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My husband leaves from home at 7.15 and we live off Durant near FON. At that time it takes 20 minutes to get to Harrison. Would take significantly longer if he left later. In the evening he leaves after 6pm to avoid traffic.
I actually moved from North Raleigh to Cary to see how I'd like it but more importantly shorten my commute to my current job. What I've learned is that I just prefer Raleigh (in fact I've decided I just don't like Cary at all -- I'm fine working here but do not want to live here. The reasons why are another subject entirely but basically it is just personal preference).
Since I plan to buy a home, I've decided it is much more important for me to live where I want to live rather than living somewhere I don't want to live, simply to shave minutes off the commute. I'd rather drive a little farther each day (it gives me a feeling of separation between working in a place I hate and living in a place I love).
Truthfully, if I knew for a fact I would be staying in one particular job that was guaranteed to remain in the same location for the next 10 or 20 years, and that job was in Cary, I would give serious thought to living in or closer to Cary. But, when I first moved here and was interviewing, there were just as many if not more job possibilities that were closer to where I first landed in North Raleigh. So, I have to assume for the foreseeable future, I could be working just about anywhere in the Triangle including anywhere in Raleigh (DT, North whatever), RTP area, Cary, parts of Durham even.
So not knowing exactly where my future commute will be, it is a smarter strategy to buy a home where I want to live, and let everything else revolve around that.
I'm just glad I lived here for a while to get a feel for where I really want to be.
That makes sense, given that you know the area.
I'd probably look over off Wade, maybe near Meredith Woods, that sort of thing. NW Raleigh. Easy commute, still in Raleigh. Closer to other potential opportunities.
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I'd probably look over off Wade, maybe near Meredith Woods, that sort of thing. NW Raleigh. Easy commute, still in Raleigh. Closer to other potential opportunities.
I'm not too familiar with that area, but will look into it, no particular part of Raleigh has really been ruled out yet. The areas I've seen that are near the fairgrounds, etc. did not really appeal to me, and much of NW Raleigh seems subject to plane noise, but when the time comes I will look at what's available in my price range. Avoiding airplane noise and train tracks are high on my priority list.
I just cannot imagine deliberately making the commute to the area longer by moving to another area that is still in the same school system.
This. I love Raleigh, which is where I live. But I would not want to drive down I-540 to I-40 down to Harrison every day. Its just a long commute that isn't going to get any shorter moving forward. There is plenty of nice housing in Cary that will be much more convinient. If you prefer Raleigh over Cary, then I would live further west than Falls of Neuse - Leesville Road area or Brier Creek would be more reasonable.
I'm not too familiar with that area, but will look into it, no particular part of Raleigh has really been ruled out yet. The areas I've seen that are near the fairgrounds, etc. did not really appeal to me, and much of NW Raleigh seems subject to plane noise, but when the time comes I will look at what's available in my price range. Avoiding airplane noise and train tracks are high on my priority list.
This. I love Raleigh, which is where I live. But I would not want to drive down I-540 to I-40 down to Harrison every day. Its just a long commute that isn't going to get any shorter moving forward. There is plenty of nice housing in Cary that will be much more convinient. If you prefer Raleigh over Cary, then I would live further west than Falls of Neuse - Leesville Road area or Brier Creek would be more reasonable.
We are of course looking closer to Cary as well (which we would definitely prefer). Should have mentioned SO and I car-pool and I work in RTP, so we are looking at a combined commute and having to hit I40 even if we find a home in Cary seems inevitable. We looked at a few communities near FON (initially on a whim) and of course found that every dollar goes a little further there (given the distance), especially at our ~350K price point, which "might" make the longer commute "worth it" depending on one's priorities.
But we also have some constraints that have made homes in Cary harder to come by. We were looking for ideally 2700sq+, a guest-bedroom and full bath down (Hard to find in older construction. And newer construction in our budget, the homes are literally on top of each other), 3+ full baths and 1/4 acre+ lot.
So far we've seen slim pickings with these constraints within Cary, or the ones we've seen have been much older homes (pre 1990) which was something we were hoping to avoid if possible. That said if anyone has suggestions on potential subdivisions we should look closely at that would satisfy some/most of our constraints that would be really helpful. Are we looking for too much in our budget within Cary?
We are also looking at Leesville, Long-Lake/subdvisions-off-Glenwood and closer to Brier Creek, all of these definitely offer a smoother commute. But homes in these areas didn't seem to have easy access to greenways/trails (which almost all of Cary seems to have and so do the communities off FON) and/or shopping (Leesville in particular, seems to need getting into a car to get to anything) as well as the added concerns of airplane noise and how that will change over time.
Last edited by ryeCatcher; 01-04-2015 at 07:07 PM..
My husband leaves from home at 7.15 and we live off Durant near FON. At that time it takes 20 minutes to get to Harrison. Would take significantly longer if he left later. In the evening he leaves after 6pm to avoid traffic.
Thanks this great information. 20mins sounds amazingly good, but I guess 715AM accounts for that.
How long does it take for him on his way back usually?
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