nice neighborhoods in Raleigh (Durham, Cary: crime, chapel, houses)

[Midwesterns45]

I'm thinking of moving to Raleigh for another option.
I would like the following questions to be answered

1.) Whats a nice area within city limits??
2.) Are there any poor or crime infested areas of Raleigh?
3.) Is the commute around the Raleigh & Durham metro difficult?
4.) Are most people in Raliegh educated and down to earth?
^^ I know these questions are kind of broad but any information on Raleigh that relates to these questions would be great! thanks

[raleightransplant]

1. If you want close in neighborhoods in Raleigh---close to downtown...you may consider Five Points, Boylan Heights, Mordecai, Cameron Park, etc. Not sure what your price range is though---those 'hoods can be expensive. ITB'ers feel free to chime in.
2. Southeast Raleigh is generally thought of as a rougher area with higher crime.
3. Depends where you live. If you live in Raleigh and work west of it (RTP, etc.), expect traffic to/from work. If you live in the Western Triangle and work east of where you live, it's considerably better.
4. Yes. Raleigh's a wonderful area in that way.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by Midwesterns45

I'm thinking of moving to Raleigh for another option.
I would like the following questions to be answered

1.) Whats a nice area within city limits??
2.) Are there any poor or crime infested areas of Raleigh?
3.) Is the commute around the Raleigh & Durham metro difficult?
4.) Are most people in Raliegh educated and down to earth?
^^ I know these questions are kind of broad but any information on Raleigh that relates to these questions would be great! thanks

1.) "Within the city limits" is a wide swath that could mean close to downtown or on the edge of Durham County by Brier Creek. It's all inside the city limits. That said, I am guessing that you might want a more established area that is family friendly and a good place to live. Since I don't know your price range for housing, I'll suggest a wide swath of the city that has many price ranges. Start your look between Wade Ave northward to Millbrook Road. In that area you will find a wide variety of nice neighborhoods in a variety of price ranges that are all excellently located near good schools, great shopping, highways and other city infrastructure.
2. First I'd like to distinguish between being poor and being dangerous. Like I told my mother once in a heated discussion, "poor people are poor, not dangerous". That said, I am not qualified to make a sweeping statement about crime statistics. I am sure there are some web resources out there that can help you look at that objectively. In the end, Raleigh is statistically the safest large city in NC and one of the safer cities in the Southeast. Cary, Raleigh's conjoined suburb to the immediate west, is one of the safest cities over 100,000 people in the entire country.
3. The commute is going to be all about your personal perspective and whether or not you have to travel to RTP for work. Some come to Raleigh and laugh at the traffic and others come horrified. So, it's all going to depend on what you experience now, where you live and where you work. Oddly enough, daily traffic inside Raleigh's Beltline tends to be calmer and quieter overall than it is on the outer fringes of the city or its suburbs. Traffic varies among Durham and Chapel Hill as well with some bottlenecks while other areas are a breeze. The whole traffic thing is worth studying before putting down any longer term roots in the area.
4. Raleigh and the entire metro area is one of the most educated places in the nation. It's creative class percentage is probably in the top 3-5 nationally and the number of advanced degreed professionals is quite large.

[ceili723]

This seems like a very broad search for info, more details on the type of environment you are looking for would be helpful. However, I will chime in on one neighborhood that a friend of mine lives in that I think is really pretty and reasonably priced. It's called Turnberry and is off of Creedmoor. Maybe 2 miles from Crabtree Mall. She says her husband has a 20-25 min commute to RTP, and it's 15-20 min to the center of Raleigh during the day. Houses there seem to range around 250-350.

There are definitely other options, I just figured I'd mention this one as it's an established neighborhood that is nice and rarely mentioned.

[IluvNC2]

There are many mature neighborhoods in N. Raleigh (within city limits) off of Creedmoor Rd....three that come to mind are Crosswinds, Stonehenge and Greystone....They are all located off of Creedmoor Rd (near Sawmill Rd, Bridgeport Dr, Howard Rd)...This area is maybe 4 miles from Crabtree Valley Mall, 20-25 mins from downtown (in traffic), 10 mins from Brier Creek shopping, 10 mins from Triangle Town Center area, and 15-20 mins from RTP. It's a very centrally located area....Prices of homes are normally from 250K-430K...