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Given the overcrowding school situation in Wake County Schools, we are looking in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area to relocate. Here is a list of our preferences, can anyone help point us to the right neighborhoods? Any insight would be fantastic and appreciated.
Home price approx. $350k or less
Family friendly, neighborhoods with other children. Mine are 6, 8, and 12.
Community/neighborhood pool
Quieter, less traffic
Will be commuting to Cary, so easy access to highways would be nice.
Thanks to all taking the time to offer their advice/help.
Lots of neighborhoods meet that criteria. Briarcliff/Ridgefield is a good suggestion. It's on the east side of Chapel Hill not far from I-40. You can buy a pool membership at area pools, so don't get hung up on that. Chapel Hill Summer Swim League : You could find a lot of older homes for $350ish in Chapel Hill. You're unlikely to find new construction for that low.
Do you live in Cary now? If not and you're not leaving because of school issues you're currently having, but just anticipating potential school issues, I'd urge you to give Cary a good look. Most people there don't have any problems with the schools. The WCPSS way of doing things just seems to just take a little getting used to.
I wouldn't move to Chapel Hill just for the schools. Move to Chapel Hill because you love Chapel Hill. It has its own distinct culture — very liberal/progressive college town atmosphere.
Thank you for the response. I really like the idea of a neighborhood school and knowing where my kids will be attending middle and high school without the fear of capping and bussing to alternate locations. I will take a look at the neighborhoods you are suggesting.
I don't live in Wake Co, but from reports on the board here I don't think most people in Cary experience those problems.
CHCCS does redistrict, too. We just had one bout of redistricting when a new elementary school was built and will likely have another small one next year to deal with some overcrowding issues at Glenwood Elementary where the Mandarin language program is. I believe the long range plan calls for another elementary in the next 5 years or so and maybe another middle school. There would, of course, be redistricting then, too.
Don't move to Chapel Hill just for the schools.
Oh, and CHCCS does not subscribe to the "neighborhood schools" philosophy. CHCCS works to even out socio-economic status in the schools so you don't have wealth disparity in the schools with one school that serves a wealthy neighborhood and another school that serves a less well-off neighborhood. That's part of the progressive ideals in action in Chapel Hill. There is busing in CHCCS, but because the district is so small it's not a huge deal, however, you are not guaranteed that your child will attend the school that is closest to your neighborhood, though, unless you're in the walk zone (1 mile from the school, I believe).
I'm near Parkside area, and the zoned school is Seawell, which is supposed to be great. Its also very close to Homestead Park with the aquatic center. It's also just 3 minutes to I-40.
Do you have kids at Seawell, Mel? I thought Parkside was redistricted to Northside Elementary? There was that whole debate when they did the redistricting and the 74A neighborhood segment was pretty vocal, but the board came down on the side of leveling out SES and put 74A in Northside (which is only half a mile or so farther away than Seawell anyway).
Stefnev, you can check the CHCCS school assignment map at the link below, but please don't move here just for the schools. Make sure you love the town first. It's a long commute to Cary and you need to really want to be in Chapel Hill. Schools in Cary are also excellent. I'm not getting a feeling from your posts that you're really looking for some of the unique things Chapel Hill offers. Your want list could easily be satisfied in Cary, too. A search on city-data can give you a lot of info on how Wake Co schools work.
I'm not really trying to dissuade you from Chapel Hill, but I'd like to see you settle on a place that you'll really be happy. If the job is in Cary thats a huge reason to look for a home in Cary. It's a very safe community with good schools and very family-oriented.
If you're looking for a very progressive, liberal, creative, eco-friendly, bike-friendly, academic/intellectual college town with a bit of a hippie vibe I'd say check out Chapelboro, but I'm not really getting that from your posts. I'm getting that you want a safe place to raise a family with good schools and there's a job in Cary. I'd start with Cary, then. Come down, drive around, and see what feels right.
Get a list of the schools and find the walk zones. You will never be bussed to another school as long as you live in a walk zone. Great friendships are made while walking to and from school, great exercise and car pooling opportunities. Cates Farm and Wexford are just such neighborhoods for McDougle Elementary and Middle schools.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I will just throw in there that while there is some redistricting in Chapel Hill, it is by neighborhood. So if you move to a neighborhood called Whispering Pines, and learn that the base school is Happy Oaks, that is where your child will go. It is possible that you move to Whispering Pines and your kid goes to Happy Oaks for 2 years and then the whole neighborhood gets redistricted to Lonely Oaks which is 3 miles away.
That is a different type of situation than what might happen in Wake County, which is you move into Whispering Pines to find out that the closest school Happy Oaks is capped so your kid will go to Lonely Oaks.
As someone who commutes to and from Cary from Chapel Hill daily, I'd consider a neighborhood easily adjacent to either 15-501 or 54 going into Durham if you want a relatively easy drive. I-40 gets crowded on Fridays as it drops from three lanes to two at 15-501 and can get bumper to bumper even heading onto 54 by that time. If you are getting on it from NC 86, your drive could easily be an extra 30 minutes due to this situation. Just warning you in advance.
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