy fresh
fruits, vegetables and even seafood.
If you travel north on Glenwood Avenue from
Hillsborough Street, you'll pass some of the most exciting development going on
in the city. Here, old houses are being transformed into specialty shops,
restaurants and antique stores. The neighborhood closest to all the action is
Glenwood/Brooklyn, a merging of two turn-of-the-20th-century suburbs.
The area includes homes that range from tiny bungalows to spacious two-story
colonials.
As
you travel farther north, you'll reach the popular area known as Five Points, a
neighborhood with an eclectic village feel. The Five Points neighborhood
surrounds a five-way intersection. It's an adorable neighborhood with
exquisitely renovated homes in many diverse styles and sizes. Visit the Third
Place coffee shop for the latest in lattes, or savor an old-fashioned cherry
Coke at the Hayes Barton Grill. The Rialto is a favorite for independent films
and hosts film festivals and live concerts.
Five Points is beside the venerable Hayes
Barton neighborhood, named after Sir Walter Raleigh's home in England. Developed
in the late 1920s and '30s, this area is home to Jesse Helms, North Carolina's
former but longtime U.S. Senator, and many of Raleigh's older, established
families. The architectural styles vary from stone manors to brick colonials.
As you continue northwest on Glenwood
Avenue, the homes are newer. The Country Club Hills neighborhood, developed
mostly during the 1950s, surrounds the prestigious Carolina Country Club. If you
follow Glenwood northwest until you travel outside the beltline, you'll pass by
Crabtree Valley Mall and enter the fast-growing suburban territory known as
North Raleigh. On Leadmine Road, only a quarter-mile past Crabtree Valley, is a
new community called
Inman Park, which offers everything from estate homes to townhomes in a
series of adjacent neighborhoods. Brookhaven, an older subdivision off Glenwood
with large lots and many trees, used to be considered far outside the city
limits, but now growth surrounds it.
The area that is considered true North
Raleigh begins near Six Forks Road and is bounded by Capital Boulevard (U.S. 1)
to the east and Falls Lake to the north. The North Ridge neighborhood off Falls
of the Neuse Road is one of the premier neighborhoods here.
As you go farther into North Raleigh, you'll
be amazed by the numerous subdivisions from which you can choose a new home.
Wakefield Plantation, 2,200 acres of various communities, is located in
North Raleigh near the town of Wake Forest. Some of the larger and more popular
North Raleigh neighborhoods include Stonebridge and Stone Creek off Six Forks
Road; Stonehenge and Wood Valley off Creedmoor Road; Bent Tree near Strickland
Road; and CrossGate, Durant Trails, Falls Village and Alyson Pond off Durant
Road.
East Raleigh, stretching from Capital
Boulevard near the I-440 beltline to New Hope Road, showcases many older homes
in neighborhoods such as Hedingham. Most of East Raleigh's new development is
occurring around Buffalo and New Hope roads, and many real estate agents say
this area – between U.S. 1 North and U.S. 64 East – will give you the best deal
for your buck when looking for newer homes.
West Raleigh is the area near Hillsborough
Street and Western Boulevard and home to N.C.
State University and the crown jewel of the city parks, Pullen Park, which
houses the 1911 restored (and operational) carousel. There's a wide price range
in neighborhoods such as those off Avent Ferry Road near Lake Johnson or farther
out off Blue Ridge Road. Cameron Park, another early 20th-century neighborhood
with many large two-story homes with front porches and gardens, is near the
university. Within walking distance is
Cameron Village, one of the
nation's oldest outdoor "malls," with six blocks of shopping paradise for those
with a taste for antiques and boutiques.
Areas along U.S. 401 South toward Garner and U.S. 50 toward Wake Forest are gaining more popularity due primarily to the availability of more affordable housing. The Lake Wheeler-Penny Road area in southern Raleigh also is popular because of larger lots, a country atmosphere and easy access to both downtown Raleigh and Cary.