Bedford at Falls River - Opinions? Other options? (Raleigh, Durham: chapel, house)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Visiting Bedford at Falls River I was really impressed. I love the fact that you can walk to the "downtown" store area and grab a coffee or an ice cream cone, or pick up some eggs. Overall, it has an incredible feel in my opinion.
Which leads to two questions:
1) Any real downside to this community that is not readily apparent, or that I may not have thought of?
2) Are there any other communities in the Triangle that have a similar feel? Location-wise, it's not my absolute favorite - as I'd love something a little closer to the airport and RTP. But, I really love the community feel.
Visiting Bedford at Falls River I was really impressed. I love the fact that you can walk to the "downtown" store area and grab a coffee or an ice cream cone, or pick up some eggs. Overall, it has an incredible feel in my opinion.
Which leads to two questions:
1) Any real downside to this community that is not readily apparent, or that I may not have thought of?
2) Are there any other communities in the Triangle that have a similar feel? Location-wise, it's not my absolute favorite - as I'd love something a little closer to the airport and RTP. But, I really love the community feel.
I live next door and Agree it is a very nice suburban neighborhood. I'm particularly impressed with the tree lined streets and how well the vegetation has matured over the past 10 years giving the neighborhood a great look. Bedford and Falls River are very popular neighborhoods for families. Still there are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Where do you work. The traffic on Falls of Neuse Road can be VERY heavy during normal rush hour times. Particularly if you are taking Falls of Neuse to 540 to commute to RTP. That section of 540 sees backups quite often.
2. Traffic on main drags. I love many of the side streets in Bedford and Falls River, but if you buy a home along Falls River Avenue keep in mind that is the main artery both in and out of the neighborhood and given the number of people who live there that can mean a lot of cars driving by.
All in all it is a great area to live and gives you great access to a lot of things. The Greenway, nearby shopping including a Whole Foods just 10-15 minutes away.
Is there anyplace else similar? Aside from the treelined streets (which are beautiful) we also loved the idea of a commercial area that was walkable (along with being to walk to playgrounds and the pool).
Preston Village seems a little bit similar, but without the commercial area. Coming from where we are coming from, I love the idea of being to go for a walk and get a cup of coffee without having to get in a car.
One of the disadvantage I can think of to Bedford / Falls River is the small size of the lots and closeness of homes to each other, but that's also less yard work to deal with so it could be as much of a pro as a con. It's also not unusual, particularly compared to these newer neighborhoods around Cary/Apex which are on postage stamps or have the house sitting on what will be a busy road in the future, etc. Besides, if you've already driven through it and loved it, well you've already seen the lot size so this should be a non-issue for you. Folks from some other states might actually prefer this layout because it reminds them more of home.
In addition to the residential density, North_Raleigh_Guy mentions the commute and that's something to consider. You can use Google maps to estimate the driving time, adjust the begin/end time to see worst case rush-hour scenarios. I find the time estimates there to be pretty close to my actual experiences.
The location overall is pretty hard to beat in terms of overall living. If for some reason I needed to commute to Holly Springs or Fuquay everyday and expected the situation to be permanent, I wouldn't buy there. If however I didn't know where I or my spouse might be working five years from now, the general location is an excellent choice, because it's not too far from everything, and if your next job could be in RTP or it could be Downtown, maybe Cary, maybe North Raleigh, maybe parts of Durham or Chapel Hill then flexibility becomes a big factor. Typically you're looking at 25-40 mins door to door for anywhere in the Triangle that really matters in terms of significant job presence.
The lots are a little smaller than I'd like, but I think I could make that sacrifice. I just wish it was a little bit closer to the airport. It's also not super close to much of the bigger shopping areas, but seems to have quite a bit of smaller shopping (grocery and drug stores). It also seemed to be really convenient to medical care, too.
I'm not a fan of that area. To me, it's not true North Raleigh and not Wake Forest either. It's somewhere I between. I think you would like Southern Village in Chapel Hill. It's also walkable. Traffic on 540 is horrible during commute times.
I think Bedford would be my #1 choice if I was just moving to Raleigh. That whole area from Durant to the Neuse River Greenway trail is really nice. There may be a few issues with traffic at peak times but all in all a very convenient location.
The lots are a little smaller than I'd like, but I think I could make that sacrifice. I just wish it was a little bit closer to the airport. It's also not super close to much of the bigger shopping areas, but seems to have quite a bit of smaller shopping (grocery and drug stores). It also seemed to be really convenient to medical care, too.
If the proximity to the airport because you fly a lot or because you currently work in that area? If for regular flights, the proximity of the neighborhood to RDU is ideal and probably an under 15 minute drive because you won't be dealing with peak traffic most of the time. Close enough to be an easy drive but far enough that you don't hear the plane noise like a lot of northwest or west areas. If for daily commute, you will almost certainly increase that time by another 10 minutes.
One of the great things about that area is you are typically driving west in the morning and east in the afternoon, which means the glare of the sun isn't directly in your eyes. To me that matters more to overall stress level than a few more minutes of commuting.
What would you consider a bigger shopping area? It's easy to get to pretty much any of the malls if that's your thing, including just a few minutes to Southpoint in Durham via 540/40, as long as you don't decide to go mall walking at 8:30am on a Monday morning. Aside from that you've got all kinds of shopping options and restaurants nearby (not walking distance from the front door but very close just the same).
I have 2 friends who moved away from Bedford because of traffic.
It's really quite bad at peak times. Before you buy I think you should go there and do the commute to see how bad it will be.
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