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.
Old SW Durham, near the Duke Forest, is nice, and there are lots of kids in that age range (including mine!). Forest Hills has a nice value ratio, in my opinion, or one of the settlements off Cornwallis if you're into newer construction, and the Forest Hills park is almost always busy. If you are in North Durham it's a longer trip, but you can probably pick up more land if you're into that. North Durham has its own feel, it's a lot newer all around.
Durham proper (older section) has a lot of arts, local restaurants, very interesting people around. Excellent restaurants are not super expensive, but there aren't many chains. In SW Durham most crime is property; if you lock your car doors now you won't notice a difference. If you don't it won't take long to get into the habit. People are friendly, neighbors know each other, strangers wave in the street; it's actually a very nice place to live. (Again I'm in an older section of town, the new developments might be different.)
The Duke U Medical Center is just north and east of the areas I'm mentioning, up 751 to Erwin. Most of my neighbors work there, UNC, or at Duke proper. There are some nice older areas around Ninth Street / Broad Street / North of downtown, but those seem a bit more college-y to me. I'm very happy where we are now, and I think I'll still be so as the kids get a bit older.
Old SW Durham, near the Duke Forest, is nice, and there are lots of kids in that age range (including mine!). Forest Hills has a nice value ratio, in my opinion, or one of the settlements off Cornwallis if you're into newer construction, and the Forest Hills park is almost always busy. If you are in North Durham it's a longer trip, but you can probably pick up more land if you're into that. North Durham has its own feel, it's a lot newer all around.
You can get to Duke in 5-20 minutes from North Durham depending on how far you want to go out, and yes you can get much more land out that way. North Durham is a mix of old a new, unlike much SW Durham which has a lot of new and a very suburban feel. North Durham is a cross between suburban and rural, again depending on how far you go out.
Northern Durham is awesome! I live there bordering Eno River State Park, 2 minutes from grocery/pharmacy/take out, 7 minutes 10 minutes or less to Duke, downtown, "big-box" shopping, etc...
I'm going to put in a plug for northern Chapel Hill since that's where I live and commute to Duke. From my house off Whitfield Rd. it take 12 minutes to get to where I park at Duke. It's zoned for some of the best schools in Chapel Hill (Morris Grove elementary, Smith Middle, and East CH High), and therefore by extension some of the best schools in the Triangle. Taxes are lower because we don't have to pay CH city limits tax as we're just outside city limits (however, there is a Orange Country fire station on Whitfield Rd.). Much of Whitfield Rd. is undeveloped and wil stay that way because that's where Duke Forest is located. So add neighborhoods along Whitfiled Rd., Weaver Dairy Rd., and Erwin Rd. to your list.
As for people who say the Triangle is boring, they don't know what the hell they're talking about. All one has to do is open up Independent Weekly and look at the dozens of plays, musical concerts, book readings/signings, etc., that are going on each week. With three major univerisites in the area there's always lots going on. The Durham-Chapel Hill area has 300K + people and the Triangle as a whole has about 1.2 million people in the area, so there are plenty of activities for people of all ages.
In my neighborhood, Woodcroft (located in SW Durham), there are many Duke employees. We bought our house from an MD at Duke Medical who was retiring. Woodcroft is quiet, safe, family-friendly, has miles of paved walking trails and a nice range of house sizes and prices. It's also very close to Southpoint mall and a lot of other shopping areas as well as a nice movie theater. It's also very close to some of the places in Chapel Hill that water dancing mentioned.
By the way, smoking is already prohibited in many restaurants but as of next January it is going to be banned entirely from any restaurant or nightclub that serves food to people under age 18. I don't know about bowling alleys, though.
I think that you can definitely find soccer leagues and other things for kids to do in the area, close to your home, especially if you live in a community with an active club or homeowners' association. We just moved here 2 weeks ago from Manhattan with our 6 month old, for the same reason that you may move here. My husband took a surgical fellowship at Duke University. We have only been here for the 2 weeks, but we are already seeing that the area is very friendly family with lots of things for the kids to do. LOADS of family friendly restaurants too.
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.
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.
