OH! I'm so glad someone asked! I live in Raleigh, actually! HaHa. I was born and raised here. My parents were also raised here. Believe it or not, there ARE Raleigh natives still around, they're just hard to come by. Other than that, most people are Yankee transplants.
The cost of living, like someone above me stated, is a tad pricey. The average house in my neighborhood is around $500,000. But other than that, it's a very safe place to live, hardly any crime.
We HARDLY EVER get snow- for the person who asked. HaHa Whether that should be a good thing to you or not, we haven't seen a REAL snowfall {flurries don't count} in a good several years.
It's an ideal place to live because you can live in a suburb and still be close enough to work in the city.
It's family oriented, we're BIG on hospitality. Over the years the place has seemed to become a bit impersonal, as do most affluent high populated cities eventually. Believe it or not, but when my mother grew up here, it was a fairly small town, maybe 50,000ish people in the 60's and 70's, and people actually GREW UP with their neighbors and stayed in the same place!! *Gasp* Imagine THAT. HaHa
So yeah, Raleigh's great. =] I guess you could say I'm a true native. lol What kinda job are you pursuing in Raleigh?