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We are a family of four relocating to the NC Raleigh metroarea. We will most probably stay in an apartment in Cary until we do a goodhouse search. We need help finding a good private pre-k for our 4 year old twins.We can't find something we can compare to the Stratford or Challenger ofCalifornia. Chesterbrook is the only one we came across . Any help would be very appreciated.
Thanks!
Totally off-topic:
My Daughter and SIL are in Foster City - where is that in relation to "...Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Cupertino of the Bay area..."? They re-located from Seattle ~2wks ago and are in shock. Seriously. If you were moving back, where would you go?
I cannot fathom that we have ANY real estate that would be a expensive as Cupertino, Los Gatos, or Palo Alto. You'll also not get some of the lot sizes I saw, though it appears they may be canyon lots in CA to be an acre.
I'm not familiar with Chesterbrook Academy (have seen direct mail pieces). But The Raleigh School The Raleigh School: Learning » Preschool near the PNC Arena is a fine place for high-end education while in preschool. And I've known folks who were thrilled with The Jordan Center (officially the Jordan Child & Family Enrichment Center)
There is very little difference between Chapel Hill and Carrboro. I say that as someone who has lived in either town for the past 30 years. For the most part they function as a single town and the casual visitor often doesn't know where one ends and the other begins. We live in Chapel Hill and our kid goes to school in Carrboro.
For someone coming to NC from San Francisco no place is going to seem very expensive. Sometimes people get a false impression that all homes in Chapel Hill are very expensive and that's just not true at all. There are many nice homes that are in the $200-$300,000 range. There are also many multi-million dollar estates and quite a few trailers and less expensive town homes. If Chapel Hill appeals then you can find a home in your price range. You can probably get more home for the same amount of $$ in Durham but you could find somewhere in Chapel Hill.
A lot of people do move to Chapel Hill and Carrboro for the schools whether you believe it or not. I have many neighbors that work in RTP and their kids are in CHCCS. I know there are quite a few families that move to Clayton for Johnston Co schools and to avoid WCPSS. Not sure why it would be difficult to believe that other families would move to CHCCS.
I think the OP needs to visit and see what they think of the different areas of the Triangle. I think each area has its own flavor and what appeals to one person might not appeal to another.
But you haven't lived in Chapel Hill and Carrboro for 40 years have you? I have visited Cary many times over the past 30 years I've lived in the Triangle and the past 50 years I've lived in North Carolina but I will defer to someone who actually lives in Cary as to whether east Cary is different from West Cary of North Cary is different from South Cary.
Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion but the OP might want to do his or her own research.
But you haven't lived in Chapel Hill and Carrboro for 40 years have you? I have visited Cary many times over the past 30 years I've lived in the Triangle and the past 50 years I've lived in North Carolina but I will defer to someone who actually lives in Cary as to whether east Cary is different from West Cary of North Cary is different from South Cary.
Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion but the OP might want to do his or her own research.
Which is why my comments are my opinion.
I have nothing against CH. It just has exactly ZERO appeal to me as a place to live. I like downtown Carrboro. I cannot even tell you why. I just like the feel of it. Ergo, to me, CH and Carrboro do NOT seem like exactly the same place.
Why is my opinion being picked to death?
I figure the OP is going to come here, look around, and make a choice based on what the OP likes, not based on what I like.
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I thought your comments misrepresented Chapel Hill, thats why. For some reason people always talk about how expensive Chapel Hill is like its Palm Springs or some other exclusive community and that's just not the way it is. I haven't looked up the stats but I would guess that there is a wider range of incomes in Chapel Hill/Carrboro than there is in Cary. I know the city-data stats I posted up thread showed that household income in Cary was significantly higher that household income in Chapel Hill.
As for Chapel Hill vs Carrboro, my point is that living in the area the two towns function as one for most people's daily lives. They share a school system. Kids who live in Chapel Hill go to school in Carrboro and vice-versa. From a relocation standpoint there's not much point in making distinctions between the two towns. It would be useful to talk about different neighborhoods as far as relocation but I don't think there's enough difference in living in similar neighborhoods in each town to warrant a town vs town discussion.
Cary is very appealing for a lot of folks, newcomers and NC natives alike. It might be just the place for the OP.
I thought your comments misrepresented Chapel Hill, thats why. For some reason people always talk about how expensive Chapel Hill is like its Palm Springs or some other exclusive community and that's just not the way it is. I haven't looked up the stats but I would guess that there is a wider range of incomes in Chapel Hill/Carrboro than there is in Cary. I know the city-data stats I posted up thread showed that household income in Cary was significantly higher that household income in Chapel Hill.
As for Chapel Hill vs Carrboro, my point is that living in the area the two towns function as one for most people's daily lives. They share a school system. Kids who live in Chapel Hill go to school in Carrboro and vice-versa. From a relocation standpoint there's not much point in making distinctions between the two towns. It would be useful to talk about different neighborhoods as far as relocation but I don't think there's enough difference in living in similar neighborhoods in each town to warrant a town vs town discussion.
Cary is very appealing for a lot of folks, newcomers and NC natives alike. It might be just the place for the OP.
I don't think CH is particularly expensive. There are plenty of neighborhoods throughout the Triangle with more expensive homes, though not with higher taxes.
CH does have higher taxes. That may or may not be a factor. Depends on the person.
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I have to admit, I was surprised (had to look twice) at that statistic that was posted earlier:
Estimated median household income in 2011 Cary: $82,509 (it was $75,122 in 2000)
Estimated median household income in 2011 Chapel Hill : $58,860 (it was $39,140 in 2000)
From the research I've done, including here on city-data, Chapel Hill seemed to be the premier, expensive, sought after location in the Triangle area. I had the impression that the best schools were there (driving up prices of housing), professors and high paid professionals lived there driving the costs up. I had someone tell me that in order to get good schools for your kids, you end up buying in an area like Chapel Hill with expensive houses, which makes the move from a place like Northern Virginia not as good of a deal as many would think. Not sure if this was an exaggeration. Also, that CH had more established, walkable neighborhoods with more unique housing which would hold or grow in value rather than cookie cutter suburbia.. as I've seen some imply that Cary is. It seemed that people were implying that the draw of Cary is larger plots of land, new houses, cheaper, centrally located.
Last edited by VASpaceMan; 10-21-2013 at 09:08 AM..
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