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Pittsboro has a massive development happening that will overwhelm the town. Chatham Park will house 60,000 people when it is built out, so what you see now in Pittsboro won't be the same for long.
I guess for starters, looking at the housing market, they seem to have more homes that are in the realm of what we'd like in a price point that works for us. They both seem to have a sort of suburban middle class vibe, which would work for us. Checking out the town websites, seems like they have some decent park areas, arts/cultural centers (we're not looking for big-city-calibre, just someplace to go see some local theater or hear some decent live music on occasion), some local downtown shopping/dining areas, and within a reasonable drive to Raleigh if we want more city-like experiences.
Would this be on the right track?
If these things are true, you're changing what you looked for in your OP. If you have settled on "we want to be in the Triangle but we are unable to budge on price and willing to give up everything else on the wish list" then yes HS and FV will work for you. But they are absolutely nothing like Chapel Hill, Hillsborough or Pittsboro. They are the living definition of cookie cutter suburbia butting right up against their rural roots with TERRIBLE traffic to boot.
If these things are true, you're changing what you looked for in your OP. If you have settled on "we want to be in the Triangle but we are unable to budge on price and willing to give up everything else on the wish list" then yes HS and FV will work for you. But they are absolutely nothing like Chapel Hill, Hillsborough or Pittsboro. They are the living definition of cookie cutter suburbia butting right up against their rural roots with TERRIBLE traffic to boot.
We WANT it all, but unless we have some massive, unexpected injection of wealth, budget is going to be the limiting factor. Given that, I suppose we're trying to figure out what we have to give up to be in different, more affordable, areas and how to weigh those factors.
So, if we have to give up the college town vibe but can keep decent parks and a fairly liberally-oriented community, we could manage to have to drive a bit to get to theater or a fun local downtown. As long as we can easily get to the basics- groceries, doctors and the like- we accept that we're going to have to be crossing things off the "want to have" list.
The terrible traffic part isn't appealing for sure, but since we'll both be working from home we won't have to commute so have some flexiblity for when we have to hit the road.
We're hopeful, but realists... we're just trying to figure out the closest we can come to the ideal and still be able to retire in the not too distant future.
We WANT it all, but unless we have some massive, unexpected injection of wealth, budget is going to be the limiting factor. Given that, I suppose we're trying to figure out what we have to give up to be in different, more affordable, areas and how to weigh those factors.
So, if we have to give up the college town vibe but can keep decent parks and a fairly liberally-oriented community, we could manage to have to drive a bit to get to theater or a fun local downtown. As long as we can easily get to the basics- groceries, doctors and the like- we accept that we're going to have to be crossing things off the "want to have" list.
The terrible traffic part isn't appealing for sure, but since we'll both be working from home we won't have to commute so have some flexiblity for when we have to hit the road.
We're hopeful, but realists... we're just trying to figure out the closest we can come to the ideal and still be able to retire in the not too distant future.
If budget is your primary concern and the newer-suburban/semi-far-flung aesthetic is not a deal barker/drawback for you.....I'd suggest looking into Knightdale/Wendell/Zebulon before Holly Springs or Fuquay. Money goes much further in that area. You pay a premium for the school assignments in Fuquay and especially Holly Springs. If schools are not a factor (which sounds like they wouldn't be)...you'd have an easier time finding a house out that way (or even Wake Forest; which has more of the downtown vibe) in your budge than you would in Holly Springs or Fuquay.
Again though; none of the communities mentioned above have any semblance of the overall vibe/aesthetic of Ithaca/Geneseo/Brockport flavor that you had previously said you wanted.
If budget is your primary concern and the newer-suburban/semi-far-flung aesthetic is not a deal barker/drawback for you.....I'd suggest looking into Knightdale/Wendell/Zebulon before Holly Springs or Fuquay. Money goes much further in that area. You pay a premium for the school assignments in Fuquay and especially Holly Springs. If schools are not a factor (which sounds like they wouldn't be)...you'd have an easier time finding a house out that way (or even Wake Forest; which has more of the downtown vibe) in your budge than you would in Holly Springs or Fuquay.
Not a total deal breaker, no. We don't need to worry about the schools, other than in the abstract "we believe in supporting quality public education" sort of way. Zebulon was actually also intriguing... I'll look at Knightdale and Wendell, too.
Wake Forest sounds like a good place for us to check out, too- it's on my Zillow watch list
I just want to say that I am so grateful for everyone taking the time to give us such thoughtful and detailed information about the areas we're considering- the pros and the cons. We're excited about the move, but starting from scratch in a totally unknown area is a little nerve-wracking. We're in the early stages of trying to figure out what's out there, and what we can get for the money we'll have to spend, so all of this is really, truly appreciated!!
I think Eastern Wake (and to an extent HS and FV) are going to be far more "southern conservative" than the OP will be comfortable with (or at least have the potential to bump up against).
I think Eastern Wake (and to an extent HS and FV) are going to be far more "southern conservative" than the OP will be comfortable with (or at least have the potential to bump up against).
We wouldn't be comfortable living in an area with a lot of Trump flags flying. We don't want to be in an area predominated by extremists- either conservative OR liberal. We'd like to live in a place with mostly rational people. We bump up against a lot of Trump supporters where we live in Ithaca, too- the saying "10 square miles surrounded by reality" is totally true. 10 minute drive in either direction, whole different feel.
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So appreciative!
