Raleigh: A Magnet for Young Families

“We set ourselves a goal to be in the top five hotspots for innovation and entrepreneurship in the nation,” says DeLisa Alexander, executive vice president and chief people officer for software company Red Hat. Alexander is a board member of Innovate Raleigh, a group of local business and community leaders. When it comes to ideas for developing Raleigh’s business climate, “People don’t say no,” she says. “They say yes—and how can we help.”

The area benefits from the presence of three top educational institutions: Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And there’s no shortage of culture, with more than 80 live-music venues and two fine-arts museums.

These big-city amenities come with easy access to the outdoors. The region has hundreds of miles of trails, and the Capital Area Greenway is a superhighway for bike commuting, running, and exploring. Getting out of town is also a breeze. “The beach is two hours away,” says Eklund, “and the mountains are less than three hours the other way.”

Real estate, too, remains within reach. Raleigh ranks in the top 25 of major metro areas on housing affordability, a measure of home prices relative to household income.

HOT HOOD: Raleigh’s oldest neighborhood, Mordecai (pronounced “MOR-duh-kay”), is attracting new residents, drawn by its close proximity to downtown, highly rated elementary charter school, lower- than-average crime rates, and mix of new and historic homes.