Although I hadn’t counted on needing to leave Seattle in a hurry, I had been giving some thought to where I would go next if I ever had to pull up stakes. I had considered Austin because it was known for its technology. And Manhattan because it was... well, Manhattan . But just as I had done when I chose Denver, I again relied on Money magazine’s annual assessment of the Ten Best Cities in America. That year, Raleigh, North Carolina, was listed as number one. The description sounded tempting: the people were supposed to be pleasant and laid-back, the surrounding area rural, with mountains in the distance.