I have lived in Raleigh my entire life (51 years) (my parents are from Ohio). It is a great place to live.
There are expensive places to live and places that are more reasonably priced. Depending on how much you want to spend, there are areas with and acre or two for reasonable prices.
There is plenty of traffic.
I lived in NC most of my life. Raleigh is a nightmare. People who live there are pretty used to it. But the traffic is pretty shocking to outsiders. The weather can be pretty nasty compared to the Triad. But you are pretty close to fun water which is a big plus. The closer you live to the ocean, the happier you will be.
But I hope you like HOT weather.