<p>Just wondering, how is the traffic in Durham during rush hour? I have the earliest move in time (b/w 8 and 10 am) and I was wondering whether to stay in a hotel that is close to campus to avoid the traffic. </p>
<p>And also, can anyone recommend any good vegertarian/Thai restaurants in Durham, in a safe neighborhood?</p>
<p>Thanks again</p>
<p>How bad traffic is depends on where you plan to stay before move in. The further out you stay - yes there is traffic on the freeway system in the morning. There are live feeds of the traffic in Durham and you can search for them with the terms: durham, north carolina+traffic.</p>
<p>Again for restaurants I would check citysearch and tripadvisor. Twisted Noodles has some good reviews. A search using Durham, North Carolina+Thai shows seven Thai restaurants with three having over 50 reviews. As far as safe - just be aware of your surroundings - I never had an issue at any restaurant in Durham except with credit card skimming.</p>
<p>I assume you are an incoming freshman? If so, there is a great deal of help for move in. Just don’t expect the same type of service on West Campus! You will be met by a group who will whisk everything out of your car to your room. I would tape a piece of paper on your boxes, luggage, etc. with your room number. You are then expected to move your car immediately. So, take a look at the parking maps before move in and the surrounding street area (as many parking lot entrances may be blocked by incoming cars) and plan where to park your car after it is unloaded.</p>
<p>If you need anything - Bed Bath Beyond, Costco, Kroger and Home Depot are very close - just go north on Broad Street, over the freeway (I-85) and take the first right on N Pointe Drive. Check out the shops on Google Maps.</p>
<p>Traffic during the evening rush hour sucks, particularly on Interstate 40. I don’t imagine that you’d have too much of a problem between 8 and 10 am, but that is way earlier than I usually get up so I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Not sure about the restaurants, but there is a PF Chang’s at Southpoint which is only a few minutes away. I could recommend a couple of Thai restaurants to you in Chapel Hill if you are willing to drive the extra 10 minutes though.</p>
<p>Thai Palace and Twisted noodle are the closest and both excellent local Thai restaurants. Bali Hai is an excellent Mongolian grill on 9th street and inexpensive . Check out Bahn’s on 9th street for excellent and inexpensive Vietnamese food. All the other 9th street restaurants have vegetarian selections. There is also a great Vietnamese restaurant, Kim Son on Guess near 85.</p>
<p>Traffic is bad if staying to the South East of campus. Try to avoid 40 from RTP/Raleigh. FYI, Southpoint is 15-20 minutes away from Duke.</p>
<p>The biggest traffic jam you will experience will be the line of cars on East for the other freshmen moving in! We stayed at the Hilton Duke University and didn’t have any problems.</p>
<p>GT alum has given you good advice. Our son’s roommate is a vegetarian. There was no issue with finding ample vegetarian choices at the restaurants on 9th or Brightleaf Square, though I wouldn’t recommend the Brazilian steak house, even though the salad/vegetable buffet there is quite good.</p>
<p>I also almost forgot about the restaurants on Erwin road across the street from Duke. Chai’s (noodle bar) and Nosh are great with vegetarian selections (is it obvious I like to eat?).</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all your help! Parents tend to give the best suggestions for these things. I’ve never been to Durham (haven’t visited the campus at all…) and my dad and I are completely hopeless when it comes to directions and maps and the like. So I was trying to figure out how to avoid rush hour traffic and other commuter problems. </p>
<p>And thanks also for the detailed restaurant info. I appreciate it greatly. </p>
<p>I was also thinking: on move-in day, I was going to have my dad drop everything off at the university, then let him go park the car (we’re renting one) in the Whole Foods parking lot, then he could walk back and help me move all my stuff in. I am going to be staying at Brown (which is near the Marketplace). From googlemaps, it looked like Whole Foods is only a short distance away from Brown, but I still wanted to know if this idea seemed plausible.</p>
<p>Whole Foods parking lot is crazy crowded most of the time and I doubt they would appreciate you parking there. Your better off parking in the neighborhoods adjacent to the campus. The residential streets are pretty accessible during week-days and there aren’t restrictions. There will be lots of help moving in. BTW, Whole Foods is also a great place to grab some food, especially carry-out.</p>
<p>Thanks again, GTalum :]</p>