When I was a student and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, there were two things that were as constant as the sunrise: great basketball and jaywalking. It was pretty much a given that the crosswalks and walk/don't walk lights (with the little beepy things for the blind) were there more as suggestions than as absolute rules. People boldly stepped into traffic serene in the knowledge that hey, we're students, this is the shortest path between me and beer, so you can just slow down and enjoy the day, mmm'kay?
Those days are no more. According to this article at newsobserver.com , Chapel Hill Police have started cracking down on jaywalkers. They're issuing tickets with fines of 110 bucks plus $25.00 court costs, which seems awful steep for students. "It's a crackerjack cop giving me a crackerjack ticket for a crackerjack offense," one student fumed as he was ticketed in front of reporters. (Someone really needs to tell that kid the colloquial meaning of "crackerjack". I blame No Child Left Behind for this lapse in education).
The erosion of our civil liberties continues....
9 comments:
That comes from having a crackerjack education, Dusty.
Hey! I'm walking here! I'm walking here!
Hey, Dusty, I know you don't really know me, but I thought I'd pass on the good news here (as you and David are both in the vicinity). My wife got offered an assistant WPA position in the English Department at NC State! We're gonna be moving to Raleigh this summer (right after Thriller Fest, I think).
We've begun lookin' houses in the 27606 and 27607 zip code areas, though I'm interested to see what's out toward Apex.
Any other places you guys would recommend?
Stacey
Stacey,
If you value your soul, do not move to Cary. Or northern Raleigh. Really. I mean this.
Cary has legislated itslef into concentric rings of traffic packed roads that roll by endless blocks of beige shopping strips, shopping malls, shopping centers and shopping emporia. Every time I go to Cary I get lost because everything looks the same.
Northern Raleigh is only slightly better with the color scheme varying between off-white, cream, beige and taupe.
Apex is better, but quickly becoming one huge development. Think Long Island without the culture.
If you can afford it, get a house inside the beltline. Old neighborhoods, many nice bungalows, the downtown actually has real life after dark.
Of all the places to live, I prefer Durham. It has just enough of an unsavory reputation that it keeps the yuppie scum confined to Cary.
And welcome to NC. When's the move? If you hurry you can get to attend one of Dusty's many personal appearances.
Hey Dave,
I actually typed "I'd like to avoid Cary at all costs" but deleted it for fear of upsetting anyone reading this blog from Cary:)
I'm serious.
I grew up in Raleigh, about a mile from NC State in fact, off of Western Blvd. Is it hugely weird that I moved to Arizona, met and married, and now my wife has gotten hired at NC State and I'm gonna be moving back there (she's never lived in NC)?
Well, as one famous southerner said: Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know just what you're gonna get.
Stacey
People in Cary don't read blogs.
People in Cary have blogs read to them while they're waiting for their nails to dry.
And those are the men.
(Tried to post this reply earlier but damn Blogger froze up on me)
I concur with David re: the soul-sucking beige hole of blandness that is Cary. The only good thing about that place is you can buy stuff there.
Durham's unsavory reputation is not wholly undeserved...but there are some nice older neighbrohoods there and there's Ninth Street, which has taken over as the coolest street in North Carolina since Chapel Hill's Franklin Street went all Gap-py.
Raleigh inside the Beltline is as David describes it...beautiful old homes, hellishly expensive.
Some very good friends of mine live in Wake Forest and love it. Reasonable prices (this is changing as North Raleigh approaches) and good schools.
My aunt and uncle live in Apex...all I know of it is their neighborhood which seems nice. And there's some pretty ocuntryside right nearby, as well as Jordan Lake.
Since U.S. #1 was four-laned all the way from Southern Pines to Raleigh, s surprising number of people are choosing to live in Moore County (where I'm from) and commute. It's a fast 40 to 60 minute drive depending on where in Raleigh you're going. This is apparently not an onerous commute to people from up Nawth. You have to put up with an awful lot of Republicans, though.
Congrats on the new job and y'all come!
Then there's Chapel Hill.
Jeanne
Yeah, Jeanne, but his wife is teaching at State. I think there's like a town ordinance against it or something.
But if I'm wrong:
The upside of Chapel Hill: Great libraries, great schools, great music, and great basketball. Some charming older neighborhoods.
The downside: everyone looks like they're thirteen and there's no place to park. And those charming older neighborhoods are godawful expensive.
Jeanne,
Dusty's right. It's a hassle to have to change out of your red clothes into Carolina blue at the Chapel Hill border.
Whenever I visit the village, I have to stop and wash the Blue Devil stank off my car before I cross the town line.
A boy can get hurt otherwise.
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