Your thoughts about renting a house/townhome in downtown Cary? (Raleigh: renters, car insurance)

[Ann72]

We are researching rentals in the downtown area of Cary. Any opinions of the area north or east of Cary Elementary? Anything we should consider before renting in this area? We have a dog and two young children. We want to be walking distance to a park/playground, the library, shops, etc.

Thank you in advance CD regulars!!! Your advice is invaluable.

[Chicky]

As with every area, it's going to depend largely on the particular house and the neighbors you have. I think it would be a lovely area to live - you would be walking distance to school, library, and the 'urban' park. Also walking distance to several restaurants - both formal and casual - bakeries, some specialty shops, etc. Not far by car to your choice of bigger shopping centers.

Things to consider... the block formed by Academy/Harrison/Chapel Hill Rd/Chatham St can be a tangle in the morning and evening 'rush hours'. You will also have train noise to consider - best to ask the neighbors about that. The homes in this area tend to be older, and if you are renting, you may or may not be able to fix things to your satisfaction. I once rented an older home in the W/SW area of Cary Elementary and had a lovely owner and manager, which makes all the difference!

[saturnfan]

When you rent from a casual landlord, you may have service or deposit issues.

[Ann72]

Thank you for your advice Chicky and Saturnfan...

Any other thoughts out there?

[Snowpea]

Hi Ann72,

Have you visited the area yet? Are you having to make a rental decision from a distance? Online information from strangers can only go so far.. but here goes... I live in an older home that is pretty much a mile South of Cary Elementary. I love it here and feel very 'centered'. I believe that Lamishra lives a few blocks East of Cary Elementary which is probably the area you are considering. You may like to read through our prior posts to get a sense of the area from a residents perspective. According to me Downtown Cary is varied, organic, earthy, modest, friendly, historic, quaint, unexpected, contrary, and evolving. Individual impressions can vary greatly however as can be seen in a recent thread Central & Eastern Cary. Stone Creek Village in West Cary 'will be' heaven for West_Raleigh_Guy just as it was for SP2SCV. I am thankful that Cary has different areas that suit different personalities and lifestyles.

I envision Downtown Cary as an evolving urban village. This area was settled in the 1750s but it was not till the 1850s that the railway was laid and a village grew up around the tracks. Cary remained a small settlement till the 1950s. Consequently this area feels very liveable and compact compared to some of the newer, outlying locations. I was at a transit meeting the other night and discovered that the C-Tran bus service is going to be expanded with DT Cary as the hub. The eventual regional rail service will have a stop in DT Cary. Meanwhile the town is beginning a massive renovation project (see Cary Downtown (http://www.townofcary.org/depts/planning/carydowntown/index.htm - broken link) and Downtown Cary Streetscape). These future infrastructure improvements are exciting however there will likely be some annoyances stemming from the construction process in the coming years (work begins in 2009).

Lastly, if you cannot visit then use Cary - Google Maps. Click on the 'Street View' button at the top of the map. Lots of blue lines and a little orange man icon appear. If you move the 'man' to a place on a blue line then you will get a street view rather than a satellite view. You can even navigate the 'man' to look around or to travel along the street. Fun and informative. I believe the images were taken in the Fall of 2007.

[Ann72]

Originally Posted by Snowpea

Hi Ann72,

Have you visited the area yet? Are you having to make a rental decision from a distance? Online information ... I believe the images were taken in the Fall of 2007.

Thank you for all of the useful information! We are visiting the area this week. We've been down 3 times before and, after each time, we are still interested in the downtown Cary area. We have enrolled our children in preschool for next fall and would like to live relatively close. Ideally, it would be walking distance. However, we want to make sure the area is family friendly. We want to stay away from areas that may attract college students or similar party prone areas. We are a pretty quiet family. Again, thank you for all the information.

[Stampede]

You have to check it out really good. The downtown area is going to have a lot of construction going on for a while, so that could be an issue. Also, traffic can be an issue, especially with the construction going on.

[pmcap98]

Just as a fyi, I had a friend that rented a home off of Old Apex Road and then moved into downtown Cary. Her car insurance and renters insurance rates went way up. Something to be aware of....