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Goodbyesnow, thanks so much for the feedback! We live in a VERY, VERY sociable neighborhood in Maryland (DC suburb) right now and weren't willing to give that up. We recently met a soon-to-be neighbor in Riverwood, on the Alpine Valley side, and he told us how sociable all the neighbors on Swann Trail were and how they regularly organize pizza and ice cream socials. Not sure where you are but perhaps you could start the organizing on your street??
When we first moved to our "young" neighborhood 8 years ago, folks socialize but not a ton. Some of the moms made it a priority to get the kids and adults out of the house to socialize. I know it feels strange in American culture but we just kept buggin' neighbors about showing up to informal social events and eventually almost everyone "came around" and now we're like one big, diverse yet happy family.
Anyway, that's a bummer about your yard and lack of storage space. That can really make a home less functional. Hope we can possible meet when we finally move down later this summer/early fall.
Well, maybe I'll have to sneak over to the alpine valley side! We're in I think "Deer Valley" which is down a path that runs into the Alpine Valley walkway by the lake.
I did like that when I went looking at the Alpine valley houses that they had closets!!! That alone would make me move if I could!
Maybe we'll run into you when you're moved in! How old are your kids?
I went over and looked at some of those houses to see how they compare. Seemed "less expensive" as far as quality, but more space for the money. Our house has no hall closets, no linen closets, no storage,so our garage is full of things with nowhere to go and I have to go digging through bins to locate things.
My reasons are trivial to some, but I was hoping our move would find us in our last house ever. My kids spent the last 9 years in one house and we really wanted to finish their childhood in one place but... I am not happy with the house-it's in the custom home part and there are a ton of things wrong, the yard is a slanted mess so useless and is a pond when it rains, which is a lot, there are a ton of mosquitoes and ticks-our yard is full of trees, and we have been here a year and have yet to meet neighbors. My kids spent all summer in the yars at the old place up north, but hate coming outside here because our yard is such a bug magnet. I was told you cant even cut down trees without permission from the neighborhood! Everyone where we are keeps to themselves. I am used to being in a large city within minutes of everything, and here we can't even make a "quick" run to target or anything. There closest shopping mall is at least 20 minutes away, and the neighborhood promoted "shops at Riverwood" but there is a dog groomer, a spa and an over-priced ice cream shop-oh, and a new beer-making supply store. There are no sidewalks in the neighborhood,and the streets are narrow over here-I've seen scary driving with kids walking along the sides of the roads! There's not a lot to do, and Food Lion is so far from what I am accustomed to in shopping!
But, many people love it here-just a drastic change for me.
We ended up here because I wanted neighborhood schools, but please don't ask my opinion of these schools. If Wake Co. could have given us neighborhood schools, we'd be there. As a teacher, I'm very critical of what is taught and how, so I have high expectations.
I live in Flowers and cannot vouch that our neighborhood is all that friendly...........BUT.........at least we have closets over here....and an attic and walk-in crawl space too!!
I live in Flowers and cannot vouch that our neighborhood is all that friendly...........BUT.........at least we have closets over here....and an attic and walk-in crawl space too!!
Wanna trade?? Who would build a 4 BR house and not think that people might need closets for towels, bedding, coats, etc? This house was supposedly custom built, by who, I don't know, but they didn't think storage was important. I have no linen or coat closet, no broom closet, no attic storage, but we have a soggy, muddy walk in crawl space inhabited by spiders-I don't count that as storage!
Flowers is a HUGE area-there are so many "sections" that I'm sure it really can just come down to the street you live on-I'm sure the same can be said from here,but I've actually talked to two people on separate occasions that both lived here and moved and both said the people were not that friendly-both now live in different Wake Co.communities and say they have a more "neighborly" feel.
I'd just like a neighbor to chat with once in awhile!
Wanna trade?? Who would build a 4 BR house and not think that people might need closets for towels, bedding, coats, etc? This house was supposedly custom built, by who, I don't know, but they didn't think storage was important. I have no linen or coat closet, no broom closet, no attic storage, but we have a soggy, muddy walk in crawl space inhabited by spiders-I don't count that as storage!
Flowers is a HUGE area-there are so many "sections" that I'm sure it really can just come down to the street you live on-I'm sure the same can be said from here,but I've actually talked to two people on separate occasions that both lived here and moved and both said the people were not that friendly-both now live in different Wake Co.communities and say they have a more "neighborly" feel.
I'd just like a neighbor to chat with once in awhile!
Our house is only 3 bedrooms and we have about twice the closet space we need, not to mention the attic which is really just an unfinished room on the second floor - what you have, or I should say don't have, is unbelievable. We know a couple folks on our street and in the "hood" from the pool and all, but we are late fifties and don't have kids, which makes relationships with younger folks that do have kids a little harder, but those families that do have kids interact quite a bit. I think if we lived in a retirement-type community, we would have a lot more friends for obvious reasons, but we are reasonably happy here. BTW - when we looked around before moving here, RW houses seemed to be just slapped together and way too close together - didn''t appeal to us.
Our house is only 3 bedrooms and we have about twice the closet space we need, not to mention the attic which is really just an unfinished room on the second floor - what you have, or I should say don't have, is unbelievable. We know a couple folks on our street and in the "hood" from the pool and all, but we are late fifties and don't have kids, which makes relationships with younger folks that do have kids a little harder, but those families that do have kids interact quite a bit. I think if we lived in a retirement-type community, we would have a lot more friends for obvious reasons, but we are reasonably happy here. BTW - when we looked around before moving here, RW houses seemed to be just slapped together and way too close together - didn''t appeal to us.
Well, I'll just come borrow some of your bottom and attic space!!! Maybe having kids helps to build relationships in some places-not so much here, unfortunately. Then again, my 6 year old has Down syndrome, making it hard to socialize anyhow. He's still in the "terrible twos" stage where I have to watch him every minute or he's into something or running away-that alone might scare people off from socializing with us!
We are in the area where the homes are pretty spread out, claim to be "custom built/designed" but slapped together, I'd say certainly. The darn house is 8 years old, has cracks in the walls, a cracked step at the top of the stairway, crumbling grout in the bathroom shower and cracked floor tiles. The drywall job is so bad that you can see nail heads painted over throughout the house. The yard isnt level so it floods all the time and is not a good place for kids to play.
Our housing options are limited because we left WI with 9 years invested in our home and our house sold for 70,000 less than we still owed, so we did a short sale and now can't buy for 3 years. So, for renting a home, it's harder to find a good one. Now with kids being uprooted from their life-long home/community and going to new schools last year, I can't see moving to a different neighborhood where they'd have to switch schools. Especially since I have a daughter going into 8th grade. She went to 6th grade back home, then had to start 7th grade at a new middle school. I don't think I could switch her school for her last year of middle school-she'd have a nervous breakdown-already almost did when she had to start a new middle school. She says I can home school her (in her dreams) but I just quick my crazy teaching job and need to find something to do to make money, so teaching my own kid all day is not an option...
Otherwise, I'd be looking at some of the places over in Flowers. There are a few for rent-probably people in the same boat we were in where they can't afford to sell at a loss.
I have found most Clayton neighborhoods are very diverse and open to all cultures and people....mine in particular has a variety of whites (southern and northeast)..black...puerto rican.....south African.....and phillipino...all within the 7 or 8 houses surrounding ours. We are in the Cleveland area (40/42) however most of my co workers live in and around Clayton and report the same diversity. Most also are very happy in their particular neighborhood with their families being very involved in nigh formal and informal neighborhood events...and most have kids involved in soccer..scouts..swim teams...dance..etc....as well as immediate neighborhood events such as book clubs..bowling leagues...poker games...yard sales...revolving Xmas parties and halloweeen haunted housed / hayrides.( our nrighbirhood had has had most of these things since we moved here 6 yrs ago). We have chosen to be involved in some things...and opted out of others. We are friebdly with various neighbors and go out socially to concerts..dinner...bbqs etc with them. Most neigbbirhood kids r found in each others yards in the evenings...or together at various nearby pools.
I have been debating on whether to post to this forum. I have to admit, it was one of the things that came to mind when it originally happened. We moved to NC from AZ a little over a year ago. For the most part, I have to say that I really enjoy moving here. I found a teaching job in Clayton, less than five miles from the house. We are a bi-racial couple. We did not encounter many issues however, something upsetting happened a few weeks ago. We went away for a long awaited honeymoon. My husband returned to go back to work and I remained out of state to visit with family. My husband returned home late one night, the next day, he went out to his car only to find out that someone keyed the side of the car and wrote "nigg--" across the hood of his car. It saddens me greatly that in this day and age that people still have this line of thinking. The police have been asking around the neighborhood but no news.
Wow, that's terrible. Now to be clear, your location says Garner? I thought Garner was just as diverse as Clayton-making it even more apparent that there are bozos everywhere. There are racist people everywhere, but I have to say, coming from Milwaukee, where it is at least 50% minority, (dont know numbers) I was pleasantly surprised when we moved here at the level of diversity in all neighborhoods we go through in this area. One of the reasons Clayton was an option for us was because the numbers on city info pages showed it being a diverse place.
On the side: A nice story about Clayton: When my daughter's classmate's home burned down this past school year (he is AA and his dad is the school janitor) the school asked for donations for the family, who lost everything. The follow up in the paper that the outpouring of support for this family was overwhelming and the Fred Smith Co. (Riverwood property owner) provided them a place to live in the neighborhood. It is nice to know that regardless of the race of the family in need, the community stepped up to help when they needed it.
I am SO sorry that your husband has had this happen to him.
Having grown up in the area, I can tell you that racism is alive and well. And, I have found, more likely to be encountered the further you move away from the main population centers. But, not at all absent from these population centers, mind you.
It's a damned shame that racist jerks cannot at least mind their own business.
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