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It amuses me how many people "know" all about this neighborhood without living here! Awesomeness-- really.
Here's the deal on the rentals-- in this economy ALL neighborhoods have a few. On my street, there are several. All of them are well-maintained. On Brentwood Road proper, there are several. Some are well-maintained, some are not. Same can be said for the sold homes, too.
Personally I will never live in a neighborhood with an HOA again. I'd much rather have a few scraggly houses than be forced (through fines, etc) to spray toxic chemicals on my lawn in order to grow a socially accepted weed (e.g., grass).
The school IS improving. They have a desired magnet status (engineering magnet-- only one in Wake County). They also have the smallest class sizes in the county.
Crime here, when one doesn't include the apartments on the OTHER side of New Hope, isn't greater than anywhere else. Shrug, I drive up and down New Hope to get places. I run down New Hope. I run through the whole neighborhood, actually. I don't have any problems. My husband runs at night, he doesn't have any problems.
We go to the park (which yes, could use some updating). No problems. We hang out at the creek-- hey, our neighborhood has a creek!-- no problems.
We have a community center, basketball courts, tennis court, softball court, and soccer field. We have a fire department--I've taken my kids up there several time, the fire fighters always let them come touch the trucks. Most recently they got to play in the water while they were checking the hydrants.
Based on my experience in my little section of Brentwood, homes are selling pretty quickly, at a reasonable rate. They aren't sitting on the market for years, because they are reasonably priced.
Oh-- and Brentwood park is part of the planned greenway trail. Which will be totally awesome.
I dunno, it seems like many people try to use "brentwood has lots of crime" instead of saying "brentwood is filled with diversity" (which is my nice way of saying there are nonwhite folks living here).
And to that end, I say-- thank goodness. I'd hate my children to grow up thinking everyone looks alike.
Yanno, it's sad that people think that diversity and higher rates of crime (and lower property values) must go hand in hand.
The people here on CD who live in Cary get constant nonsense like "Stepford" (do most of you even know what that means?), "cookie cutter" (There are some of those in every city in the US since the advent of tract housing), "beige" (my house is brick and blue, so yes, we have colors here in Cary)... I could go on.
Also? My next door neighbor is Korean. My kids are half Asian. My neighbors 2 doors down are South American. Three doors in the other direction is a lovely biracial (black/white) couple with two mixed race kids. This theme encircles my street.
Honestly!
And yanno what? Great shopping nearby and no gang tags at the apartment complexes just down the road.
I think everyone should live in whatever area makes them happy. Wanna live in Brentwood? Live there.
I lived on Glascock Street when I was in high school. Some dude tried to break into my house while I was sleeping. My bedroom window. Nope. Didn't care for that.
If I can live someplace where the odds of that sort of thing are minimized? I will.
If that makes me seem "Stepford?"
I'll ask you to research what that means, but okay. So be it.
Yanno, it's sad that people think that diversity and higher rates of crime (and lower property values) must go hand in hand.
This irks me as well. It seems the only people linking higher rates of crime with race are people not talking about the crime rate. Could it just be that people look at the crime rates compared to other similar areas and say, "This neighborhood has higher crime than that neighborhood." There are diverse neighborhoods all over the Triangle and I doubt you would find a correlation between crime rates and diversity percentages.
I remember driving through Brentwood a couple of times and thought it was beautiful with all the trees. Haven't been through there for a while. Ended up in a different area because of where I need to travel.
OP, I sent you a dm.
best,
toodie
This irks me as well. It seems the only people linking higher rates of crime with race are people not talking about the crime rate. Could it just be that people look at the crime rates compared to other similar areas and say, "This neighborhood has higher crime than that neighborhood." There are diverse neighborhoods all over the Triangle and I doubt you would find a correlation between crime rates and diversity percentages.
Exactly. I think higher crime rates are generally tied to a lack of diversity coupled with higher joblessness and/or extreme poverty.
People who continually feel isolated, helpless, and like nobody cares about their well being tend to be less likely to care whether they have to steal for their supper.
Stepford = Cary's unusually strict development/sign ordinances influence otherwise diverse looking businesses into a more visually conforming appearance. No, there is no mass conspiracy of men turning women into robots and controlling them. As I understand it, the word has come to symbolize striving for an unobtainable ideal, conformity, which may be applicable depending on interpretation of Cary.
Speaking frankly, Stepford is button-pushing word I used intentionally. Those in wealthier neighborhoods flood this board with slanderous comments about working class neighborhoods. As if we live in these blood-stained rat holes that no sane person should ever consider (exaggeration, I'm trying to describe an emotion). In reality, affordable neighborhoods could be a solution to many seeking advice on this board. Lots of us are quite happy with where we live. Including Brentwood, as hard as that is for some to understand (which it shouldn't be).
Do I hate Cary? Of course not. I lived there for 18 months and it was actually quite pleasant, but not for me. I found people less friendly. I had a tough time meeting my neighbors. People kept to themselves. Again, just my experience, I'm sure there are other neighborhoods that are much warmer, but I didn't find those, so I left. I find parts of downtown Cary to be nice. The older parts. Good bones. I hope the town continues their redevelopment efforts.
No doubts, B&E is a personal trauma, but everyone responds differently. Leave room for others to respond in their own way. Don't write off entire sections of a city. It's worth pointing out that blocks near downtown Raleigh can change quickly. Some parts of Glascock Street sell for over $350k now and are quite desirable.
Diversity = Many kinds, more than just racial. Personally, I enjoy the kind of economic diversity most commonly found in working class neighborhoods. Certainly, Cary is definitely more racially diverse than people give it credit for, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for poor, working class and affluent all living in close quarters. I find that inspiring. That's just me.
I live in Cary. In a working class, racially, sexually, culturally and economically diverse neighborhood not much unlike Brentwood. There are actually lots of neighborhoods like this in Cary. We know all of our neighbors, and pretty much everyone in the surrounding community. We have more culturally owned, diverse businesses than I can count. Cary's sign ordinances really don't affect that at all. We even have crime in my neighborhood! Stereotypes work both ways.
I think the houses in Brentwood are fine (i have a 70's ranch myself). I just despise the Capitol Blvd corridor and don't want to live anywhere near it.
I'm looking for poor, working class and affluent all living in close quarters. I find that inspiring. That's just me.
You do realize there are lots of neighborhoods like this in Cary, right? If you would like to see people not stereotyping your side of town, it's probably a good idea not to stereotype other sides of town
Can anyone give more detailed information on this area for a family with elementary aged kids? They'll be going to private school so I don't care about school district. I do care about places to play outside, green space, community parks, etc. I know there is tons of convenient shopping (Costco, Trader Joe's) Is there a local Farmers market (besides the state market)?
^^This^^ is where we started, folks.
While I think a general "This town vs. that town vs. the other town" thread would lead to interesting discussions, I'm not sure it's that helpful to the OP of THIS thread. (Not to mention that some of the comments have been pretty rude and outrageous.)
Let's please try to focus on what the OP is asking and take other discussions to a different thread.
Thanks!
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