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I'd consider living in Durham if he might work in Durham. There are some really inexpensive homes in Durham and I would rather have my kids have some of the school options in Durham. Durham schools are pretty mixed but there are some really great magnet schools like Durham School of the Arts. Lots of homeschoolers in Durham too if you decide to go that route. Johnston County schools really did not score exceptionally well when the recent SAT scores were released. There's a fairly recent thread about Triangle area SAT scores. Scroll thru to find it. DSA was recently named the top high school in NC by USNews. Not sure I think it's the best in the state, but it's a good school.
The side of Knightdale we're near you take Smithfield Rd. for a few miles that leads right out to 264 Bypass a few miles down from that you can hop on 540, a few more miles 40 and 440. I don't go out to Durham so I'm not sure about the schools or commute but certainly easier now with the option of routes, I'm sure. Maybe someone more familiar with Durham will chime in...
We moved to this area 15 years ago from NY, and I had never heard of an HOA before. The OP mentioned enjoying raising chickens. As has been mentioned, almost all the neighborhoods will have an HOA, and raising poultry is one of the restricted activities in all of the covenants that I have read.
Knightdale would be a good commute to Durham, and the schools are Wake-some are not the better Wake schools.
I do live in Riverwood. It is a subdivision. We are paying the cheapest HOA @ 57/month. there are other levels for more golf options. Houses are from the 150s to the 500,000s. there are townhouses/condos and everything up to big ones.
You can have chickens in the city of Raleigh, too, but the newer subdivisions all have a covenant forbidding it. Wherever the OP decides to relocate, it will be important to check out any existing covenants. There are many slightly older (10+ years) neighborhoods (like mine), where the covenants either were never enforced or no longer being enforced.
thank you all for this info. so good to know that raising chickens / urban type homesteading needs to be really checked into before we settle anywhere. also, hearing the wake schools situation is interesting to me. seems it bothers some, and not so much to others. personally, it would bother me to have my kids moved around so much. we are leaving our home here, in order to establish 'roots' of sorts, and a sense of stability for our kids. that's one of the reasons for our relocation. so keeping my kids as 'settled' as possible is a priority.
I also have one other concern looming in my head. i have read several other 'transplants' mention that NC people are 'sweet' and 'friendly' but will not include them and keep them as 'outsiders'. So, our situation (chickens, schools etc) may put us in a smaller (non hoa) town. I am now concerned about the potential to not find any real friends, not just for us but primarily for our children.
people tell us to choose a location with lots of other 'transplants' to avoid this. however, those locations have hoa's. what advice would you give for this concern?
This area is full of transplants; I have personally contributed greatly to the "problem", LOL! People move here from all over, and I have not heard one person say that they have had difficulty meeting people or making friends, especially if they have children. I have also helped a couple of families find homes in neighborhoods without restrictions, and they are able to raise chickens and pursue other activities that neighborhoods with strict HOA's would prohibit. As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are many neighborhoods around that originally had covenants, but they are no longer being enforced. In some cases they have expired.
Working in Durham and living in Clayton is a bear of a commute and it is only going to get worse with I-40 and I-440 construction for the next coupl of years. And if you live on the Cleveland side you have the Clayton bypass and I-40 bottleneck at certain times of the day. And trust me, the schools in the Cleveland area are not better than some other schools in Clayton. Raising chickens in most subdivions will be a problem!
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