Wake Forest or Cary? (Raleigh, Durham: relocate, apartments, travel)

[Azile]

I currently live in Cary but I am looking to move from this community. I do not like my backyard and my entrance is being zoned for apartments, which was not what it was originally going to be when we first moved here. So we have a couple of ideas but want your input.

Stay in Cary and move to an area that is finished, houses are expensive, and taxes are as high as what I'm used to. I'm familiar with the area and it is close to the hospitals and doctors I go to. Jobs are still a plus here, especially when I'm out of medical school, I know I'll have plenty of places to look in to.

Go to Wake forest: Taxes are still high (maybe higher), but the cost of the houses are lower than Cary. Area is not as familiar to me, but I'm a fast learner. From what I know, schools are still very good in the area, but I'd be further away from hospitals and doctors that I know of. The area is growing like Cary, so that means more construction but good appreciation overall. I don't know too much about Wake Forest over all, but that's where I need your opinions.

I'm also curious what are the schools like in Wake Forest compared to Cary schools. I know a lot of schools in Wake county are going year round, so I'm not sure that is an issue I need to focus on. I just want to know how good the schools are otherwise.

How are the jobs in Wake County? I'm getting into the medical field (Medical Assistant). I don't want to work in a hospital, so are there a lot of doctor's offices there? I didn't see any when I was there, but I wasn't driving around for too long.

How far away from Duke Hospital is Wake Forest in general? What is the closest emergency hospital to that area?

My husband and I looked at Dansforth and Heritage in Wake Forest. We preferred Dansforth, but we also really liked Preston in Cary. We've peeked at Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh and liked it overall. Any opinions on that place? What thoughts could you share on any of these communities?

[leighbhe]

Hi

I moved from apex (now cary - off of ten ten road) to wake forest almost two years ago. The towns are different, in my opinion. Wake forest has a small town feel, which to me was different than cary. Wake forest schools are comprable to cary schools, in wake forest, most of the elementary schools are going to be year round (wakefield, heritage, jones dairy, north forest pines) and two are traditional (forest pines, and wake forest elementary). The only middle school that is year round is heritage, whereas wake forest/rolesville and wakefield are traditional. It is hard to know whether they will go to year round or not.

Housing is less, and you tend to get more land with trees. Although there are neighborhoods with traditionally smaller lots (wakefield, and heritage) there are many neighborhoods with .5 or more.

There are a growing number of doctors offices, in my opinion. From rex healthcare practices, to a number of pediatric practices, etc. From wake forest, you would also be about 15/20 minutes from some north raleigh practices as well.

The closest emergency hospital is the north wake complex, which is a stand alone emergency center (and soon to be many doctors offices) off of falls of the neuse, which is about 15 minutes. Wake Med (the main site) is about 18 miles, in franklin county there is franklin regional medical center, which in the next 5 years they are moving to youngsville (15 minutes north of wake forest) in a new multi million dollar facility.

I have found that I really don't need to go outside of wake forest for much, and I just feel like it is a more family friendly small town than cary was for me.

PM me if you have specific questions.

Leigh

[OmegaBaby]

Originally Posted by leighbhe

Hi

I moved from apex (now cary - off of ten ten road) to wake forest almost two years ago. The towns are different, in my opinion. Wake forest has a small town feel, which to me was different than cary. Wake forest schools are comprable to cary schools, in wake forest, most of the elementary schools are going to be year round (wakefield, heritage, jones dairy, north forest pines) and two are traditional (forest pines, and wake forest elementary). The only middle school that is year round is heritage, whereas wake forest/rolesville and wakefield are traditional. It is hard to know whether they will go to year round or not.

Housing is less, and you tend to get more land with trees. Although there are neighborhoods with traditionally smaller lots (wakefield, and heritage) there are many neighborhoods with .5 or more.

There are a growing number of doctors offices, in my opinion. From rex healthcare practices, to a number of pediatric practices, etc. From wake forest, you would also be about 15/20 minutes from some north raleigh practices as well.

The closest emergency hospital is the north wake complex, which is a stand alone emergency center (and soon to be many doctors offices) off of falls of the neuse, which is about 15 minutes. Wake Med (the main site) is about 18 miles, in franklin county there is franklin regional medical center, which in the next 5 years they are moving to youngsville (15 minutes north of wake forest) in a new multi million dollar facility.

I have found that I really don't need to go outside of wake forest for much, and I just feel like it is a more family friendly small town than cary was for me.

PM me if you have specific questions.

Leigh

Thank you for a post with useful information that didn't include one of the following standard responses...
- CARY=Containment Area for Relocated Yankees
- People in Cary are snooty.
- Traffic in Cary is awful.

Breath of fresh air

[NCHomeFinder]

While my family lives in Raleigh, we are so close to Wake Forest that my kids are in school in WF. There is a new WakeMed satellite ER on the corner of Falls of Neuse and Durant Rd. in Raleigh, only about 15-20 minutes from Wake Forest, depending where in WF you are. There are doctors there, of course, and you'll also have easy access to most facilities in North Raleigh. We use Raleigh Pediatrics at 540 and Falls, and I absolutely love all of the doctors in the practice, although Dr. Chip is probably our favorite. (He juggles!)

The schools are also good, you can compare them to your schools in Cary side by side at greatschools net. Heritage Elementary and Middle in WF is year round, but Wake Forest Elementary is traditional.

Keep in mind that Wakefield is technically Raleigh, with Raleigh city taxes. Wakefield Elementary just converted to year round, and while Wakefield Middle didn't convert this time around, I wouldn't be surprised if it did in the near future.

Duke Hospital is going to be a hike, easily 45 minutes, although I've never driven it directly during rush hour. That would be worth a few practice drives before you made a decision, if that would be a daily commute for you. Do you have to work at a hospital, or are you also looking at doctor's offices, etc? I don't know a lot about the medical field, so hopefully someone can give you more insight into your options there.

Good luck!

[linkbr]

You can find a job at either locations. Cary is more centrally located so I assume you would have closer access to more doctors offices. You would be close to pretty much all of the Triangle area. Traffic to and from Wake Forest is something you should look into by taking the drive yourself during rush hour. Also, for other areas of your life, WF would be farther from top area attractions ( nice malls/shopping, top rated restaurants, downtown Raleigh, RTP, airport, etc etc). I'm not sure how the schools are in WF. Cary area schools' scores are always one of the highest with couple of the Raleigh schools up there as well. I'm sure you can check on specifics about the local schools on maybe on the Wake County Public Schools website. Duke hospital as mentioned earlier would be a drive from WF, esp. during rush hour b/c you would be going with traffic along with everyone working out of RTP. There are some nice and convenient areas in Raleigh too if that's something you're willing to consider.

[Azile]

Originally Posted by NCHomeFinder

Duke Hospital is going to be a hike, easily 45 minutes, although I've never driven it directly during rush hour. That would be worth a few practice drives before you made a decision, if that would be a daily commute for you. Do you have to work at a hospital, or are you also looking at doctor's offices, etc? I don't know a lot about the medical field, so hopefully someone can give you more insight into your options there.

Good luck!

NCHomeFinder> Actually, I'm just in school now for Medical Assistant. I don't plan on working in a hospital. I much prefer a private office whether it's owned by a hospital or owned privately by the doctor. I have, however, a doctor that I will not change whose office is in Duke Hospital. For now I only see him twice a year, so it's not a major deal to travel...unless there's an emergency that requires his knowledge (I have Multiple Sclerosis and he's a neurologist) in which case I don't want to live too far from Duke Hospital while not actually living in Durham county as well.

Everyone> for all those that have responded so far, Thank you for your help. It's been some great information. I have a lot to think about. Overall, I'm thinking Cary is going to end up being the better option for me, but I'm still considering everything .