Moving to NC

[MariGirl]

You say your husband will be working in Sanford, so have you actually looked into living there first? Sanford is a good, mid-size town. You will find some beautiful, upscale neighborhoods (Lake Villanow, W. Lake Valley, W. Lake Downs, Carolina Trace, Brownstone) with large lots for much less than any of the towns mentioned (i.e. Apex, Cary-otherwise known as "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees", or Fuquay), except maybe Pittsboro. But Pittsboro is much, much smaller than Sanford, with basically a traffic circle and 2 blocks for a downtown. Sanford is very similar to Fuquay or Apex (if people on this board are truthful and actually know any of these towns well, they will agree). So why live somewhere like Apex or Fuquay, which are alot like Sanford, to then commute to Sanford? Yes those towns are closer to Raleigh, shopping malls, chain restaurants and such, but is that really a plus?The traffic is bad, believe me! Remember, Hwy. 1 also runs North TO Cary & Raleigh, not just South to Sanford. What I mean by that is, you can hop on US 1 in Sanford and be to Cary/Raleigh for malls & restaurants in <30 mins. RDU airport is a 45 min. drive. Once you fight the traffic in those areas you will be happy to return to Sanford! I am not a realtor, nor am I a local. We moved to this area as newleyweds and have been here for nearly 20 years. With childrens' sports and entertainment, we have been all over central N.C. and have watched the growth. We considered moving to Holly Springs or Cary a dozen years ago. My husband travelled in and out of RDU alot back then and we thought it would be good to be closer to the airport. But what we found was that we got so much more house and land for our money in Sanford, with less day-day hassles of getting around. The shorter distance to the airport didn't outweigh the other drawbacks. It's nice to be able to drop kids at school, run errands and go grocery shopping in half the time as some of those other places. Sanford has grown considerably in the past few years and you will find a mix of people from the N.East, Mid-Atlantic and other areas due to the industry here such as Wyeth, Coty, Caterpillar, Pantry, Static Control to name a few. Several physicians in Sanford are from Canada. The elementary schools are excellent, middle schools and high schools somewhat crowded, but not as much as Raleigh/Cary, and you won't have to worry about being redistricted every year or forced into year round. Sanford has 1 year round elementary school (Tramway-fantastic!) but it is a choice school, not mandatory.
There are a few chain type restaurants, but many good local places too. Finally, I tell you all this not as someone who moved here from "Podunkville" and thinks Sanford is big-time. No, I am from Chicago. It was for me (and I suspect it will be for you too) major culture shock moving to NC from a world-class city like Chicago. Toronto, imo also falls into that world-class city category. Raleigh (again imo) does not. While a nice suburban style place, it does not compare to those cities (or others like San Antonio, Austin, SanFran, of course NY for example..) I'm not just talking size, I mean all those things that give a town "soul" so to speak... No great architecture, beautiful waterfront, lively downtown, interesting multi-cultural neighborhoods, in other words nothing that really says "Raleigh-wow!" Charlotte is much closer to having that style as is Asheville. Sanford has a vibrant downtown with a professional theatre that attracts people from throughout the Triangle. The Sanford Pottery Festival is one of the largest in the S.East. Also, note that So. Pines/Pinehurst are about 20 mins. south, and being a big golf resort area you will find fantastic restaurants and 2 pretty,charming downtown/village areas, again w/out the hassles of the Triangle. You can go online and read the Sanford Herald as well as the Raleigh News&Observer, and google the Lee County,NC & Moore County and Chamber sites, to get a better feel for the area. I long ago decided that if I couldn't live in a "real" city, I preferred a smaller town where I could put down roots,to a suburban sprawl-of-a traffic jam "city". Why not actually be a part of the community where your spouse will be working? That's just me, but I've got 20 years of living in and observing this entire region (and living somewhere else to compare) to back up my comments. I hope this gives you another perspective to think on. Good Luck to you and your family as you make this decision.

[jmeraleigh]

If schools are a concern, make sure you check out the ABC scores.. go to www.wakegov.com and find the schools link. For Pittsboro, you have to go to the chatham county link. You can link to other counties from the wake gov site. (bottom left)