Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First time posting, so bear with me! My family and I are moving to Chapel Hill from the UK in spring and are planning on buying a house pretty much straight away. What I'd like to know is what areas would people recommend for us?
Our priorities are:
-easy commute to I-40 (for my husband's work in Cary)
- GREAT state school (our daughter starts school in a year) and good pre-school (for our little boy)
- nature/walking trails/forests (for our dog), not dog parks
- lovely community, preferably wooded with large lots (half an acre upwards) and somewhere we can meet people easily
- if possible to walk to schools/shops/playgroups, then even better, but not essential
- we love the farmers' markets, Weaver Street, Whole Foods thing but don't necessarily want to live right in the heart of it as we like a bit of peace and quiet!
- a property that would be easy to re-sell
Our budget is up to $600k and we're looking for a four-bed. We're registered with a great realtor but just aren't sure which areas we should be looking at and they're apparently not supposed to give too much advice about neighbourhoods/demographics! Which makes it pretty hard for us, coming from the UK!
Which elementary schools are considered the very best in Chapel Hill? I'd rate friendliness/great principal just as high as results/ranking, if you get my meaning. I've looked at the GreatSchools site, but anyone's personal opinions would be great. Where would our kids be most likely to settle in quickly and do fine? Are your kids happy at their schools? Is it best to buy a house in the East Chapel Hill High district?
We're definitely drawn towards older neighborhoods like Lake Forest/Stoneridge, and they seem good for the I-40, but not sure if it will be hard to meet other families there? Is there a strong community feel there?
Lake Hogan seemed a bit developed for us, as we're used to larger lots and want more character. Southern Village is nice, but again seemed a bit built-up for us and not good for the dog/lot size. Where do you like living? Where would suit us?!
Help and any opinions much appreciated! Thank you!
I think you would want to live in North chapel Hill. Look along Homestead. There are some great neighborhood here. The lot size you are interested in might be a problem. We live in walking distance of McDougle elementary and are quite happy here. Lots of woods,sidewalks, international neighbors, pool, tennis, active HOA, close to Carrboro and we can go weeks without ever seeing a college id. so many people think Chapel Hill is only a college town.
All the schools in our district are excellent.
We looked at Southern Village but the close proximity to neighbors was a real problem. Especially if you are looking for more than .5 acre. Good luck
Yeah, some of your objectives strike me as conflicting - you can find some of what you want in different areas of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, but there will be some trade-offs. It might be helpful if you ranked your preferences or identified which ones are the most important to you.
Since your husband works in cary, why not purchase a house in cary? I know davids elementary and middle schools are good.
The greenhope high and pather creek high are also good. The only thing is the ranking of the two high schools in cary is not as high as east chapel hill high. Just my two cents.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,775 posts, read 15,775,291 times
Reputation: 10875
One of the problems I found when looking for a house in Chapel Hill last year is that many of the older neighborhoods have no sidewalks. Many are hilly, wooded, and curvy. Combine that with a 1/2 acre lot, and it does not seem like it would make it real easy to meet neighbors. We like older neighborhoods, too, but we just could not find one that met our requirements.
We live in Southern Village and most of the lots are the pits! However, it is VERY EASY to meet neighbors and has most of your other requirements. Unfortunately, the houses with the bigger lots are more than $600K. There are, however, a few nearby neighborhoods that you might like. There is one behind us called Cobble Ridge that has nice-sized lots and seems very family-friendly. We like to take walks there a lot. It is walkable to the Southern Village Market Street and not far from downtown Carrboro. It's being redistricted right now so not sure what schools they'll feed into. Lake Forest is a really neat neighborhood, I agree.
There might be some neighborhoods around Estes Hills that you like, but again, they don't seem real conducive to meeting people because of the lack of sidewalks and curvy streets, but perhaps I'm wrong about that? I'll let others comment who are more familiar with CH neighborhoods than I am since I'm a relative newcomer. There's also a neighborhood near East High School that is older and might meet your requirements. I can't remember the name, but it's right next to that big park. Anyone?
Meadowmont would be a good choice for you except for the lot size probably. It's like Southern Village with the village w/in the neighborhood thing going on. Rashkis Elementary is there. It's very close to I-40 and 2 exits closer to Cary than the northern part of town.
You might also like to check out Cates Farm, Wexford and some of the other newer developments in that area (near Lake Hogan Farms).
As far as schools go, we're currently redistricting (big thread about that) so unless you're in the walk zone you won't know until hopefully January what elementary school for sure. If you're interested we have dual language programs in Spanish and Mandarin at particular magnet schools. Frank Porter Graham will be an all dual language magnet for Spanish. Carrboro Elementary will have two classes of magnet Spanish and Glenwood has a Mandarin dual language program.
I think Lake Forest would be fine. I know several families over there. I think it's a lot like most older neighborhoods and is a mix of older folks and younger families. I don't think it gives any great advantage as far as getting to 40, though. Nowhere in Chapel Hill or Carrboro is _that_ far from 40.
You might also consider Coker Hills which adjoins Lake Forest and other neighborhoods in that area. You also might consider some of the older neighborhoods closer to campus and Raleigh Rd/54 like Greenwood and other neighborhoods near the country club. Morgan Creek on 54 bypass is a loverly older neighborhood too.
LCL, I will PM you a link to a nice description of the neighborhoods. I would post it here, but it's against the rules since it's on a realtor's website. It's a good general description with price points and pictures of typical homes in the neighborhoods and maps. Nothing pushy.
Yeah, some of your objectives strike me as conflicting - you can find some of what you want in different areas of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, but there will be some trade-offs.
Yeah, these two seem contradictory:
Quote:
- if possible to walk to schools/shops/playgroups, then even better, but not essential
- we love the farmers' markets, Weaver Street, Whole Foods thing but don't necessarily want to live right in the heart of it as we like a bit of peace and quiet!
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,775 posts, read 15,775,291 times
Reputation: 10875
Okay, I think the neighborhood I was thinking of near East CH High is Sedgefield. It's off Weaver Dairy Road near Cedar Falls Park. We drove through there one day, and it seems very nice. Older homes, with a decent amount of land. There is a house for sale right now on Litchford with over an acre and in the $500's. I really don't know much about the neighborhood other than my daughter was playing tennis at Cedar Falls Park one day and we took a little drive and found this neighborhood and it seemed pleasant.
Thanks so much for all messages so far. They are really appreciated.
As for rating our priorities, I think pretty much the order I've listed them - so most important is close to I-40, followed by a great school, then good community, etc. I know there will have to be some compromises - aren't there always?!
We looked at Cary, and that was our choice before we visited, but we just didn't feel it was for us. We love the countryside around Chapel Hill, the more bohemian feel to the town, the cultural stuff and so on. Just seemed like a really nice place to bring up our kids, whereas for us Cary didn't have such a strong identity and felt more built-up - we live rurally in the UK. Also the school redistricting thing worried us. We liked Hillsborough very much, especially with the literary and historic links, but I was a bit concerned that because it is so small, it might be harder to integrate into the community...The nearest person we know in the US lives in Philadelphia, so meeting like-minded people ranks high!
Thanks again for all the advice. I'm going to keep all these recommendations in mind.
Laura
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My family and I are moving to Chapel Hill from the UK in spring and are planning on buying a house pretty much straight away. What I'd like to know is what areas would people recommend for us? 
