Nicest Safest Area around Raleigh (similar to Fairfax City) (Durham: apartments, for rent)

[spielnicht]

Hello,

We're relocating from the DC Metro area down to Raleigh end of November. My wife and I would like to buy, but realistically we're going to rent for a year until we figure out the area for ourselves.

With that said, we're looking for a nice, somewhat modern, beautiful (landscape) and safe area around Raleigh similar to Fairfax City or Ashburn in Northern Virginia if anyone is familiar with them. We're mostly interested in houses or townhouses, no apartments.

Can anyone recommend such an area? My job is gonna be about 10 mins west of RDU just to put things in perspective. I highly doubt traffic is anywhere close to the madness here in DC, so a little longer commute is fine as long as the area is worth it.

Thanks.

[leighbhe]

We have friends who live in ashburn, moved there when it was basically a housing development and one brewey (okay that is the place we went, but it seemed like there was not much there) and that was 10 plus years ago.

Yes, traffic will seem like a breeze compared to what you are used to!!! My sister lives in alexandria now (and have lived all over northern, va and the dc area) and there are probably not places exactly like it down here, but some are close. Cary probably resembles your area the most, although many of the small towns surrounding raleigh are the same ...... housing developments and stores relatively close to each other. Please note though that cary is HUGE, and very spread out. There is cary near RTP (research triangle park) and cary in the southern part of wake county - so....if it were me, I would find a place to live (a rental) that is close to your office - and spend your weekends going out and visiting the towns and neighborhoods throughout the triangle.

I started out living in holly springs, then we moved to cary and now we are in wake forest, and we love it. It seems that people love the area they are in though!

Leigh

[Waterboy526]

I grew up in Fairfax City and moved down here 5 years ago from Leesburg. As far as finding an area that is like Fairfax City that might be kind of difficult since FFX city is mostly urban with older (40's-70's) single family homes and townhouses, minus the newer infill development of 4,000+ sq. ft. Million + homes. I would think the North Hills & Crabtree area would be similar, but again FFX City is a small city (22k pop @ 6 sq. mi.) that had a neighborhood feel to me, at least when I was growing up in the 80's and 90's.

I can't speak much for Ashburn except that Ashburn is anywhere suburban/Exurban jungle USA, so you can find that in a lot of outlying areas of bigger cities.

If you're working 10 minutes west of RDU, I would look into Morrisville, Northwest Raleigh (Brier Creek to Leesville Rd. area) and Durham. You'll get a lot more house for your money in Durham that those 2 areas, but I can't speak much for Durham since I'm not as familiar with that area.

If you can afford to live in FFX City, I would definetely try to live close to work here. Affording it won't be an issue compared to NoVA and you won't have to drive far to work, even though the traffic is nothing like Rt. 50 or I-66 in the Mornings/evenings/weekends...pretty much anytime, LOL.

Feel free to PM me should you have any further questions.

[michgc]

I can't give you any advice, but I just wanted to say "hi." We're moving from Vienna down to Chapel Hill in the next few months. It will be nice to have fellow Northern Virginians down there. And I, too, am looking forward to less traffic and less congestion and a lower cost of living!

[hg12]

Hi

I have family in fairfax and I live in Raleigh. So, I can relate to both locations. I would recommend Cary or North Raleigh as good places to live. It's very affordable compared to N. Varginia and it's about 10-15 mins to RDU from certain parts of Cary. Cary is a pretty big suburb of Raleigh and it could spread out to points in Apex and Holly Springs. I personally like the Walnut St. area in Cary which is very close to RDU. If you are looking at N. Raleigh, I would recommend Duraleigh Rd or Edwards Mill's area which is also a nice location in Raleigh. Its 10-15 min to the RTP area 10 min to down town Raleigh.

Hope this helps.

[nova2ral]

We are moving from Ashhurn to Wake Forest next weekend. It's been a year long process and finally chose to buy a home in Heritage. Wanted a community feel (like we do now) but it'll be a much slower pace than Ashburn. We liked Heritage that it didn't have the track home feel, yards were kept up not too mention kid friendly and so much more. We looked everywhere from Chapel Hil Cary, Holly Springs.

[zitsky]

You might look at the Brier Creek Country Club near the airport and RTP. I see a few houses for rent when I go through there. The landscaping seems very nice. It is also close to Umstead State Park which is great for walking and running.

[Sayantsi]

If you were around Fairfax long enough to rememeber how rural the area north of 66 used to be, look north of 540 in Raleigh - lots of housing, close to commercial areas but its all low-density residential. I think the worst crime problem is deer eating plants.

Its a good location for getting to RDU because of 540, and its on the non-tolled part of 540, another plus. As the Raleigh area is growing, major expansion is happening on the Cary/Apex/Fuquay-varina side, and traffic is a current issue to consider. Traffic on 540 north of 40 is also bad at rush hour, but by bad, I mean, you'll slow down to like 30 mph for about 5-10 minutes. Nothing in Raleigh-area is as bad as NOVA traffic.

You can also consider Bright Leaf on 70 in Durham, north of Brier Creek. New construction and in a good location - it will be a major subdivision when its done.

[susannerk]

Hi Leigh,

I wanted to ask you why you chose Wake Forest after living in Holly Springs and Cary? We are in WF, I love it,
however, I am second guessing myself at times as I didn't have much time to check out Cary. Just need to hear
your positive thoughts on WF so I will feel better about my decision!! Thanks much,Susanne