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.
Hi everyone. My husband's job is relocating us to the triangle area from MA this summer. We took our first trip down this weekend and found a golf course community in Garner (Eagle's Ridge) that we really liked. However, I couldn't get much of a feel for the town. Any opinions would be appreciated!
I really liked the Garner/South Raleigh area when I visited recently and bought a house just a bit south of Garner.
I have heard some people say negative things about Garner on this board, but it looked great to me! I guess everything looks beautiful when you are moving from the desert.
I think most people's opinions of Garner comes from the drive up and down 70 between Raleigh and Clayton or the drive on 401 between Fuquay and Garner. Neither is not the best image that Garner can portray.
There are certainly great neighborhoods in Garner. I really think you should evaluate each neighborhood independantly. The town and it's schools can affect your appreciation level, but the fact that Eagle's Ridge is a nice golfing community should help there.
mama2three,
I am guessing from your username that you have children. Our family is relocating to area next month. I looked in the Garner area and loved one of the neighborhoods, was 2 miles from my husbands work and was very excited until I looked up the performance scores for the schools. We ended up deciding on Clayton due to the schools.
I am relocating to Garner and have heard positives and negatives on just as many areas. It depends on what you are looking for. What attracted me was close proximity to Raleigh, close proximity to my job and affordable housing. While I dont think there are any schools that are outright bad- you have to see for yourself. Many people base their school search solely on greatschools.net and if they dont see a 10 or see unfavorable demographic data -they get scared. I am a teacher myself and my child will be attending the schools in the area. There are choices for base and magnet options as well. I am confident in my child's abilities and know he can excel in ANY environment and would not place him where he would fall short. I was impressed and no area is pitch perfect, so you have to do the research yourself. Hope this helps and good luck!
For some reason Garner has had trouble with real estate for some time. I don't know why, but I have known several people living in Garner who had trouble selling their houses. Garner is a nice place IMO, not much crime, nice neighborhoods, etc..
I have a number of friends in Garner and they love it. It's a more old-fashioned and down-to-earth suburb than some others. It all depends on what sort of place makes you comfortable. I know a couple with kids in school there and they are doing well; they are smart kids. The test scores in Garner may not be as high as North Raleigh or Cary, but they are all good schools. It is a county-wide school system and the system works really hard to equalize resources.
Jello212 is right about Highways 70 and 401 not giving a very nice impression of Garner. There are many really pretty quiet neighborhoods. The old downtown is slowly being refurbished. There is a great little community theatre, the Garner Towne Players. And I love the "Toot & Tell," an old-fashioned southern restaurant. There are several large new shopping centers, for those who care about that. And there are new developments with large homes on the southern and eastern ends of town.
If you work in RTP, Garner is not as convenient as Raleigh or Cary or Apex, not to mention Durham or Chapel Hill. But if you work in downtown Raleigh, Garner is very convenient, actually more convenient than most of North Raleigh.
Thanks for everyone's input. My husband will be working in RTP and schools are a big concern. I think a second trip down will help us decide - a long weekend was just not enough!
I have a couple of friends who are teachers in Garner, and even they agree, the test scores are not up to par.
I think you will be happier with the school systems in Clayton. Plus, the houses are a bit bigger, bigger lots and alot cheaper.
Thanks for everyone's input. My husband will be working in RTP and schools are a big concern. I think a second trip down will help us decide - a long weekend was just not enough!
I work at RTP and we just bought a house near the western edge of Garner. We are basically at the corner of Ten-Ten and Lake Wheeler Road. I had concerns about the commute time to RTP, but my wife said "Stop being such a pansy and suck it up!". Well, not really in those words, but the sentiment was the same. It will be a 20-25 mile drive for me, depending on whether I take Ten-Ten/Davis or I40.
The schools for our "cell" are average for Wake county (Yates Mill, Dillard, and Middle Creek). Sure, we'd like them to be better, but we can make up for that by being very involved with our children's schoolwork.
Another advantage to the area is that we are only a few minutes from continuing education at Wake County Community College. I already have plans to learn how to weld for a hobby
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.
