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Having lived in the Garner area for well over a decade now, and watching how things are developing over time...I personally would think it would be much more likely for a Starbucks and any other higher end retail stores to build/locate in the White Oak shopping area. Even further south down 401, at the Ten-ten crossing area...before Renaissance area. There is no other housing in that immediate area that would really support higher end retail, that I can think of.
I think White Oak will actually hurt Ren Park come to think about it. That area is a nice area and with Clayton growing more and more and the whole 40/42 area taking off it seems like Ren Park is getting the left overs aka Golden Corral. I don't see how a big grocery store could complete with Walmart either. It would be nice to see a Sweet Tomatoes in there along with a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Then when will Tryon Road be completed? It seems like this area continues to get neglected which is too bad. The neighborhood is nice and seems to have some nice residents. Just hope they don't start dropping home prices or have lots sit empty for the next couple years due to poor commercial development going in.
There is a SWCAC meeting next Monday where they will discuss things to be introduced into the budget meeting in January. Some of the things to be discussed are completing the widening of Tryon Road, adding sidewalks to S. Saunders and S. Wilmington, etc, and proposing a new school. I will post more after attending the meeting. You can read a little about it at renparkonline.com
I live in the neighborhood and we've been working to accomplish these two goals. Both are on the agenda for the next SWCAC meeting.
Complete the Tryon Road realignment that runs through Renaissance Park.
Conduct a visioning process of the area from downtown into Garner comprised of the areas adjacent to and between South Saunders/401/70 and South Wilmington Streets referred to as the Southwest Gateway or the South Saunders Corridor. Use this visioning process as the catalyst for creating a more attractive gateway to both the city of Raleigh and the town of Garner.
We love the neighborhood and feel that the area is definitely improving.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 12-07-2009 at 08:19 PM..
Reason: No links to personal blogs allowed.
Personally i would love to have a Golden Corral there!! It's closer to the busline for people that don't drive....Or can't drive. It also can be a better job opportunity for some. As far as a Strayer University being there, i don't really see the point.
I hate to bump an older thread, but I thought this would be better than creating another new one.
Any updates on this neighborhood? I have been looking at homes here and love the look of the homes, proximity to downtown and freeways, and the potential to meet new people.
Can anyone who lives here give feedback on the neighborhood outside of the development. Is it dog friendly, overrun with too many children, are there heavy restrictions, can you plant a small veggie garden? What types of fees are associated with living there?
We used to live in Ren Park. Moved further out for various reasons, mainly school choices. At that time -- approx 18 months ago, there weren't many elementary school-aged children in the development. It was mainly a mix of young professionals (who often had no children or younger, not old enough to go to school children) and older retired or semi-retired professionals. Pool, fitness center, and neighborhood walks were all great for meeting people. Since they are continuing to build the development, the neighborhood mix may also change.
We didn't have a dog, but I saw many people walking dogs. Since the neighborhood wasn't completed, there seemed to be easy access to places where a dog could use the bathroom without being in public areas or in someone's yard.
Our retired neighbors next door had a raised garden bed built running alongside their driveway (our homes entered the garage from a rear alley) and there was never a problem with it. Was there again recently and she still has it.
I don't remember it being difficult at Ren Park to deal with the HOA or restrictions on your property. Since the development wasn't completed, the builder still ran the neighborhood assoc so I don't remember the HOA Board being a factor. They may have changed since. Monthly HOA fee included maintenance of common areas, pool (with lifeguards during the summer), tennis courts with lights, fitness center, etc. They also had regular social events (some geared towards adults and some to families), including a big party at Christmas and a July 4th parade/social.
It was a GREAT location for easy driving access to downtown. We do a lot fewer "Raleigh" things now that we live farther away. There isn't much to walk to from Ren Park (not like if you in Cameron Village or some parts of Glenwood, etc.) but if we were retired or semi-retired (sans children at home), I would have stayed there.
There were some problems with trespassing (people from neighborhoods over by Peach Rd used to cut through going to the shopping center) and with petty crimes (e.g., theft from cars, etc.) For a while, there was a large homeless encampment living in the woods closer to Tryon Rd just outside the development. The homeless camp was removed after people alerted the police a few times about some drunk and disorderly behavior. Ren Park is really a bit of suburban oasis in an area that has a lower average income, so I think that you tended to see/hear about the petty crime/trespassing type events on the neighborhood boards a lot because people who moved there saw the neighborhood and didn't realize that since Ren Park is closer to the city and to some less affluent neighborhoods that there would be some impact. Caveat: I'm not aware of anything really bad happening to anyone (more happened to stuff) in the two years we lived there. I love to walk at night and to sleep out on my deck or porch and never felt unsafe.
We had really nice neighbors there and I think its a good neighborhood for professionals who want to be close to the city at a reasonable price range as long as you realize that Ren Park is not surrounded by other suburban neighborhoods. I personally like the urban/suburban flavor of the location, but its something to be aware of before you buy.
Thanks, Aggie. I will add this to my list of areas to visit. We do not have kids, and are trying to avoid a subdivision filled with kids and mini vans, simply because we would have nothing in common with them.
aggie_diva, I've never lived in either Renaissance Park nor in the neighborhood over around Peach Road Park, but I live not far from there, and have spent a bit of time in that area. Do you know, what's the status of them linking-up Ileagnes Road near Peach Road Park with the newer portions of Ileagnes Road in Renaissance Park? I thought that was originally part of the plan, but as far as I know (at least as of a month or so ago the last time I was over there) Ileagnes Road was still blocked-off and not connected. I would have thought that that would help with some of the trespassing in both neighborhoods, since it's understandable that people would want to cross back and forth, so having the nice public street with sidewalks would make it easier for vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, etc. to pass through without having as much need or temptation to go through the hole in the fence and cut through people's yards on either side. I've been surprised that that hasn't (to my knowledge) happened yet, but maybe you know more about the situation.
The Illeagnes road still was blocked off the last time I went through the development as well (it just ends). It's not the only one. The road that I think was supposed to connect to Tryon on the other side of the development also has been blocked off for a couple of years. .
Its understandable that people cut through the development (and I do think there was a fence that was cut) because there isn't a sidewalk down South Saunders that will allow anyone to walk safely from the residential area on Peach Road to the shopping center that's about .5 mile away.
There also wasn't a covered bus stop at the stop on South Saunders Street and they needed one. It was a popular bus stop as there was a nonprofit that gave away food, clothes, etc. at the back of the shopping center. You would often see people who had come from all over town waiting in the hot sun or rain (depending on the weather) with their bags for the next bus.
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Ren Park
