Relocating in Feb - Seeking Advice (Raleigh, Cary: apartment, rentals, low crime)

[jimmyz80]

Greetings! Last year I spent a week touring the triangle to get a feel for the area and absolutely loved it. I've spent the last year trying to convince my company to let me relocate from here in San Jose, CA, and they've finally given me the green light.

Tentatively we're going to move to "somewhere" in the triangle in February, and need some advice on a few points. My wife and I will also be visiting the area Nov 4th through 9th to do some more exploring.

We're planning on renting an apartment for a few months and then assuming we're comfortable with the area, purchasing a home relatively quickly. The trick now is figuring out what areas we should focus on exploring. We're both in our late 20s, and neither of us are really city people. Really what we're looking for is:

• Small town feel
• Low crime rate
• Plenty of local conveniences, grocery stores, farmers markets, etc
• Within 30min of RTP during moderate traffic
• Newer houses (3bd+/2ba+) for $300k or less
• Possibly a small GA Airport with aircraft rentals
• Near NC State (Wife may go to grad school there)

I know all of these may not be possible, but it's looking like good bets may be Cary, Apex, Morrisville, North Raleigh, and possibly Wake Forest if I don't mind a REALLY long commute.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on whether these towns fit the bill, and if there are any other suggestions of where we should look. Any apartment suggestions in these areas would be hugely helpful as well.

Thanks so much in advance!

[lovebrentwood]

Where (what area) will you be working?

[jimmyz80]

I'll be working at Cisco Systems in RTP itself (7025 Kit Creek Rd, Morrisville, N.C. 27560). I have a feeling I'll be mostly working from home, and only commuting to the office maybe twice per week. I'm not 100% sure yet though.

[lovebrentwood]

Congrats!

Any of those areas would be fine. Wake Forest would be my choice for you because of its small-town feel and good home prices. I think it might take longer for your wife to get to NC State than it would for you to get to work, though, because it's slower going down Capital Blvd than it is going 60 mph on 540 to RTP. But the commute to NC State may not be a deal breaker; it would depend on when she would leave.

If you wanted to be closer to NC State, then I'd say Cary. But North Raleigh is good, too.

I don't know about aircraft rentals.

[jimmyz80]

Thanks so much for the feedback on Wake Forest. I'll make sure to check it out when I'm visiting in a few weeks.

[Francois]

I think Wake Forest is a long way from both NCSU and Cisco, since he'd have to travel down Capital and also 540 (and 40 through the worst traffic part).

You might look at Apex for a "small town feel", or even parts of Morrisville (though I haven't been through Morrisville in awhile and hear it's exploded in development since then). If you are only going to be in the office 2 days a week, but your wife might be in school full-time, you should think about being closer to her destination than yours

[jimmyz80]

The more I look at property listings, maps, etc, Morrisville really seems to be a good option. I just haven't heard much about it as a town, so I'll need to do more investigating.

[sswaring]

Jimmy, I was just down there doing some 'neighborhood shopping'. I spent a TON of time in Cary---it did not give me a 'small town' feel. The 'downtown' Cary is indeed a nice small town, but if you blink you'll miss it and IMHO it is a little too small. The rest of Cary is the epitome of suburban. If you look suburban up in the phone book there is a picture of Cary: Shopping, dining, housing, schools shopping dining housing. It is a lovely place for families, esp those with school age children.

In my 20s I would NOT have wanted to live in Cary.

Ditto for Morrisville. The town aspect of Morrisville is almost non-existent.

I am now targeting Apex (for small town feel) and North Raleigh, but for me all is contingent on finding a job.