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What about the further out suburbs like Mebane, Clayton, Butner and Creedmoor? Can anyone speak to the "personalities" of these communities? With 2 kids and a dog, we're in to very family oriented activities and would really love the typical suburban neighborhood with sociable neighbors, playgrounds/parks and a pool. We'd give up some of the "crunchy" for "blandness" in the sterile 'burbs! :-)
Mebane is kind of between the Triad and the Triangle and is so far out it wouldn't really be considered a suburb. I don't think it's even an "exurb". I think it's just a small town. Some people do commute from there, but I think mainly to Chapel Hill or Greensboro. Maybe some to Durham. I know a few folks who live there and they are definitely tied to the western Triangle/Triad region. One friend goes to Burlington for big box shopping rather than to Durham. I don't know that it would have the kind of typical suburban scene you're looking for, but I've never spent much time there. I think if you're willing to go up to $200,000 you should look around Hillsborough.
I'm not familiar enough with Clayton, Butner, and Creedmoor to comment.
What about the further out suburbs like Mebane, Clayton, Butner and Creedmoor? Can anyone speak to the "personalities" of these communities? With 2 kids and a dog, we're in to very family oriented activities and would really love the typical suburban neighborhood with sociable neighbors, playgrounds/parks and a pool. We'd give up some of the "crunchy" for "blandness" in the sterile 'burbs! :-)
I described Creedmoor quite a bit in one of my earlier posts in this thread. It's quite country, and only slightly suburban, but still I think it could be a reasonable fit for someone in your situation, for the reasons I mentioned. And it's one place in the area where finding a decent house in approximately the size and price you originally said you were looking for may be feasible.
I agree with poppydog that Mebane is also doubtably suburban, but I think I would call it an "exurb"—probably an exurb of both the Triangle and the Triad. Mebane is quite a nice town in my experience: small and quiet and still fairly countrified, but with a little more vitality and vibrancy than the run-of-the-mill purely rural North Carolina small town. And due to its influences from the larger urban centers, I believe you can actually find a little bit of "crunchiness" in and around Mebane or not far from there, albeit a lot less than a little closer to the Triangle.
I also agree with poppydog that Hillsborough could be an excellent fit for you, although it would sure help if you could either raise the price you're willing to pay a little, or lower your size requirements a bit.
Clayton is by far the most suburban of the towns you mentioned, for better or worse. Clayton has really boomed with suburban growth over the past ten or fifteen years, mostly of the typical sprawling tract housing and cul-de-sac variety, for better or worse. Nevertheless, it's still more or less surrounded by fairly rural areas, at least for now, so the result is sort of a mixed suburban/rural feel. Traffic between Clayton and Raleigh can be notoriously hairy during rush hour periods, and Clayton is a very long way from Durham or Chapel Hill, which I would view as a drawback. Still, Clayton is very popular, and quite a nice place. And Clayton actually has a really terrific and underrated downtown area in the older part of town, with a delightful Main Street, a few decent restaurants and shops, a wonderful performing arts center repurposed from an old public school building, and lots of great old houses. It's still not (to me) as appealing a choice for someone in your situation as one of the towns in Wake, Durham, or Orange County, but not bad.
Butner is a whole other kettle of fish. Butner is not at all a typical North Carolina small town. Butner existed originally really only as a few blocks of residential and commercial development supporting a complex of state and federal institutional installations in and around there, including a mental health hospital, a couple of prisons, and a National Guard facility. As of a few years ago, Butner is now an independent incorporated municipality, and it's begun to grow a little bit beyond just the institutional sector. But the institutions still pretty thoroughly dominate the town, for better or worse. Honestly, I've never known anyone who lived in Butner, and I haven't spent enough time there to have a sense of whether it would be a good place to live or not. It's potentially a pretty good location, being right on I-85, and, like Creedmoor a couple miles away, very convenient to Durham and reasonably convenient to Raleigh and Chapel Hill. And the countryside near there in Granville County and adjacent areas is very pretty. The town itself has sort of an odd feel, though, due to its institutional origins. Personally, I find Butner kind of interesting and charming, in a way, but clearly it's not for everyone.
What about the further out suburbs like Mebane, Clayton, Butner and Creedmoor? Can anyone speak to the "personalities" of these communities? With 2 kids and a dog, we're in to very family oriented activities and would really love the typical suburban neighborhood with sociable neighbors, playgrounds/parks and a pool. We'd give up some of the "crunchy" for "blandness" in the sterile 'burbs! :-)
You really have to visit here. The places you're mentioning (except Clayton) aren't really suburbs at all.
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We visited! In fact, we're still here (in Raleigh, that is). We visited several neighborhoods in Clayton today (Cobblestone, Riverwood, Lions Gate and Summerlyn). We fell in love with Summerlyn. Riverwood seemed a bit too contrived and sprawling for us. Lions Gate has very colorful, traditional (old school) style homes but most have small yards. This was a close #2 for us. We didn't like Cobblestone at all. The location, the neighborhood, the house we saw, the pool and on and on. I'm sure it's a great community for some.
We loved Summerlyn b/c it seemed like a slightly smaller community (only 75 homes right now). The model is the perfect house for us in terms of size, features, yard size, etc. We realized that we'd have to increase our budget to get what we want. We'll stay under $220k. The lots aren't huge in Summerlyn but we really like the nearby dog park and Claytown Town Park that were recently built. To top things off, the first "potential neighbors" we met were a family with young kids form the DC-area like us!
Clayton definitely is suburbia-collides-with-rural as exemplified by our lunch at Smithfield's on 40 or 70 (can't remember). Wow, what culture shock... but folks were VERY nice and my family liked the food.
Glad you've found some place you like. I'd be interested to hear if you like the Hillsborough area, too, if you get out that way. Definitely some crunchy-granola types out there, but not as expensive as Chapel Hill or Carrboro. I'm sure you could find something for $220ish. Neighborhoods to consider in Hillsborough are Cornwallis Hills (I have friends there — a little bit older 80s/90s neighborhood, but tons of kids), Beckett's Ridge, Granview, both w/ homes built in the 2000s, and I know there are some others in that price range w/ newer construction, too. Weaver Street Market is the local health food coop in historic downtown Hillsborough.
Glad you've found some place you like. I'd be interested to hear if you like the Hillsborough area, too, if you get out that way. Definitely some crunchy-granola types out there, but not as expensive as Chapel Hill or Carrboro. I'm sure you could find something for $220ish. Neighborhoods to consider in Hillsborough are Cornwallis Hills (I have friends there — a little bit older 80s/90s neighborhood, but tons of kids), Beckett's Ridge, Granview, both w/ homes built in the 2000s, and I know there are some others in that price range w/ newer construction, too. Weaver Street Market is the local health food coop in historic downtown Hillsborough.
Agreed, if you can increase your budget to around $220ish then there are plenty more options in Durham or Hillsborough. I think when Kenion Grove was built in Hillsborough a few years back the home were selling new for around $175. If your original preference is still "crunchy" and closer to things going on in the triangle then Hillsborough would definitely be way closer to that than Clayton. Either way, good luck with your move!
We've been down 3 times since March. We've tried to do our due diligence on Clayton, NC and Riverwood Athletic Club. We've talked to residents of the town and neighbors in Riverwood, and they all seem nice and welcoming and we've made a decision to move there! We drove by the pool this weekend (several times) and, yes, it was pretty packed with families with lots of kids (which is our demographic!). Seems like it will be a great place for us to settle down, make friends and start a new life.
Just quick update - We've now lived in Clayton for 5 months and we still love it! We have the best, most friendly and welcoming neighbors. Where ever we go (the library, downtown events, the grocery store, etc.) we meet the nicest, most friendly people.... of ALL races and backgrounds. When we visit friends in Cary and Apex or North Raleigh, many are surprised that a Black Family would have chosen Clayton,NC to live in. I completely don't understand how and why Clayton has such an "out in the sticks, everyone is so conservative and backwards" kind of reputation. Well, I hope that me and our other minority neighbors and just everyone in Clayton generally is changing that reputation. Once again, people in Clayton are some of the nicest people I've ever met and I've lived in a few different cities in the U.S. (east coast and mid-west). Anyway, we love it and I hope the town continues to grow and eventually we get a Whole Foods!!
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Visited (several times) and WE LOVE CLAYTON, NC!
