Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Trying to get some opinions and pro/con for each community.
My wife, daughter and I currently live in cary and are moving to be closer to my wife's work... Both communities put her 20-25 min away.
The main things were are looking for is a family oriented community (daughter is 10). Great schools!
We have looked at briar chapel and was blown away with the community.
We also looked at Garmin homes and like their style but we will be looking at all builders.
Any thoughts,comments, concerns, opinions would be much appreciated.
She works near Franklin street but can adjust her hours for traffic. I work near Tryon and Kildare in Cary.. so my drive would be 30 min from Chapel hill via 64 and I drove it last night at 5pm there was no traffic.
Well great school would actually be IN Chapel Hill and not in Chatham County. Chatham Co schools are fine, good, but I haven't heard anyone say they're "great". You can always check scores on NC Report Card. For me, personally, Briar Chapel feels too far out, but it's a very nice community with a great pool. You'll just have to drive everywhere else.
I don't know anything about the other community.
Are you opposed to Durham? That would be the obvious choice. I've heard good things about Creekside and Hope Valley Elementaries. Haven't looked at their scores vs Perry Harrison (Briar Chapel).
Live in Briar Chapel in a Garman home. Commute to Morrisville. Works really well for us, but might not be for everyone. Longer term there will be commercial development close by.
Perry Harrison school is OK; Pollard MS has been excellent, plus the neighborhood kids can walk there.
Live in Briar Chapel in a Garman home. Commute to Morrisville. Works really well for us, but might not be for everyone. Longer term there will be commercial development close by.
Perry Harrison school is OK; Pollard MS has been excellent, plus the neighborhood kids can walk there.
Please please please, tell me what you think of Briar Chapel... I know you live there so it might be an obvious answer
Please please please, tell me what you think of Briar Chapel...
Hmmm...where to start...
For my family, it works really well. There's a really good mix of people of different ages and backgrounds who in general we've found very friendly. The amenities are good - great pool, trails etc. The big difference for us was moving from an old house on a lot of space to a new house on a small lot. But you balance that with the general availability of amenities and sense of community.
Biggest issue ? It's an active construction site, and it's being actively marketed. So you need to go in with open eyes - the goal of the developer is to sell more homes, and everything else is secondary.
Other random thoughts...
+ the City-Data meme is that that the schools suck. Not been our experience.
+ it's marketed as a green community, but there were vast tracts of land cleared for it to be built.
+ find ourselves going to Pittsboro as much as Chapel Hill at weekends
+ particularly in summer there are fun activities to bring kids to and/or grab a beer at
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,767 posts, read 15,728,481 times
Reputation: 10865
Quote:
Originally Posted by echinoderm
Hmmm...where to start...
For my family, it works really well. There's a really good mix of people of different ages and backgrounds who in general we've found very friendly. The amenities are good - great pool, trails etc. The big difference for us was moving from an old house on a lot of space to a new house on a small lot. But you balance that with the general availability of amenities and sense of community.
Biggest issue ? It's an active construction site, and it's being actively marketed. So you need to go in with open eyes - the goal of the developer is to sell more homes, and everything else is secondary.
Other random thoughts...
+ the City-Data meme is that that the schools suck. Not been our experience.
+ it's marketed as a green community, but there were vast tracts of land cleared for it to be built.
+ find ourselves going to Pittsboro as much as Chapel Hill at weekends
+ particularly in summer there are fun activities to bring kids to and/or grab a beer at
Let me know if you have anything specific.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone say that Briar Chapel Schools suck. But they certainly don't have the long-standing positive reputation that Chapel Hill-Carrbor schools have. Having said that, reputations aren't everything. We are in CH-Carr schools, and I do think our middle school (Culbreth) sucks. Anyway, being in nearby Southern Village, we have a lot of contact with Briar Chapel folks. As such, I always ask people what they think of the schools and most seem happy with Perry Harrison. Haven't met many people with middle or high-schoolers.
I do agree with PoppyDog that Briar Chapel is a bit too far out there (for me). I'd probably like it more in 20 years when there's more surrounding development, but I'm not a rural gal, so others will differ on this. The development itself is nice, and the pool is awesome!
I don't think I've ever seen anyone say that Briar Chapel Schools suck.
Sorry - bad wording. Was trying to be brief
What I meant to say that I've seen a number of postings where its pointed out that living in Briar Chapel means that children attend Chatham County schools, not the CH-Carrboro school system, which is generally pictured as awesome on CD
However, Chatham is a big county. The schools in the North East Chatham County (i.e. where Briar Chapel is) seem pretty good. They are not CHCSS, but other things may balance that out or be more appropriate - it's down to what best fits each individual.
Very safe, great neighbors, a lot of small parks, two playgrounds, biking trails, a ton of kids, a really nice pool, lower property taxes, great neighborhood activities. They have a santa come to the clubhouse for christmas, and have a bike parade on the fourth of july, etc. You can buy a nicer house that doesn't need any updating here in Briar Chapel vs buying an older more expensive home in Chapel Hill.
Cons
tiny yards, no privacy, and long commutes. They have started construction on the commercial part of the development but its a good 35 minutes to get to a target!! twenty minutes to get to either library. Our child hasn't entered school yet but they are dealing with overcrowding right now because of all the new development. Chatham county doesn't pay their teachers as much as orange county so that is something to think about. They are having a teacher shortage right now. Some classes have only had a substitute teacher all year!
It does irk me a little bit when they tout it as a green community. You can't build a community 20 -40 minutes away from any development or places of employment and call it green. Unless you work at the grocery store, everyone that lives here drives far to work. And yes, they clear cut huge tracts of forest and stripped the topsoil to pave way for the development. And they run the sprinklers when its raining.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
