Cary, North Carolina

The hopscotch square connecting Raleigh and Durham, many families in “The Triangle” elect to call Cary home, and for good reason. Cary is home to an education hub, and not just because Duke, NC State, and UNC are right next door. Cary public and private schools are highly rated, and Cary is consistently ranked one of the safest places to live in the country. With Raleigh and Durham both within driving distance, it’ll take you a while to run out of things to do with the kids as well.

A review from a local: I've moved all over the east coast and gulf states and it's a great place for family. As other people mentioned, huge tech influx, big healthcare systems, etc. Schools are generally pretty solid for the most part, but definitely do some research (really good public schools in Chapel Hill/Carrboro).

There's tons of greenways, trails, and parks. There's a pro hockey team (meh), minor league baseball team (go Bulls), Mountains 3-4 west, beach 2-3 hours east. I know you said restaurants not really your thing but we got some pretty good ones.

People without kids might be thinking about that driving distance from Raleigh and Durham more than others. There is next to nothing in town in terms of nightlife and entertainment, although most residents in Cary are just fine with that. While a beautiful residential area and arguably one of the best in the state, it’s important to know that it is little more than a residential area before making the move. Young professionals and SINKs and DINKs will likely prefer just living in Raleigh or Durham in the first place.

A note from a younger local on the issue with Cary: This is the big one for me: Cary lacks substance and style. There's very little to interest anyone in their 20's who isn't already building a family. It's like the entire town gave up on their creative youth and accepted that they were old and had kids, so they built everything around that demographic.