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We live in NE Durham off of US98 in Grove Park subdivision and it takes me 15-20 minutes to Duke. The beauty is there is never really much traffic on my route regardless of what time I leave.
Thanks everyone I will definitely keep all these in mind.
Are there any parts of Durham that i should stay away from??
You might've just opened up Pandora's box with that question.
Durham often gets a bad rap from folks, and you'll certainly see that as you navigate through the many posts in this forum. Generally speaking Durham is a wonderful city, however, like most places it does have its share of crime. Most of Durham's unsavory area is located south and southeast of Downtown but north of RTP (Ellis Road & NC 147). Outside of that general area, there are pockets of less desirable areas scattered about, but nothing too bad. Most of the city is very nice and I personally hope to be moving back to Durham (from Raleigh) very soon!
You might've just opened up Pandora's box with that question.
If that were true, then that means Pandora's Box has been open for almost a month & a half! Anybody notice any adverse affects?
I think the Duke Forest area is gorgeous and, as one may have guessed by the name, it's very convenient to Duke. I also know some people who work at Duke who live in southern Durham. There are oodles of great options out there!
Ditto PA_Hokie. I'm in 27713 as well (Woodlake) and both DH and I commute to work at Duke. Easy commute; great area to live in; broad range of housing types/prices and currently a wonderful area for resale. Definitely don't discount Durham.
I live somewhat west of Carrboro and south of Hillsborough, in Western Orange County. If you've ever been to Maple View Dairy, I'm within three miles of it. My commute is about 30 minutes, but it's about the prettiest 30 minutes I've ever driven in the Triangle. We're in that area, though, because hubby works in Chapel Hill and at the time, I was working elsewhere.
What type of lifestyle are you seeking? It's hard to recommend something without knowing... My first inclination is to suggest Durham, and if you like a somewhat urban lifestyle and older homes, there is a wealth of that kind of inventory near Duke. In some areas, you can even hop a bus to work every day. Since parking at Duke is expensive and a pain in the butt, I'd kill to not have to deal with it. Check Trinity Park, Watts Hillandale, Duke Park, Northgate Park, Old West Durham, Lakewood, Forest Hills or Old North Durham if that is of interest to you. I'm sure I'm forgetting some of these neighborhoods. Durham is sort of a patchwork- like other urban areas, the good neighborhoods are often nestled close to the not-so-good, so I'd be careful to work with a realtor who specializes in Durham. We lived in Old West Durham, and I could kick myself now for moving, because I could actually walk to my office from where I used to live. I also could walk to about 30 restaurants. I loved it.
If you are not as interested in living in an urban area, you could try the area around Hope Valley Farms/Woodcroft/Southern Durham, and be near The Streets at Southpoint. It's more suburban- 80's and 90's down there, but some of the neighborhoods are quite pleasant. I'm partial to Woodcroft, and it's an easy commute to Duke.
If you are interested in a bit more rural lifestyle, definitely check out Hillsborough- the commute is easy and fast and the prices are reasonable. Even cheaper would be Mebane, though it's a bit further down 85.
I have some co-workers who commute from the Brier Creek area in N.Raleigh off 540, but I don't know much about the area. I know one lone soul who drives in from Youngsville! I dont know how he can stand it, frankly. And several of my co-workers live in Chapel Hill. I don't know anyone who drives in from Wake Forest.
Can you be more specific about the kind of lifestyle/neighborhood that appeals to you- maybe even a broad price range? Do you like newer subdivisions? Older? Suburbia? City? Country? Do you want to be able to walk to things?
Chiming in late here. Hillsborough + Orange and Durham County outside of Hillsborough could provide a 30 min/less commute. We live in southern Orange and my DH can get to Duke in about 35 minutes, by taking backroads with little traffic.
We used to live in northern Durham county and that took him just about as long, due to the traffic and lights on 501.
Now that Guess Rd is 4 lanes, that helps an immense amount with any traffic. I would never go all the way down Roxboro if I didn't have to anyway. That being said, there are a lot of great neighborhoods in North Durham, both new and old, and they just started building in the new Harris Teeter at the corner of Guess and Horton.
Also, North Durham gives you a whole lot more for your money.
North Durham gives you more for your money, but I'd have some concerns about resale. Are you coming to Duke for a [temporary] academic reason? If so, I'd focus more on the historic central and/or southern parts of the city in order to maximize your investment over the short term. Despite how much I salivated over the nicer homes that I could buy in North Durham, our realtor steered us toward the booming Southpoint area, and now I'm extremely glad that he did.
I've zeroed in on northern Durham in my own search, however I am becoming a bit concerned at how long homes seem to sit on the market up there, especially those above $350k.
Southwest Durham is my favorite part of town by far, centrally located between Duke and UNC and near all the shopping. Also convenient to I-40 and Southpoint.
North Durham gives you more for your money, but I'd have some concerns about resale. Are you coming to Duke for a [temporary] academic reason? If so, I'd focus more on the historic central and/or southern parts of the city in order to maximize your investment over the short term. Despite how much I salivated over the nicer homes that I could buy in North Durham, our realtor steered us toward the booming Southpoint area, and now I'm extremely glad that he did.
The biggest reason the homes sit on the market longer is because you don't have the same shopping opportunities as the Southpoint area. That's also why you can get more home for your money. But, more of those opportunities are on their way. The new Harris Teeter is under construction, and there are a couple more shopping centers planned as well. One that is supposed to include a Super Target.
The reason so many people find North Durham so attractive though, is because it is so much more peaceful and quiet than the rest of the area. You are closer to Hospitals, which to me is more important than being close to the mall, and closer to a lot of great parks. Shopping opportunities are there, they're just not packaged up. You've got Lowes, Home Depot, Costco, all of which are not in the Southpoint area, and nicer to have close to your home. There are also plenty of grocery stores and drug stores.
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