Raleigh vs. Durham (Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough: to rent, violent crime, home)

[jln69]

To answer your question. Even though Wake has it problems when it comes to crowding, Wake is a higher performing district than Durham.

What is your basis for choosing N. Raleigh and the Southpoint area? Is it because of job reasons? Maybe we can help with some areas.

[Dire Wolf]

If your child is 2 now, I wouldn't worry so much about the schools. Find the place that suits your needs now. The (overblown) Wake County issues might not be a big deal in a few years. Other counties may be having their own issues then.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by jln69

Even though Wake has it problems when it comes to crowding, Wake is a higher performing district than Durham.

And thus Wake Co is a much easy sell for Real Estate Agents.... so you hear the above from some them alot.

Durham Co. is more economically and racially diverse than Wake Co. Thus you are going to get a more diverse set of test scores. That does not mean there are not GREAT schools in Durham Co. I've seen on this board several times parents of middle school students in Wake who are frustrated b/c their base school does not offer foreign lang. Some have to get in the lottery for a magnet or transfer school in order to get foreign lang in middle school. And there are not guarantees with the lottery.

School is NOT all about test scores in 2 or 3 topics. It's also about what programs the school offers and if it is a good fit for your child. Currently the middle schools that serve my area of Durham do offer foreign language among other things.

We live in the Southpoint area and my child just started 2nd grade at Creekside Elem. A great school, but it's starting to experience over crowding. There are alot of homes going up in our part of Durham. Hope Valley Elem is another great school. I don't think over crowding will be as big of an issue there as most of that part of Durham is already developed.

I personally think Wake Co feels like the "safer bet".... 99% of the schools are fine. In Durham Co we only searched in specific areas and would not look at homes in some areas because the schools were not a good fit for my family. But I knew I could not stomach the turmoil that Wake Co Schools are in now for another 14 years. Yes, Durham Co will probably have some of the same problems Wake is having. But it will be on a smaller scale and HOPEFULLY we Durham Co parents have time to be a part of the solution.

Good luck with your research. It can feel overwhelming! BTW, once you narrow your areas down I encourage you to email / contact the school's PTAs. You can get a good feel for the school by the PTA. Most school websites have PTA contact info.

[jinkyks]

thanks for the replies..well, the main reason for durham is because we have family that lives there and close proximity to malls,stores, etc.. also, the commute to raliegh for my husband is a little further than what it is now but i guess its' manageable...the north raleigh idea was because of distance to our jobs and new home pricing of the area... we first looked at cary, holly springs, apex but sellers seem to hike their prices up in these areas --too much for what the house offers... its obviously bec of location and town reputation...north raliegh location wise makes a lot more sense in terms of distance from job and house price(a little over mid 200's for new 3k sq ft upgraded ).. our intent is to move to an area close to my husband's office location which is on exit 10 for i-440N/us-1N.. but we dont want to sacrifice our childs academics either so we are open to suggestions if there are any other towns.. we realize this is a matter of priorities which is why we're taking our time researching.. any help is greatly appreciated

[jln69]

If you husbands job will be at the Beltline and Capital, I personally feel Southpoint will be a tough commute. I think North Raleigh would be an inbetween point to both. You could even try Wake Forest. In N. Raleigh and Wake Forest, you have shopping at Triangle Town and Capital, Brier Creek, Crabtree and not to mention all the strip malls. Good luck.

[mdp_az]

For as many problems as Wake County has, I couldn't justify driving from any part of Durham to I-440 & Capital Blvd for work every day. If you want better stability in schools and generally better schools, I'd recommend looking inside the beltline. Prices here can be steep, however, and if it's too rich for your blood, I'd echo what jln69 said and look at areas in N. Raleigh and Wake Forest. Good luck!

[saturnfan]

School assignments are in flux in Wake County. Don't count on the assignments staying from year to year.

If you'll look at the earlier thread concerning East Millbrook Middle School, you may decide not to use it. As you'll read, my son went there some time back, and many current opinions indicate that the school and its neighborhood have serious issues.

[goat1of2]

Well, if it's school quality you want (and you're not going to shell out the big bucks for private school which is what a lot of transplanted Northerners do here) them just head for Chapel Hill. Many of the Durham schools have gang problems while the Wake schools are a mess with overcrowding and attempts to fix the overcrowding--switching to year-round schools, arbitrarily moving kids from one school to another etc.

That said, however, there are good public schools in Durham and Wake both. It really is on a case-by-case basis. I pity parents today--it is a maze, that's for sure. Maybe homeschool and avoid the whole mess?

If schools are not your concern, I highly tout Durham as being the "forgotten town" because of the unfair reputation that only it has crime, drugs, and gangs. There are some really hellish areas in Wake county and outlying areas. This summer has seen some horrific murders occuring in the formerly rural counties of Johnston, Harnett etc. Parts of Durham are extremely nice while others are very dangerous. I would rent first before ever ever buying a house. You need to learn the area for yourself. Find your commute routes, etc.

I personally would not care for the area around Southpoint as all you are going to hear is the roar of traffic from the interstate and heavily-trafficked secondary roads. Almost all the housing is in subdivisions with no trees, no privacy. But hey, maybe you like that kind of thing.

[Waterboy526]

I think the difference in crime is that in Durham you actually have drive-bys and other more random crime, where as most of the murders in Johnston or harnett counties are domestic related. Domestic related murders happen everywhere and no area is immune to that. Drive-bys do not happen everywhere (although anything is possible anywhere). Also I have nothing against Durham as a whole and there really are nice areas in Durham. Durham however does have some of the more consentrated ghetto areas in the whole Triangle

[fester600]

Originally Posted by goat1of2

I personally would not care for the area around Southpoint as all you are going to hear is the roar of traffic from the interstate and heavily-trafficked secondary roads. Almost all the housing is in subdivisions with no trees, no privacy. But hey, maybe you like that kind of thing.

I would totally disagree with this... We have no noise where we are (Fairfield) and we have trees also! There are several subdivisions (Oakhurst, Lakehurst, Fairfield) that are very pleasant. Unfortunately South Hampton (Orleans Builders) did clear cut but there are several subdivisions that are established.

Granted, I have only lived there since 9/1, but it is much quieter than my last home in Cary. I would HIGHLY recommend the 27713!