From CT (Raleigh, Holly Springs, Clayton: sales, custom home, neighborhoods)

[Familyof6fromCT]

Team Raleigh,

Read the forum for 6 hours last nite and 4 more so far today with diversions to mapquest, realtor.com, google, etc

Learned a lot but also learned there"s a lot we don't know...There is so much GREAT information here but our heads are spinning!

Economically and lifestyle speaking, we want to join you in NC! But, fear of the unknown and 4 school age kids makes the decision harder and research that much more important.

Married, 38, 4 children, professional, very active, very social, looking for a development that makes sense.

Thinking about St Ives, Wakefield, Brier, Ethans Glen and Heritage-- seem to fit well for family, schools and social life....(?)

Others?

Advice?

What don't we know or realize that we should consider?

We live in a very nice community now and seek same- friendly and outgoing environment is a must! We'll miss the beaches and friends but not the weather. Commute not an issue, looking for a "larger lot", great schools, pool tennis preferred, golf not important.

Softball, flag football, basketball for adults?

If you had to do it all over again, or were going to make a recommendation, PLEASE throw it at us!!!

THANK YOU!

[leighbhe]

I liave in wake forest, and have looked at houses in the neighborhoods that you are thinking about, so my 2 cents..........

Ethan's Glen: Nice neighborhood the only thing I don't like about it is that it is not in wake forest although it has a wake forest address - so it is about 10 miles to the target, grocery store, etc but it is not in north raleigh either. It is just in this in between place!

St. Ives is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the area, it does have a pool and tennis, very well built homes (I think I have been in about 8 of them at this point) nice neighborhood that is conveniently located and not too big.

Wakefield: I really like the estates section of heritage which is where you will find great lots with trees, those homes though run upwards of a million bucks. They are in a great location, and are well built. Wakefield has the pools, YMCA, grocery stores, etc.

Heritage: This is newer than wakefield, and is still building new homes. The lots are not huge, but there are some trees. It has the pool, tennis , golf (so does wakefield) and the houses have more of a craftsman feel to it than wakefield. Heritage is on the east side of wake forest and wakefield is on the west side.

I also like hasentree, but that is going to be in the 1 million plus mark, but it is a new golf community in wake forest. Glenmoor and Galloway are also very nice neighborhoods with trees, pool, no tennis, but large lots and seem to have lots of families in them.

Anyhow, PM me or email me if you have more questions.

leigh

[NCHomeFinder]

Wow, marathon reading! I can imagine your head must be spinning!

Leigh has summed up the area quite well, as usual!

In terms of family-centered activities, Heritage has one large pool now with a curvy slide, tennis, basketball, etc. Currently, the sales center occupies the clubhouse, but in a few years when the development is finished, it will be turned back into a neighborhood clubhouse. Of course, there is the golf clubhouse, too, for those with a golf membership. They are also building in the newest phase, another pool with a "lazy river", with walking trails, etc. that *should be finished this summer.

From your description of wanting to be where the action is, imo, any of the development along highway 98 is going to feel too rural or isolated. Even Hasentree, which will have a huge family rec center, as well as the country club, is fairly isolated due to restrictions on retail development in the watershed. Also, because of those restrictions, don't expect any development to make its way out there any time soon.

Brier Creek is the only one that kind of sticks out of the pack you mentioned, location-wise. It is located much further west, almost to the airport/RTP. On a map, it's just northwest of I-540/hwy 70. It is beautiful, it has appreciated like crazy, and will probably continue to do so because of the proximity to RTP, the airport, downtown... Plus, the retail development has really boomed out there, too. My opinion of Brier Creek as a community is that it is more golf oriented than, say, Wakefield or Heritage, but it is definitely worth a look for you.

Since you've already been reading so much, you probably already have the school websites, but just in case, here they are again. Also, you've probably already seen some threads about year-round vs. traditional schools in Wake County, but if not, search those topics, too.

www.wcpss.net
www.ncreportcards.com
www.greatschools.net

For family activities and great camps for your kids, check out the Triangle YMCA system. The Kerr Family YMCA is in Wakefield, and it was already at capacity, so they just opened a new YMCA in the Factory at Heritage. Both are beautiful facilities - Kerr even has a 2-story indoor climbing wall that my 6 year old loves!

Do you have an idea yet what kind of commute you'll have or where you'll work? That might help narrow down your choices a bit.

Enjoy reading, there are so many helpful, knowledgeable people here - I learn something new almost every time I log in!

[Familyof6fromCT]

Thank you for responses Leigh and NC.

I work from home office so commute not an issue-- only to airport once a week.

Anyone out there from CT with perspective on the transition?

Would prefer to stay under 600 for home.

How about Clayton?

[NCHomeFinder]

Originally Posted by Familyof6fromCT

Thank you for responses Leigh and NC.

I work from home office so commute not an issue-- only to airport once a week.

Anyone out there from CT with perspective on the transition?

Would prefer to stay under 600 for home.

How about Clayton?

Still can't help you w/ the CT angle, but if you're working from home, Clayton might be a great choice. An area like Flowers Plantation (google it for the url) would have the amenities AND the space/land you're looking for. There is an authentic small-town downtown with lots of great activity, as well as all your big box retail along the hwy 70 corridor. Johnston County schools are good, too.

www.johnston.k12.nc.us

The only issue might be the airport, although if you're heading over during non-peak driving times, you could probably do it in 35-45 minutes now that I-540 is open to the 64 bypass. (Sorry, look at a map for that to make any sense to you! ) Johnston County does have a small, regional airport, but I don't know much about which carriers fly in or out.

[CAKD]

Are you only wanting to stay North of Raleigh or is the other direction okay as well? If you are interested I would check out Sunset Ridge as well as Jamison down in the Holly Springs area. Wescott might fit you bill as well although I am not sure if they have tennis. These two are very family oriented neighborhoods where it is easy to stay connected. Lots of adult oriented activities (the majority of people living here are in your age group) as well as family. Good sized lots with trees. Semi custom homes by good builders. Some of the homes in Sunset Ridge are on ponds. Good schools. You would have to drive for major shopping around 20 minutes for Target and such, 30 for a major mall. Airport is 25 minutes (I drive my hubby often) and late at night with no traffic at all I have made it in 17 minutes. I know Sunset Ridge has a web site I am not sure about Jamison or Wescott.

[Familyof6fromCT]

WOW!

Sunset Ridge looks amazing...

what's the catch?

schools?

[leighbhe]

Originally Posted by Familyof6fromCT

WOW!

Sunset Ridge looks amazing...

what's the catch?

schools?

Sunset ridge is a great neighborhood, it was one of the first big neighborhoods in holly springs, and the golf course is challenging, believe me! Holly Springs, 10 years ago was very much a small bedroom community. Now, it is growing and growing, but has a wonderful downtown area and commons area. They don't have things like target, or movie theaters or a mall, you would have to go to cary (crossroads area) for those things, but it is still growing.

We moved from that area to apex then to wake forest because my husband was commuting to research triangle park and the commute for him was not great (an hour in traffic). I also got a little tired of having to go other places to go "out" to dinner and the mall, etc.

Leigh

[DebbieF]

Well I am from CT. and love it here, and won't ever move back, just for visits. I relocated many years ago when my 2 children were small. It was an IBM move, and I was not happy about it. We came on a temporary assignment, and I was determined to go back after one year ( That was almost 25 years ago ) I was a NORTHERN girl and was going to go home after this 1 year assignment. Well.......I still am a northern girl, but I now live in the south permanently. :-) I don't think we could have picked a better area to now call home. I think your family of 6 will do fine in this area. The area has so much to offer to your family. If you haven't been here yet, your first step is a visit. Try to find an agent that can tour you around the area. You will find a few good agents right here on this site. Good Luck to you

Regards,

Debbie

[ny120769]

Hi Family of 6 in CT....

My wife and I live in CT (in the sherman area) above Danbury. We are both 37 and have 2 kids (6 & 4). We have only lived in CT for 1 yr and we think we made a bad move. We are both from Long Island and really like the conveniences of NY. With that said, we are highly considering a move to NC. I can relate to your concerns about finding a town with good schools, etc, etc...it is very frustrating.

My wife and I like trendy places with cool/hip dining, convenient upscaling shopping with a quaint dowtown (main street) feel in our town. We make $200K + and would like to find a house for around $600K ish....however, we absolutely must have this and a great school. Looking at the school reports of NY/CT vs. NC schools things look horrible and this a huge concern.

We are still trying to figure out if this place even exists??? We have thought of Chapell Hill? Charolette area? Costal towns would be great so we can have the beach ...but I am a bit frustrated.



Jon