Feedback on Raleigh and surrounding areas (Cary, Chapel Hill: real estate, apartments, condo)

[nri]

I finally ventured into Raleigh area to see what it is, but in the wrong time. I was there on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the temperatures ranged between 100 to 102, the heat was unbearable. I almost got fried, boiled, baked, grilled..you name it, I'm still recovering from it . Here are my observations about this area.

Everywhere it is green, green, green...,. I wonder why it was not listed in one of greenest cities in U.S.A.
So which place is beautiful in triangle area? The question is like which part of your body is beautiful? You can't see any difference between the places in this area since entire place is greenery and scenary.
Cary, Apex, Hollysprings, Morrisville - They have vibrant communities, atleast you notice that some activity is going on. These places have new communities and still some new constructions are going on. People here are very happy about their areas, through they agreed that school redistricting is an issue. None of their kids (whomever I spoke with) got redistricted in their elementary or high school. It is year round curriculum but I was told that you can choose some tracks where you get bunch of holidays at once in Dec and summer instead of every nine weeks. (Citation needed). People here love to send their kids to magnet schools, but they have to get it through lottery in Feb of every year. Once you are in, you all set(citation needed), Everyone unanimously voted for Chapel Hill area for school system, but there is a big difference in cost of living between Cary & Chapel Hill area. (Chapel Hill area is more expensive).
I jumped on to Chapel Hill area without any delay. It is really a hill with lot of curved roads covered with pinewooded trees. We have to sneak through tress to find whether there is a house inside. First couple of hours, I got scared while driving through these areas, but slowly adjusted after seeing some cops cars. Though there are plenty of houses (all are old covered with large pine wooded trees), it doesn't seem like people are living in these (may be because it was Sunday). I drove around Coker hills, Lake forest and Elliot drive. Enquired about schools and got the following feedback.
Glenwood is crowded.
Estes is good.
Rashkins and Seawell are new and equipped with latest technology and academically gifted programs.
I went to Estes, not impressed with appearance of the building (of course that is not important). Talked to school admin, when I told about their school's good reputation, she was surprisedwith my input.
Went to Seawell school which has pleasant look compared to Estes. School admin was very informative.
Looked for apartments around Estes school. Surprised to know that the residents in an apartment across Estes are going to Rashkins schools. When I asked apartment manager why they are going to Rashkins when Estes is visible from there, she also got puzzled and called her boss, he also had no clue but gave me a valuable advice to contact school district office why their apartment was not under Estes school
Went to another apartment which is 9 year old and looks very good. Asked the apartment manager whether their community was under Estes. He had a surprise look at me and told that I was the first guy who specifically asked for Estes where as all other prospective residents were asking specifically for Rashkins (this may be hi marketing technique, not sure).
Based on listings on aprtments.com and apartmentfinder.com, I went to one brand new apartments which I fell in love at first sight. Though it is very expensvie, I was ready to pay for it since I though it was under Estes according apartment.com. But the news is, their community went to Estes last year, now all are redistricted to Seawell school. The redistricting seems to be a problem here too, since some news schools are being constructed (Morrison...), again students from Estes, Rashkins and Seawell may be redistricted again. I'm too confused, only consolation is all schools in CH/Carrboro are excellent.
Regarding housing, there are no new constructions in CH area. Whether it is Cary, Apex, Chapel Hill, you get what you pay for. This concept is true across the country except California, Newyork and some other places. I don't understand why people say housing is affordable here. Enquired about some houses I liked in Cary and Chapel hill are, the price range is between 450K to 1.5 M:
I feel like writing more about my experience, but as I mentioned I'm still recovering from heat stroke and really need rest.
Overall it is

Please throw some inputs.

[ljd1010]

I wholeheartedly agree with you about the area being very beautiful. We describe the Triangle to our friends as gentle rolling hills with lush pine forests. As far as real estate prices, we just bought in Cary. Cary, in general, is not inexpensive. We ended up spending about the same $$ on a townhome that we sold our single family home for in RI. The difference is that the townhome is almost twice as large as our previous home and has tons of beautiful upgrades. This place would have easily cost us double the price up north.

[Gatornation]

I think you'll find the prices and cost of living in Chapel Hill isn't much less compared to many NE states.

[Stampede]

Originally Posted by Gatornation

I think you'll find the prices and cost of living in Chapel Hill isn't much less compared to many NE states.

Home prices will still be lower, but not nearly as much as other towns in this area. However, most other cost of living items will be much lower than the northeastern states, including taxes and household energy costs.

[seattlenextyear]

I'm confused as to why anyone would be scared to drive around Chapel Hill until they see cop cars?

[nri]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

I'm confused as to why anyone would be scared to drive around Chapel Hill until they see cop cars?

Because, I'm new to that place and I was the only guy driving on those roads. Not a single vehicle or person was seen. I felt like I was driving alone in forest. If I saw any vehicle or person, that was cops only.

Hope I'm clear now.

[saturnfan]

I'm a city person and don't feel comfortable in sparsely settled areas. I avoid them especially at night because of weak night vision.

[geoff2v]

Originally Posted by Stampede

Home prices will still be lower, but not nearly as much as other towns in this area. However, most other cost of living items will be much lower than the northeastern states, including taxes and household energy costs.

Not in my experience, at least not on a housing cost basis. We're moving from a condo in MA to a house in NC which is about 6% cheaper, but our property taxes will be about 66% higher. And the income taxes are higher as well. We should save on energy, at least on a per-square-foot basis.