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Cary doesn't have any more HOA's than Raleigh, it's just a stereotype.
As for pros and cons, it sort of depends on what part of Cary you live in and what you consider desirable.
I live in central Cary and for me the pros are: NO/few HOA's, 10-15 minute drive to downtown Raleigh, close to Durham and RTP, close to the airport if that matters to you, most areas have good schools. family friendly, proactive local government, plenty of ethnic food and independent restaurants (yes, I know it's not as fab as Durham in that regard, but there are still lots of options), lots of local ethic grocery stores and businesses, interest in public art, safe and clean for the most part, great new arts center, fabulous, affordable classes through the parks and rec, lots of beautiful parks and green ways, Cary has it's own farmers market, (although the Raleigh one is very convenient).
Cons: home prices tend to be over inflated compared to many other areas in the triangle and there are not as many affordable housing options, downtown is not very lively or good for shopping right now although there is a certainly a heavy push towards and interest in downtown re-development, the mall is kind of crappy compared to other areas malls, but it usually serves it's purpose, not much in the way of nightlife, but...it's so easy to get to downtown Raleigh I don't think much about it, conservative (for the most part) local government, divide in older areas versus newer areas of locals/transplants
Nothing....that's my point. Some people are overly worried about their creative outlets not being fulfilled by their mailbox, and for that reason Cary is a horrible place to live. I only wish I had nothing else going on in my life that I could choose where to live based on what kind of mailbox I can have.
Location: River's Edge Inn, Todd NC, and Lorgues France
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twingles
Nothing....that's my point. Some people are overly worried about their creative outlets not being fulfilled by their mailbox, and for that reason Cary is a horrible place to live. I only wish I had nothing else going on in my life that I could choose where to live based on what kind of mailbox I can have.
I think the mailbox is just symbolic of the intrusive rules many hoa's like to put on people's lifestyles. But apparently many people don't seem to mind.
Pros:
Clean, safe, pleasant, mostly very convenient. You can be very surburban or live in the Heart of Cary and walkable. Great parks and recreation.
Cons:
A little cliquish pretentiousness in town government circles. Some imperialism.
Most people in Cary do have a mail box.
Glad we settled that. Move along now. Nothing more to see here on that.
The OP should be cognizant that Cary is a lightning rod for goofy input from people who actually have never been here. Approaching suburban legend status.
Residents and people who have been here recognize those posts and discount them. But newbies to the area should question weird posts and wonder if the poster has visited or lived in Cary.
I lived in Cary for a year, right off of Northampton Dr. in central Cary in 2007-2008. I was 22, and lived with my girlfriend and her older brother. We moved up a few days after we finished undergrad (her brother a Master's degree) in the hopes of finding jobs in Chemistry, Public Health, and EE. We quickly got steered to Cary by the "triangle-wide" rental agent that we found, but in retrospect she actually knew a lot about Cary and not a lot about anywhere else in the Triangle.
So, here's my take on it.
Cary was nice and quiet. If you want to raise your kids in a nice and quiet area, then Cary is a great place to live. It's very homogenous, not necessarily by race but definitely by income levels. Often times that's an even worse kind of homogeneity and it's a great way to make any outsider feel like an outsider. Yeah, there's tons of white folks and all sorts of Asians-- from India to Japan and everything in between. But there's not so many African-Americans, and everyone that lives in Cary is for the most part middle class and is quite a bit removed from having to deal with folks that aren't like them (more or less affluent, college educated, white collar, suburban).
Yeah, there's lots of sidewalks, and Cary is technically a walkable area, but I never found myself walking anywhere. I drove to DT Durham or DT Raleigh. Just about every time I went out to meet friends. I tried going out to The Hibernian (one of many examples), and I found that I was the only one my age around that wasn't sitting behind the bar mixing drinks.
So, that's my input. If you want a quiet, suburban lifestyle to raise your kids in an area that's relatively homogenous, then go with Cary. If you want to live in an urban setting, have folks around that are a bit different/weird/artsy/however you wish to describe it, or if you're just younger and not at that point in your life where you've settled down into the work-home-dinner-sleep routine, then maybe you want to look for something else.
(and I realize lots of folks aren't going to like my opinions, but hey, they're mine)
I lived in Cary for a year, right off of Northampton Dr. in central Cary in 2007-2008. I was 22, and lived with my girlfriend and her older brother. We moved up a few days after we finished undergrad (her brother a Master's degree) in the hopes of finding jobs in Chemistry, Public Health, and EE. We quickly got steered to Cary by the "triangle-wide" rental agent that we found, but in retrospect she actually knew a lot about Cary and not a lot about anywhere else in the Triangle.
So, here's my take on it.
Cary was nice and quiet. If you want to raise your kids in a nice and quiet area, then Cary is a great place to live. It's very homogenous, not necessarily by race but definitely by income levels. Often times that's an even worse kind of homogeneity and it's a great way to make any outsider feel like an outsider. Yeah, there's tons of white folks and all sorts of Asians-- from India to Japan and everything in between. But there's not so many African-Americans, and everyone that lives in Cary is for the most part middle class and is quite a bit removed from having to deal with folks that aren't like them (more or less affluent, college educated, white collar, suburban).
Yeah, there's lots of sidewalks, and Cary is technically a walkable area, but I never found myself walking anywhere. I drove to DT Durham or DT Raleigh. Just about every time I went out to meet friends. I tried going out to The Hibernian (one of many examples), and I found that I was the only one my age around that wasn't sitting behind the bar mixing drinks.
So, that's my input. If you want a quiet, suburban lifestyle to raise your kids in an area that's relatively homogenous, then go with Cary. If you want to live in an urban setting, have folks around that are a bit different/weird/artsy/however you wish to describe it, or if you're just younger and not at that point in your life where you've settled down into the work-home-dinner-sleep routine, then maybe you want to look for something else.
(and I realize lots of folks aren't going to like my opinions, but hey, they're mine)
Yeah Cary is definitely not a place to live if you want to be close to the nightlife, etc. I don't really agree with it being homogeneous in terms of socio-economics though. The first apartment complex I lived in in Cary was mostly section 8 housing. There's also low income housing around E. Chatham/Maynard, Academy Street, the post office off of Kildaire Farm, behind Crossroads, etc. Sure there's areas like Preston that are obviously high end housing but other towns around here are like that as well.
Last edited by evaofnc; 05-16-2012 at 07:54 AM..
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