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Have friends coming to town and they are asking me for input on a move to Pittsboro and/or Chapel Hill. I am more familiar with CARY so thought i would get some input - Pittsboro seems very county like vs Chapel Hill. Any thoughts on Briar Chapel, Fearrington and/or Chapel Ridge.ty
Briar Chapel and Fearrington are both very nice but somewhat isolated and cookie cutter. Neither is really in Pittsboro or Chapel Hill IMO, though they're not far from CH.
Beware that the entire area is going to be dramatically changed over the next decade or so: Chatham Park
Yeah, if they're wanting a small town near Chapel Hill (not that Chapel Hill is large) I'd look at Hillsborough and see if that would work for their commute. I think Chatham Park will drastically change the character of Pittsboro.
We live between Pittsboro and Chapel Hill (just north of Briar Chapel but still on the Chatham County side of the line) and love the area, though I do suspect there will be continued commercial growth along the 15-501 corridor, particularly on the Chatham County side (from the WalMart south). Being just south of Chapel Hill has tons of advantages, the first being much lower taxes and less expensive housing. Several of our neighbors were former Chapel Hill residents that moved to take advantage of this fact. We can still take advantage of much of what Chapel Hill and Carrboro have to offer since they're only 10-12 minutes away. Many people in our area work at UNC hospital (the commute there is pretty easy). We're also less than 15 minutes from downtown Pittsboro and go there often for the cute, locally-owned stores.
As for the specific subdivisions you mentioned 1) Briar Chapel--has tons of amenities and activities going on; you essentially give up personal space for community space as the lots are tiny. 2) Fearrington--more established, but is primarily a retiree community; as a family with young kids we never considered living there (however, we do love going to Fearrington Village to the restaurants, book store, and for the kids to look at the cows and goats). 3) Chapel Ridge--it's very nice but is not convenient as it's noticeably further out of town than the other areas. The housing crash really put a halt to growth out there, but it's starting to pick up again. We considered moving out there as the prices are great, but in the end it was just too far away for us. Other than those three large subdivisions, there are tons of small subdivisions along the 15-501 corridor (like the one I live in) that offer custom houses, large 1+ acre lots, reasonable prices and are still convenient to both Pittsboro and Chapel Hill.
I could go on but I hope that helps for starters. Feel free to PM me if your friends have more specific questions.
Briar Chapel and Fearrington are both very nice but somewhat isolated and cookie cutter. Neither is really in Pittsboro or Chapel Hill IMO, though they're not far from CH.
Beware that the entire area is going to be dramatically changed over the next decade or so: Chatham Park
I don't really think of Fearrington Village as "cookie cutter". There are many different types of housing here, in various neighborhoods. The older part on the north side, which is about half of the houses are on lots of a half acre up, many of them heavily wooded; and the newest parts on the south the same. There are houses on smaller lots especially near the park by the village center. It's not only retirees, but there are a large proportion, and many of the houses are single level but not typical ranch style.
Briar Chapel has some very nice homes at various price points, great hiking/mountain biking trails, and a strong sense of community. For example, the other evening a neighbor inquired through Nextdoor if anyone could pick up an item for her at Southpoint; she was leaving for a business trip early the next morning, needed the item for her trip, was in a pinch for time. And right away several neighbors responded. They were at Southpoint, and offered to pick up her item and bring it to her house. Having recently moved to BC, I was pleasantly surprised. Some nice restaurants/retail places/offices have opened up in the commercial area at the entrance. A wonderful Harris Teeter is less than five minutes away.
thank you so much for some of the insight. I have tried to do some research into Chatham Park and can't really find a time line for development It sounds like the project was started many years ago and it waiting for the commercial interest. What baffles me is in the RTP area, they continue to clear land for commerical use. Is there enough interest to build the "work, play, live" concept in Pittsboro?
thank you so much for some of the insight. I have tried to do some research into Chatham Park and can't really find a time line for development It sounds like the project was started many years ago and it waiting for the commercial interest. What baffles me is in the RTP area, they continue to clear land for commerical use. Is there enough interest to build the "work, play, live" concept in Pittsboro?
Not really...at least not right now and probably not in the next decade.....
What is more likely is for the "Chatham Park" area to build up with the pent-up demand for more relatively affordable new housing for people who work in Chapel Hill or Western Wake County but can't or don't want to pay the premium to live in those two high-demand areas that are largely built-out already.
Chatham Park will have 22,000 new homes holy moly. It's like an entire city, the drive times they list are a little optimistic.
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