Made 2 trips to Raleigh so far. Rolesville versus Holly Springs.

[CAKD]

My Dh works off the 40 (Chapel Hill Rd and Trinity) We looked in Wake Forest and did comparison driving between there and Holly Springs during various times to see what the commute would be like. Holly Springs came in way ahead of WF for us. His commute from WF would have been 45-50 minutes and in HS 20-30.

[carolinatrendsetter]

Hmm. I picked Rolesville also. It still has that small town vibe going on yet it is still relatively close to the daily neccesities i.e. Target, Harris Teeter, and major shopping is down the road a bit it Wake Forest or 540/U.S. 1 merge. Really are some nice neighborhoods popping up also. Commuting to RTP is not bad. I have done it in as little as 25 minutes. Holly Springs is nice too, just a little to close to Shearon Harris for me.

[nc1relocating]

This is great to know!!

[OmegaBaby]

I work in RTP (IBM), and currently live in Holly Springs (south side - Somerset Farm), but am considering moving to the Rolesville area (Dansforth subdivision). I don't know exactly where you will be working in RTP, but here's my experience...

Commute
Holly Springs - I use NC-55 up to RTP. It's shorter distance than US-1/I-40, but about the same commute time: 35 min regular, 50-60 min rush hour. I typically go into work around 9:30, and by then most of the traffic is gone.
By the end of 2006, NC-55 construction will be complete and will be 4 lanes all the way to RTP. This should shorten the commute to about 45 min during rush hour.
By 2012, I-540 should be complete (as a toll road), shortening the commute to around 20 minutes.
Rolesville - I timed it from Dansforth, and it's around 25 minutes currently. I expect this to get worse over time, since there are no major road projects planned in this area (US-1 is supposed to become an 8-lane limited access freeway between I-540 and Wake Forest, but construction isn't even scheduled yet).

Quality of life
(1) I tend to prefer Holly Springs over Rolesville/Wake Forest. I like the small town feel of Holly Springs. And, in general, homes and businesses are newer around here since it has grown from a few hundred people in 1990 to around 20,000 now.
(2) Holly Springs has a more comprehensive greenway plan than Wake Forest.
(3) I expect home prices to increase in Holly Springs more than Rolesville because Novartis is opening up a biopharm plant in Holly Springs in the next 2 years, bringing alot of high paying jobs to the immediate area, and it will be very convenient to RTP once I-540 is build.
On the other hand...
(4) They're putting a huge landfill in the north part of Holly Springs.
(5) Sharon Harris nuclear power plant 5 miles west of Holly Springs. Doesn't bother me, and was partially why Novartis decided to build their plant here (good power supply). But depends on your view of nuclear power.

But I may be partial to Holly Springs, since I actually live here. So that this info with a grain of salt.

[valuewf]

I love the history of Wake Forest. Heritage (WF) is a nice community, but I am looking for more value. Orleans Homebuilders has a townhouse community right next to Heritage called The Mews at Legacy Greene that offers a first floor master. I have looked off Capital Blvd by Wake Forest, but it is to 'Commercial' and lots of traffic right near the house.
I visited Holly Springs too and liked all the cul-de-sacs in The Woodlands at Oak Hall.
So far, I'm thinking Wake Forest.

[nc1relocating]

Happy new Year!!! Has the 540 opened yet? Any information to share??

[MichaelG]

rolesville is north and holly springs is south-west wake county. rolesville is less congested than holly springs that gives it a more opened feeling. not sure how long this will last as it is located in the fastest growing area in wake county..the north-east. oh yeah i was a police officer there in the mid 90's

[nc1relocating]

Moved to Rolesville and we are loving the area!!