Relocating to Cary, Raleigh (Durham, Chapel Hill: 2013, chapel, houses)

[sjdad]

I am spending a lot of time reading threads here, lots of great advice. My situation is a little different so I figured I'd post a new thread.

I have 3 kids, 12, 10, 6 and am considering a relocation out of the Philadelphia area.

I am looking for a new job, and I am a software professional. Of course, it helps to know which area of the country you want to live in before starting a search, that is why I am posting here, to see if the Raleigh general area would be a good move for me or not.

I want to be close to the "tech center" where there are a lot of opportunities for software developers, not sure if there is a central "tech hub" down there.

I don't mind a commute, anything from 30minutes to 1 hour is fine for me. So, I am looking on a recommendation for schools and neighborhood (like most other people) with the following constraints:
1. I want my kids to attend the same schools. Not thrilled with what I saw about the "assignment" stuff in Wake County.
2. I would like to be as close of a commute as possible to the "tech hub" (whatever that is) and still be affordable ($350,000 or less). I need to be under 1 hour commute during rush hour.
3. Neighborhood is very important. I'd be willing to eat some extra time on my commute to get to the right neighborhood. I would love a neighborhood full of families and kids
4. Schools are very important (3 and 4 are what families look for). Same as 3, I'd be ok going a little further of a commute for better schools

I don't have a timetable for a move, but if I were to move it would be Summer 2013.

With the above said, what are the School Districts and Neighborhood recommendations.

Also, if anyone has relocated from "up north", any feedback would be great as well.

Thanks!

[evaofnc]

Our "tech hub" would be Research Triangle Park. Do a Google search for RTP and you'll find a wealth of information about RTP and the companies there. There's also a lot of tech companies around downtown Raleigh and downtown Durham.

[NewUser]

We had the exact same requirements as you.

RTP is the tech center down here.

If it wasn't for 2 of our conditions on a house, we could have been within 10 minutes of RTP.
1. My wife did not want to see any houses behind our house. She only wanted undeveloped land
2. I wanted an oversized 2 car garage and I wanted a modern floor plan with the master downstairs.

Because of that, we ended up 30 minutes away from RTP.

[sjdad]

Ahh, killing me NewUser, where did you wind up?

I saw that Wake Forest has some good schools, and then there is Raleigh but South East of Raleigh (going on info from greatschools, not sure how reliable that is).

Thanks!

[ALStafford]

If you're planning on a move in 2013, the assignment picture for Wake County schools may be very different than it is now. The school board has voted to change back to an address-based plan starting with the 2013-14 school year. Each address will have a base school associated with it for each level of schooling (elementary, middle, high). These assignments may change as new schools are built, or as new housing developments are build causing crowding in a school in a particular area. This will cause reassignments to occur, as it would in any growing city.

Originally Posted by sjdad

I have 3 kids, 12, 10, 6 and am considering a relocation out of the Philadelphia area.
1. I want my kids to attend the same schools. Not thrilled with what I saw about the "assignment" stuff in Wake County.

The 12 and 10 year old would probably be starting schools here in Middle School, correct? So, does that mean you want to be sure that the 6 y.o. will attend the same middle school and high school their siblings did? Or, do you mean that if you have two children at the same school level, they can be assured they are in the same school (i.e. the now 12 and 10 y.o. will be at the same HS when they are junior and freshman, respectively)? With the new address-based assignment plan, apparently the second situation should not result in different schools in Wake County starting in the '13-'14 school year, as long as the students live at the same address. However, due to how fast the school system grows, I don't thing the first scenario could be guaranteed, but that isn't unique to Wake County Schools, it's true of any fast growing school district. As the system grows, new schools are built, certain areas with many families moving in cause crowding at a particular school, so boundaries need to be adjusted. As this happens, base schools are changed.

With all that said, I live in an older, established neighborhood in Cary. Absent the one-year choice model for assignment, I think the elementary, middle, and high schools haven't changed in a decade. We've only just moved in, but this is one thing I researched, because I wanted stability in schools, too. If this sort of neighborhood appeals to you at all, Pirates Cove, Farmington Woods, Scottish Hills, and Northwoods are nice areas; older homes, big yards, big trees.

Good luck with your move!

[sjdad]

Thanks ALStafford. Yes, 12 and 10 would be middle school; 6 would be elementary school.

I suppose it would be great if all the families in the same neighborhood went to the same school. So if my 12 y.o. had 6 or 7 friends in the same neighborhood, I would like them all to stay together.

It would be preferable if all the kids went to the same schools (e.g. 12 and 10 yo in the same high school).

Ideally, both of these. But I think that keeping the families in the same neighborhood together has a slightly higher priority for me.

For neighborhood, I just want a boat load of families and kids.

I'll look at those neighborhoods, thanks for the recommendations!

[michgc]

Hi SJDad,

I grew up in Newtown Square. My family is in Bucks and Chester Counties, so I could help compare the area overall, although I am not familiar with specific towns here since I am a newcomer of 6 months. Where are you from?

Overall, I think this area will meet your requirements. It sounds like you are not ready to move for this school year. I do think that by next year you will know more about the Wake County School system assignments. I understand what you mean about wanting most of the neighborhood to go to the same schools. It makes it very cohesive.

Chapel Hill/Carrboro might be an option for you. School system assignments are pretty stable (although they are building a new elementary school for 2013 and turning another into a magnet, so there is some shuffling next year due to that). Neighborhoods feed into the same school. The school district is a bit more what you are likely used to, coming from the Philly area as it's a relatively small district (3 high schools 4 middle 10 elementaries). $350K might be on the lower end for Chapel Hill, but if you don't mind an older property, you'd be fine.

Good news for this area is that 30 minutes or less seems to be the norm for a commute around here. You could go relatively far out and still be within a 1-hour commute time. That opens up more possibilities for you. There are other counties outside Wake that would also work. - Durham, Johnston, Chatham.

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by sjdad

Ahh, killing me NewUser, where did you wind up?

I saw that Wake Forest has some good schools, and then there is Raleigh but South East of Raleigh (going on info from greatschools, not sure how reliable that is).

Thanks!

We ended up down in Swift Creek Township. It is not part of any city. It is unincorporated Wake County and we are about 10 miles south of the state capital building in downtown Raleigh. Our children have a choice of many good schools in the Middle Creek area.

[sjdad]

After doing a little more digging, it looks like I should focus a little more on the Neighborhood (Lochmere for instance).

The idea of having a complete neighborhood, with pool, activities, lake...very appealing.

If anyone has any good recommendations while keeping me in the 300-400 range, that would be very much appreciated.

Also, I DO want to be close to good shopping and good restaurants. I would really like a Whole Foods

[NewUser]

Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are probably 5 minutes from Lochmere