Things for young people to do in Raleigh North Carolina (NC)?

Question

So my girlfriend and I may be moving to Raleigh, but I don't know much about the area. We are both in our 20's, vegans, we are heavily modified (have lots of piercings/tattoos, as you can see if you look at my photos), are into art and music, and I am a writer.

So what is there to do in Raleigh? What kind of music/art scene is there? What is there to do at night? And perhaphs most importantly is it easy for people with lots of piercings to get jobs?

Thanks guys,

-Randy

Answer 1

ive been here since 1996 and there is basically nothing here...very quite, and boring...there is essentially no "downtown" life....a few muesuems, a few places to eat...but really nothing..raleigh is known for "being 2 hours from the beach and 2 hours from the mountains"...but nothing in raleigh...

not sure what kind of jobs ur looking for....but i think ppl in raleigh are quick to judge..im from NY originally and i was judged by my accent, my "NY attitude" etc.....

dont get me wrong, i like it here, but im in my 40s, my 20 year old daughter is bored out of her mind...

Answer 2

Basically, you'll wanna stay in and around Downtown for much of anything to do.  A good number of small bars with live music, depending on your tastes.  Plus art galleries, nightclubs, restaurants, museums, theatres, etc.  (And of course the nearby cities of Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro add even more to do.)

Here are some great websites that list local venues for music, entertainment, art and so forth.  They'll give you a good feel for the area:

indyweek.com

zspotlight.com

downtownraleigh.com

downtownraleigh.org

newraleigh.com

ginnyfromtheblog.com

rduwtf.com

For vegan and vegetarian food, I can think of a few Raleigh places you'll want to check out.  The first big one would be Irregardless Cafe on West Morgan Street.  (They usually have at least 2 vegan entree's daily, not including salads.)   Third Place Coffeehouse would also be worth checking out...they're on Glenwood Ave in the Five Points neighborhood.  And there's plenty of ethnic options that offer meatless food as well, like Thai and Indian.

And of course we have a Whole Foods Market for all your vegan needs, plus a Trader Joe's opening in early 2009.  State Farmer's Market just south of downtown is also a great place for veggies to check out.

For your final question about people with lots of piercings to get jobs, it's probably not much different here than elsewhere.  Obviously many white collar jobs that depend on appearance & presentation will be hard to get, but that's not unique to Raleigh.  You'll have to search as much as anywhere else.