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I will be relocating to North Carolina and working in Durham. I am considering purchasing a home and was wondering about the communities of Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Mebane and Graham for affordability and commuting times. Many thanks.
In my mind, the only real, reliable traffic problems (i.e. happens every day, not the result of an accident or bad weather) in the Triangle are on I-40 east to the split with Wade Ave. in the evenings. The opposite directions in the morning can also be a pain.
F-V is definitely the farthest from Durham, Google Maps can help you estimate times and distances otherwise.
Why not consider Durham itself? Search for recent threads here and don't let old perceptions of Durham scare you off.
I too would consider living in Durham. The commutes to all the places you listed can be bottlenecked during both morning and evening. It only takes one fender bender to make it even worse. Traffic point-to-point in Durham is nothing.
I live in Durham and when I interviewed in Fuquay I realized on the drive down that I couldn't do it everyday. The problem was, it wasn't even rush hour.
I live in FV and drive to Durham each day, 23 miles each way. My Commute is 35 minutes.
My commute when I lived in Maryland was 30-35 minutes for 7 miles.
I'm happy with my choice. If you are used to a longer drive it wont be an issue, if you are expecting a 10 minute drive then you should live in Durham.
I live in FV and drive to Durham each day, 23 miles each way. My Commute is 35 minutes.
My commute when I lived in Maryland was 30-35 minutes for 7 miles.
I'm happy with my choice. If you are used to a longer drive it wont be an issue, if you are expecting a 10 minute drive then you should live in Durham.
My commute in NOVA was also about 7 miles, but it took me 45-50 minutes! I hate traffic in the DC area.
I now live and work in Durham. My commute is about 12 minutes and it's about 7 miles. Not bad at all.
I would suggest to the OP that he come down and drive around, especially at rush hour. Drive from Durham to FV at 5:30pm and from FV to Durham at 8:30 and see if you can do it every day. The same goes for the other towns he's thinking of.
as far living in Graham or Mebane, it would depend on which side of Durham you're working in. If you were on the north side and planned to drop down I-85 to the 40-85 megre, you'd be OK. However, I-40 westbound can be a bit backed up after Chapel Hill (goes from 3 lanes to 2) all the way to the 40/85 merge. It's not terrible, but I commute the opposite way from that and always notice it being backed up quite a bit.
Durham is a city on the rise. It is generally more affordable and many real estate pros see future appreciation. Actually, Durham pricing has been good compared to a lot of places! This article is interesting: .biz - Durham home prices rise, defy trend | newsobserver.com blogs
Thanks to everyone for your replies. I, too, have lived in areas where commuting can be a nightmare (Chicago, Boston and D.C.) and didn't know if the same applied to Durham/RTP. I will be working at Duke and had previously read that the communities west of Durham (e.g. Hillsborough, Mebane, etc.) were easy commutes. I had considered Durham, but, was concerned about safety. Can anyone recommend some safe neighborhoods in Durham with newer or new construction?
Thanks to everyone for your replies. I, too, have lived in areas where commuting can be a nightmare (Chicago, Boston and D.C.) and didn't know if the same applied to Durham/RTP. I will be working at Duke and had previously read that the communities west of Durham (e.g. Hillsborough, Mebane, etc.) were easy commutes. I had considered Durham, but, was concerned about safety. Can anyone recommend some safe neighborhoods in Durham with newer or new construction?
for starters, check out southwest Durham. these would be areas in the 27707/27713 zipcodes. we live in a community called Woodcroft and love it. it's an EASY commute to Duke or UNC, ridiculously close to great shopping, right next to RTP, and minutes away from RDU without being in the flight path. our neighborhood is a little older (established in the 80s), but there's a lot of new developments going in around us. matter of fact, some of the properties are going for relatively cheap money because of the economy. now would be a good time to get in and buy.
from a newb's perspective (we've only been here since Spring '08), Durham is a patchwork of good and bad. it seems like you can be in areas that are perfectly fine, but then go another block and feel like you have to roll up the windows and lock the doors. still, i wouldn't let what you may have heard cause you to write off Durham completely. check it out and judge for yourself.
Mike
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