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Hi! I'm from FL also. My new house is building right now in Clayton. It took us half a year to make a final decision. We couldn't decided which town we want to live in, so we visited Fuquay, Garner, Wake Forest, Apex, Cary, Zebulon, Knightdale, Clayton, and more.
We found Clayton is a nice place for us to live because we prefer to be away from the hustle-bustle of the cities, more house for the money, growing area, and good schools that we visited already.
My advice for you is to visit all towns at least two times or more. It will definely help you make the right decision. Everyone have a different opinion about the town. You have to see it for yourself. Good luck - I know you'll find a town you like someday.
cakeprincess, I have been looking at homes in Clayton also. It seems that many of them are septic system. Is that what yours will be. I have never had that before and I understand it isn't a big deal until something happens!
Where I live I bet 90% are on septic. I also (4 yrs ago) was worried about it. Bought our second house with it also. No issues to date! Pretty simple process how it works.
Where I live I bet 90% are on septic. I also (4 yrs ago) was worried about it. Bought our second house with it also. No issues to date! Pretty simple process how it works.
My realtor told me that the only worry about septic systems in neighborhoods is that if the town decides to connect to the sewer, it is at your cost which she said was around $10,000.00. I don't want that sneaking up on me.
Very much appreciate your helpfulness, DebbieF. We are not quite ready to make the move yet, that is still probably at least a year away. Right now just in the research stages. I've been tracking home prices in the triangle and surrounding areas for the last two years and have definitely noticed a marked increase. What percent increase do you expect to see in new home and resale home prices over the next year or two. From what I've seen so far, a fairly new resale seems to be present the best value. New homes with comparable prices are (e.g. 225K-250k range) not offering the acreage we're looking for (about 1/2 acre or more).
Am also wondering about the traffic flow from the north from areas such as Wake Forest/Rolesville/Youngsville into Raleigh and RTP as opposed to from the south such as apex/ fuquay/ etc areas...which I heard can be pretty heavy during rush hours.
I saw some nice homes on the internet in fuquay at good prices but knmow nothing about the area.Is it a good place for kids?
What is the school system like,the commute time toraleigh?
Could anyone compare and contrast these areas(fuquay,apex,holly springs,garner)?
Id really like to hear about the negatives as well.
Here is a summary of what I wrote up on Fuquay Varina, Holly Springs, and Apex.
Fuquay Varina is a town in Wake County. The population was 7,898 at the 2000 census. The town is a 30 minute drive south of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. Economically, the town initially grew due to tobacco trade and agriculture, but has seen recent population growth and real estate development due to its proximity to the Research Triangle Park.
Apex- Apex is a suburban town in the Triangle bordering Cary to the north and northeast, Raleigh to the east, and Holly Springs to the south. Apex 's motto is "The Peak of Good Living". The Peak was named for its location as the highest point on the Chatham Rail Line between the state capital of Raleigh and the coal fields of nearby Chatham County. Popular neighborhoods in Apex include Charleston Village, Scotts Mill, Walden Creek, Whitehall Manor, and Shepard's Vineyard. Money Magazine 8/07 rated Apex the #14 Best Place to Live.
Holly Springs is a town in Wake County. As of the 2006 census, the town population was over 15,000, gaining the title of "The fastest growing town in The Carolinas" Now with a brand new High School, Holly Springs High School, built off of Cass Holt Road, Holly Springs has new room for growth. New neighborhoods are to be built near the school, and a strip-mall is being built because of it. Many of the students that attend Holly Springs High School live in the super neighborhood complex of Sunset Ridge , a now thriving home subdivision that has spawned its own private water park, a restaurant, and a whole host of other small businesses. The entire area of Holly Springs has grown tremendously between the years of 2004 and 2006. The town has received a new strip mall with an Ale House style restaurant, a Mexican Restaurant, a Lowe's Foods, a Dollar Tree, and several other fast food chains including Quizno's, and a Chinese food chain. In another area of town, off a main road (Holly Springs Road), a Harris Teeter strip-mall was built with other restaurants and stores opening. A new strip mall featuring a Wal-Mart Super Center is also being constructed off Highway 55. New growth has expanded the population, and growth yet to come will enlarge it even more. Holly Springs is one of the few municipalities that provide team sports directly by the town for residents including football, baseball (served by four professional fields), basketball and recreational soccer. There is also a non-profit challenge soccer league called the Holly Springs Futbol Club. The 2006 Championship win by the UNC Women's Soccer team sports home grown talent in Ariel Harris. Holly Springs is truly one of the "fastest growing towns in North Carolina". 8/07 Money Magazine rated Holly Springs as the #22 Best Place to Live.
Personally, I love living in Holly Springs and honestly, so do all of my neighbors. And that's pretty rare as they all have different backgrounds and lifestyles. This is about as community-loyal a place I've seen around here. We have a new cultural center and library that make the town remarkably family friendly for its size - and our public safety (police, fire, ems) is fantastic. Our elementary school is second to none. Those things are important to me as a mom.
That being said, Apex is a really cool town too. It has a charming downtown. They also have neat programs. The schools are good. There are some excellent parks and recs programs (though I prefer Holly Springs now that we have Bass Lake!)
Fuquay-Varina is a bit more rural feeling - a true Southern town still. It's bigger, more fast food and strip malls. Lots of good things - don't get me wrong. But not for me.
Traffic can be tough!! We're waiting on more options - hopefully that will change soon. I don't have a 9-5 type job, so I can't comment too much on the commute, but I know from friends that it certainly is no worse than the N. Raleigh, Wendell, Zebulon folks have to deal with!
I love this part of Wake County and wouldn't have my family anywhere else.
Well, Garner is in Wake county. And I would have to say that it's not the best area. It is fairly close to Southeast Raleigh, which is to say the least... not the best part of town. Garner isn't bad, it just isn't as "transplant friendly" as most of the other towns in south Wake county.
Actually, there are parts of Garner that are Johnston County. It can take some time to get used to the county/township names/lines here...being that so much of the area is rural. The Garner that is close to SE Raleigh (city) is Wake County and not so great from what I've heard from police friends that patrol there. BUT the Garner in Johnston county is at the 40/42 area of Clayton and is nice...plus the schools are Clayton.
We live in Clayton (2 years now from NJ) but the actual name for now is Wendell. I never say Wendell though because people think I live much further north than we do since Wendell is directly east of Raleigh and in Wake County (we're in Johnston County). Anyhow, we go to Clayton schools and are outside any city lines so no city taxes (a benefit!)
There are areas around us that all go to the same Clayton School (river dell) that are called Selma and Zebulon as well as Wendell....all will eventually be annexed into whichever town. Our particular area is trying to incorporate so we have local control over building so we'll get an entirely new name (Archer Lodge).
Anyhow, most of the newer subdivisions have septic unless you're looking at the big builders like Centex. Anderson, etc.
Fuquay Varina has everything we need in one town - pop 40,000+
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tracy_Santrock
Fuquay Varina is a town in Wake County. The population was 7,898 at the 2000 census. The town is a 30 minute drive south of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. Economically, the town initially grew due to tobacco trade and agriculture, but has seen recent population growth and real estate development due to its proximity to the Research Triangle Park.
As of 2007, Fuquay Varina (zip 27526)'s population is 40,392 people. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of 71.20 percent.
I was told recently that there are as many commercial building applications currently as there are residential where residential use to be the majority. It doesn't surprise me as there are several businesses within blocks of our subdivision that are currently being built or just opened a month ago (Starbucks, Kohls, Goddard School for children, Daniels italian restaurant, Verizon store, etc). I'm still trying to figure out what is going in next to McDonald's.
Since we live in Fuquay, I can give you my two cents on the area. We love living here! We were able to afford a much larger, newer house with all the upgrades than what we were looking at in Cary and are taxes are low! It ususally takes my husband about 30 minutes to drive to RTP as he has learned ways to avoid heavy traffic as he has gotten good tips from a couple of law enforcement officers who work outside of Fuquay but live in our neighborhood. It usually takes me about 10+ minutes to drive to certain areas of Holly Springs and 25 minutes to Cary, Garner and downtown Raleigh. I look forward to a Target opening in Holly Springs so I don't have to drive to Cary or Apex. We have a nice Walmart but I personally am not a huge fan of Walmart. I rarely go to Apex as it is so congested on 55 between Hwy 1 and Beavercreek mall. A 20 minute drive home takes me sometimes 40 minutes. Once they widen the roads, it will get better but for the time being I try to avoid Hwy 55 in Apex. I'm sure they will open a Target in Fuquay eventually too with all the growth. Everyone in my neighborhood is a transplant (majority from Florida, New Jersey, New York and the rest from all over). Our subdivision currently has 125 homes and townhomes occupied and another 300 to be built. I look forward to the day when it is all complete. It did slow down last winter but now the homes are selling left and right again this summer. The schools in the area are great which you can check out on GreatSchools.net and my kids are very involved in the Fuquay Varina Athletic Association by playing soccer, tball, etc. My daughter is going to start ballet/tap classes at the new Studio 5 Dance Company that opened up around the corner from our subdivision. We have everything we need in one place which is great but it still has a small town feel especially when you visit one of the two quaint downtowns we have here.
Good luck on you quest for the right place to live for your family!
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Fuquay Varina has everything we need in one town - pop 40,000+
