What is the difference between Cary & Apex? (Raleigh, Holly Springs: HOA fees, houses)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Apex and Cary are so close sometimes you don't know if your in Cary or Apex. In my opinion you get a lot more house in the Apex area. Schools are the same in Cary and Apex. Apex is definately close to shopping you don't have to worry about that. Are you planning a visit anytime soon?
They are the same when comparing quality of life, shopping, proximity to highways and schooling. The majority of the time you can find better pricing on houses in Apex compared to Cary.
You may be able to get "more house for the money" in Apex but you won't get more land. For larger lots (i.e. more than .2 and as much as .75) older homes in Cary win hands down, at least in the sub-$300K market.
Eventhough I don't live in the triangle area anymore...I'm probably one of the strongest pro-Apex people in the Apex vs. Cary debate on this forum. We lived in Cary (Lochmere) between 1998 and 2002, and Apex from 2005-2007 (made the ghastly mistake of living in South Raleigh between those two). We preferred Apex for many reasons. It still has somewhat of a small town-community oriented vibe, much moreso than Cary. It has a population around 35k vs. around 120k in Cary. Up until the 2006-2007 school year, pretty much everyone in Apex actually went to school IN APEX (which is actuallly REALLY saying something in Wake County). Pretty much everyone in elementary and middle school levels still goes to schools in Apex or in nearby parts of Cary or Holly Springs....but about half the town is now assigned to Panther Creek High school about 25 minutes away in Cary/Morrisville....when up until that point most of the town was assigned to Apex High School (one of the better established high schools in Wake County). Apex has a very charming historic downtown on Salem Street that adds more to the small town feel. There are more of a variety of housing options in Cary because it is so much bigger. But if you are looking for what the typical Triangle area relocatee is looking for (newer house in middle-upper middle class neighborhood, atleast 3 bedrooms 2 baths) your money will go a little further in Apex than in most of Cary. HOA fees are probably lower in most Apex subdivisons than most Cary subdivisions too ( not positive because we only rented in Apex for 2 years with plans to buy; but eventually ended up deciding to move back to our hometown in Upstate NY).
Years ago, Cary was just a bedroom community to Raleigh. As it grew, it became it's own town. As it grew and more shopping and resturants came to the area, there was less and less reason to drive to Raleigh (15 minutes).
Holly Springs looks very similar to what Cary looked like 25 years ago.
Apex started out as the bedroom community to Cary but has grown fast, since Cary pushed out.
It is nearly impossible to tell the difference if you were in the area, as to where Cary starts and Apex ends.
Hard to explain but once you get here, it will make sense.
Yeah.
We were founded by a Temperance leader, weren't we?
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