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How far is the average commute for employees? Do they primarily shuttle in? How about kids soccer, we have 5 children and need a little more space than the average family. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.
Honestly, I think it depends on your budget! I know professors who live within walking distance of campus and have for years.........those houses are very pricey now and many need updating.
Many people simply live within the chapel hill area, but you will find, for the most part, older homes that are more expensive than areas in durham.
My guess is the best commute would obviously be to live in chapel hill. There are areas that are growing now, I used to live "in the country" in chapel hill, and now there are subdivisions out there (off of dairyland road), so that may be an option for a bigger home that is not as expensive as the ones close to chapel hill.
Carrboro may be another option, and the older homes there tend to be smaller, as carrboro historically was a mill town with small homes. It is a short commute to UNC.
Hillsborough is south of chapel hill, small older historic town, is in orange county (same as chapel hill), and it is a great little town. Depending on where you live it would be 20 minutes to chapel hill.
Durham is also an easy commute to UNC. Many options within durham and there are some great neighborhoods to look at there as well.
I could give more specific suggestions if I knew your price range.
UNC Healthcare. 200-350k price range. I'm not soliciting for a realtor, just trying to get an idea of neighborhoods that a family friendly with a little larger yard. Pictures will be great. I know there is a thread that contains a bunch of neighborhood pics but I'm seeking some more ideas.
I have a good friend who is a nurse there... she lives in Apex, but she bought 6 years ago. She chose Apex for a larger house and yard. She is about 30 minutes door to door. My side of town (Holly Springs/Apex) has a back way to the hospital that is a really pretty drive, but it is a little longer.
I'm just throwing that out as a completely different option... I think living in CH, Durham or Carrboro has some serious appeal too. It'd be nice to have access to that kind of cultural and intellectual diversity and activities. And so many areas are just so gorgeous! I just don't know all that much about that part of the triangle!
Culvsy, Leigh's advice is still worth your consideration. Whether or not she's a realtor, she's still correct.
Considering your price range and the amount of space you need, I don't think Chapel Hill or Carrboro will work. Instead, look into Hillsborough, northern Chatham county (the area south of Chapel Hill) and southwestern Durham (zip code 27713, 27707 & 27705). You can have a commute of 20 minutes or less from these areas.
I know a person with 4 children who bought a lovely home with plenty of space in southern Durham that was well within your price range. There are tons of options out there for you. Good luck!
Culvsy, Leigh's advice is still worth your consideration. Whether or not she's a realtor, she's still correct.
Considering your price range and the amount of space you need, I don't think Chapel Hill or Carrboro will work. Instead, look into Hillsborough, northern Chatham county (the area south of Chapel Hill) and southwestern Durham (zip code 27713, 27707 & 27705). You can have a commute of 20 minutes or less from these areas.
I know a person with 4 children who bought a lovely home with plenty of space in southern Durham that was well within your price range. There are tons of options out there for you. Good luck!
Thanks for the info. Now the million dollar question. How are the schools? Shannon
Thanks for the info. Now the million dollar question. How are the schools? Shannon
That right there is easily the most controversial subject on this forum. I'll try to give you the basic run-down.
First thing you should know is that most of the school districts around here are county-wide. Kids living within Durham county go to Durham schools, kids living within Chatham county go to Chatham county schools, kids living in Wake county go to Wake county schools, etc. But! Just like in the English language, there's always an exception to the rule. In this case, the excpetion is the Chapel Hill & Carrboro School District. Although inside Orange County, it is seperate from the Orange County school district. So, for instance, Hillsborough is in Orange county, so the kids living there attend Orange county schools. However, a kid living in Carrboro may be living in Orange county, but he will attend the Chapel Hill & Carrboro school district's schools.
And just to add a little more confusion ...
Not all houses with a Chapel Hill or Carrboro mailing address are assigned to the Chapel Hill & Carrboro school system. These rare houses are along the perimeter of the towns. Their mail may be delivered by, say, the Chapel Hill post office, but the house itself may technically be outside of Chapel Hill city limits. Therefore, you always need to check the schools assigned to any house just to be sure.
Have I confused you completely?
I don't have children so I cannot speak of school quality from personal experience. I have met parents from multiple school districts in this area and all of them seem very happy with the quality of education their children have received. Generally, speaking, the test scores for schools here are strongly tied to the economic makeup of the area. Chapel Hill & Carrboro's school district has very high test scores, but it's also home to some of the most expensive real estate in the Triangle. Durham's schools have lower test scores, but the racial and economic make-up of the area is far more diverse. I have looked at the scores and it looks to me that kids of similar backgrounds perform very similarly in all of the area schools.
So the real question is what sort of environment you wish to live in and what programs will best serve your children's needs. All of the schools here have their pros and cons, but what is a "pro" for one person may be a "con" to someone else. You'll have to spend some time researching this to see what works best for you.
Good luck!
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