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We are looking to relocate to the Triangle area and have some questions about Cary neighborhoods. (We are also considering North Raleigh and, potentially, Chapel Hill but it depends on the job situation). We would like to purchase a home under $500K.
1) Are there certain neighborhoods in Cary that tend to have larger sized lots (e.g., .4 acres and above)? We are looking to be in a neighborhood with a lot of trees and some privacy and don't want to be on top of our neighbors.
2) We have a young child who has a few more years until she begins school, but given the state of flux that Wake County schools are in, are taking a closer look at Cary, which I understand (perhaps inaccurately) may be less subject to reassignment than other parts of the county. Any recommendations on neighborhoods that tend to feed into great Cary schools (with the understanding, of course, that those schools are not guaranteed...)?
3) What is the typical commute from Cary to downtown Raleigh? How about from Cary to Chapel Hill?
If anything, certain parts of Cary are MORE susceptible to changes, particularly west Cary. Central and east Cary are well established and are not reassigned much. Some neighborhoods to check out are Lochmere, Farmington Woods, MacGregor Downs, Woods of Kildaire, Coronado Village, and Pirate's Cove, to name a few.
Any recommendations on neighborhoods that tend to feed into great Cary schools (with the understanding, of course, that those schools are not guaranteed...)?
The better schools in Cary are located towards the west. Unfortunately, the western side has small lots for the most part. The homes with larger lots are 600k plus. Have you considered Apex? You would find a home with a much larger lot (.5 acre) which also feeds into great schools. Bella Casa, Abbington, and Haddon Hall come to mind.
Thanks very much to you both! This is so overwhelming. We're coming from an area where we have neighborhood-based schools and top-notch public schools at that. I know Wake County has great schools overall but this whole reassignment process and the potential for bigger changes in store come 2014-15 is mind-boggling to a new home buyer in the area. I will give some more consideration to Apex; thanks for that suggestion and the note on Apex schools. When we first visited Apex, we thought it a very nice town (especially the Abbington neighborhood), but I think we may be looking for a town just a bit bigger. Thanks again!
What exactly are you looking for in regard to being in a bigger town? There are bigger lots in south Cary in your price range, but you'll be further from amenities like shopping/movies/etc than you would be in Abbington. Apex and Cary are so intertwined that it can be difficult to know where one starts and the other begins.
I'm going to put in a plug for southern and central Cary. There really aren't any "bad" schools in Cary and Apex, and to be honest, if you buy a house upward of 300-400k, you're pretty much buying a good school, anyway.
I'm going to put in a plug for southern and central Cary. There really aren't any "bad" schools in Cary and Apex, and to be honest, if you buy a house upward of 300-400k, you're pretty much buying a good school, anyway.
We are wanting to purchase a home in Cary. There are many neighborhoods in great locations we would love to buy in (Regency, Lochmere, Oaks at Meadowridge, and Terrington all come to mind), BUT the schools are less than ideal.
Not all of Cary feeds into "good" schools. I grew up in Lochmere and went to Athens Drive High School. Athens is still the base school for Lochmere. IMHO, I would NOT recommend it much less consider it a good school.
According to NC report cards, Athens is a school of distinction which isn't horrible but it's a far cry from western Cary's Panther Creek which is a Honor School of Excellence. Swift Creek Elementary and Dillard Drive (Lochmere's base elementary and middle schools) aren't the greatest schools either. Western Cary's schools are much better than those located in southern Cary. Again.......this is just my opinion. Best of luck to the op.
Hey, I just found a cool geek map school performance website: North Carolina School Performance Maps . You can see different colored points for each school according to their performance ("honor school of excellence" to lowest performing), although I do think there is a lot more to a school than what color their dot is on this map.
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