Raleigh is a vibrant city with tons of things to do, but the question remains, where should you live? Here are the best places to live in Raleigh, North Carolina. We will break down the different sections of Raleigh, North Carolina. This will give you an idea of what the housing is like in an area, the shopping, restaurants, entertainment, everything. This can help you make an informed decision when figuring out where to live in Raleigh.
The first on the list is downtown Raleigh. Downtown Raleigh is dynamic, with many places to shop, lots of restaurants, it’s easy to walk around. Some of the best restaurants and bars in the city are located in downtown Raleigh. Two food halls, Transfer Co. Food Hall and Morgan Street are full of restaurants inside of these buildings. It is an opportunity to try different kinds of food. Housing in downtown Raleigh is on the expensive side. There are apartments, condos, townhomes, and detached homes. The detached homes are going to be on a smaller lot and more expensive.
Next up we have Midtown Raleigh. Midtown is between downtown Raleigh and North Raleigh. It is a mixed-use area. It includes four different shopping areas, entertainment, and dining districts – North Hills, the Five Points neighborhood, Valley District, and Crabtree Valley Mall. Crabtree is one of the largest regional malls in the Raleigh area.
In Midtown Raleigh there is also the mixed-use North Hills development. It has apartments, condos, detached homes, and lots of shopping. Also in this area, you have Wegman’s, Trader Joe’s, Costco. Single-family homes are going to be larger in size than downtown homes. You will find homes built in the 1970s, 1980s right next to brand new homes in this section of Raleigh.
The next section is West Raleigh. At the core of west Raleigh is NC State University. The State Farmer’s Market which runs seven days a week is here in West Raleigh. NC State Fairgrounds is also located here, and PNC Arena. PNC Arena is where NC State basketball and the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team play. Cameron Village, a mixed-use area that has apartments, shopping, restaurants are also in West Raleigh. The area brings people in from all over.
In West Raleigh, for housing there are apartments, condos, townhomes, and detached homes. And like downtown Raleigh and Midtown, West Raleigh has many older charming homes and brand new homes, right beside it.
Next, you have South Raleigh. South Raleigh is not known for its shopping or restaurants. In this area, you will find chain restaurants. It does have one great advantage. It has easy access to downtown Raleigh with all the shopping and restaurants. It is not official yet but there are plans underway for a professional soccer arena and entertainment district in the South Raleigh area. And if that is built, you will see increased housing and restaurants begin to pop up all over South Raleigh. Housing prices in South Raleigh tend to be a little bit less expensive than most parts of Raleigh.
Next up we have East Raleigh. We’ve also included Northeast Raleigh into this as they run together. This side of Raleigh has quite a few parks and green spaces and the Raleigh Greenway runs from one side to the other. For shopping, there are strip malls and Triangle Town Center Mall. It is at the corner of Capital Boulevard and 540. There are also a lot of restaurants in this area as well. Housing tends to be a little bit less expensive here in this area. And in fact, it draws in quite a few first-time home buyers. There’s still land to be developed in Northeast-east Raleigh. And in fact, we’re seeing a good number of townhomes pop up and still some single-family detached homes.
Last but not least, is North Raleigh. This is a very large section of Raleigh with lots of different areas inside of it. It is a suburban area, and there are a lot of things to do in the area. Umstead Park is located in North Raleigh. It is like Central Park in New York City, except it’s a lot more forested.
In North Raleigh, there is Falls Lake where one can go boating or hiking on the trails surrounding the lake. There are lots of restaurants and shopping in North Raleigh. Lafayette Village is a European theme shopping and restaurant complex. It is located at the corner of Falls of Neuse and 540. It is accessible to anybody that lives in the North Raleigh area. There are plenty of different kinds of housing in North Raleigh. For this part of Raleigh, you can find some tear-downs, but there’s also new construction.