Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
2,492 posts, read 3,014,898 times
Reputation: 3910
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IKR they had me at cheesecake shop. I swear I saw some whole cheesecakes at Lowe's foods in the bakery that said made in Clayton. If they are as good as the ones they sell by the slice I'll be in heaven if I find that shop.
As far as why I think the downtown is cute is the layout and the upkeep. I like older homes and buildings but not decrepit ones. It looked very walkable and safe. Tbh it was only my second time riding through there. I actually had an appointment at Rockandie Salon&Gallery ,so yes they have a hair salon there too. I'm actually going back asap to look around a little more.
I don't care for the 40/42 area much though. Too many strip malls crammed together and too much traffic. It just feels like they squeezed too much in not enough space. It's confusing to me because I'm never sure if I'm in Garner,Raleigh or Clayton. It's all kind of smooshed together over there.
No worries about target,,,it's about 15 minutes away from the developments you mentioned...with super walmarts and lowes foods/ Harris teeter being even closer.
Clayton also has ...Lights on the neuse( awesome holiday lights display where people come from all over to see it...sometimes it gets sold out or has 2 + hour wait) and Fear farm ( halloween hay ride)at the same location....
As well as beautiful golf courses, dog parks, walking/ biking trails along the neuse( mountains to sea trail) , kayaking on the neuse river, and a skateboard park....and many fitness centers and kids play centers( inside and outside). ...and tons of pool clubs to join in summer.
Last edited by newmom5497; 03-10-2015 at 07:26 PM..
I live in Clayton and not to sound like a downer, but I am not impressed with the downtown. I like the feel of some other downtown areas-Fuquay, Apex, that type of feel. Clayton's downtown could really use a nice lunch casual restaurant. I ate at the hotdog place one with my family and we will not be back. yuck.
I moved from a city where I was no more than 10 minutes from malls, Target, movie theaters, museums and a big downtown.
I miss Target and my former local big grocery store the most. Not being near a mall is fine for me. My kids are bored. There is nowhere they can walk to, which is new to them coming from a big city.
We live in Riverwood and it is about 15 minutes to either Garner or Knightale's target. there are "shops" in Riverwood, but most are vacant. Walmart, Starbucks, and the dollar tree are about 7 miles from me. I NEVER shopped at Walmart until moving here, but it is close. The Starbucks in Harris Teeter grocery store is about 5-6 miles, just don't go right after high school lets out! I dont know if there is a bus stop for the school right there, but I was leaving there one day in the hopes of getting a coffee, but the line was FULL of teens!
My oldest moved here from FL (was in school and now newly married) an they stayed with us last summer with plans to move to Raleigh. She too was used to being close to everything. Her husband loved clayton. they looked at places in both and ended up moving here with the plan on renting cheap and then moving to N. Raleigh, where she drives to work. She now says Clayton is growing on her and she might not want to move to raleigh after all! go figure!
Clayton is a great place to raise a family.
Someone said yuck to Jones Cafe on Main Street. Don't tell that to the packed house at lunch time on Saturday. And it is not filled with lifelong residents. Several of our friends that live in Clayton are there every Saturday and are transplanted Yankees. Owners, Burr and Crystal Jones, are 3rd generation owners. Opened in 1958. They must be doing something right.
Also they have a new restaurant in Historic Downtown Clayton, Mannings. Great food and it is packed!
New wine and art shop just opened downtown. Ladies are raving about a new meeting place.
Just saying!
All of the developments you mentioned are very nice. $350k will get you a top notch house on a great sized lot(1+ acre in many areas)....that's on the high end for johnston county.
Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
2,492 posts, read 3,014,898 times
Reputation: 3910
Of course if comparing Clayton's downtown to a big city it's going to come up short. I meant more in comparison to Garner and Knightdale etc not Raleigh or any other larger city. Just look at Garners 10 min away and you will see my point.
Problem with Garner' s in my opinion is it's close proximity to downtown Raleigh. It's just 5 minutes up the street so we just go there instead of doing any redevelopment of our own.
But comparing Clayton's downtown to the cities west of Raleigh makes me feel Clayton's is lacking.
And yes, I get flack whenever I say I was not at all pleased with the Jones cafe/lunch place. It just wasnt good to OUR family. I couldnt even finish mine.
havent been to Mannings yet. Waiting for it to die down some.
And yes, I get flack whenever I say I was not at all pleased with the Jones cafe/lunch place. It just wasnt good to OUR family. I couldnt even finish mine.
I've eaten at Jones Lunch a couple of times and it's OK but nothing special. My kids like to go there so we go when we're in downtown Clayton but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. I think it probably gets a lot of love because it's cheap, it's got that retro thing going on, and there aren't a lot of places to eat in downtown Clayton to begin with.
I think I've mentioned before that my favorite hidden gem in Clayton is Taqueria Colima (on US 70, not downtown).
We looked into Clayton and really loved a few of the neighborhoods. But the dealbreaker turned out to be just how far out things were, compared to our former home in NY. We ended up in the Garner-Cleveland area and love it. Some say it's overly congested, but we don't see it that way at all. It's great having so many stores/restaurants so close.
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