The "hurricanes in Raleigh" person sounds like someone who hasn't lived in Raleigh. Extensive rain, sure. Occasionally in a projected hurricane path and needing to prep ... okay. But actual hurricanes? Not very frequent at all.

Natural disaster wise you're more likely to have:
Ice storms - may shut off your power, depending on where you live (lines being buried underground helps a lot with this issue but doesn't completely resolve it)

Freezing rain/snow/ice/cold event - roads in NC are designed for extreme heat and not cold, which makes sense. They become dangerously icy and school is canceled if this is a concern.

Extreme heat and humidity - be careful when jogging, hiking, or even attending a soccer game or swim meet in the heat of summer. Know the signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration.

Also, bugs in the south are no joke. Most people have a contract with an exterminator to spray 2x a year. Learn to identify copperhead snakes, too.

Anonymous wrote:Pittsburgh is the past. Raleigh is the future. It's that simple. Go to where the growth is. If because you'll find way more people who moved there for professional opportunities and open to welcoming new friends while Pittsburgh is a closed market where everyone sticks to their high school friends.

I do like Pittsburgh and architecturally it's great, but North Carolina is a no brainer for me. You're also closer to the coast and the beaches.

OMG. PP, it’s not 2000 anymore. Pittsburgh is one of the fastest growing, best cities for young people. If you want a suburban wasteland, go to Raleigh-Durham. If you value culture, great food, history and a fun vibe, Pittsburgh for sure.

OP, have you visited both?

No question RDU!

Weather alone would be the reason to not choose PIT.

Pittsburgh has the least amount of sunny days of any major American city. If you need the sun or suffer from SAD, don’t move to PGH.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a heads up, UNC-CH and NCSU instate tuition are only $9k/year.

Pitt and Penn State instate tuition are $20k, and Temple is $17k. One of the PA public universities, West Chester (where I went), is about $10.5K/year, but it is in no way comparable to UNC or NCSU.

When I say tuition, I am not including room & board.

Good luck getting into UNC-CH or NCSU, however. It is nearly impossible, especially if you are coming from a Wake County school

Why?

Competition. UNC Wilmington, App State are also very difficult to get into. They could pretty much fill the entire campus with kids from the RDU and Charlotte area, so in these areas, they only take the absolute best. You have an easier chance if you are coming from a more rural area.

You'll get hurricanes in NC but winters in Pittsburgh are far worse. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and I'd personally choose NC.

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Pittsburgh for a significant number of years and would only go back with an HHI of $1M+ so I could afford to travel away from it on a regular basis. It is the most mediocre place I ever lived and the people are rude. I live in a large northeast city now and folks are actually kinder than in Pittsburgh. Making friends? Forget about it. Everyone has their own narrow group with no openings for newbies. Pittsburgh’s food scene is also kind of sad but everyone big ups it because what else can you do? Also, racism. So much racism. Drive one hour out of the city and you’ll see confederate flags.

As someone who recently moved to Raleigh, the irony is that you could substitute Raleigh in this whole paragraph and it would still be accurate. I cannot leave but prefer the Charlotte area. Much closer to the mountain towns which are awesome and still similar distance to some beaches.

My vote would be Pittsburgh, but I don't mind winter weather. It's also not THAT bad in winter. Yes it's cold and has moderate snowfall, not a lot of sun, etc. but it's not like Wisconsin/Minnesota/North Dakota level winters.

Also, I kind of hate summer and humidity, so weather would actually put North Carolina in the con column for me.

I can't claim to know much about Raleigh-Durham specifically, but in the present political reality, I have zero interest in living in a 100% red state.

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Pittsburgh for a significant number of years and would only go back with an HHI of $1M+ so I could afford to travel away from it on a regular basis. It is the most mediocre place I ever lived and the people are rude. I live in a large northeast city now and folks are actually kinder than in Pittsburgh. Making friends? Forget about it. Everyone has their own narrow group with no openings for newbies. Pittsburgh’s food scene is also kind of sad but everyone big ups it because what else can you do? Also, racism. So much racism. Drive one hour out of the city and you’ll see confederate flags.

This may literally be the first time I've ever heard anyone say this about Pittsburgh. My experience is that they are almost comically nice, at least compared to DC and east coast cities. And not even Midwest Nice. Like, actual nice. Maybe it was you?

I lived in Pittsburgh for a significant number of years and would only go back with an HHI of $1M+ so I could afford to travel away from it on a regular basis. It is the most mediocre place I ever lived and the people are rude. I live in a large northeast city now and folks are actually kinder than in Pittsburgh. Making friends? Forget about it. Everyone has their own narrow group with no openings for newbies. Pittsburgh’s food scene is also kind of sad but everyone big ups it because what else can you do? Also, racism. So much racism. Drive one hour out of the city and you’ll see confederate flags.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Raleigh Durham. Cleaner, newer, warmer. More job opportunities. Better educated population. More nature.

Why do you think Raleigh’s population is better educated?

More Indians

However Pittsburgh has a much more established Hindu temple that people travel all across North America to visit so doesn’t that mean Pittsburgh also has lots of Indians?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a heads up, UNC-CH and NCSU instate tuition are only $9k/year.

Pitt and Penn State instate tuition are $20k, and Temple is $17k. One of the PA public universities, West Chester (where I went), is about $10.5K/year, but it is in no way comparable to UNC or NCSU.

When I say tuition, I am not including room & board.

Good luck getting into UNC-CH or NCSU, however. It is nearly impossible, especially if you are coming from a Wake County school

Why?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in the Triangle for ten years (Chapel Hill-Carrboro). Loved the area where we lived. I remember feeling very happy we didn't live in Raleigh-Cary because of the school busing situation. Kids being bussed miles across town for schooling. It made zero sense. Durham is more gritty (or was) but had an up-and-coming downtown core. I always got lost driving in downtown Durham, though. Got all turned around. Anyway, I did enjoy our time there. Late July-first few weeks of August are hell's front porch, though. I called it my winter because just going outside was uncomfortable and I took three quick showers every day just to rise the sweat off (I worked at home). But the rest of the year is great, weather-wise.

It’s so that schools don’t become super economically & racially segregated/to avoid having concentrated poverty in particular schools.

And also they are bussed to Magnet schools. You always have the option to go to you home base school. You sign up for a magnet school knowing it will probably be further away from your house.

Anonymous wrote:Just a heads up, UNC-CH and NCSU instate tuition are only $9k/year.

Pitt and Penn State instate tuition are $20k, and Temple is $17k. One of the PA public universities, West Chester (where I went), is about $10.5K/year, but it is in no way comparable to UNC or NCSU.

When I say tuition, I am not including room & board.

Good luck getting into UNC-CH or NCSU, however. It is nearly impossible, especially if you are coming from a Wake County school