SW Durham vs. N. Raleigh (Chapel Hill: apartment, rent, HOA fees)

[manderlyles]

Relocating Mom again......

I love this post and I am learning so much but I have more questions.

What are the differences between living in N. Raleigh and living in Durham vs living in Chapel Hill. It seems people are saying to stay away from Durham but some recommend SW Durham? Which one is closer to RTP? I was all set to move to Raleigh (Bedford) but I see good things also about Durham like more house for money. Is this true? I went from wanting an urban downtown condo to wanting to buy a 3 bedroom house. I want an area that is close to everything yet not too close, new development with amenities or beautiful house built within 10 years and a "safe" neighborhood. I need to be close to shopping and I like entertainment like movies, jazz, art, food. I want old charm with new school. oh and the community has got to be vibrant, no retirement community for me. I will commute up to 30 minutes but no longer than that. Any suggestions there is just so much to choose from. Which one has more racial diversity? I am an all nations kind of girl. I love everybody and I love mixed neighborhoods.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by manderlyles

Relocating Mom again......

I love this post and I am learning so much but I have more questions.

What are the differences between living in N. Raleigh and living in Durham vs living in Chapel Hill. It seems people are saying to stay away from Durham but some recommend SW Durham? Which one is closer to RTP? I was all set to move to Raleigh (Bedford) but I see good things also about Durham like more house for money. Is this true? I went from wanting an urban downtown condo to wanting to buy a 3 bedroom house. I want an area that is close to everything yet not too close, new development with amenities or beautiful house built within 10 years and a "safe" neighborhood. I need to be close to shopping and I like entertainment like movies, jazz, art, food. I want old charm with new school. oh and the community has got to be vibrant, no retirement community for me. I will commute up to 30 minutes but no longer than that. Any suggestions there is just so much to choose from. Which one has more racial diversity? I am an all nations kind of girl. I love everybody and I love mixed neighborhoods.

I like southwest Durham for it's good proximity to jobs in RTP. You also have nice access to the Streets at Southpoint Mall (http://www.streetsatsouthpoint.com/html/index20.asp - broken link) which I think is the best mall in the Triangle. North Raleigh an SW Durham are simialr in that they both offer the typical suburban lifestyle. Chapel Hill is a great area to live as well, but it is one of if not the most expensive places to live in the Triangle, so your budget for housing may will play a large role in what places are actual possibilites.

FWIW, I would definitely visit the area to get a better feel for all the various places before corssing anything off your list.

Good Luck!

[sneezecake]

There are definitely similarities between N. Raleigh and SW Durham - nice communities, convenient to shopping, etc.

SW Durham is closer to RTP for the most part. N. Raleigh isn't by any means non-doable, but SW Durham is definitely closer and easier commute-wise

Chapel Hill is the outlier of the three in some ways - it's probably similar distance-wise to N. Raleigh, but it is definitely, foot for foot, the most expensive of the three areas.

You mentioned your budget was 1000/month and now you are looking for a 3br house...you'll definitely have the most luck (I'd guess) looking in SW Durham.

Durham does get a bad rap by some folks who are either under-informed or over-generalizing, because the informed know that Durham, like Raleigh, has a ton of great places and a very few bad places, and the over-generalizing gloss over the fact that Durham is something like 10-15 miles from top to bottom, not exactly small, and SW Durham is generally far away from the pockets of more questionable areas.

[sneezecake]

Just saw your question on the new construction thread.

We are currently renting a 2/2 apartment across from the Auburn neighborhood.

Auburn is a decent neighborhood with homes from probably 200k up to 350k, but it's a little too vinyl-y for my tastes. Still, it's mostly very well kept and they have a pool and a small playground. I jog through there often.

Also in the same price range is Woodlake, barely 1/4 mile away from Auburn. Similar homes but a little more mature and wooded.

Woodcroft has homes also in the same price range as the previous two, and is a favorite of many on this board for the wooded streets and older mature feel to the place - great swim club but requires membership above HOA fees.

Hope Valley Farms is another big neighborhood in SW Durham which has sub-200k homes I think (though they go as high as 350k as well)

Audubon Park, further to the south, is more in the 175-250k range and reminds me in some ways of Auburn, though I happen to prefer it slightly.

If you really want to save money and get away from vinyl/siding type homes all together, Parkwood is one of the original developments and features a lot of ranch or maybe even split level style brick homes. Definitely an older look, but a cheaper price point and something entirely different.

Any and all of these are extremely convenient to RTP.

[manderlyles]

Thanks already for the great info.Luck no not exactly. More like planning.
I was going to originally rent and I said at a price of about 1000 because I was coming by myself after being seperated from my husband and I thought surely the housing was cheaper than PA which I pay 1600. Then I got to seeing the prices and though forget it. I may as well find somewhere we like and just buy. I was always in a position to buy I just was trying to be safe. But now I have talked with my husband (we own a business together) and he is cashing out my half so why rent. I will just do my research and buy. I am going to check out the neighborhoods you mentioned. I am plannig on coming there in 2 weeks.

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Originally Posted by sneezecake

Just saw your question on the new construction thread.

We are currently renting a 2/2 apartment across from the Auburn neighborhood.

Auburn is a decent neighborhood with homes from probably 200k up to 350k, but it's a little too vinyl-y for my tastes. Still, it's mostly very well kept and they have a pool and a small playground. I jog through there often.

Also in the same price range is Woodlake, barely 1/4 mile away from Auburn. Similar homes but a little more mature and wooded.

Woodcroft has homes also in the same price range as the previous two, and is a favorite of many on this board for the wooded streets and older mature feel to the place - great swim club but requires membership above HOA fees.

Hope Valley Farms is another big neighborhood in SW Durham which has sub-200k homes I think (though they go as high as 350k as well)

Audubon Park, further to the south, is more in the 175-250k range and reminds me in some ways of Auburn, though I happen to prefer it slightly.

If you really want to save money and get away from vinyl/siding type homes all together, Parkwood is one of the original developments and features a lot of ranch or maybe even split level style brick homes. Definitely an older look, but a cheaper price point and something entirely different.

Any and all of these are extremely convenient to RTP.

[sneezecake]

If your price range is sub 250k I would say Woodcroft and Audubon Park - Hope Valley Farms too

If you can bump up to 300k I would look also at Fairfield and Woodlake

Bill Clark Homes has a new community called Wood Chapel which is more in SE Durham, very close to RTP, and isn't a bad call in terms of new construction sub 300k.

[underPSI]

Durham does get a bad rap by some folks who are either under-informed or over-generalizing

I've lived in Raleigh for 30 years so I know from experience. Durham has gone from bad to worse and back to bad. Granted, Durham is getting better but it's still not better than Raleigh. In my opinion, I think of Durham like I do Jamaica. Jamaica is a beautiful, safe, and friendly place as long as you don't leave the resort. But if you do you soon realize you are surrounded by ghetto and all of a sudden don't feel safe anymore. Another opinion I have of Durham is someone spray-painted a rotten head of lettuce green and calls it fresh.

[Calvitts]

I think underPSI's post is a little unfair...

FWIW, I live in SW Durham, and our family LOVES it! There are areas of Durham that are less desirable than others, but there are also less desirable areas of Raleigh.

Sneezecake recommended some great neighborhoods for you to check out. If you believe you will be working in RTP, then I strongly recommend SW Durham. I work in RTP, and I have co-workers that live in or near Bedford and take that daily drive, and the drive can definitely be longer than 30 minutes. If there are weather or traffic delays, it has taken them an hour to get to work.

Depending on where you work in RTP and where you are located in SW Durham, your commute to work can be anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. And there are many different routes to get to and from RTP.

Good luck on your upcoming visit and search. Hopefully you will be working with a Buyer's agent.

Also, there are many posters that live in SW Durham and live in the various neighborhoods that Sneezecake mentioned, so if you have questions about a particular neighborhood, post away, and someone is bound to have an answer for you!

[Charlton Dude]

Originally Posted by underPSI

Another opinion I have of Durham is someone spray-painted a rotten head of lettuce green and calls it fresh.

Uproarious but true

[sneezecake]

Originally Posted by underPSI

I've lived in Raleigh for 30 years so I know from experience. Durham has gone from bad to worse and back to bad. Granted, Durham is getting better but it's still not better than Raleigh. In my opinion, I think of Durham like I do Jamaica. Jamaica is a beautiful, safe, and friendly place as long as you don't leave the resort. But if you do you soon realize you are surrounded by ghetto and all of a sudden don't feel safe anymore. Another opinion I have of Durham is someone spray-painted a rotten head of lettuce green and calls it fresh.

See what I mean?

Two can play this game.

I think of Raleigh like a high school prom queen with IBS...she thinks she's all that, but some parts of her, especially on the South end, really stink.