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"Old Apex" has largely been sold for BIIIIG money to developers in the past 20 years and is now Haddon Hall, Scotts Mill, Abbington, Bella Casa, Smith Farm, Sweetwater, etc.
Those are all in far-western Apex though - what about the rest?
I feel like the downtown area east of 55 down to route 1 and beyond has plenty of "old Apex" still around.
When I moved here in August, 1997, I stayed at an Apex motel for a few days.
Picked up the Apex newpaper, a weekly. The headline proclaimed, "Apex Records 10,000th Resident."
Methinks that the current population of mid-40,000s is not related to rampant growth due to rabbit-like prolificacy of native Old Apex Southerners, but more likely due to influx of transplants and immigrants. I.e., exactly what the OP hopes to discriminate against.
Momeyer. I'm thinking Momeyer. Or, Yanceyville. Maybe Warrenton.
Those are all in far-western Apex though - what about the rest?
I feel like the downtown area east of 55 down to route 1 and beyond has plenty of "old Apex" still around.
The downtown area certainly has a quaint Southern small town feel and some of the homes in the surrounding neighborhoods are right out of a scene from To Kill A Mockingbird. And there's the train for added charm. But with the massive growth of the town over the past few decades and the big shift in demographics, I think overall Apex is more akin to a high growth suburban area like Cary.
That's not to say that's all bad. I mean when I was a kid, Apex was in the middle of nowhere, and I used to chuckle at the "Downtown Apex" sign on 64. My mom used to work in the community with folks that were living in pretty extreme rural poverty. The area had basically gotten left behind in a lot of ways. So the town has come a long way and seems to be thriving again. That said, there can be too much of a good thing.
Honestly, I think Apex is pretty nice and would consider living there if it weren't for the nuclear power plant and the enormous amount of spent fuel being stored at the site from other reactors. That place being built out there is indicative of what the population was way back then, both in density and political clout.
Last edited by ITB_OG; 07-27-2020 at 06:34 AM..
Reason: typos...probably left more
The downtown area certainly has a quaint Southern small town feel and some of the homes in the surrounding neighborhoods are right out of a scene from To Kill A Mockingbird. And there's the train for added charm. But with the massive growth of the town over the past few decades and the big shift in demographics, I think overall Apex is more akin to a high growth suburban area like Cary.
That's not to say that's all bad. I mean when I was a kid, Apex was in the middle of nowhere, and I used to chuckle at the "Downtown Apex" sign on 64. My mom used to work in the community with folks that were living in pretty extreme rural poverty. The area had basically gotten left behind in a lot of ways. So the town has come a long way and seems to be thriving again. That said, there can be too much of a good thing.
Honestly, I think Apex is pretty nice and would consider living there if it weren't for the nuclear power plant and the enormous amount of spent fuel being stored at the site from other reactors. That place being built out there is indicative of what the population was way back when both in desnity and political clout.
The majority of transplants are targeting west of 55 where the new development is. It's like a completely different town than anything 55 or east if you ask me. Sort of like how Cary west of 540 is a completely different feel than 540 to maynard, which is a completely different feel from maynard to east Cary.
That being said, once west of 55 is built out, I assume the infill will begin in the rest of the town. So yeah, I wouldn't really recommend it to the OP long-term.
So let me try to put a summary on what most people have said so far:
The greater Raleigh area use to be a nice southern town with lots of trees, southern accents and a friendly southern hospitity. Now most of the area is:
Acres and Acres of Trac housing and Commerical Strips where they cut down every tree to plant 1000 identical homes in a clear cut area baking in the sun.
Entire neighborhoods are now mostly Asian Immigrants on H2B Visas to fill the offices of the Research Triangle Park
Bumper to Bumper traffic on overload roads filled with Yankees and Immigrants driving alone because there is almost no public transportation
People now have the genile manners and social culture of Philly, NYC, and Newark New Jersey
SOUNDS LIKE A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE!
Last edited by Chubroach; 07-27-2020 at 07:30 AM..
So let me try to put a summary on what most people have said so far:
The greater Raleigh area use to be a nice southern town with lots of trees, southern accents and a friendly southern hospitity. Now most of the area is:
Acres and Acres of Trac housing and Commerical Strips where they cut down every tree to plant 1000 identical homes in a clear cut area baking in the sun.
Entire neighborhoods are nowmostly Asian Immigrants on H2B Visas to fill the offices of the Research Triangle Park
Bumper to Bumper traffic on overload roads filled with Yankees and Immigrants driving alone because there is almost no public transportation
People with the genile manners and social culture of Philly, NYC, and Newark New Jersey
The majority of transplants are targeting west of 55 where the new development is. It's like a completely different town than anything 55 or east if you ask me. Sort of like how Cary west of 540 is a completely different feel than 540 to maynard, which is a completely different feel from maynard to east Cary.
That being said, once west of 55 is built out, I assume the infill will begin in the rest of the town. So yeah, I wouldn't really recommend it to the OP long-term.
My mom and stepdad (born & raised in Upstate NY and Boston MA, respectively...with the accents to match) live in "Old Apex" a literal stones through from Salem Street (Skratch Kitchen is about 70 steps from the back gate of their yard)....soft Carolina draw is more than equally met by midwest nasal and northeast non-rhotic in their neighborhood.
Sure there are remnants of "old Apex" in and around downtown and points east; but that is far from the "majority" of residents of the town. If op wants "town dominated by native southerners" he's at least 20+ years late for that in The Peak.
So let me try to put a summary on what most people have said so far:
The greater Raleigh area use to be a nice southern town with lots of trees, southern accents and a friendly southern hospitity. Now most of the area is:
Acres and Acres of Trac housing and Commerical Strips where they cut down every tree to plant 1000 identical homes in a clear cut area baking in the sun.
Entire neighborhoods are nowmostly Asian Immigrants on H2B Visas to fill the offices of the Research Triangle Park
Bumper to Bumper traffic on overload roads filled with Yankees and Immigrants driving alone because there is almost no public transportation
People with the genile manners and social culture of Philly, NYC, and Newark New Jersey
SOUNDS LIKE A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE!
Sounds like this isn't the place for you then and you had the answer to the question before you even asked it. Run along now!
So let me try to put a summary on what most people have said so far:
The greater Raleigh area use to be a nice southern town with lots of trees, southern accents and a friendly southern hospitity. Now most of the area is:
Acres and Acres of Trac housing and Commerical Strips where they cut down every tree to plant 1000 identical homes in a clear cut area baking in the sun.
Entire neighborhoods are nowmostly Asian Immigrants on H2B Visas to fill the offices of the Research Triangle Park
Bumper to Bumper traffic on overload roads filled with Yankees and Immigrants driving alone because there is almost no public transportation
People with the genile manners and social culture of Philly, NYC, and Newark New Jersey
SOUNDS LIKE A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE!
I can't claim to be an expert on all things and areas Triangle, but this summary could easily be describing an alternative universe versus what I know of the area in my three plus years here.
Way more trees (and undeveloped land in general) than where I moved from. Southern Accents are still prevalent, although it obviously isn't everyone. People in general (regardless of where they are from; I don't ask where someone moved from usually in a grocery store) are super friendly and hospitable. Certainly far moreso than where I came from.
I find quite a mix of housing options. Yes there are tract developments or even sections within larger devs that are tract, but there are options.
I'm sure there are a ethnic pockets in the area, just as there are in any bigger city in the country. But this place is far more diverse than where we left. Social circles tend to cut across race and ethnicity more and align more with socioeconomic position.
Traffic is an eye of the beholder thing; the traffic here doesn't compare to NYC, Boston, LA, DC/NoVA for the places I've been where the traffic stood out. But compared to maybe 20 years ago, I would guess it is quite a bit more.
I have friends from Philly, Pittsburgh, DC, upstate NY, Chicago, Iowa, Jersey, Cleveland, North of I-4 FL and then a bunch of NCers from various areas. There is not a noticeable gap in "social culture" for the overwhelming majority. I have met one person who I would say "ya, that's the kinda dude I would run into at a bar in Boston".
Is this place perfect? No. But its pretty damn nice for what I was looking for my family. However, I wasn't looking for the Antebellum South. Maybe you are?
Sounds like this isn't the place for you then and you had the answer to the question before you even asked it. Run along now!
South Carolina, with it's lack of large cities, definitely sounds like a better fit. Good luck avoiding Immigrants.
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