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Well, I can speak for the area of West Cary you mentioned, most of the neighborhoods will probably offer what you want. I would add Brookstone and Park Village to your list. I love the houses in West Park and we almost bought there, but there a couple reasons I'm glad we didn't. First their pool is tiny - it's like a backyard pool. I wanted a good size community pool and don't regret that decision. You will get many years out of that with a toddler. Second, all of the streets are cul de sacs or loops so they don't go anywhere, it's (IMO only) much easier for kids to walk around the subdivision without going out on a main road. Of course their main road (Parkscene) is lovely and not a main road like High House and tons of people walk there. I know all of these neighborhoods have community events like a winter party with sleigh rides, Easter egg hunts, etc - it's just a matter of who offers what and what's in your price range. Also, all of those neighborhoods are turning over and getting more and more young families and I see them making efforts to get together and make playgroups and such. I think you can find what you're looing for, and good luck. As you said, plenty of options which sure is nice. Where are you moving from?
Chapel Hill taxes are high because the schools are so good. The extra tax money goes to the schools among other things. Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools local funding contributions are more than double Wake County's and the schools retain excellent teachers and staff. If schools are a big priority you should definitely give it some consideration.
Welll, the dog situation definitely limits who will rent to you.
But I agree with previous posters -- you don't have enough time to make a really good decision. Even though it will be a pain in the arse, I think it would be a worthy investment to maybe rent a house (as opposed to apt) to get a feel for different areas.
I'm sure a lot of us had a little chuckle at your wishlist. That's what we'd all like. You're really just not going to find anything that's "walkable" to non-chain places unless you're in a downtown-type area -- like downtown Durham, Raleigh or Cary. And the prices are steep, the square footage small, etc. Character and charm out the yingyang but it's not cheap to get it.
I think you may find yourself regretting a hasty decision. Think about whether you could stand even a 6-mo lease on a house until the flood of new listings comes in Feb/March. There's very little coming on the market now (and what little hits is snapped up immediately). Although if you se something now that you like and it's been hanging around for a while, maybe the owners would rent to you or do a lease-to-purchase option. Worth looking into.
Good luck with your search!
Quote:
Originally Posted by homerun4
I'll try to answer everyone's questions and clarify a few things...
I listed a wish list or the perfect world scenario, or in other words the perfect house in a perfect neighborhood in the perfect area which of course is impossible on our budget. We understand that. We have very few deal breakers, safety/schools, family friendly neighborhood and less than 30 mins to the RTP. We have found gobs and gobs of homes in our price range that meet this criteria from our research and driving around.
The other things I listed, walkable, parks, non chain restaurants/bars... those are just things we like. It doesn't mean we'll be miserable if we don't have those things. We are very laid back glass half full type people. We'd have to really hate a neighborhood and our house to be miserable.
Renting is not an option for many reasons. Rentals are few and far between, we have a toddler, 2 dogs, and to live in transition in a new area and never feel settled is just a recipe for getting home sick or not liking this new huge change. We've taken multiple trips to the area now and know what we want. It's just a matter of narrowing areas down and finding what we want.
Twingles, yes neighborhoods vary street by street but most of the time in general some neighborhoods are friendlier than others. Most people in our current neighborhood are very friendly and we always have tons of things going on. You have to make an effort here to be a hermit if that's your cup of tea. On the flipside, we have a million dollar neighborhood across the street from us that I walk the dogs in quite a bit and no one is ever outside and it's rare to see anyone talking to anyone else. That doesn't mean every single person in our neighborhood is a socialite and everyone in the other neighborhood is a scrooge, but that is just a basic generalization that most anyone would make that lives in this area. So I'm just trying to get general feelings about certain areas and neighborhoods.
poppydog, we eliminated chapel hill due to home prices and taxes being so expensive. And we eliminated Carrboro due to the commute. Hillsborough is an area we haven't seen yet that sort of intrigues us so we'll probably check that out on our next trip.
I guess my goal in posting this is to give everyone an idea of what we like/and don't like and then hopefully locals and transplants can recommend certain neighborhoods that in general fit that or that don't. We need to start slashing certain areas/neighborhoods and get down to a few to choose from.
The areas around downtown Durham are just much more awesome and unique than any area in Cary. Bottom line is Cary=Cookie cutter as i gets. Durham just has a great vibe, and the people that live here truly love and embrace it. Very friendly people, and most importantly, Durham has the best restaurants in the triangle bar none. It is truly a foodie town. Many many parks downtown and most all public schools offer a magnet or montessori as an option at no extra cost. Contrary to what some might tell you, durham public schools are just fine. It is the stereotype that keeps perpetuating itself from people that really don't know.
I think you may be able to find what you want in that part of West Cary, but houses there don't come on the market very often, and when they do, they get snapped up quickly. If you want the best outcome, you need to give ourself some time for the right house to come on the market. I've been in all of these neighborhoods, and here are my observations.
Park Village has smaller houses, but you can easily walk to the elem and middle school, it has a pool and a nice playground. It's a bit of a hike, but you can walk up Davis to HighHouse on sidewalks to the retail from there. Wellesley might be mostly out of your price range, but they have a pool and tennis courts. You can walk to shopping along HighHouse on sidewalks, but have to cross over a narrow bridge on a busy street. I think it would be somewhat stressful to do that walk. Brookstone has a pool, but I doubt any walking acess to shopping. WestPark has a small pool, tennis, playground and a lot of trails with direct trail access to a lot of shopping and dining. MacArthur Park has good walking access to the Fresh Market, a few nice shops and the YMCA, but no pool or tennis. Most neighborhoods in Cary have great access to walking trails, but many of these neighborhoods in particular have walking access to things that you need/want to do (groceries, dining, coffee, haircut, movie rental, quick dining, nicer Tavern dining with events etc). They all also connect to nice parks by trail. I think all but Brookstone can get to elem/middle school on the greenways. They are all well established neighborhoods, safe, good schools and most have decent sized yards.
I think any of those might work for you. What I've always done to gaugee friendliness of a neighborhood is to walks it several times in the morning and evening. That tells you a lot.
As someone who moved to West Cary about a month ago from the Eastside of Seattle, and thinking it would meet our "short list" of requirements - rent. And maybe rent some more, until you are sure. We are beyond thrilled we didn't buy here, even though we could have done so in a heartbeat. We are a young family (both under 30) with two young kids, VERY concerned about schools, and are looking elsewhere even though real estate agents, random folks on the internet, etc have told us this area had very high potential. We have about a $450k budget, for reference.
BTW, Durham?! My 1 month in knee jerk says not that bad. (Depending on the area, of course!) I've seen WAY worse in the DT Seattle area, but maybe I need to dig deeper for the ugly. And random gunfire.
Many neighborhoods in Apex meet all or most of your criteria and price point.
I bet there are plenty of neighborhoods in Apex down 55 where you can walk to Haddon Hall shopping or Beaver Creek etc. Good schools too. Now that 540 has opened to Apex the commute to RTP should be less of a hassle, especially if you are willing to use the toll road.
ditto renting first. And specifically in the area you are most interested in. You will get the vibe and feel and after a few months will be able to gauge its appropriateness for your family.
350K in Chapel Hill or Carrboro will be difficult but doable. Sounds like this would be a good fit for your family.
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