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I grew up in Cary and lived in Greenville, Knightdale and Raleigh before we settled in Garner. We decided on Garner because it reminds me of how Cary was in the 80's and early 90's. There is a great sense of community, good schools, great parks and rec department, it's safe, and it's easy to get on 40. I like living in a small town with easy access to everywhere else. When the kids get a little older I plan on moving out a little farther into the more rural parts of town. Right now, we live in an older neighborhood that's diverse (we're a blended family and that was important.) We also have over 1/3 acre with a fenced backyard. I could have gotten a newer house and a smaller yard, but I wanted the yard for the kids.
I wanted a simple ranch style house on a one-third to one-half acre lot in established neighborhood dating back to at least the 1960s in reasonably close proximity to downtown Raleigh and under 200K.
My price constraint eliminated most of the area inside the Beltline west of downtown. A home in one of the ITB neighborhoods east of downtown Raleigh and North or New Bern Ave would have been a real possibility if my household consisted of more than one person, but since I live alone, I figured I would feel safer somewhere else.
That pretty much left Brentwood and Northclift in Raleigh and the area just south of downtown Cary. I choose Cary because it offers more pleasant and convienent pedestrian access than Brentwood or Northclift. From my house I can easily walk to a Thai restaurant, a Chinese supermarket, an Indian supermarket, Dairy Queen, K-Mart, Food Lion, the Cary Library, the Amtrak Depot and Caribou Coffee. Walking or jogging is generally pleasant because Maynard Road does a good job of diverting through traffic away from the area.
Downtown Raleigh is at least as accessible from my neighborhood as it is from Northclift, although Brentwood is a slightly quicker trip.
We chose in large part based on school district. I know everyone says not to do that here but we wanted the Davis Dr/Green Hope area and found a community adjacent to Preston. I really enjoy the area (in a good part of Cary, close to RTP but also not that far away from Raleigh). So for us it really was about location.
I feel sorry for people who live so far away from things. I wonder what they do with all that time they spend in the car?
While I am with you about not wanting to live far from things, which is why we chose the convenient location we did, I don't think we need to feel sorry for people that choose something different that we are accustomed to. Everyone has their own list of must haves and want to haves. To some people, living far out is a dream come true. For others, they need to be in the action of the city. We should celebrate everyone's happiness with what they chose and take the time to understand what excites people. Precisely why I started the thread.
Besides, judging by all the different locations in your really nice photographs you post so often, it looks like you spend more time driving in your vehicle than anyone I know. I can understand your excitement to drive all over creation like you do, as you can come across so many nice things in the Triangle. I love driving around in my truck. I really enjoy the windows down, cruising the beautiful winding roads and even the hills over here.
I guess I never specified exactly where I live. I live in a really nice and growing development in the vicinity of Crooked Creek and Bentwinds Country Clubs. The roads here are just so enjoyable to drive on and almost no traffic. I don't like traffic, so I try to stay out of Raleigh. There is so much to see and we are surrounded by everything we could need. We are positioned about dead center between the multiple campuses that my wife and I work at. This makes it very convenient for work and we never have to leave the area when we are home, as everything is so close by. Yet we maintain the all important feeling of seclusion that is oh so comforting.
Johnston County-- LOWER property taxes, auto insur. and housing costs(1/2 the cost compared to Jersey and more house for the money), Weather, proximity to the beach, close to Raleigh(20 min.) and no year round schools.
Got a teaching job here and moved immediatly.
While I am with you about not wanting to live far from things, which is why we chose the convenient location we did, I don't think we need to feel sorry for people that choose something different that we are accustomed to. Everyone has their own list of must haves and want to haves. To some people, living far out is a dream come true. For others, they need to be in the action of the city. We should celebrate everyone's happiness with what they chose and take the time to understand what excites people. Precisely why I started the thread.
Besides, judging by all the different locations in your really nice photographs you post so often, it looks like you spend more time driving in your vehicle than anyone I know. I can understand your excitement to drive all over creation like you do, as you can come across so many nice things in the Triangle. I love driving around in my truck. I really enjoy the windows down, cruising the beautiful winding roads and even the hills over here.
I guess I never specified exactly where I live. I live in a really nice and growing development in the vicinity of Crooked Creek and Bentwinds Country Clubs. The roads here are just so enjoyable to drive on and almost no traffic. I don't like traffic, so I try to stay out of Raleigh. There is so much to see and we are surrounded by everything we could need. We are positioned about dead center between the multiple campuses that my wife and I work at. This makes it very convenient for work and we never have to leave the area when we are home, as everything is so close by. Yet we maintain the all important feeling of seclusion that is oh so comforting.
And to think, all the exploring I do on weekends and I've never driven all the way out to Middle Creek Township. It is just too far away from things and not worth the time or gas money. I'm sure it is pretty, but no amount of daily affirmations would convince me to subject myself to a daily 45 minute commute. Sounds like a huge mistake.
We chose to move (from Colorado) to NC for two reasons:
1. Closer to family...but not *too close mind you. (they are in MD)
2. Oceans and mountains all packaged together. (especially the ocean!)
3. Easy road trips to our favorite vacation destinates, Disney, NYC, Williambsurg, Hilton Head.
We chose to buy a home in Clayton for several reasons:
1. Schools...number one reason hands down.
2. Great house prices, low taxes.
3. Country setting, but relatively easy commute to anything we want.
4. After leaving a CO subdivision on a postage stamp piece of land, we were looking at seven acres of wooded property...deer, bunnies, fox, birds, squirrels...for 1/4 of the cost of our home in CO.
Thanks to most everyone for almost all really good posts about why you chose what you did. To my surprise so far, I see that a lot of people have chosen to move further out from the hubs. We have people moving to Wake Forest, Clayton, Fuquay and the like. You see so many posts on this forum from people focusing on downtown activities, I really didn't expect to find so many people here that have chosen something different for themselves. Good for you all.
Between my wife and me, we sometimes travel north to work and sometimes travel south through Clayton to get to work. Most everyone is aware of the build-out in and around RTP, but some people may be surprised out how far along Clayton has come. I can see the attraction for so many people to live there. To them, the commute to work in or near the park has been an easy slam dunk trade-off for what they got. That's not to say everyone that lives in Clayton works around RTP, but I know many that do and they wouldn't trade it for the world.
It's also great to see how many people are taking advantage of everything they can find in Wake Forest. I see that area continuing its development. There are a lot of people that absolutely love living away from the hussle and bussle of the major hubs and prefer to retreat home to something more quaint and quiet. I think sometimes these people get drowned out by the normal chatter about what's going on in the hubs.
I hope more people chime in with their reasons for moving where they did. I find the topic fascinating and very educational.
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