Ugh. I do NOT miss commuting into RTP. What counts as a 1 hour drive these days? Dating myself, but I remember co-workers at Nortel commuting into RTP from well east of Raleigh . . . that was awful even years ago when Nortel still existed.
Know much about folks buying that far out these days? I mean, I hear apocryphal stories about Apple/Google engineers buying up houses unseen in the immediate RTP area but I am not entirely sure I believe those.
We were house shopping 5 years ago this month a lost a couple potential houses to unseen offers hours after going on the market. Most recently I have seen neighbors buying for 10% or more over asking.
I am in Burlington and everything from Mebane toward RTP has just been crazy prices and moving crazy fast. I am very glad I got in when I did. I worked in Chapel Hill for a couple years and could commute on the back roads but going in to Cary or RTP would be at least an hour for me.
I am glad big tech is growing in the area but the home prices have been bonkers.