Job or no job

Drawn by low costs and 'best places' lists, newcomers keep arriving; finding work isn't their primary concern

For decades, thousands of transplants have flocked to the Triangle, many lured by jobs with major employers such as IBM.

More recently, financial firms Fidelity and Credit Suisse are transferring employees from New York and Boston.

But there is an increasing portion of the newcomer population arriving first and worrying about work later.

New Yorker Rupert Bryan was a software programmer who visited this area and fell in love with the weather, the lower cost of living, the schools and the green space. After doing some research online, he and his wife, Dephine, decided to chuck it all. They moved here in June 2006.

"We both had college degrees, we had money in the bank, and I didn't want to be stuck going to where the job was," said Bryan, who switched careers and is now selling houses. "I wanted to choose my own destiny."

This region is drawing more affluent nomads, experts say. The trend is fueled partly by tax law changes and booming housing markets in other parts of the country that allow people to cash out and move where homes and taxes are cheaper. Steady job creation in a solid economy also contributes.

One big factor that wasn't a force 10 years ago is the Internet.

Web surfers searching for "best places" to live and work quickly find lists featuring Raleigh, Cary and Durham.

Forbes magazine this month crowned Raleigh as the country's top place for business and careers; Durham came in at No. 7.

Scott Schlageter began noticing the new residents about three years ago. As division president for Pulte Homes, one of the Triangle's largest home builders, he sells about four dozen houses a year to them.

"It raised our eyebrows when we saw people on applications who paid cash," Schlageter said. "Whether they read about [the area] in Money magazine or they have friends who moved here, it gets to be a kind of buzz."

While the growth benefits home builders and other businesses, it creates challenges.

Worst case, the new additions could dull the attractive quality of life that brought them here in the first place. Besides adding to the Triangle's increasingly strained roads and schools, newcomers add to the fierce competition for many jobs -- pressure that is likely to worsen.

More than 600 people inquired about one sales position at a Cingular wireless store in Raleigh last month. Though a sign on the door now reads "not hiring," the store still gets three or four inquiries a day.

Single mother Ramonda Coleman learned firsthand in 2005 that getting a job here isn't a cinch.

Living in a 960-square-foot home in Fredericksburg, Va., she wanted more room for herself and three children but couldn't afford a larger house.

Searching online, she found a 2,200-square-foot home in Angier. She had paid $133,000 for her Virginia home in 2003 and sold it for $255,000 two years later. She used the profit to make a down payment on the Angier home, priced at $149,900.

When savings ran low, she began looking for a job. "It was very scary," Coleman said.

After a nearly two-month search, she found a position monitoring inventory for Morrisville circuit board maker Catalyst.

"I prayed a lot," said Coleman, 36, now a receptionist at Catalyst and happy about the move. "I just did it because I fell in love with the house."

Although no one knows how many of the new transplants there are, everyone seems to have met someone who fills the bill.

What's indisputable is that the Triangle's population continues to soar. Last year, 42,742 people moved to the Raleigh-Cary area, which includes Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties. Durham got another 4,542 residents. The numbers are expected to increase.