Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina > Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary
 [Register]
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary The Triangle Area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 02-06-2007, 08:50 AM
 
15 posts, read 240,315 times
Reputation: 22

Advertisements

Hi,
My husband,3 kids & I will likely be moving to the area from Florida this summer. He goes where the work is! We were looking at Garner, Fuquay-Varina and Clayton as potential areas to buy a home as they seem the most affordable. If you had your pick, which do you think has the nicest areas, best schools, best place to raise 3 small kids, etc? I'd really appreciate any advice as it's next to impossible to spend a few days somewhere and figure all of this out. We were hoping to get a new home for around $220,000 or less. Is that even possible? On KBHomes site they show starting prices in the $180,000's. Should we consider that realistic? Thanks so much for your help!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-06-2007, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
1,540 posts, read 5,548,412 times
Reputation: 794
I just sold a home under that price range in the North Farm section of Flowers Plantation. They are built by Comstock, and you get alot of home out there for the money. That is one that you should check out. Thats if your looking for a new home in that price range.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-06-2007, 02:49 PM
 
Location: Northern California
42 posts, read 167,072 times
Reputation: 30
Default Clayton would be my choice!

We just (late January) made our third visit out there. Our original thought was to live in the Cary/Apex area, with Wake Forest as a back-up plan. HOWEVER... after visiting Clayton again (we had briefly seen it in Dec. '05), we found that it's really growing on us! There are many subdivisions there with homes in the price range you want, and you do get a lot of home for the money. And on a decent lot size, no less! The rest of what I'm going to say is opinion only.

After e-mailing with various folks from the area, it appears as though schools in Fuquay Varina and Garner are not some of the better schools in Wake County. In fact, the subject of schools brings up an entirely different issue, since Clayton is in Johnston County (as is part of Garner), and Fuquay and other parts of Garner are in Wake County. Be sure to do your research on the schools. Visit them. Clayton High School, for example, looks a bit "outdated" when you see it. As they say, "Don't judge a book by its cover"! People who have kids there say it is a phenomenal school with caring teachers and they absolutely LOVE it.

Now, for shopping. If you want the big malls, you've gotta go to Cary, Raleigh, Durham, etc. But for your general shopping needs, I found the 70 corridor to be absolutely sufficient. One center has Best Buy, Kohl's, TJ Maxx, and tons more. There's also a Target center. And a Wal-Mart center. It's all there, and my guess is it will continue to grow because Clayton is anticipating something like 50,000-75,000 people in the next 5-10 years.

Now, for churches. My husband is an Associate Pastor at a large (4,000+) non-denomenational church in Northern California (with contemporary music style, just so you know where I'm coming from), so we visited a few churches during our last two visits, checking on their staffing needs. If you like a really big church (2,000+), then check out Cleveland Community Church (known as C3). Want smaller (300ish)? Look at Southside Church. Want an even smaller church so your family can grow with the church? Crosspoint Community Church is moving from Smithfield to Clayton (to a skating rink somewhere near the Flowers Plantation area) on March 4th. I visited there and LOVED it. Friendly people (50+/-), excellent teaching, etc. I'm sure there are many, many more good churches in the area. Being from California where there's a Starbucks on every corner, I love the fact that in NC there's a church on every corner (and most times in between the corners, too!).

I guess you can tell that we kinda fell for Clayton. We did look in Garner, too, but it didn't have quite the same charisma to us (maybe due to where we looked, though). And because of what I've read on different Forums, we didn't bother to check out Fuquay Varina (though you absolutely can buy a very nice home in your price range). Any questions, feel free to PM me. I'm happy to help however I can.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-06-2007, 07:08 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
6 posts, read 24,649 times
Reputation: 11
I have sold homes in all area. I really think you should visit all three ares for yourself. You can find homes in your prices range and it depends on where you work too. GOOD LUCK!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-06-2007, 07:47 PM
 
15 posts, read 240,315 times
Reputation: 22
Thank you all so much for taking the time to answer. I'll definitely let you know when we plan to make a visit, as I would love to look around some. It's funny...Clayton seems to be the most affordable but seems to draw the most positive feedback. We were leaning toward Clayton so I'm glad to hear all of your comments. One other question: How much of a drive is it to downtown Raleigh..Hillsborough street area? Thanks again!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-06-2007, 08:02 PM
 
207 posts, read 1,085,544 times
Reputation: 187
The best place to raise a family is anywhere you as in individual feel comfortable. Some people prefer to be farther out away from a bigger city in an area like Youngsville, Clayton etc... esp. if they don't have to go to raleigh to work, etc... Some people want to live in or as close as they can to a larger area due to work or other reasons.

To me schools aren't really an issue anywhere, as long as your child is going to school to learn and not for any other reason he/she will be just fine. They all teach the same thing, the only difference will be in the number of his/her peers that will be also going to school to learn and not for other reasons. Some schools have more kids that want to learn and be successful, others have less kids that are really there to learn, but that doesn't matter as long as your child is there to perform academically. Some of the most brilliant, brightest shining stars come from the poorest, worst performing schools with the teachers who get paid the least, it is all about a child's own personal motivation and what has been taught and emphasized at home.

I'd definitely take an extended visit to the area if I were you and try to locate an area that you feel best meets the needs of you and your family. Good luck...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-06-2007, 08:12 PM
 
Location: Wake Forest
3,124 posts, read 12,634,027 times
Reputation: 743
Quote:
Originally Posted by ALT-X View Post
They all teach the same thing, the only difference will be in the number of his/her peers that will be also going to school to learn and not for other reasons.
Now, while I do agree that a motivated student can find an education most anywhere, and that all schools in NC follow a similar curriculum, and that school peers play a role in academic success, I do not believe that all schools are equal in how they teach said curriculum.

There is just a huge difference in an area that is teaching students to apply the knowledge, find ways that the knowledge relates to them, and even more importantly help them, through exposing them to a variety of information and experiences help them figure out where their academic strengthes and interest lie.

If a school is busy teaching 'the test' or just not really caring, you aren't going to have the same level of education.

If it really didn't matter, I would have bought a horse farm in Granville county, rather then a home in Wake.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-07-2007, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Smithfield, NC
1 posts, read 5,015 times
Reputation: 10
Smile moved from FL to NC recently

hi
I read all the replies you received from original question about areas to move to....I moved to Smithfield, which is just east of Clayton on 70. My adult son and family moved into a new development for $150,000. I wanted to be really close, so I didn't really look around the area and just bought a house that was already finished in the same development for $148,000. Both are 3 bed, 2 bath - but the main "problem" is only one main family / living room and no true dining room. I have a garage, they don't - but both houses have tons of walk-in storage (possible future finished room/s). They have a great wrap around porch and the ceilings are minimum 8 foot tall.
Definitely a drag to drive to Raleigh for work though! Both my son and daughter-in-law drive 80 - 90 miles round trip daily and sepending on time of day, runs from 40 - 70 minutes each way. But they like the "country" feel of the area. They have a 20 month old and a 5 mo old and my daughter-in-law is looking for another "mom & family" with similar interests to socialize with occaisionally - so if you make the move - let us know - they don't mind the drive --lol....Good luck!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > North Carolina > Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top