Is THIS Really The Best Place To Live In The Country??

Why does everyone say this small North Carolina town is so amazing? Let's find out.

With the cost of living so high in major US cities and crime numbers going up, Americans are looking for better, cheaper, safer places to live. And with this whole new work from home concept being a thing - the question of moving for many of us isn’t WHY NOT anymore. It’s WHERE.

I spend a lot of time talking about what’s wrong with the country and point out the many problems in many of our major cities. But let’s look at a place that seems to be doing everything right to see what we can learn.

You can look at different lists online and there’s going to be a wide variety of opinions on where the best place to live is. Some lists look at affordability, some look at crime. Some look at everything to try and create a list with some reliability.

For the past 5 years, the small town of Morrisville, North Carolina kept showing up on these lists. Sure, Morriville is a really safe place that’s new and where you wouldn’t EVER see a bum or a tent downtown, and where a murder happens once every 20 years. But to me, it was puzzling. Is this place THAT great? If so, what makes it so? So I went there to find out.

It was a very pleasant day for a drive. The skies were bright blue and it was a chilly 53 degrees in late February of 2022.

Could this place be that great
There’s nothing here.

The town of Morrisville has just about 33,000 now people within it’s oddly shaped borders. But there are families moving here every day. The town has doubled in population since 2007. As you can see on this chart, Morrisville only had 1,000 people in 1990. And look at the growth rate since.

Morrisville shares a border with many other desirable communities in the greater Raleigh metro area - places like Cary and Apex that ALSO come up on lists of amazing places to move to. This whole area here on the western side of Raleigh is growing fast because there’s lots of room. Tech companies are spilling in, and brand new schools are opening up. Because it’s new and modern and still UNRUINED by Americans, people find it to be a breath of fresh air.

Most of Morrisville, though, isn't very interesting. In fact, it’s not interesting at all. It’s mile after mile of jam packed housing developments and nice, neat windy roads. The neighborhoods are all very pleasant and clean. To be honest, I saw more people walking around Morrisville than I do in MOST places I visit. But it’s very vanilla. It’s all very sterile.

Is THIS what America wants? Perhaps. If you live in a state that’s trashed and overwhelmed with police sirens, this would seem very welcoming, I suppose. I mean MORRISVILLE is proud of Morrisville. There’s banners hanging up along the byways and throughways all over the place.

The average house here in Morrisville has gone up a lot - it’s all the way up to $470,000. Many of the homes we’ll see on the drive certainly aren’t very large, nor is there a lot of land. But since the average household income is well over $100,000, the cost of a home is fairly affordable for the people who live here.

Being at the center of a technology and academic crossroads means a diverse international community. About 25% of the people moving here came from other countries. It’s about 54% white, and 28% Asian. Half of the community is between 25 and 45 years old, and more than half of the households are married couples with kids.

There’s a technology center here, which is one main reason so many people want to live in Morrisville. Microsoft has a presence here as do Oracle, IBM and Cisco. There are also several biotechnology companies here as well. Look at the list of tech companies who make Morrisville their home. Remember there are only 33,000 people here.

Why is Morrisville ranked so highly? The school system is ranked 29th in the state - not eye opening, but very good. I’d be willing to bet the kids rarely sass their teachers, and I doubt there are armed security guards and metal detectors here.

Morrisville has been called the best place in the state, the best suburb in the state, the best suburb to raise a family in the state. The job growth here is 3% a year, and the future job growth is expected to be 45% over the next ten years. Less than 3% of the people who live here are unemployed.

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[sapphireblue]

The best place to live is where you can have a huge vegetable garden, fruit trees, a well, and the freedom to live. Other than that, the people you surround yourself with makes a huge difference.

[JonathanHerz]

This is what those California neighborhoods looked like a generation ago.

[SuperBararo]

It's so weird watching this as a Europeans. You mentioned you see more people walking there than in most places but to me it looks practically deserted. There are more parked cars in sight than people! When I had a chance to visit the US earlier this year I noticed that the normal neighborhood streets are so devoid of life and if there is any it is often shady people. While if this type of development were in Europe you would have children playing outside or cycling to their friends/sports practice; people walking dogs; people tending to their gardens or just relaxing outside. Is everyone just locked inside and afraid of others?

[oldguy]

To each his own - but the place looks like an HOA Hell to me.

[waterhead]

Morrisville doesn't have a downtown. It's basically a cul de sac as a town

[brucerobertson]

I live right next door to this bland suburban town. It is mostly filled with Indian Tech workers and is unlike the other suburbs of Raleigh due to its unique demographics.

20 years ago it was filled with beautiful forests and now it is mostly treeless tract home neighborhoods. They cut millions of trees down and replaced them with small lot subdivisions of identical homes. Another bad thing about it is the constant plane noise from RDU Airport.

[jsoo]

Honestly places like Morrisville exist in any metro area someone goes to, it just looks like your typical upper middle class suburban neighborhood.

[zoeazsss]

If I had $500, 000 I definitely would not buy a house here, I want land, with a view, and character, not to reach out and touch my neighbors shingles.

[james]

Once the guy started talking about getting money from the government for affordable housing, I could see the whole decline and fall of Morrisville over the next 50 years pop up.

[MC-rwbk]

It’s interesting how design impacts quality of life. The last place I lived at was designed to be walkable. I was able to walk to many amenities: restaurants, doctor, dentist, grocery store, etc. Another design feature included a small neighborhood park and outdoor cafe. I quickly made many acquaintances, friends, and even met my spouse there. That place was in stark contrast to my last home where I didn’t even know any neighbors.

[MikeHunt]

55% of the population consisting of Indians does not make this an international city. Sounds like many took advantage of the E1B Visa and don’t ever plan to go back to India.

[matttravers]

Personally, I’ll take quiet seemingly sterile suburbia any day over crowded and noisy cities.
The only thing is that these houses are too close together.
Space is therapeutic to me, but I know a lot of folks like it noisy and crowded.
To each there own.
It’s a big country and folk’s should be able to live the way they want.
The suburbs are great as long as you have good neighbors who don’t mind your business.
I’m a DIYer and I work on my cars and equipment in my driveway and some people don’t like that and that’s when I get angry.
I have NO use for neighborhoods with covenants limiting what you can do on your own property or in your own garage.
As long as you keep your place up, people should mind their P’s and q’s.

[shainewinter]

This is how I felt when I owned a place in Roseville CA. Sure, the municipalities were great, no homeless, and safe. But, there was nothing to do and everyone bitched about everything.

[aaronhow]

I would love to be able to afford Morrisville one day. It looks very clean! :) Shout out to that community for being proactive and keeping the place in a positive way. Much respect. :)

[BologneseJones]

I think the people up north forget the Carolinas are in hurricane zone..the trees provide a natural buffer..keep cutting down trees ..when and yes when the hurricane comes the houses will flood and be blown away .. overdevelopment is not good in the south

[michaelashby]

The US has so much undeveloped land and natural beauty, you can keep carving out new cities while fleeing cities falling apart. Carving out a new city from whole cloth is much easier than maintaining and rebuilding existing cities. This is particularly the case in the US (in which the government incentives new construction and makes renovation difficult to finance or get approval for).
Around the world, the civilizations with limited resources have had to figure out how to rebuild and maintain their cities. This results in greater social cohesion, cultural depth, tradition and festival life for the community. Its hard to develop any of this when people just move around as they do in the US.
This is one of the major differences between the US and other nations.

[kenhunt]

Safe, secure....and yes, sterile as you point out.
The preoccupation with crime in the States is silly. In most places if you keep your vehicle locked, free of stuff, your doors and bikes locked you have nothing to worry about.
Vehicles dominate your time. Some schools have 100+ vehicles waiting for their kids each day. Yes, I know your kids are out in the yard every day but most are on their devices.
Give me an older suburb where I can walk to get a coffee, eat at a neighborhood restaurant or walk on sidewalks. Many new suburbs in the States do not have sidewalks.
The argument over newer vs older housing is debatable too. Many suburbs are beige and the homes look the same whether you are in Cary, NC, Homdel, NJ, or Vineland, UT.
Give me a place where I have options to get around and have a true sense of place.

[michaelashby]

I'd like to see you visit other cities around the world and see what makes livable cities livable. I think it would help you see how other nations create stable, affordable, convenient cities. No place is perfect, but some places have things much more figured out.

[nicolen.]

I live in Europe but I lived in the US back in the day, looks like it has changed. In the US their Achilles heel is depending on cars for everything. For considerable distances. The issue of energy (shortage) will come up. In Europe (not countryside of course) pedestrians everywhere shopping, hanging out, or walking to the doctor's office or wherever. I cycle to work. I have everything in walking distance. Or bike (don't have a car). So different. When they won't be able to drive for multiple reasons, I wonder what's going to happen... They based their town planning a certain way, it seems they don't anticipate the end of gasoline... I'm concerned because I have family there... Thanks Nick for the tour!

[thishex]

To this councilman, the 'poor folk' who need affordable housing options are first responders and teachers lmfao!