Best Cities 2006 Money Mag.

[Tayfromcarolina 0]

Actually one town and one city. Raleigh, NC comes in # 4 in the ten biggest cities.

And Cary, NC comes in # 5 in the 100 best towns.

Gotta love NC. And need to go back and do some research but both of these cities have been in the top tier for quite a while on numerous studies. Oh well, bring on the northern transplants.

[AuLukey 684]

Actually one town and one city. Raleigh, NC comes in # 4 in the ten biggest cities.

Which is exactly why it has such a dense CBD sprawling upwards for near a thousand feet... wait... wrong city. just kidding.

It's interesting to see both cities showed up that high but not Durham. I don't have a copy handy, what exactly were the criteria? Also, when you say the ten biggest cities, out of what? Are you saying it is the fourth largest city of the top 100 that made the list or the fourth highest score out of the nation's largest cities? The latter would be very impressive.

Hopefully other cities can learn by their example.

[Cybear 0]

Which is exactly why it has such a dense CBD sprawling upwards for near a thousand feet... wait... wrong city. just kidding.

It's interesting to see both cities showed up that high but not Durham. I don't have a copy handy, what exactly were the criteria? Also, when you say the ten biggest cities, out of what? Are you saying it is the fourth largest city of the top 100 that made the list or the fourth highest score out of the nation's largest cities? The latter would be very impressive.

Hopefully other cities can learn by their example.

I have to echo these sentiments. What are the criteria? Does sprawl cost points? Does permanent dependence upon legislative appropriation of adequate tax dollars to pay state employees in order to support the local economy factor in? How about transportation infrastructure or lack thereof?

Don't get me wrong, I am a native of the Triangle and revel in its success, but Cary???

[voyager12 1]

Does Cary bribe the editors of all these magazine lists? I don't get it. They are always tops or near it. Cary is certainly quite pleasantville but its also quite sprawling and overpriced. Its hardly a model for sustainable development unlike cities and towns such as Durham, Chape Hill/Carrboro and Asheville, places that are making a concerted effort to be eco-friendly.

[AuLukey 684]

Does Cary bribe the editors of all these magazine lists? I don't get it. They are always tops or near it. Cary is certainly quite pleasantville but its also quite sprawling and overpriced. Its hardly a model for sustainable development unlike cities and towns such as Durham, Chape Hill/Carrboro and Asheville, places that are making a concerted effort to be eco-friendly.

After reading your post, I realized why. Key words: sprawl and overpriced.

This was Money Magazine after all.

[suburban george3 1]

Does Cary bribe the editors of all these magazine lists? I don't get it. They are always tops or near it. Cary is certainly quite pleasantville but its also quite sprawling and overpriced.

I know I'm going to get negative feedback for this, but I can't stand Cary. Cities like Cary have absolutely no soul or feel about them. They just exist for people to sleep in at night. While Raleigh is very deserving of this accolade, I can't support Cary's choice. Cary must budget money to bribe these magazine editors!

[MR-2 0]

Some magazines like sterile suburbs near lots of universities and corporate HQs. Cary fits the bill for that.

I think they should just go by metropolitan area, because generally the benefits of one city are the same as the others in a metropolis, and singling out members of them is highly subjective.

[waynehead 0]

I think these sort of surveys are very traditional family oriented, so things like good schools and safety play a big part. Cary is bizzarely safe and all the rich kids do well in school...but I agree with those who say it lacks soul...give me the grittier Durham over Cary any day of the week.

[peaceloveunderstanding 0]

I know I'm going to get negative feedback for this, but I can't stand Cary. Cities like Cary have absolutely no soul or feel about them. They just exist for people to sleep in at night. While Raleigh is very deserving of this accolade, I can't support Cary's choice. Cary must budget money to bribe these magazine editors!

Well, Cary has good schools, a very low crime rate for its size, a highly educated population, no riffraff, high average incomes, and a well kept appearance.

That doesn't sound too bad to many people.

[Durhamite 64]

Isn't it funny how most people on/any urban development board B*itch about sprawl, but would go to the grave denying that they live in it. Values and all this BS about how great GRIT is changes when you have kids and quality of life becomes first consideration.

What amazes me about the term GRIT from this board and and a lot of the others is that, most people want it, but who the hell wants to live in it? Yea, take pictures and be PROUD, MY town has GRIT.....Live it and then see how much you enjoy it.

Give me Cary over you so called GRIT.

[sax184 1]

Well, Cary has good schools, a very low crime rate for its size, a highly educated population, no riffraff, high average incomes, and a well kept appearance.

You misspelled "intentionally exclusive development practices."

[AuLukey 684]

You misspelled "intentionally exclusive development practices."

[DCMetroRaleigh 99]

Well, Cary has good schools, a very low crime rate for its size, a highly educated population, no riffraff, high average incomes, and a well kept appearance.

An early contender for the quote of the year.

[voyager12 1]

I live in a rundown apt ( I prefer shabby chic) in Charlotte that is centrally located in the city and walkable. Different kinds of people go by my door every day. Give me grit and/or diversity any day over the sterile homogeneity that is the controlled area for yankee containment any day. And this gay man never ever wants kids. So I really don't want to move to Cary!

er, controlled area for relocated yankees that is!

[suburban george3 1]

Isn't it funny how most people on/any urban development board B*itch about sprawl, but would go to the grave denying that they live in it. Values and all this BS about how great GRIT is changes when you have kids and quality of life becomes first consideration.

What amazes me about the term GRIT from this board and and a lot of the others is that, most people want it, but who the hell wants to live in it? Yea, take pictures and be PROUD, MY town has GRIT.....Live it and then see how much you enjoy it.

Give me Cary over you so called GRIT.

I'll admit that I live in sprawl... most people in the south live in sprawl. However, IMO, Cary has taken development almost to a point of sterility. While the neighborhoods there have McMansions galore with manicured lawns, the boulevards are heavily landscaped in the median, and business signs are small and so close to the ground you can't see them; the city still has no Soul, Grit, whatever you want to call it. Cary is just a bedroom community that has boomed thanks to the cities around it. Lots of people and families may want to live in a "utopian" piece of America such as this, but not me.

[triadcat 0]

er, controlled area for relocated yankees that is!

I've always heard it called: "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees"

[Damien 0]

I've also heard it referred to as Cant Afford Raleigh Yet

[JDC 0]

The thing about Cary, I've come to realize, is that it's exactly what Yankees who have previously lived in so-called "gritty" neighborhoods want. It's really the polar opposite of the cities and towns a lot of northerners want to escape.

A friend of my grandmother's who grew up in South Boston (as gritty as neighborhoods get) moved to Cary 40 years ago and hasn't looked back. She and her husband (also from the same Boston neighborhood) talk about how perfect it is and how it's really the only place in the Triangle worth living (besides North Raleigh). And on top of that, they blasted Durham, saying how they don't go there because it's "so dangerous."

Cary, in my humble relocated Yankee opinion, is poor planning run wild, impossible to navigate streets (er, "roads"), and an incubator of a contagious disease whose symptoms include dependence on the automobile and the belief that if you set foot inside the Durham city limits, you will be raped, mugged, strangled and killed.

I'd like to see an article about the best places to live, work and play, not the best places to hang your hat, park your Hummer and ignore your neighbors.

But that's just me.

[Miesian Corners 787]

What's not to love about Cary? Blue awnings on strip shopping centers (including out buildings) are the wave of the future and make everyone feel better about life.

Ugh! What still drives me crazy is that Cary has a population of over 100K, yet it calls itself a "town". PUHLEEEZEEE!