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May relocate down to the RD area, coming from the Philadelphia area. I enjoy living in the burbs, but would like to be able to drive to a city on the weekend for dinner, going out, a bit of nightlife, etc. Ive seen Durham thrown out there, Raleigh, Cary, etc. We'd like to live within a 30min commute to RTP, $250k give or take to spend on a house, but want to be able to see more than strip malls and trees, which is all Ive seen so far (from the highway).
I am actually staying at a hotel in RTP now, going to spend the day tomorrow checking out the area. Any suggestions on where to go? Dont want to see a mall, would rather see downtown raleigh or something cool and unique about the area. Not into tourism or historic stuff really, I know this place offers that, Im just curious as to how much "action" this area has to offer...
city life is close enough to drive to on weekends from any of those places. the problem is the daily commute into rtp, so you want to stay close. morrisville, cary, maybe Apex.
durham has some nice areas, but may be a bit of a drive--more than 30 minutes.
this is the land of strip malls and trees--its going to be hard to get around without seeing some type of mall...
Durham 30 minutes? No way. If you are in downtown maybe...but SW Durham is a GREAT area and my commute is about 10 minutes to my office in SE RTP.
When you get as far away as the Apex's, Claytons, and Holly Springs's of the world, you're really pushing it on commute time (and fighting traffic)
What are you hoping to get for 250k? That will play into it. 250k in SW Durham gets you about 2000-2500 square feet, 3-4 bedrooms, no significant land (.15-.3 acre), built in the last 10-15 years.
250k in Cary probably gets you around 2000 sq feet and much older - 70s-80s I think (not too familiar with Cary)
250k in the outlying areas and suburbs will get you more house in all likelihood but you are, just as any other suburb, sacrificing commute time. For RTP, I love SW Durham.
I think you'll find Durham to your liking, also. If you'll be working in northern RTP, downtown Durham is only 10 minutes from the office, and even the far reaches of northern Durham (Treyburn) and southern Bahama are within 30 minutes. Southwest Durham is also within a half hour. If you're working in the southern half of RTP (say south of Hwy 54) then you'll probably want to rule out the far northern areas of Durham and possibly consider northern Chatham County and NW Wake County, instead.
All of those areas will also put you within 30 minutes of both downtown Durham and downtown Chapel Hill, both of which have awesome dining options and some nightlife. Coming from Philly, you won't find quite as many phenomenal restaurants (we don't exactly have our version of Steven Starr here), but there are some really good spots.
Well, RTP & the airport are just a few miles away from eachother. So if you want to live somewhere between them, then that really limits your choices.
In all seriousness, though, I urge you to look at a map of the area (just go to Google). The Raleigh-Durham airport is located just north of I-40 between Durham and Raleigh. From there, just follow along I-40 to the west a few miles. You'll soon see the 147 and the 55 snaking up north. That's the basic location of RTP.
By the by, I live in southern Durham. The longest it has ever taken me to get to the airport is 15 minutes. Obviously, it takes less time for me to get to the RTP area (10 minutes generally), but RTP is very long, so I'm sure it'll take less time to get to some offices & more time to get to others.
I agree w/the SW Durham recommendation. I live within 1/2 mile of Southpoint Mall (Fayetteville Road exit off I-40 in Durham). My office is at Page Road and I-40. It takes me about 10 mins to get to work with heavy traffic.
You can still find some homes around us for 250k or less. We were actually about to list ours for somewhere btwn 250-275k, but we backed out of the purchase and may just stay where we are. For comparison, our house has 2500 sq feet, oversized 2-car garage, .34 acre lot, fenced back yard, 4 BR, 2.5 BA, bonus room, formal dining room & living room, family room, 14x16 deck.
Agree with SW Durham. Also check out the neighborhoods around Brightleaf at Hwy 70 and Miami Blvd. There are also some neighborhoods in your price range up off Hwy 98 like Grove Park, Ganyard Farms, Ravenstone and Brightwood Trails. 15 miutes to the RTP and the airport.
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