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My family and I are looking to leave Durham for a bit more room. We have narrowed down our list to Hillsborough and North Raleigh. We have a 2nd grader and a 3 year old. Any input on the elementary schools in these areas, i.e. Cameron Park and Pathways in Hillsborough and North Ridge, Sycamore Creek and Leesville in North Raleigh would be most appreciated.
We have looked at Cornwallis Hills, Churton Grove, Beckett's Ridge in Hillsborough.
We are thinking Summerfield, North Ridge in North Raleigh.
Anyone in the neighborhoods listed above and willing to provide "inside" info on the HOA, number of families with kids in the neighborhood, schools, number of rental homes in the neighborhood, nearby food/shopping etc. feel free to post here or message me. If there are other neighborhoods that we should consider, I would love to hear about those as well. My wife and I both work in Durham and would like to keep the commute to 35 minutes or less so that's another consideration.
Not sure if my post is of help as I cannot speak to the quality of these schools but know folks who do these commutes, including me driving to Durham each day. The Hillsborough-Durham commute is very predictable, the Raleigh one not so much. And as traffic continues to grow in the Raleigh area, this will worsen.
Thanks for the reply. That is something that I had not considered, but it makes perfect sense. I have not had much reason to drive over to Raleigh during rush hour but when I have, it's been a chore.
Geautigers, what was your initial impression of the 3 Hillsborough neighborhoods? Do they all feel family friendly, and can kids run around and play organically with their neighbors? Thanks!
I have friends with kids in Cornwallis Hills and I think their street has been chock-full of kids. They moved there when their kids were quite small and they're a little older now (7th grade and 5th grade I believe) so I'm not sure of the median age of the families, but it does seem to be a very family-oriented neighborhood. I think they've been happy with the schools, too.
I don't know anything about your other choices to make a comparison.
We lived in Northridge when I was a teenager in the mid/late 1990's, and my parents stayed in that house until a few years ago. It's a great neighborhood. Lots of families with kids in all age ranges. Generally quiet, neighbors are friendly without being nosy. It's also large/sprawling, so the neighborhood character can change a lot as you travel through. There are a few sub-subdivisions that have some sort of HOA, I believe, but the neighborhood as a whole is HOA-free.
North Ridge is indeed a nice neighborhood--I remember when it was built in the 1970s, it was the (nouveau) "rich" part of town, lots of Northnern IBMers and golf course lots. They are old enough not to have a HOA. I love the houses and mature yards there. Young kids would likely go to North Ridge Elementary, my elementary "alma mater", and from a lot of the neighborhood they could walk there (or do kids do that anymore in this era of helicopter parenting? ).
However, no way would you get to Durham in 35 minutes even at off-peak times. I live in N. Raleigh closer to Durham than there and work on the very edge of Durham/RTP, and it's 35 mins for me on a light traffic day (and I go in on off-peak hours). When I need to go to downtown Durham, it's closer to 45. You'd be 5-10 minutes farther than that.
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