Greenways

Raleigh is a great city to live in. So says Money magazine and after being here for only a couple of months, we agree. What makes it so great? Well, there are plenty of places to go make money (jobs) and then go spend money (shops, movies, clubs, restaurants). It's still relatively warm here in winter, compared to New York, yet the seasons are more pronounced than in Florida. There are more country radio stations than hip-hop ones (something I personally am very greatful for). The schools are very good and there are several good universities in the area as well. And it's beautiful here too except for newly developed North Raleigh areas.

We knew all this even before we moved here. What we didn't know was that the Triangle in general and Raleigh in particular have a well-developed system of greenways and hiking and biking trails. In my present condition, I can't really do any biking or off-road hiking. But lucky me, I have miles and miles of nice paved greenways here! What are those? Those are trails, mostly paved and interconnected, that go through the woods, around the lakes, alongside the creeks of the residential and even some commercial neighborhoods. These are neither side-walks nor parks, but nature corridors that were left undeveloped for everyone's enjoyment.

The first greenway that we found was the Alleghany Trail. It starts at the North Hills Park with a steep decline and follows Crabtree Creek. It is tree-lined and quiet, except for a 20 or so yards of the Beltway underpass. Closer to the end of the trail, around Lassiter Mill site, there are large houses on both sides of the creek. We didn't mind those since they actually were very pretty and added to the scenery, especially around the old mill site and the Great Falls of Crabtree. This greenway also connects to several others, which we're planning on exploring in the future. But it is a very nice 2.4-mile walk/run/bike ride by itself.