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I’m not exactly near Middle Creek, but close enough and usually refer to myself as living in the Eastern Side of Apex. My current daily commute either takes me down Optimist past the Middle Creek, or Ten Ten to Holly Springs south.
You really need to visit the area. That area will have a different feel than some of the “trendy” Western Cary neighborhoods like Highcroft (I actually bought in one of those areas when I relocated here, and after a year moved to the current location). Lots will generally be larger for the same money. Some will tell you the schools are all Wake County, but the school rankings on this side of Wake County will not be as good as in the West Cary area. Note I didn’t say Jr. was going to end up living in your basement forever if he goes to school over on this side. But statistics won’t be as good, population will be a bit more diverse economically. We send ours to Private School, not anti-public, but ours benefited from a smaller class environment.
You will have a larger mix of houses on this side. You will have new subdivisions like in West Cary / Morrisville, but also non HOA lots with 60/70s single / split level ranches. A few trailer parks (but not very many), a few trailers on single lots, and a few small farms still. I suspect those are mostly waiting on grandparents to pass, before they are sold and split, as they will be worth a lot more as non Ag land.
I can be in downtown in less than 20, 25 to RDU / PNC, downtown Apex or Cary in 15, etc. There is a lack of actual restaurants in this area, so plan to travel to one of the downtowns for a non chain meal.
540 expansion is key, and you don’t want to live near it or back up to it.
Traffic on 55 does suck, and I wouldn’t want to commute on that daily at peak.
Surburban sprawl is expanding to now include Fuquay. There are certainly pockets of what you are after south of 55, but you’d want to visit that area first before spending too much time looking at new construction that far south.
The addresses on this side of Wake County don’t mean much, as you could have one mailing address, but not live actually live in that town, and officially live in unorganized Wake County. Within a couple of miles of my house, you could have a Holly Springs, Raleigh, Apex, or an extra couple of miles a FV mailing address. And technically, you would not live in any of them. You end up not paying City taxes, but also don’t get city services. Schools are county remember and make up the bulk of your taxes.
Be patient - you will find exactly what you want even with low inventory. Houses come up all the time. We are around the corner from downtown apex and are putting our house up next week. Good luck - im sure you will find something - the area is great and you will love it here.
Your best choice for location, education and family is Cary. A close second would be Holly Springs. Cary is more manufactured while Holly Springs leans more towards rural. Cary has some of the highest ranked schools in the state, is convenient for shopping and has safe and friendly neighborhoods throughout the entire city but lacks the green, scenic landscapes and lakes found in Holly Springs. My wife and I have friends who live on Sunset and Bass lakes in Holly Springs, so we sometimes go there for cookouts and walks around the lake. Beautiful, scenic, green areas, loads of parks and conveniently close to HWY 55 and 540. Traffic can be problematic in both areas depending on time of day. Best of luck.
We would prefer not to have our kids grow up too rural. Want other families, activities, parks, pools, shopping, a neighborhood feel.
Very low inventory in Cary right now. The concerns about traffic on 55 out of Holy Springs are very real. And only look to be getting worse. I might WFH but I like to get out a lot. Plus young kids. And I may rent a office space co-op somewhere just because I can go crazy at home.
Any thoughts on East Apex? Near Midde Creek Park. A few houses there available in our range. Will be close to the 540 expansion. Can avoid 55. Can even swing over to the Costco off 401.
The truth is you can buy in a development in Cary or Apex, walk out your door and the neighborhood looks exactly like just about any neighborhood you'd find in Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina, Knightdale, North Raleigh, Garner, and so on. This is NC, you're always 5 minutes away from rural life.
If you're in NY, the traffic concerns here are unfounded. Yes there is traffic, but it moves. You're not sitting in gridlock for hours, you're at a slow roll for about 3 miles during morning and afternoon rush hour. You have to understand this whole area was farmlands at one point, many people moved here (myself included) because it was rural. So the traffic is a big deal to those of us who went years in a town that only had one stoplight at one point.
As has been said here you really should plan a visit.
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