Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Does anyone know anything about this community? Is it a good place to live?
I know someone who lives in Hedingham, in a duplex (not sure if they are considered "Townhomes"). I find it a very "sterile" cookie-cutter neighborhood, one of those where tons of similar-looking units were slapped up in a short time and every street looks the same, very close together and virtually no trees or anything. there's not much parking for visitors except on the street, and driveways are so close together, often that means pretty far down the street.
That is my subjective feel of the community when I visit, but I don't know how it is to live. It's also way on the East side of town, so if your job is in RTP or western Raleigh, the commute wouldn't be a quick one. Do you know where you'd be working?
Hedingham started out as a mid priced golf community. Some areas are better maintained than others. You can drive down a few streets and instantly tell which homes are rentals and which are owner maintained, by the yards. Unfortunately, this has affected some of the prices.
Some of the older townhomes are nicer than the newer ones, since the builder really squished the newer ones in tight...too many townhomes for a small area.
The n'hood is a nice one. I'd just be careful about WHERE in the neighborhood I'd buy.
I visited Hedingham once looking at the townhomes. The townhome I went in was nice on the inside. What creeped me out is that some of the homes are so close to the golfing area. There are nets to catch golfballs behind "some" of the houses I looked at. I didn't want to be that close to the action. There are alot of rentals there and from what I have heard it may not be that quiet of a neighborhood. If I were you I would look elsewhere.
I used to rent a Hedingham townhouse/duplex, and I sugguest you look elsewhere. The townhomes are spacious and fairly nice (depending on the upgrades), but in the year we've moved out there have been 3 major break-ins, numerous arrests, and shots fired on the small street I lived on (Osprey Cove). Check out the crime stats at www.spotcrime.com Some of the theft is punk teens with nothing to do. Most of the arrests seem to be for midemeanor - failing to appear in court. I did notice that in the 2 years we were there, things were getting "rougher" and it was time for us to go.
Things we liked:
We had a 3bdr townhouse that gave us 1300sq/ft for $900 rent. GREAT deal from where we were before, and gave us enough space to stay for a couple of years. Our unit had a screened in porch, and it backed up to the Neuse/greenway. No houses were back there, so things didn't feel as close. It was easy to meet our neighbors. We didn't have to deal with lawn maintenance.
Things we didn't like:
How close the duplexes were to each other, and how it was hard to tell them apart (if I wasn't paying attention I'd mis-count and pull up to the wrong one). Really short driveways and limited/no parking room on the street. There are "guest spaces" every so often, but most people parked a 3rd car or a smaller trailer there and hardly moved it. A few units did have longer driveways where you could fit 3/4 cars. If you are looking to buy... HOA dues are expensive - $100ish/month. This covers 2 pools, a "fitness center" (really really small), cheaper golf at certain times, lawn maint., and supposedly covers any damage/repair to the outside of the townhomes. Our neighbors that owned had issues getting things fixed, like when the lawn guys put a 6in gash in the siding. They were also told the homes would be power washed every year - but was later told its every 3. The community manager seemed to be changing every year (new one when we moved in, got a 2nd, and he was on his way out as we left).
If you go to www.hedingham.org they have a message board that you can peruse as well.
Our son owned a Hedingham townhome for 5 years. He enjoyed the neighborhood while my wife and I loved it! He lived in the older section on Oakland Hills Way. That street, and Crystal Cove, are far different than the newer crunched together town homes with inadequate parking for residents, let alone any guests.
The older homes enjoy more privacy, lots of shade, and more parking. He looked at the brand new homes when he bought in 2004 and the exterior amenities mentioned above more than compensated for buying an older home at effectively the same cost.
I found your other post and learned you have two young children. The older townhomes are not that close to the playground areas of the neighborhood. There is a wide variety of less expensive (and smaller) traditional detached homes that are closer to the playgournd areas and could provide a small fenced yard too. The cost and size of these detached homes would be equivalent to slightly more than the townhomes. Look for homes on the streets off Harbor Town.
Our unit had a screened in porch, and it backed up to the Neuse/greenway.
I guess all of the townhomes there have screens. I found that as necessary but odd
If you are looking to buy... HOA dues are expensive - $100ish/month. This covers 2 pools, a "fitness center" (really really small), cheaper golf at certain times, lawn maint., and supposedly covers any damage/repair to the outside of the townhomes. Our neighbors that owned had issues getting things fixed, like when the lawn guys put a 6in gash in the siding. They were also told the homes would be power washed every year - but was later told its every 3. The community manager seemed to be changing every year (new one when we moved in, got a 2nd, and he was on his way out as we left).
When I looked into it 3 years ago, the HOA dues were $125-steep!
Thanks guys for all your insight. When we visited Hedingham the neighbor looked nice, but sometimes that can be deciving. My husband will be a police officer in raleigh, so we have made a few trip to raleigh but really haven't had a chance to visit may neighborhoods. i want to feel safe if he has to work at night. How are public schools in raleigh and whats the deal with the busing?
You've gotten some accurate info on Hedingham and the difference between older and newer t/h's. I used to have a couple of friends who lived over there. I' ve lived in the vicinity but closer to Knightdale for many, many yrs. Many people don't realize (except those who live in the area) what a great location it is. Due to my work I often drive to RTP area and hwy 54. It can take 20-35 mins depending on how bad the traffic is. Hwy 540 is a straight shot to RTP. It's also close to downtown, inside the beltline and North Hills via New Bern and the beltline.
BTW - he will find that many Raleigh cops have generally preferred not to live in town. It seems that the longer they are on the force, the more they prefer to live further away - to get away from it all perhaps? Raleigh may have a distance requirement for residence?? Some agencies used to but they were very fair.
How are public schools in raleigh and whats the deal with the busing?
I hope you are aware that the schools for the whole county (Wake) are one system. The busing issue is that the current policy has students bused for economic diversity, sometimes many miles across the county. A new--some would say controversial--school board is trying to change this policy to more 'neighborhood schools" considering the size of Wake county both geographically and in population (one of the fastest-growing counties in the US, which of course means school overcrowding which leads to new schools which leads to reassignments, etc). There are MANY threads in this forum about Wake County Schools and also, you should Google that term and check news items about the schools and school board for the past few months.
The current situation is, nobody is sure what will happen, but likely the busing issue will change somehow, eventually leading to shorter commutes. However, there will still be new schools being built and reassignments, especially in the most explosively-growing areas of the county.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Depends on which part of Hedingham
