Given a choice whre would you rather raise a family, W Cary or Chapel Hill? (Raleigh: home, middle school)

[NCBoyMommy]

Originally Posted by Miasdad

....but do you feel it's worth 2x the property tax rate and the higher price of real estate?

Yes I do. Mostly because so many people (including myself) end up sending their children to private school if they live in Wake County. So if you add in the price of tuition especially if they go from K-12 to private school you will probably actually make out better financially if you buy in Chapel Hill.

[shoes4birds]

Originally Posted by NCBoyMommy

Yes I do. Mostly because so many people (including myself) end up sending their children to private school if they live in Wake County. So if you add in the price of tuition especially if they go from K-12 to private school you will probably actually make out better financially if you buy in Chapel Hill.

Fantastic point. Hubby and I were discussing the pros/cons of each and figured if we bought in Cary, we would likely need to add on the price of private school tuition to the cost of our house. That total is the total price we would have to spend in CH to come out equal (giving way for increased taxes as well).

[NCBoyMommy]

Originally Posted by shoes4birds

Fantastic point. Hubby and I were discussing the pros/cons of each and figured if we bought in Cary, we would likely need to add on the price of private school tuition to the cost of our house. That total is the total price we would have to spend in CH to come out equal (giving way for increased taxes as well).

...and that extra money that you put toward a home in Chapel Hill is really a real estate investment that you will see again when you sell later on where as you will never see the private school tuition again.

[MrsSteel]

Originally Posted by sls76

My guess is after visiting the two it will be obvious which area has the feel you are looking for.

I completely agree with this statement. People tend to like one town or the other. If you visit them both, you'll quickly learn which one is more to your liking.

[sls76]

Originally Posted by NCBoyMommy

Yes I do. Mostly because so many people (including myself) end up sending their children to private school if they live in Wake County. So if you add in the price of tuition especially if they go from K-12 to private school you will probably actually make out better financially if you buy in Chapel Hill.

The schools in West Cary (the specific part of Wake Co. the OP was asking about) are uniformly excellent. I'm not sure why you would need to send your children to private school living there (v. public school in CH) unless you had a strong aversion to the possibility of reassignment.

[Funky Chicken]

Originally Posted by sls76

I'm not certain that the elementary schools in CH are better than the best elementary schools in West Cary (check ncreportcard.com or greatschools.net and look at Highcroft Elementary, Green Hope Elementary and Davis Drive Elementary, for example). I'm not as familiar with the middle and high school situation. Obviously you would spare yourself the reassignment mess that Wake County subjects families to because of growth and the county's desire to diversify schools based on socio-economic status.
We lived in Cary for two years and I will say that we found it to be very safe and extremely family oriented and the Town of Cary parks are fantastic. Definitely take a look at Cary. Chapel Hill is a very socially liberal town which may or may not be your cup of tea or you may not care. My guess is after visiting the two it will be obvious which area has the feel you are looking for.

Post of the day.

It's not as if we are talking about two places with a whole lot of similarity here.
My preference would be West Cary based on geography. Chapel Hill is the far western end of all of the destinations we frequent in the Triangle. Living in West Cary, you have excellent access to CH on back roads and still retain your proximity to Raleigh, RDU, and the other western Wake towns. With gas at $4, a central location means a great deal to me.
I realize that many Chapel Hill residents have everything they need in Chapel Hill, but my family's needs transcend what ANY one town can offer us.
At a certain point all of our opinions mean very little. That point comes when you do an in-person comparison of the two towns.

[NCBoyMommy]

Originally Posted by sls76

The schools in West Cary (the specific part of Wake Co. the OP was asking about) are uniformly excellent. I'm not sure why you would need to send your children to private school living there (v. public school in CH) unless you had a strong aversion to the possibility of reassignment.

As we all know because of redistricting just because you live in West Cary certainly doesn't mean you will attend a West Cary public school. So I wouldn't find any comfort in certain schools being better than others. Then you say they are "Excellent", Excellent using what criteria? They maybe excellent for Wake County but what does that really mean?

In 1990 93% of children living in Wake County went to a public school. In 1996 that percentage was 90%, last year it was 83%. 1 out of every 5 children in Wake County does not attend their assigned public school...and that's a conservative estimate because people don't have to register their homeschooling children until they are 7. When the parents of 20% of the children in this county chose an alternative to their public school that to me speaks volumes as to the confidence (or lack there of) that parents have in the Wake County Public School System.

[sls76]

Originally Posted by NCBoyMommy

As we all know because of redistricting just because you live in West Cary certainly doesn't mean you will attend a West Cary public school. So I wouldn't find any comfort in certain schools being better than others. Then you say they are "Excellent", Excellent using what criteria? They maybe excellent for Wake County but what does that really mean?

In 1990 93% of children living in Wake County went to a public school. In 1996 that percentage was 90%, last year it was 83%. 1 out of every 5 children in Wake County does not attend their assigned public school...and that's a conservative estimate because people don't have to register their homeschooling children until they are 7. When the parents of 20% of the children in this county chose an alternative to their public school that to me speaks volumes as to the confidence (or lack there of) that parents have in the Wake County Public School System.

First of all, I no longer live in Wake County, so I have no horse in this race. I was unhappy with the reassignment debacle (although our first child will not start kindergarten until September so I have no first hand experience) and our elementary (Weatherstone) wasn't one of the best in Wake Co., but the schools in West Cary are really quite impressive by almost any objective standard (and no, I do not mean compared to the other Wake Co. schools, I mean in general).
Look at the following schools on ncreportcard.com:
Green Hope Elementary, Davis Drive Elementary, Highcroft Elementary, Turner Creek Elementary. Compare their scores to the CH elementary scores. There's little difference. Students attending any of these schools tend to do very well.
Do you know anyone in West Cary whose children are bused out of West Cary? I've never heard of that happening. The busing goes in the other direction. May not be a guarentee, but it's a bet I would take.

[NCBoyMommy]

Originally Posted by sls76

Do you know anyone in West Cary whose children are bused out of West Cary? I've never heard of that happening. The busing goes in the other direction. May not be a guarentee, but it's a bet I would take.

Yes I do actually. Ask the families in nodes 381.4, 381.5, 381.6, 381.8 who were all
re-districted this year from Davis Drive (West Cary) to Laurel Park Elementary(Apex) and then got Joyner Elementary, (ITB Raleigh---19 miles away), as their traditional opt-out....I bet they wouldn't take that bet.

Like you I don't have a pony in this or anything to prove but I think that people deserve to know what they are getting into.

[Dire Wolf]

sls76, that is true. West Cary is at the edge of the county and students are bused to them, not the other way, for the most part. There are some students who may get bused to other parts of Cary (or maybe Apex or M'ville) for middle school, but it isn't like kids are getting bused from West Cary to East Raleigh. The vast majority are in very good to excellent schools for their entire education.