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Anyone, live or building a home there that has any information? Any concerns with the open lots/homes?
This was from a previous posting "The Penninsula at Amberly may not be selling because that section is in Chatham County & hence the kids go to Chatham County schools while the rest of Amberly is in Wake County & those kids go to Wake county schools. The current built neighborhoods that surround The Penninsula at Amberly such as Cary Park & Weldon Ridge also are in Wake County.. So it is an issue that everyone else goes to the Wake county schools..."
You might want to do a search of this forum for Peninsula. I seem to recall reading something about it recently.
Thanks, does anyone know if Chatham county schools are really that bad near Peninsula or is it a perception thing? My kids are still little and I have 2 years before they will be in school, which I know will come fast but Im sure a lot can change in 2 years with all going on.
Well, it's not like wake county can take over that part of Chatham....that I know of. And though I know nothing about Chatham county schools, Wake are considered highly desirable despite all the mess, and Amberly kids go to a brand new elementary (Alston Ridge). These facts make the Peninsula not hold its value nearly as well--not a risk I'd want to take in this market. Also, do you want your kids going to different schools than the rest of the subdivision? You may not care but in my neighborhood the kids go to so many different schools (charter, traditional, year round, magnet) that it's kind of a bummer.
Chatham County schools are very good, it is just a much smaller school system, which isn't a bad thing. Northwood High School made newsweeks best high school list. They just built a new middle school that is opening in December and then a new high school will be built. North Chatham Elementary School is a wonderful school with amazing teachers.
Yes, it is true that your children wont go to school with the other sections of Amberly, but all the kids in The Peninsula at Amberly who go to public school will all go to the same school at the same time, there is no year round schedules, different schools etc. to keep up with. So your next door neighbors child will be at the same school at the same time (unless they do private scholl), which is a huge plus in my book. And during the summer since the rest of Amberly is in school, the pool is never busy, another huge plus! I live in The Peninsula and have two kids at North Chatham School and LOVE it. The teachers are amazing and you arent just a number there, lost in a huge system. People shouldnt really say bad things about Chatham Cty unless you know first hand. I love my house, my neighbors are amazing and we don't plan to move at all. The neighbors are amazing here, we have parties and get togethers, over labor day we had a wiffle ball tournament and it was just a lot of fun! It is a real sense of community and people actually care about eachother. Like I said, I absolutely love living here and would recommend you look into it more!
Thanks, does anyone know if Chatham county schools are really that bad near Peninsula or is it a perception thing? My kids are still little and I have 2 years before they will be in school, which I know will come fast but Im sure a lot can change in 2 years with all going on.
The schools are not "near" Peninsula which is a big part of the issue some people have. It's a LONG bus ride to North Chatham Elementary or you can drive the kids a long way yourself, and the school is not really located near anything convenient i.e. the grocery store you will probably shop at or any of the locations your kids will need to be shuttled to for after school activities.
Some families in the Peninsula send their kids to private school. I can't say if this was a decision they would make regardless of where they live or if they made the decision after trying the Chatham County schools-I don't know.
There are no plans to build more schools closer to the Peninsula either at this point in time.
Not bashing the neighborhood but it was never on our list of possibilities because of the Cary/Chatham County issue. My mother lives in Del Webb right up the road (also Cary/Chatham County but a non-issue because there are no kids!) and the Peninsula would have been really convenient for us but the school issue squashed it.
If the Peninsula were in Wake County I believe it would be a lot closer to built out than it is. The school issue is part of that-how big a part I don't really know.
Thanks for the info. We ended up not going with Amberly-the Penisula. We loved the neighbhorhood but the school issue was just to much of an unknown for us since we are not from the area. Also, we have two years before our kids are in school so who knows what could happen but we are also have to consider resale if we get transferred again and whether or not the school is a real issue or just a perception, we had to consider that. Oh, and I have a mother moving down too and we loved the option of Del Web for her too. Oh, well. we are still looking. Thanks again for all the help.
I like to correct something here based on my limited knowledge. Part of Weldon Ridge is actually in Cary, Chatham too.
I am not a realty agent but I do have some information about this Peninsula and Weldon Ridge communities and this Cary Chatham area.
It is also not truth that there is no school planned for this eastern Chatham area. There supposed to be a new High School build next to the current North Chatham Elementary and Middle Schools. So all three schools will be together in one location. It is nice for family with different aged children, so you can pick up and drop off all kids at the same time and at same location. However, because of the recession (we all know that...), I was told by Chatham School Board member that the new high school is postponed from 2011 to 2013-2014.
Some people said the schools are far away from Peninsula and Weldon Ridge. I don't agree with that for the elementary/middle schools. If you try Google map, it is 24 minutes from Peninsula to the schools. If you are from big cities, like Boston or L.A., you know that 24 minutes of driving is nothing. I was from Boston. It took me 1.5 hour each morning sitting in traffic crawling on the highway and the toll booths to work. While driving from Peninsula or Weldon Ridge to school, there is no traffic in most part and with beautiful view of the Jordon Lake !! Sometime, I wonder why I don't just buy my house next to it. The recreation facilities at Jordon Lake are very popular too. I wish I own a boat there :-) My people here take more than 24 minutes (traffic in Raleigh and RTP are getting worse each day) to go to work everyday.....
I am also scared to see so many trailers at the Cary schools like Panther Creek. It is a pretty new schools and it is over utilitized already. How can teachers provide attention to every kids when there are thousand in a school ? I wonder. Needless to say I don't like the year-round school system in Wake County too. During a lunch time at Green Hope H.S., hundreds (if not thousand) of kids existing the school and it was only half of them.....they have two lunch breaks for each half of the school. I thought I was in a stadium at the end of a ball game. I believe the new Alston elementary school will have the same fate. Many communites are building around it now. People always say Wake School School is good, but not every school is good there. You can easly find and compare their avg. SAT score and their progress from their school report.
If you check the house prices in western Cary, Wake area. Their prices are usually 5% to 10% higher than Cary, Chatham area. Also, the new houses always have a big flood way in the front yard. Many lots are small and there is almost no open space in the front yard with that big ugly flood way (I call it open sewage system). When the water accumulates there, it could be very smelling and it is so close to your front door. I wish their cars don't fall down there, some of the flood way are couple feet deep. I wonder why people still buy those houses. I am not. Usually I see those open flood way in the older Raleigh area. I guess builders are cutting cost now. At Peninsula and Weldon Ridge, the flood water system is underground (just like a real city). Houses at Peninsula are custom-build houses, they are much better than the houses from KB, Lenar and other big mass produce builders for the same or cheaper price. Make sure you check them out, don't just listen to me.
I also notice that at many new Cary, Wake communities, the houses are almost toughing each other. It is hard if you don't get along with your neighbor...and you need to put up big curtain at those windows. The lots at Peninsula are 0.5 acres or more, so there is some space between the houses with a big back yard (I like that). There are much more trees and protected area. The developers/country/city are trying to give a rural feel here while it is still in a real city (best of both world to me). South Point mall is only 10 minutes away.
Another big development at this eastern Chatham area is the Joint Land Use Bill by Chatham Country and Cary town. It was moving slowly at first but it is speeding up and seeing some light. Cary is requesting state legislature to approve the bill right now. See Cary News Paper at this link for more info: http://www.carynews.com/2010/09/18/20538/chatham-cary-at-odds-over-joint.html (broken link)
This bill allows many major developments in eastern Chatham area. It includes parks, schools, shops, business, and many thing you find in a town but still with Cary address. The plan still wants to maintain a rural feel here and most houses have big lot (nice !). It is done to reduce pollution at the lake. I really like the rural feel than the crowded Cary feel in western Wake.[/font]
If you plan to live in a house for 5+ years or your children can wait for the high schools or you don't need school or your children going to private schools, it may be a good idea now to consider the eastern Chatham area while the houses at Peninsula and Weldon Ridge are still cheaper inside Chatham County.
Post your question here, I can answer as much as I know. Again, I am not a realtor. I may not check often. Do your own research, don't just read my words here :-)
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 11-01-2010 at 10:10 AM..
Reason: Deleted off-topic comments
I live in Weldon Ridge and our entire community is in Wake County not split with Chatham County - parts of the Estates at Weldon Ridge border the edge of Chatham Co. but there is a future roadway planned and that is the official border between the counties. All houses on the site plan for Weldon Ridge are inside Wake County. Also, ALL of Weldon Ridge goes to Wake County schools - our local assigned school is Mills Park Elementary. Weldon Ridge is not a split community the way the Penninsula at Amberly is. Some of the facts you are trying to correct are wrong also...
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