Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Award Winning Best Place To Live
Alright, here we go into week number four of looking at the best places to live in the Carolinas with populations between 50,000 and 100,000 people.
We started out on the beautiful coastline of North Carolina and have slowly been working our way up into the heartland of the state, the Piedmont Region.
Before we discuss today’s best place I thought I’d give you something to chew on.
Here goes:
U.S. Conference of Mayor's Climate Protection Award in the Small Cities Category for the WISE Program (June 2011)
Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Officers Association (15 years awarded) (January 2011)
Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (26 years awarded). (May 2011)from the Government Finance Officers Association (26 years awarded). (May 2011)
#40 on Money Magazines Best 100 Places to Live in the US (2010)
Business Week “Top 10 Best Place to Raise Children” (2010)
“Most Livable City in America” (2009)
Entrepreneur Magazine “Top 10 Best Places to Start a Business” (2009)
US News and World Report “Top 15 Cities for People Who Hate Driving and Long Commutes” (2009)
American Style Magazine “Top 25 Small Cities for the Arts” (2009)
US News and World Reports “Top 10 Brainiest Places to Retire” (2008)
Okay, that’s quite a list of accolades and frankly the list of awards goes on and on for today’s best place to relocate or retire…
Chapel Hill, NC, population 52,241.
Chapel Hill is definitely a college town and the college we’re talking about it North Carolina’s premier public university, the University of North Carolina (UNC).
Historically, Chapel Hill’s fate has been intimately linked to UNC and frankly they started building the university before there even was a town.
The university gives Chapel Hill much of its distinct flavor; after all there aren’t a lot of places where half of the population has a Masters degree or higher and I couldn’t believe it … the local fire trucks are painted Tar Heel blue (UNC colors)!
Take a stroll down Chapel Hill’s main drag, Franklin Street, and you can see the diversity and vibrancy of the local community. There is a mix of young and old, love of the arts and culture.
And believe it not… even food because oddly enough Chapel Hill, NC also has an unusually high number of restaurants per capita.
With its quaint downtown and beautiful college campus surrounded by over 700 acres of park land, greenways, gardens and various protected nature reserve you may forget you’re living in what some consider a small city.
However in North Carolina, Chapel Hill is still considered a town even with a population of over 50,000.
Okay, so what are some of the other intangibles you need to know about when it comes to Chapel Hill?
A big one is that UNC is not only the largest employer in town but is one of the institutions anchoring the Raleigh, NC, Durham, NC and Chapel Hill, NC Research Triangle.
If you’ve been reading our Carolina Report you know that the Research Triangle area has attracted hundreds of cutting edge companies and thousands of workers and researchers to the area.
This definitely provides the kind of positive economic impact and stability that means good professional and career opportunities for those of you looking for work regardless of the phase of your life.
If you have a young family, college towns tend to have good public school systems and Chapel Hill-Carboro School District is one of the best in the country with the state’s highest test scores, lowest drop out rates and over 90% of high school graduates attend college.
For those with special medical care considerations or concerns, UNC has its own medical center and you are within driving distance of several other university and regional medical centers.
If you’re worried about getting out of town don’t be because Chapel Hill, NC is very close to both I-40 and I-85 and if you want to jump on a plane, the Raleigh-Durham International Airport is only 15 minutes away.
When it comes to housing, Chapel Hill is a little pricey but has something to fit every budget. You also need to be aware that property taxes in Chapel Hill are higher than the state and local average with a median property tax of around $4500 a year.
As you can imagine in any college town, not everyone is interested in buying a home. About 30% of Chapel Hill residents are renters so there are plenty of options available.
Chapel Hill is one of North Carolina’s true gems and one of my best places in the Carolina’s with a population of 50,000 to 100,000 people.
Seriously, check it out for yourself.
Well, it's that time. Gotta Go!
I'll see you next week.
Bob
For more information about Chapel Hill, NC and other NC Best Places To live or SC Best Places To Live take a few moments to browse through our website.
About Bob Bencivenga
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Bob Bencivenga is a professional site locator and location analyst for major corporations and has been researching the growth of NC and SC to find the Best Places to Retire or Relocate that are still affordable. |
| Visit his blog The Carolina Report and sign up for FREE updates by email,his FREE Affordable Best Places To Live Report and, get FREE Expert Advice on how to find Your Best Place to Retire or Relocate to in North Carolina and South Carolina, additional resources, and a lot more.
Bob does not sell real estate. |
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