Could someone breakdown Raleigh by neighborhood for me? (Durham, Cary: real estate, crime)

[packfan8019]

I realize that the title of this post may seem a bit vague so let me be more concise. My wife and I will hopefully be moving to N.C. with our 6 year old son and 3 year old daughter in the next 2 years. We currently live in Wisconsin and are ready for a climate change. We have been doing exhaustive research and have narrowed our choices down to Durham or Raleigh.

If I could get a list of neighborhood’s or subdivisions or even an “area” breakdown of Raleigh that would be great. Perhaps a listing of neighborhood’s starting with the nicest to the most dangerous. We have seen housing here as very affordable, some of the house’s being listed for 175,000-200,000 would literally go for over $350,000-400,000 in Wisconsin. I worry though that the houses are only affordable because the area they are being sold in is not desirable to live in.

I have scanned these forums and other outlets though, and I have not seen any major warnings about crime and such in Raleigh though so I am hopeful. Well to make a long post short here is the list I would be looking for.

Listing of neighborhood’s from nicest to most dangerous.
List of area’s that are nice to live in and a list of area have to avoid.
List of school districts to look into and avoid.

We will be visiting the city in late March hopefully, and plan on coming to visit at lest 3-4 times before we move. I would like to have list of places to visit when we come, and this could help narrow our search.

Thank you very much for your time and help.

[fester600]

Here is a map of some of the Southwest Durham neighborhoods:

South Durham NC - Parkwood map, Lakehurst map, Grandale Place map, Fairfield map, Lake Park map, Chancellor's Ridge map, and Audubon Park map

Right near the Southpoint mall... I will try and search for another general map

[chuckreis]

Originally Posted by packfan8019

I realize that the title of this post may seem a bit vague so let me be more concise. My wife and I will hopefully be moving to N.C. with our 6 year old son and 3 year old daughter in the next 2 years. We currently live in Wisconsin and are ready for a climate change. We have been doing exhaustive research and have narrowed our choices down to Durham or Raleigh.

If I could get a list of neighborhood’s or subdivisions or even an “area” breakdown of Raleigh that would be great. Perhaps a listing of neighborhood’s starting with the nicest to the most dangerous. We have seen housing here as very affordable, some of the house’s being listed for 175,000-200,000 would literally go for over $350,000-400,000 in Wisconsin. I worry though that the houses are only affordable because the area they are being sold in is not desirable to live in.

I have scanned these forums and other outlets though, and I have not seen any major warnings about crime and such in Raleigh though so I am hopeful. Well to make a long post short here is the list I would be looking for.

Listing of neighborhood’s from nicest to most dangerous.
List of area’s that are nice to live in and a list of area have to avoid.
List of school districts to look into and avoid.

We will be visiting the city in late March hopefully, and plan on coming to visit at lest 3-4 times before we move. I would like to have list of places to visit when we come, and this could help narrow our search.

Thank you very much for your time and help.

That list would be a mile long. I think people could help better if they knew what you were looking for size wise. Also where do you plan on working? Private of Public Schools? Old neighborhood or new? Urban or rural setting? Do you like chain or local stores? Do you like golf?

[taconis]

Save your time and money and find somewhere else to live. This has been the worst experience of my live (and I have lived all over the world). I am praying that my husband gets a federal job anywhere but here. The true locals really hate that so many outsiders are moving here and let you know in so many not so nice ways. I almost got violent with a woman (and yes I am a woman) that told me God bless in a very sacrane sweet voice only to find out later that this is the local way of telling someone to f@#@ off and still be considered a sweet southern lady. There are many more civilized places to live there Raleigh that still have nice weather.

[angie313]

you seem misinformed taconis. i am born and raised here, say god bless regularly, and NEVER intend for it to mean that, nor do i know anyone else from the area that does. sounds like you just rubbed someone the wrong way. if you don't like it so much... get out

[chuckreis]

Originally Posted by taconis

Save your time and money and find somewhere else to live. This has been the worst experience of my live (and I have lived all over the world). I am praying that my husband gets a federal job anywhere but here. The true locals really hate that so many outsiders are moving here and let you know in so many not so nice ways. I almost got violent with a woman (and yes I am a woman) that told me God bless in a very sacrane sweet voice only to find out later that this is the local way of telling someone to f@#@ off and still be considered a sweet southern lady. There are many more civilized places to live there Raleigh that still have nice weather.

??? Live under a bridge?

[Palmetto Heel]

Originally Posted by packfan8019

We have seen housing here as very affordable, some of the house’s being listed for 175,000-200,000 would literally go for over $350,000-400,000 in Wisconsin. I worry though that the houses are only affordable because the area they are being sold in is not desirable to live in.

You're right to be skeptical. If it looks too good to be true...

[sneezecake]

The list would be very long indeed. This is a nearly impossible task, however with a little direction we can provide you with a TON of great information.

First off, when you come visit, keep an open mind about the areas you have chosen. When I visited I THOUGHT we had narrowed down our search areas to SW Durham, SE Raleigh, NE Raleigh, Cary, and Wake Forest. After visiting it became NW Raleigh, Southern Durham, and West Cary. Not a HUGE change, but a change nonetheless. You can only do so much on paper.

What is your price range?
What size home do you need? (Bedrooms, Bathrooms, sq. footage)
Do you prefer a suburb or more urban feel for your neighborhood?
Do you want land, or what lot size would you consider/not consider?
Single family homes only?
Where will you be working or most likely be working (i.e. if you are tech/medical/science RTP is more likely, if you are financial/legal/gov't then one of the downtowns is more likely)

You can find a house for 150k in a perfectly safe area (probably wont be over 2000 square feet, probably wont have more than 3 bedrooms, etc etc) and you can find a house for $400k in an unsafe area.

There are some pockets of Durham and of Raleigh that are not particularly safe (as is the case with any true city) but you will be able to steer yourself away from some of those simply because many of the real estate listings are fairly obviously dilapidated or SEVERELY underpriced.

Originally Posted by packfan8019

I realize that the title of this post may seem a bit vague so let me be more concise. My wife and I will hopefully be moving to N.C. with our 6 year old son and 3 year old daughter in the next 2 years. We currently live in Wisconsin and are ready for a climate change. We have been doing exhaustive research and have narrowed our choices down to Durham or Raleigh.

If I could get a list of neighborhood’s or subdivisions or even an “area” breakdown of Raleigh that would be great. Perhaps a listing of neighborhood’s starting with the nicest to the most dangerous. We have seen housing here as very affordable, some of the house’s being listed for 175,000-200,000 would literally go for over $350,000-400,000 in Wisconsin. I worry though that the houses are only affordable because the area they are being sold in is not desirable to live in.

I have scanned these forums and other outlets though, and I have not seen any major warnings about crime and such in Raleigh though so I am hopeful. Well to make a long post short here is the list I would be looking for.

Listing of neighborhood’s from nicest to most dangerous.
List of area’s that are nice to live in and a list of area have to avoid.
List of school districts to look into and avoid.

We will be visiting the city in late March hopefully, and plan on coming to visit at lest 3-4 times before we move. I would like to have list of places to visit when we come, and this could help narrow our search.

Thank you very much for your time and help.

[WeLuvNC]

note: raleigh is in wake county and it is a county school system. you will want to look at the wake county public school system to get a sense of the schools. Each real estate listing typically lists the elementary and middle and high schools, but you will want to confirm this at the wcpss website to doublecheck before you buy. There are lots of other threads discussing the schools in the three/four counties in and around RTP.

Wake County Public School System

[taconis]

angie313 - I am trying to get out of here. Pay better attention next time!

Chuckreis - Actually, yes. I do feel like I live under a bridge with all the nasty people I have to deal with.