Need suggestions for kid-friendly, socially-active neighborhoods with great schools (Cary, Apex and/or NW Raleigh) (Dunn: 2014, HOA fees)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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.
My wife and I have 2 kids (4 year old son, 2 year old daughter) with one more on the way this spring. We are looking to purchase a home in a neighborhood and need some group think help. Here are the top 5-6 things that are most important to us:
1. Great schools (we understand that Wake county assignments are in flux, so we'd consider the new 2013/2014 assignment as baseline we'd use to evaluate).
2. Young families (folks with young kids as opposed to high-school aged). We're in our early/middle 30s.
3. Active pool/swim team for the kids (although we could do the Y)
4. Active adult social community/tight-knit community. We like to host dinner parties with either all adults and/or adults + kids. Keeping connected to the adult world helps us keep our sanity.
5. Mature trees and newer looking homes (1990 and sooner). We like places like Wellesley and Preston for that reason.
6. Down to earth people. My wife and I both have Master degrees, so we want to live with families who care about education, etc. But I don't want to live in a stuffy/desperate housewives type neighborhood - where keeping up with the Jones and comparing your kids to your neighbor's kids is the norm; this is our biggest concern about Preston.
Our price range is $400K to $600K. I work around the Crossroads area; my wife has the more important job: stay-at-home mom.
We are looking mostly in West Cary and Apex, mostly because of the schools. We haven't ruled out NW Raleigh around the Leesville schools (especially since it's easier to get around in NW Raleigh). We know the Raleigh area well -- we've lived in downtown Raleigh for about 6 years and NW Raleigh before we had kids. We just don't know what the best Cary/Apex/NW Raleigh areas that have what I mentioned was most important to us above.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And if someone's already mentioned a place, place feel free to give it an up/down vote.
Many thanks if you: a) read all of this, and b) are willing to take the time to respond!
I love North Raleigh (its where I live ). But if I were going to work around Crossroads, it would not be my first choice. There are plenty of good options in Cary, Holly Springs, and Apex that will be a lot more convenient.
My wife and I have 2 kids (4 year old son, 2 year old daughter) with one more on the way this spring. We are looking to purchase a home in a neighborhood and need some group think help. Here are the top 5-6 things that are most important to us:
1. Great schools (we understand that Wake county assignments are in flux, so we'd consider the new 2013/2014 assignment as baseline we'd use to evaluate).
2. Young families (folks with young kids as opposed to high-school aged). We're in our early/middle 30s.
3. Active pool/swim team for the kids (although we could do the Y)
4. Active adult social community/tight-knit community. We like to host dinner parties with either all adults and/or adults + kids. Keeping connected to the adult world helps us keep our sanity.
5. Mature trees and newer looking homes (1990 and sooner). We like places like Wellesley and Preston for that reason.
6. Down to earth people. My wife and I both have Master degrees, so we want to live with families who care about education, etc. But I don't want to live in a stuffy/desperate housewives type neighborhood - where keeping up with the Jones and comparing your kids to your neighbor's kids is the norm; this is our biggest concern about Preston.
Our price range is $400K to $600K. I work around the Crossroads area; my wife has the more important job: stay-at-home mom.
We are looking mostly in West Cary and Apex, mostly because of the schools. We haven't ruled out NW Raleigh around the Leesville schools (especially since it's easier to get around in NW Raleigh). We know the Raleigh area well -- we've lived in downtown Raleigh for about 6 years and NW Raleigh before we had kids. We just don't know what the best Cary/Apex/NW Raleigh areas that have what I mentioned was most important to us above.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And if someone's already mentioned a place, place feel free to give it an up/down vote.
Many thanks if you: a) read all of this, and b) are willing to take the time to respond!
You mentioned Wellesley. I second that. The schools are pretty rock solid (as much as they can be for wcpss) in terms of assignment and they're very good--if not the best--quality. You can get into Wellesley easily at $400k. Also, I believe. (But don't quite me) that you have to pay for Preston pool/club and there many segments of preston over a very wide area--odds are you will be driving to the pool. Wellsley is nice b/c they have a big pool with lifeguards, covered picnic areas, and a swim team (GREAT way to get to know neighbors!) which is all included in the HOA. One of my best friends lives there and I wish we had looked there when we moved here. Many of the homes have walk up third floors, some finished and some still unfinished. My friend's hadn't seen anything but paint when she bought it, and the paint was still very 90s--navy blue, emerald green, burgundy, tons of wallpaper, etc. But she got it at the lower end and has worked on it. I LOVE her neighborhood. It's also nicely walkable up to Cornerstone area, where you and family can stroll to Goodberry's for custard on a summer evening, etc.
I really recommend a pool home with a LARGE pool fully staffed with lifeguards. OUrs is small and it's ok, but I wish we had had a swim team for the kids.
Carpenter Village is similar in amenities except it has restaurants, shops, and a farmer's market on the property. SChools are also very good (almost the same as Wellsley's) and there's a range of homes from (expensive) townhomes to huge homes over a million bucks. I heard a carpenter village mother say at a meeting that their school (carpenter elem.) doesn't need more bused in (diversity) kids b/c it's as diverse as a n'hood gets. WRong. There are many different colored people from lots of nations, but not a home there would be considered below the metro area's average and I don't recall seeing any projects or, for that matter, working class housing It's very nice, though, and you can walk to elementary school at carpenter or, I think, Green Hope El. for traditional caldender. My kids went to Carpenter for a while and one had a great experience and the other had some of the worst teachers I have encountered. But there is a new principal.
Hmmmm.....hope that has helped. Those are the n'hoods that come to mind. Some might recommend Cary Park or Amberley, but I don't care for W. of 55 and it feels really remote to me (and many people would say Carpenter Village is remote!).
Also, check out Abington in apex. Large community, nice pool, decent range of prices and the new section is toward your higher end. Kids of every age and good schools.
^^^ Carpenter doesn't come close to the Davis Drive schools on the school testing; however, as a Davis Drive parent I will say that using that as a rubric is not "all that" so to speak. THere's a heavy emphasis on test prep at DDE. Annoyingly so, IMHO. If it's important to you, you'll want to consider it. What I will say is that the feedback that I have gotten from other elementary school parents that feed into Davis Drive Middle is they are not nearly as prepared as the Davis Drive El kids are - to me, that is more important. Carpenter and Green Hope El give very little homework and very few long term projects, apparently, compared to Davis Drive El, and it shows when they get to middle school (apparently it's obvious to DDMS teachers too). I have spoken to several parents at the middle school who say it's a sharp learning curve going from elementary to middle school for Carpenter and Green Hope kids, while the DDE kids just slide right into the routine. Mine didn't find the transition all that difficult coming from DDE.
You mentioned Wellesley. I second that. The schools are pretty rock solid (as much as they can be for wcpss) in terms of assignment and they're very good--if not the best--quality. You can get into Wellesley easily at $400k. Also, I believe. (But don't quite me) that you have to pay for Preston pool/club and there many segments of preston over a very wide area--odds are you will be driving to the pool.
...
Preston Village residents use the Preston Village amenities paid for by their HOA fees, too.
If you don't care about Prestonwood CC and want a pool community, Preston Village is a great choice.
Unfortunately, Preston and Preston Village are not separated in the MLS for home searches.
I have to recommend Highcroft. Excellent school and your children can walk to school which is a huge plus. One of the easiest ways to meet new neighbors through walking to school. Well run swim team, tons of children, friendly adults, gorgeous Sears Farm park......I think it is wonderful and well worth considering. Good luck with your search.
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.
). But if I were going to work around Crossroads, it would not be my first choice. There are plenty of good options in Cary, Holly Springs, and Apex that will be a lot more convenient.
It's very nice, though, and you can walk to elementary school at carpenter or, I think, Green Hope El. for traditional caldender. My kids went to Carpenter for a while and one had a great experience and the other had some of the worst teachers I have encountered. But there is a new principal.
