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I really appreciate the tips. I will look into some of those areas. I am not really into new construction. I prefer older homes with a bit of character. I thought the West Coast and DC were the only areas with prices like that.....sigh....
I was going to suggest you look near the Southpoint mall in Durham, but most of the houses around there are newer construction (1998-present).
My wife works/studies at UNC in Chapel Hill and she commutes in from the Southpoint area every day. It's about a 15 minute drive down some back roads to 54 and then into the university (it would take just as long to take I-40 but it's not as pretty). Coming from DC where our commute typically took 45 minutes or could be as long as 2 hours (to drive 10 miles), we find that her commute is fairly reasonable.
There are some older homes to be found in Durham, with the character you are looking for, but I find that they aren't in the "best" neighborhoods. We love where we live and like that our house is only 7 years old. I would suggest you take 3-4 days and come out to look at the area with a realtor or someone who knows the area well. It will be more than worth it.
Southwest Durham would be a great location for you if you are working at UNC (about 12 minutes)and it's much more affordable than CH. Eagle's Pointe, Chancellor's Ridge, Huntington Ridge are some names of some nice subdivisions.
Thanks again for all the great posts! Well, I value the schools too, but it seems like it gets too overplayed, IMO. I cannot imagine CH schools are great and everything else is terrible. Or am I off-base? I really hate hype, and that sounds like part of what I am hearing about CH itself.
So, do all the faculty from UNC and Duke live in Chapel Hill, or are there similarly nice areas around Durham?
Thanks again for all the great posts! Well, I value the schools too, but it seems like it gets too overplayed, IMO. I cannot imagine CH schools are great and everything else is terrible. Or am I off-base? I really hate hype, and that sounds like part of what I am hearing about CH itself.
So, do all the faculty from UNC and Duke live in Chapel Hill, or are there similarly nice areas around Durham?
There are 18 attending physicians in my dept at Duke - 16 live in Chapel Hill, 2 in Raleigh. The Chapel Hill group send their kids to public school, Raleighites kids attend private.
Thanks again for all the great posts! Well, I value the schools too, but it seems like it gets too overplayed, IMO. I cannot imagine CH schools are great and everything else is terrible. Or am I off-base? I really hate hype, and that sounds like part of what I am hearing about CH itself.
So, do all the faculty from UNC and Duke live in Chapel Hill, or are there similarly nice areas around Durham?
There are many doctors and professors what work at Duke and UNC who live in Durham. When I lived in Durham and pet sit most of my clients worked at both schools/hospitals. Many lived in NW, Central, and SW Durham. Since you like older homes I would check out Watts-Hillandale, Trinity Park, Duke Park, Northgate Park, Old West Durham, and Forest Hills.
There are also a lot of Duke and UNC employees also living in Hillsborough, which is a quiant historic town with really nice historic homes. They are hard to come by though, especially in that price range. You will find many in Durham are expensive too, but there are a lot of options and you can find something pretty nice in your price range, especially in the Duke Park neighborhood. Good luck!
There are many doctors and professors what work at Duke and UNC who live in Durham. When I lived in Durham and pet sit most of my clients worked at both schools/hospitals. Many lived in NW, Central, and SW Durham. Since you like older homes I would check out Watts-Hillandale, Trinity Park, Duke Park, Northgate Park, Old West Durham, and Forest Hills.
There are also a lot of Duke and UNC employees also living in Hillsborough, which is a quiant historic town with really nice historic homes. They are hard to come by though, especially in that price range. You will find many in Durham are expensive too, but there are a lot of options and you can find something pretty nice in your price range, especially in the Duke Park neighborhood. Good luck!
I'm sure this is true as well. I can only speak for my department. We have our own residency program in our specialty - 11 residents, 9 live in Durham, 1 in Raleigh and 1 in Cary. And for the nurses on our dept - most live in Durham, 1 in Hillsborough, 1 in Raleigh.
Great tips about SW Durham and Hillsborough. I think the latter is one of the types of places I was asking about, a nearby area that is pretty nice, but with less "hype" of Chapel Hill. Not to talk trash CH, I am sure it is nice, just that it seems when something gets a name brand, a certain stampede effect among the rich and status-oriented tends to follow, blurring the distinction between real value and self-mythology. I only say this because I live in such a town now, and it quickly gets to the place where prices decouple from middle class affordability. And being a middle class guy with no family money or equity tail-wind, and with college, student loasn, retirement, etc. to pay for, I am very leary of overpaying for housing. That said, like everyone, I want a nice safe area, with good schools, outdoor amenities, etc.
With these considerations in mind, Hillborough sounds like a much better value; I don't yet know enough about Durham, but doing the research.
Not to talk trash CH, I am sure it is nice, just that it seems when something gets a name brand, a certain stampede effect among the rich and status-oriented tends to follow
Stampede? I think you'll find more of the rich and status-oriented moving to Cary than Chapel Hill. For example, in the 5 year period from 2000 to 2005, Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
population grew by 828 people, or 1.7% (total, not per year).
The area is quite beautiful and more diverse than the high prices would indicate. a new report finds that in the school system, Asians represent the most minority, followed by Hispanic and then African American. I believe Asians were 14%. Asians and Hispanic school population were growing while AA was not.
I disagree that Chapel Hill can be considered diverse. 76% of CH population is white (based on City Data Statistics). I could not find any stats on demographics by race on the CH/C website. Maybe kudzu can give us a link that might state otherwise. I moved from Portland where 70 some% of the population was white and it has never been considered a racially diverse city. So I find it odd that CH is considered as such.
OP, I live in SW Durham (Southpoint Mall area). My children attend DPS... Creekside specifically. And we have several students at our school who have a parent or parents whom are UNC faculty or staff. Many people discount Durham because of test scores. But when you factor in socio-economics you will see that kids in Durham of similar backgrounds score very closely to neighboring school districts.
I like a lot of the old homes in Hillsborough but the town itself was just way to small for me. But it's a nice place to visit on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
In my two years of living here in Durham, I've heard many people tell me, Duke Professors live in CH. UNC professors live in Durham. Don't overlook Durham because of other people's perceptions, come see for yourself.
Nope, Chapel Hill is largely home grown. I don't think it's always been the way it is now. The school system created demand, especially among the academic types affiliated with the University. But the high taxes (and then the high home prices) created a barrier keeping some from being able to afford it. I think that created a cycle that has driven prices higher and higher over the years.
What you've found is that Chapel Hill is not the hippie college enclave that some would expect. It is heavily populated by doctors, lawyers, and others in the higher income ranges.
When we moved to Chapel Hill in 1993 housing prices were not bad. Then Money Magazine named Chapel Hill-Durham #1 on its Best Places to Live list and prices quickly zoomed up after this. This occurred because a) a lot of retirees from the North moved to Chapel Hill attracted by the culture and great healthcare in Chapel Hill (UNC) and Durham (Duke), bringing their huge home assets with them; 2) the tech boom of the 90s brought a lot of asset-rich folks from the west coast to the area. While the academic reputation of CH schools and academic types living in CH are true, these things have always been the case so I don't think they are the main reasons for the dramatic increase in home prices.
Value is a relative term. A Chapel Hill home is like a German car or Swiss watch, they are more expensive to buy but they retain their value.
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