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Hi, my family and I are moving to North Carolina - Flowers Plantation (Peachtree) from Central NJ. My husband and I are very excited, along with our 7 year old son and 4 year old daughter. I am really hoping to find out as much information as possible as per my questions below. Any information and guidance greatly appreciated.
1) How are the people that live in Flowers, friendly? Easy to make friends with? Do you recommended joining mom groups?
2) How is the PTA at the local elementry school?
3) Are people outside / inside Flowers welcoming to northerners?
4) We were told by some folks that we should have an exterminator come to the house before we move in since this is new construction, does anyone recommend doing this / has anyone done this or is this not really needed?
5) Can anyone recommend a good landscaping service?
6) I know people say look out for gators in Florida, any heads-up to watch out for possible animal friends in North Carolina while the children are playing outside?
7) Are there any areas in Clayton to avoid / stay away from? Any bad / dangerous neighborhoods?
8) Generally speaking, how is the elementry school? How are the teachers? How is the principal? How are the children with welcoming new kids?
9) We have read about some possible issues with the drinking water quality in Flowers Plantation, has anyone heard about this or experienced any issues?
10) Where we live now, most mothers work and it is difficult to get together for play dates, is this also the case in Flowers?
Thanks so much, truly appreciate any insight you can provide.
Can't answer all those questions by any means, but just from a casual, cursory observation, Flowers appears to be a wonderful community that's growing in demand. It seems to be pretty insular. Nothing really like it in JoCo. I've never gotten the vibe that folks out there are meanies...
But you should try the made to order food at the corner convenience store beside the ABC (Liquor) store... the ladies in there make damn good breakfast! And it's kinda like a community hangout.
The Lombard St. area near downtown is more rental properties and lower income folks... interpret that however you want to.
Thanks so much for the reply. I'm just trying to get a feel for he town. Every little bit of info helps. I will try the food at the corner convenience store. We are always looking for a good place to eat.
That would be Percy Flowers Store, and they have great southern red hot dogs as well as other grill foods. If I am within 5 miles, I have to stop by there lol.
That would be Percy Flowers Store, and they have great southern red hot dogs as well as other grill foods. If I am within 5 miles, I have to stop by there lol.
Hi, my family and I are moving to North Carolina - Flowers Plantation (Peachtree) from Central NJ. My husband and I are very excited, along with our 7 year old son and 4 year old daughter. I am really hoping to find out as much information as possible as per my questions below. Any information and guidance greatly appreciated.
1) How are the people that live in Flowers, friendly? Easy to make friends with? Do you recommended joining mom groups?
The people here are very friendly! I found it much easier to make friends once we had a dog as my husband and I do not have children yet and most people here do or are retired. However, you will fit right in with the majority of the neighborhood! I am not aware of any mom groups and can't comment on that. The kids in my neighborhood are always out playing together. All of the neighbors know everyone, we know all of the kids and keep an eye on them. A lot of us adults will often join the kids in playing games.
2) How is the PTA at the local elementry school?
I am a private tutor for Johnston and Wake County and special needs teacher for Wake County. From what I have heard, the PTA at Riverwood is pretty active. I like the teachers at the school from the interactions I have had with them. I work with teachers at all sorts of schools, so get little glimpses here and there.
3) Are people outside / inside Flowers welcoming to northerners?
When we first moved here, my husband and I noted that pretty much everyone seemed to be from Florida (like us) or New Jersey. So, yes! There are plenty of people from the North, and plenty of people from the South. We get along very well. The Northerners were quite helpful to those of us who had never seen snow in our lives this winter when it snowed a few times.
4) We were told by some folks that we should have an exterminator come to the house before we move in since this is new construction, does anyone recommend doing this / has anyone done this or is this not really needed?
I have no idea on this. We hired a bug guy shortly after moving in, but that's all I remember.
5) Can anyone recommend a good landscaping service?
The portion of Flower's Plantation where I live just voted to take out their landscaping service that was included in the monthly HOA fee. However, I believe quite a bit of Flower's still has the landscaping included. I would need more information about the exact neighborhoods in Flower's you are looking at to give you more help on this.
6) I know people say look out for gators in Florida, any heads-up to watch out for possible animal friends in North Carolina while the children are playing outside?
We really thought we would have more animal encounters, particularly coming from Florida where we had tons! I have seen only 2 snakes since moving here. I always check every time I go outside as it is a leftover habit from Florida, so no big deal to me. I even have a garden and haven't had a problem with deer. We do see deer darting through parts of the neighborhood when walking the dog at dusk, but other than that no big issues. I do have to watch out for the neighborhood cats!
7) Are there any areas in Clayton to avoid / stay away from? Any bad / dangerous neighborhoods?
None that I know of!
8) Generally speaking, how is the elementry school? How are the teachers? How is the principal? How are the children with welcoming new kids?
The kids here seem to be very welcoming of new kids, particularly because so many kids are moving here all the time! It's still a very new and growing neighborhood. Several of my young neighbors that have moved in have done well. They are always excited to tell me about their day, their friends, their teachers. The teachers that I have worked with at Riverwood are very good. They are thorough, thoughtful, and genuinely care about the growth of their students emotionally and academically. However, my job only allows me a glimpse of things, so keep that in mind. I have not dealt with the principal at this school, so can not comment on that. The secretaries are very nice, and very helpful. They can answer just about any question you have, or find the answer you need!
9) We have read about some possible issues with the drinking water quality in Flowers Plantation, has anyone heard about this or experienced any issues?
I have never had problems with the drinking water here. We use a fridge filter, but that's the only step we take. We have noticed that we get a lot more water stains and have to clean the tub/showers more often than we did in Florida.
10) Where we live now, most mothers work and it is difficult to get together for play dates, is this also the case in Flowers?
There is a really good mixture here of stay at home mom's and working mothers. A lot of the stay at home moms that I know are only staying home until their children are in school, or have returned to work recently. However, I know several that do not plan on returning to the work field. I find that the kids in my neighborhood don't set up formal play dates. They know each others schedules for the most part, and they go see if their friends are home and just play! Even my good friend who lives right behind me and I do it that way. I love the casualness of it.
Thanks so much, truly appreciate any insight you can provide.
eoxego8 Thank you so much for thanking the time to answer my questions. It really helped. I am looking forward to moving to Clayton and to make a lot of new friends. It sounds so nice. i am very excited to hear that there are a lot of kids in the neighborhoods for my kids to play with.
thanks again for all your help!
Clayton is very friendly to transplants from all over. Actually it is very hard to meet someone who is from this area originally; we are all transplants.
We moved here specifically for the schools. We live in Flowers, so our base school is East Clayton. My kids have been out of elementary school for several years, but I still think that the school, principal, and teachers are good. With that being said, teachers make less in Jo Co than Wake and sometimes leave to go there. There is also a lot of politics with schools in NC-- no raises for teachers, getting rid of TAs, and getting rid of class size limits. This is all of NC, not just our area though. Not an easy time to be a teacher.
We have lived here over 10 years, and I have never used an exterminator, except to check and treat for termites. Have had occasional issues with small black ants, but I prefer to use less toxic ways to get rid of them.
Our water source is the Neuse River. I know that our water is safe to drink, but knowing what is upriver and all the things that eventually drain into the river, I feel better having a filter on our kitchen tap.
I live in Pineville East. Flowers is a wonderful area. River Dell is a great school with an active PTA.
I work outside the home so I can't comment regarding play groups.
Snakes make an appearance from time to time around the neighborhood but that is very common in NC. Spiders are very common also.
I would recommend a home inspection even though your house is new.
Yes, I would have the home treated for bugs/pests before you move in. Have this done inside and out. We had a bad spider issue. We still have alot of spiders but we are on a wooded lot.
Water quality (Aqua) is fine at my house but I only drink what comes from the filtered refrigerator dispenser. No issues with laundry.
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