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we went with Fuquay, Wake county. not that clayton wasnt nice, but the commute was just too far with my better half working at RDU and me in RTP and North Raleigh.
Now those with small children that are moving there so they dont get shuffled around, please be very proactive about making sure your county builds the schools at the same time they build the houses. It will not take long to end up in the same boat that wake county is in. Wake county reminds me so much of prince william county up in VA when i was in high school. build build build and no schools or roads.....
I'm sooo glad I found this forum......We are taking our first trip down this weekend Feb 16th,to take a look at areas and get a feel ...My husband and I are born and raised in Long island and have 3 boys 4/10/12.
We've been doing alot of research on areas and were actually gung-ho for Wake county but after reading so much about the redistricting here and other forums and on the actual school/county web site, we feel that after moving our boys to a completely new state/school that the stability in where they will be attending is an extremely important factor. I guess if this is what they had grown up with it would be an issue but not as extreme as it is to us at this point.
We've now decided to focus on Johnston county....mainly Clayton......I looked into Garner but I've found that some Northern Garner schools are districted as Wake County...so I'm alittle apprehensive about those with the chance that maybe at some point they could redistrict others in the area.....
I have a bunch of subdivisions we are going to look into.....if anyone can reccommend some areas that would be great....
Another big ? I have is.......What about fenced in yards????? I have 2 dogs and a large fenced in property......its a necessity to have the yard fenced in.....how are the subdivisions with that.....i see soo many with open yards.....which is totally out of sorts from what we are used to with privacy but as I said I need to contain the dogs and not on a leash/run.....
As I said this is our first trip out and don't know what to expect but we are very excited......We have time to buy since we're waiting for my husbands job issues to resolve and then sell my home here so it could be anywhere from 6 months to a year before the actual move.
Also......what and how far is the nearest hospital from Clayton? Just curious....we have one here in town like 5 minutes and another like 10 minutes so leaving that safety net is alittle scarey once you know medical care is sooo close.....
I thank you all in advance for any and all help you give....
I'm sooo glad I found this forum......We are taking our first trip down this weekend Feb 16th,to take a look at areas and get a feel ...My husband and I are born and raised in Long island and have 3 boys 4/10/12.
Hi Suzanne,
Hopefully you'll get some decent weather...it's supposed to be cloudy on Sat and rainy in Sun. But in my book, rain on "event" days is always good luck (its always rained on job interviews where I got the job).
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I have a bunch of subdivisions we are going to look into.....if anyone can reccommend some areas that would be great....
Which S/Ds are you going to see? There are alot of us Claytonites here to help. Where I live, the "Archer Lodge" section of Clayton, its a bit rural but there's lots of stores and development coming. My S/D is Tafton and the PO is Wendell but it might also be listed as Clayton. Its not Wendell, just the mail is handled there. Anyhow....there's also the 40/42 area (known as the Cleveland area as well). And many S/D in between! All areas have their advantages and disadvantages..its just a matter of finding what makes the most sense to your family.
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Another big ? I have is.......What about fenced in yards????? I have 2 dogs and a large fenced in property......its a necessity to have the yard fenced in.....how are the subdivisions with that.....i see soo many with open yards.....which is totally out of sorts from what we are used to with privacy but as I said I need to contain the dogs and not on a leash/run.....
This is something that you will have to check with each S/D on. Before even considering signing a contract on a house, make sure you get any covenants or HOA. Some restrict fences, others don't. Where I live, you can have fences but I'd have to check as I don't think chain link are allowed beyond the back of the house.
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Also......what and how far is the nearest hospital from Clayton? Just curious....we have one here in town like 5 minutes and another like 10 minutes so leaving that safety net is alittle scarey once you know medical care is sooo close.....
There's 2 hospitals within about 20 minutes (Raleigh and Smithfield) but they are building a facility (emergency room, radiology, etc) in Clayton (the plan is that it'll be a full fledged hospital eventually). I think its supposed to open next year.
lots of info.....Were coming Sat so we'll have Sun-tues Full days to look and leaving wed..
I will definately get the "laws" of each s/d b4 making any decisions.....I don't want any surprises....
I dont have each breakdown of Schools I know a few of the s/d were cleveland but we were going to take a look at the below sub/d's which had new homes that fit our needs/wants
Hi Suzanne!
Welcome!!!! Clayton is very "driveable", you can pretty much cover the entire town in one day. Its a very friendly town, dont be surprised if you experience southern hospitality down here! I understand your concern about Wake County schools. My daughter's school was literally, three blocks over. There was talk about re-locating here to another school which was practically 10 miles away. How much sense that makes is beyond me...anyway, we moved to Johnston County and we are more impressed with the schools here than in Wake. You really cant go wrong with any of the schools here, I dont think one is better than the other. Just keep that in mind while you are looking around, you can rest assure, the school is nothing less than extraordinary!
Definately drive around, I live in Cobblestone (Anderson homes) off of hwy 70. We chose this subdivision because it was perfect for us. We love the floor plan of our home and the whole "energy sufficient" really made a huge difference on our electric bills! Definately stop by for a visit and check out the model home. Its a very family oriented neighborhood. The neighborhood gets all decorated up for Christmas, there are a ton of kids walking around for Halloween...we have a pool, tennis court and I believe sometime in the near future, a walking path. We do have an HOA and you can put a fence in up to 4 ft. Definately when you shop around, check into their HOA's. I think ours is very suitable and not as strict as some of the ones I have heard about.
Downtown Clayton has some new restaurants that just opened, Clayton Steakhouse is one of them. If you love gift shops, check out "Fancy That" (especially if your kids are into webkinz like mine!)
For your boys, we have an indoor go-cart, bowling, roller skating...the beach is only an hour & a half away...if they need some convincing!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask! There are some pictures of Clayton in the "photo thread" I think its the first one, check them out.
Hi Suzanne! We just moved here to from Albuquerque and bought in Summerlynn. We love the homes and neighborhood. Its 5 min from the Elem. School (East Clayton) They have wonderful models homes here too...check them out.
The Cleveland sectionof Clayton and main part of CLayton are very different so be sure to drive around. Different commutes, different shopping, etc, etc. We looked at both sides and preferred the main part (I guess the east side of Clayton). I liked being closer to 70 and the down town area. I live in Glen Laurel and we love it there. The big difference that drew us was the look of the neighborhood. Lots of mature landscaping, wider roads with sidewalks, houses not right on top of each other though the lot sizes average around 0.4-0.5 acre for most. One point to consider is whether the property is inside city limits. I know from your list that both Glen Laurel and Summerlyn are inside. This means that you pay both the city and county tax and must get your electricity, trash, water from the city. I am told this is more expensive but my calculations tell me it is still less expensive than where I moved from so we are ahead of the game. The county is opening a new elementary school on Vinson Road so Glen Laurel will go there but I am not sure about Summerlyn. East Clayton is where we go now and it is a great school. I would expect that the new school will be equally as good. Riverwood is the middle school and Clayton is the High School. Good luck with your search.
Hi Suzanne,
Here's some S/D info that I can think of. Others have already responded and there are SO SO many S/D. Find an area you like, check if the school system is to your standards and then look at S/Ds!
Hunters Mill is Polenta Elem, Cleveland Middle and W. Johnston HS and over in the Cleveland area. Not familiar with the S/D.
Plantation Pointe is E. Clayton Elem, Archer Lodge MS and Clayton HS
Lots are usually from 1/3 to 1/5 acre but house square footage is massive...mostly over 2500sf homes. Nice area. Community swimming pools, tennis courts. Community sewer (many S/D have septic).
Twisted Oaks is Cleveland Elem and MS, W. Johnston HS. This is actually Garner but in Johnston County (strange I know but this happens all over the place). Eventually, someone will have to annex this area in but until then, no city taxes. Homes again have a large square footage....most over 2400sf on nice sized lots all around 1/2 acre.
Mill Creek West/Flowers is River Dell (yay...our school!), AL MS and Clayton HS. You have community sewer, pool/tennis. Check out also Pineville East which is same district. Check out Knolls at the Neuse too.
The Creeks at Millstone is another one with larger lots (usually an acre). Think this is Riverwood Elem and MS, Clayton HS.
Be sure to look at driveways too....some S/D do not do concrete driveways (gravel) so that's another $5000 to add on.
What a great surprise to sign onto.....thank you all for the info.....yes you are all correct.....I do have one or two homes with the Cleveland schools but I was so tired last night that is what was sticking in my head.....most of the schools are E. Clayton/Riverwood/Clayton....E Clayton/Archer Rd etc......I dont know why Cleveland was on my brain.
Heather I will add that to the list I appreciate it.....Its great getting first hand info.....
I'm soo glad to hear about the Christimas/holiday decorations......we are CRAZy holiday decorators......all the kids in the neighborood stop and take pics here in their costumes on Halloween and we always have people asking when are we going to start decorating....Christmas is even bigger.....compared to some here on the Island who spend upto $20k on decorating we're not that crazy but we do have a following who enjoy the decorations and we absolutely love doing it......not just for the kids but for us too....We're big kids ourselves........
The family oriented comminity is what I really want......I'm used to having a pvt yard and all but I thought it would be good for they boys to have this type of home/community since we are going to be starting all over.
I'm going to print out the info so I have it with me .......thanks again I appreciate all your help.....
If I can get my brain working I'm sure I'll have more ?'s.....
Suzanne
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