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Very helpful, thanks. Interesting that you moved from one to the other and you prefer Cary. Is that because of the commute to RTP? I work in RTP also. I am coming from days when I'd commute 45mins - 1 hour so even a commute to Bedford doesn't seem bad even if it's really 20-25 minutes as people say (I've never done the commute)...BUT 12-15 minutes to West Cary is really nice. I actually did that commute during after work rush a couple times to see houses and it was really stress free and easy.
Yes. I prefer the shorter commute. Wakefield is just a wee bit further out than Bedford. At times when the roads backed up, my usual 30-minute commute took 45 or more. I didn't like that.
Here in Cary, I know several routes to RTP and can make Alexander Drive from my house (I live not too far from SAS) in 15-20 minutes unless there's a major accident of some kind.
I like Cary, in general. It's a good place to raise kids.
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If the choice is truly Bedford or West Cary, I think it's a pretty easy choice.
West Cary wins on location. Totally.
If I drive in ANY direction from West Cary, I am heading toward somewhere else in the Triangle that offers me resources for shopping/recreation/culture. 15 minutes to Southpoint. 15 minutes to the airport. Chapel Hill is an easy drive, so is Brier Creek or Beaver Creek or downtown Raleigh or Jordan Lake.
Drive North or East from Bedford and I am someplace that doesn't help me AT ALL if I am a guy with a wife and kids living in a $480,000 house. Drive West and I am in Durham, a secondary destination at best for the same demographic. And don't start in with "Durham is so fabulous and you are missing out, blah blah blah"-that may be the case but again NOT for this particular demographic.
I have said it before-look at a map of the Triangle from the perspective of a family with young kids and West Cary is the bullseye-Bedford is out at the perimeter of the target.
One more thing. (Shocking-he's got something else to say.)
At $480,000 I don't want to be in a neighborhood with as wide a range of home prices as Bedford. I did it in Cary Park, and the fact is that a good portion of the smaller single family properties in a big Planned Unit Development end up owned by people that don't take care of their properties.
Go drive thru Cary Park and look at the smaller single family section-Cary Glen, Bridgegate, Naperville and Alden Bridge Drives. The great majority of the yards are pigpens. Even the Orleans section, homes that were $400 to $500K new for the most part (Frontgate, Waverly Hills, Grogan's Mill/Mill Gate up to the entrance to Southbridge) is looking pretty shabby. The earliest of those homes are nearing 10 years old and most of them need attention-I was really surprised by the condition of most of these homes when I last drove thru a couple of weeks ago.
I haven't been thru Bedford recently but I can remember there being a pretty big distinction between the Bungalows on small lots and the larger homes along Bedfordtown. People buy these smaller lot homes as a condo alternative and then don't bother to consider that they have a yard to maintain or that at some point in time they need to paint or powerwash their homes. Sorry, but the well maintained zero lot line home is the exception.
At $480,000 I would look at Horton's Creek (maybe nothing left in there but a resale), maybe Weycroft if there is a resale in there, Highcroft (pick the lot VERY carefully), The Reserve (maybe do some updating to a resale but solid homes on nice lots). I would personally stay out of Amberly and Cameron Pond. Toscana is just okay-last time I walked some spec homes the drywall finishing was atrocious. There are other choices too-I am probably forgetting a couple.
Very helpful, thanks. Interesting that you moved from one to the other and you prefer Cary. Is that because of the commute to RTP? I work in RTP also. I am coming from days when I'd commute 45mins - 1 hour so even a commute to Bedford doesn't seem bad even if it's really 20-25 minutes as people say (I've never done the commute)...BUT 12-15 minutes to West Cary is really nice. I actually did that commute during after work rush a couple times to see houses and it was really stress free and easy.
Oh no, he's back again!
There is no reason to set yourself up for a longer commute around here. With your budget you have the power to avoid that. I am transplanted from the Northeast and have been here nearly 10 years- I cut 10 hours per week out of my commute time when we moved here. 10 hours x 50 weeks per year x 10 years = 5000 fewer hours in the car. That's 208 full days of time gained. How much would you pay for 5000 hours that you can do something besides be in a car?
It's easy to look at the commute as being better than where you are coming from and leave it at that, but as your kids get bigger, being closer to home for stuff at school/sports/activities becomes more and more important. I can go home for lunch or help my wife out in a pinch because of how close I am to home-these things never even crossed my mind up North because they were simply impossible.
Bedford offers nothing that you can't duplicate in West Cary and your commute will be at least 50% more time consuming if you choose Bedford.
I don't want to argue with what are some very fine points on your part, but I disagree about there being nothing North of Bedford. For many suburban families the area North of Bedford has a lot to offer. Go north of Bedford and you run into Wakefield and Wake Forest. This is where you will find the closest Target, Lowes, Home Depot, The local Movie Theater (Wakefield Cinema), a second Harris Teeter (by Rex), a couple of speciality wine Shops, a new Brewery, the YMCA, The Factory (ice skating) and other popular shopping and services. Not to mention Falls lake, numerous walking trails along the dam and lake, and the new Upper Neuse Greenway. I'm not sure the last time you were up that way, but I think there is a lot of stuff North of Bedford that most families would enjoy living close to. That being said, I agree that picking the spot with the best commute is key. Less time in the car is golden for me. I work downtown and can get there within 25 minutes from the Bedford area (Take Atlantic Avenue). My wife works off Six Forks by the new Whole Foods which is 10-15 minutes from Bedford. So this area works very well for us.
Anyway, not trying to be argumentative, but I think there is good stuff North of Bedford.
I don't want to argue with what are some very fine points on your part, but I disagree about there being nothing North of Bedford. For many suburban families the area North of Bedford has a lot to offer. Go north of Bedford and you run into Wakefield and Wake Forest. This is where you will find the closest Target, Lowes, Home Depot, The local Movie Theater (Wakefield Cinema), a second Harris Teeter (by Rex), a couple of speciality wine Shops, a new Brewery, the YMCA, The Factory (ice skating) and other popular shopping and services. Not to mention Falls lake, numerous walking trails along the dam and lake, and the new Upper Neuse Greenway. I'm not sure the last time you were up that way, but I think there is a lot of stuff North of Bedford that most families would enjoy living close to. That being said, I agree that picking the spot with the best commute is key. Less time in the car is golden for me. I work downtown and can get there within 25 minutes from the Bedford area (Take Atlantic Avenue). My wife works off Six Forks by the new Whole Foods which is 10-15 minutes from Bedford. So this area works very well for us.
Anyway, not trying to be argumentative, but I think there is good stuff North of Bedford.
Agreed. And for people like you and your wife, the area is pretty much ideal.
Your comment about the commute is pretty much exactly what I think on the subject.
Since the OP is working in RTP, West Cary seems (on paper, so to speak) to be his best option.
Central location. Good schools. Shorter commute.
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I don't want to argue with what are some very fine points on your part, but I disagree about there being nothing North of Bedford. For many suburban families the area North of Bedford has a lot to offer. Go north of Bedford and you run into Wakefield and Wake Forest. This is where you will find the closest Target, Lowes, Home Depot, The local Movie Theater (Wakefield Cinema), a second Harris Teeter (by Rex), a couple of speciality wine Shops, the YMCA, The Factory (ice skating) and other popular shopping and services. Not to mention Falls lake, numerous walking trails along the dam and lake, and the new Upper Neuse Greenway. I'm not sure the last time you were up that way, but I think there is a lot of stuff North of Bedford that most families would enjoy living close to. That being said, I agree that picking the spot with the best commute is key. Less time in the car is golden for me. I work downtown and can get there within 25 minutes from the Bedford area (Take Atlantic Avenue). My wife works off Six Forks by the new Whole Foods which is 10-15 minutes from Bedford. So this area works very well for us.
Anyway, not trying to be argumentative, but I think there is good stuff North of Bedford.
NRG-
I always value your opinion, and I am aware of what lies North of Bedford in terms of big box/theater/chain dining/other diversions. It is good stuff to be sure.
I guess my take on it is that all of those things lie beyond the route of the typical RTP commuter living in Bedford-not in between the house and the office, but past them.
If I am in West Cary I have all of those same amenities in at least 2 or 3 directions. Use Target as an example-I have a giant one in Beaver Creek, another at Southpoint (where I may already be), and a third at NC54 and Cary Parkway. 3 different directions, none more than 15 minutes from home, all near other resources I may be using. I have a Harris Teeter in Cary Park, another at Davis and McCrimmon, another at NC55 and High House, another at NC55 and Apex Peakway. Lowe's Home Improvement is in Beaver Creek or at NC 54 and Maynard. I have Beaver Creek for movies or the smaller Carmike at NC54 and Cary Parkway.
I haven't even brought up Brier Creek or Crossroads, both of which are equidistant at best with a slight edge given to West Cary on these locations as well IMO.
I also don't mean to sound like shopping is the center of the universe, but reality is that with both parents working full time (as is the case in my house) I need options. Free time is at a huge premium in my house so I need to group errands together and we are always needing to pick up something last minute. I just don't feel like that is nearly as easy to do for someone living in the Bedford area as it is for someone living in West Cary.
I also feel like the commute thing trumps all else. I work at US1 and Highway 64 so North Raleigh is not on my radar screen, and Bedford is a really nice concept-we drove thru there on some scouting trips when it was just going into high gear and there are some lovely homes in there. I still prefer a more homogeneous neighborhood in terms of pricing, and that comes from living in Cary Park, which is basically as close a neighborhood as you can get to Bedford's concept and layout in West Cary.
Thanks for the clarification! I think I now see your point. In addition to that, I agree that commute trumps all else. I think that point is often missed on these forums.
I still haven't forgotten my 2005 commute from RTP to Wakefield that day that it snowed. I was in my car for nearly 9 hours. My coworker who left same time as me and lived very close to where I do now in Cary?
Got home in less than an hour.
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