But is it pretty?

[DogwoodFairy]

So I've researched til my brain is smoking and when I close my eyes, the Google icon flashes behind it, but I still haven't been able to determine whether Chapel Hill/Carborro are aesthetically pleasing. Is it mountainous? Valley? Flat flat flat?

I'm considering moving to the area, maybe next year, so I'll probably take a trip out to check it out before I make a final decision...I guess what I'm looking for is Eugene, Oregon on the East Coast. And with warm weather. Eugene is very diverse, crunchy, bike friendly, environmentally conscious. And super AP friendly - with the added bonus that topless isn't illegal, so NIP is so not even an issue. On any given day, you can see hippies wandering around topless at the farmers market or whatever. Which would probably be a huge sunburn liability in the south

But one of the best parts of Eugene is the trees, the greenery, and the rolling hills around it. Its beautiful - and I'm the type of person who needs trees, trees, trees! The bigger and more old growth, the better! Does Carborro have the greenery I need? Any info would be great, and I always love links to informative pictures!

TIA!

[sunanthem]

If you want green and mountains, look to WNC. The rest is pretty flat. I dont think you'll see many topless around here, though. Asheville is crunchy, and Boone is a bit, too.

[Kodachrome]

Originally Posted by Socks for Supper

what I'm looking for is Eugene, Oregon on the East Coast. And with warm weather. Eugene is very diverse, crunchy, bike friendly, environmentally conscious.

But one of the best parts of Eugene is the trees, the greenery, and the rolling hills around it. Its beautiful - and I'm the type of person who needs trees, trees, trees!

While I cannot personally answer (and won't pretend to know anything) in regard to the Carborro area -- I can give you some input being a former southern Oregon inhabitant/Eugene Saturday Market and Oregon Country Fair goer and all.

First off, WNC (Asheville, NC) strikes me to be very much like Eugene. Same vibe, look, like-minded individuals, etc... Very mountainous, and yes, green! Boone is super cute too. The coast is a good 4-6 hour drive away though. That's one downside, compared to the 2.5 drive to the very mountainous Oregon coast where we moved here from. The east coast beaches are flat and (personally find) a little drab and too commercial (condos everywhere) compared to the lovely Oregon coastal range.

Winters here are pretty mild if you're in city limits. I compare them to southern Oregon winters, which to my understanding were a little less harsh than Eugene(?) Summers here are rainy!

WNC is not as bike friendly as Eugene.

If WNC sounds interesting to you, just Google "Asheville," and it will bring up a lot of links.

Hope that helps

[pinky]

Is it possible for you to visit and see for yourself? I moved here from the midwest and then northeast (I'm in Durham) and was immediately struck by how green it is here (due in part to so many coniferous trees). It doesn't seem flat to me, but I come from Illinois, so my definition of flat is, well, a little extreme. We live in the middle of Durham, and I'm now looking out my window into the woods that are next door. I wouldn't call this a *beautiful* place to live perhaps, but there is lots of beauty just around the corner--great city and state parks, mountains and coast nearby.

Aesthetics are so subjective, it seems like you'd really need to judge for yourself.

[supervee]

My husband came to UNC from flat urban MO and said that he felt it was oppressively green. In the spring, most people think it is very beautiful. I do think it is beautiful all the time, but I was born here, then lived in all kinds of flat, urban, desert, sandy, icy places and couldn't wait to get back.

[kattykay]

except for topless people at the farmer's market, I would have thought you were describing Carrboro!

You just need to come visit, you won't be disappointed.

We are likely moving to the PNW (Seattle) later this year. I will be posting something just like this on your board

[beanma]

There are plenty of trees. I've not been to Eugene to compare, though only to Seattle in the PNW. It's not as green as Olympic Natl Park here, but the Smokies would give Olympic a run for the money. It's definitely greener than most parts of Cali that I have seen (lived in LA for a year, traveled up and down). Raleigh, which is not as green as CH/Carrboro, has the nickname of "The City of Oaks" if that helps.

CH/Carrboro and the triangle in general are in the piedmont of NC. The piedmont is a geographical/topographical(?) designation that runs through the middle of NC, SC, VA, maybe GA. It was named after the piedmont section of Italy I believe. It is characterized by gently rolling hills. I was born in the coastal plain area of NC (ancient ocean bed) and it is much sandier and flatter and lots of scraggly pine trees grow there. The soil around CH/Carrboro is pretty clayey and the forests tend to be a good mix of deciduous tree (oaks, poplar, sweetgum, etc) and pines. (NC is the "pine tree state" and "land of the long leaf pine".)

I would say this area of the state and probably NC in general is a gentler homier green than the PNW which I woud characterize as maybe more rugged, although certainly there are rugged places in the mts.

do a google image search on "Eno River" or "piedmont NC" for pictures.

No topless, though. definitely plenty of NIP, but no topless. I think Asheville might have more hippies, but the CH/Carrboro/Durham area has a lot of crunchy folks though they don't all embrace the hippie label. We do have plenty that do, though. Great food. Fantastic organic farm scene. Carrboro farmer's mkt is da bomb.

http://www.bolincreek.org/photos.shtml (small stream that runs through Carrboro/Chapel Hill)

http://daveottophotos.com/gallery.shtml (the guy who shot most of the Bolin Creek pix)

http://www.northcarolinaoutdoors.com.../er_tour1.html
(Eno River photo tour, home to the fab Ebo River Festival)

http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...-carolina.html (thread with photos of old barns and country side)

http://www.northcarolinatravels.com/carrboro/ (one guy's take on towns in NC. I like his perspective. He's got photos, too, if you nose around a bit. It's a few years out of date — maybe 5 — but pretty much on the money.)

hth

[beanma]

a few more photos...this is totally not my style, but there are some decent long range shots in this fancy schmancy slide show that give you an idea of the lay of the land so to speak: http://www.livesouth.com/north-carol...t-jordan-lake/ .

We're very green here, but we're not a scenery destination if you know what I mean. The mountains or the beach — folks go there for the scenery. It's pretty here, but it's not all that compared to those other two so mostly folks come here to work and eat and go to basketball games and do glbt stuff . (I read an article this week about the towns' efforts to attract more glbt tourism.) It's a good place. We're pretty diverse and crunchy and AP-friendly and environmentally minded, especially for the South. I don't really know how we would compare to Eugene. I have the impression that Eugene is pretty high up there in crunch-factor so coming from there you might not feel like CH/C is so crunchy, but if you compare us to the rest of the state...

looking at pictures of Eugene, I would say it looks more like Asheville.

[Kodachrome]

Originally Posted by beanma

I have the impression that Eugene is pretty high up there in crunch-factor

It is.

[Marimami]

I've lived or visited so many different US (and world) regions and I can say that spring in piedmont NC is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The blooming trees and bushes are nothing like I have ever seen anywhere. The red clay is startling at first, almost alien but then it makes me feel so comforted knowing how many generations of folks likely have used this clay for pottery.

I love seeing the rolling farms butted up against the forests around here. It's not flat; it's not mountainous. It's the rolling green Piedmont.

We've lived here for 5 years, and I think it's beautiful!

Holli

[beanma]

Originally Posted by Socks for Supper

But one of the best parts of Eugene is the trees, the greenery, and the rolling hills around it. Its beautiful - and I'm the type of person who needs trees, trees, trees! The bigger and more old growth, the better! Does Carborro have the greenery I need?

Socks, I keep coming back to this. I think you're in Maine? I don't know about up there, but here in the South, basically if you don't mow it, farm it, pave it, etc, you'll end up with a forest. The land wants to go back to the vast eastern forest that was here before the land was settled by Europeans — where a squirrel could go from the coast to the Mississippi River w/o ever touching the ground. Chapel Hill and Carrboro love their trees. My yard is all trees, no grass. There are a lot of yards like that here.

When I look at pictures of Eugene, though, I'm not seeing "rolling hills". I'm seeing mountains — not the Rockies, but mts nonetheless. We don't have those here, but do about 3 hrs away. The land here is more gentle, but still pretty IMHO.

[sunanthem]

I also wanted to say that Brevard is a great little town also. Only about 25 mins. to asheville, and they are very bike friendly, they have a bike path throughout the town, and its also right next to the Pisgah Nat.l Forest, so lot so hiking, rafting, etc.
Very green and nice.

[threeinnc]

C,
Come stay with me and see for yourself! :-)
~R