I'll throw in my $.02 for Holly Springs. Growing fast, we've gone from aroun 900 to over 10,000 in about 10 years. We've been here since 1997. They're building a new high school for this town, right now the kids go to Fuquay-Varina. We have 2 elementary schools, and a third will start this fall. They're also going to start construction on the second middle school. Until just a few years ago, we had one elem. school and that was it.
For water, we usually have fewer (usually MANY fewer) restrictions than Raleigh or Cary. We used to buy all our water from those towns, but they built a new pipeline to the Cape Fear river, so now we have our own water source, and they made it big enough to cover anticipated growth for years to come.
Holly Springs is just a bit farther out and a bit smaller than Apex, but is close to so many ammenities. We've got more restaurants and grocery stores in town now, and the super Wal-Mart is just about 6 miles away in Fuquay. It's 20 minutes to Cary and any store you could want. Plus, Fuquay has the cheapest gas prices anywhere around that I ever see, so I always fill up there. Oh, and we just got a Chick-fil-A in Fuquay, so that's all you really need to know!
I love NC, and the only reason it's not perfect is that our family is all up north. I'll never move someplace where the kids need heavy winter coats until they're both out of car seats! I wear a fleece jacket most of the winter. The summer does get a bit hot for my liking, but I'll take it for the nice winters.
As for the grass, this area is really in-between planting zones. A bit too warm for fescue to do really well, and gets a bit too chilly for some of the warmer-weather grasses. Most people plant fescue, and if you baby it for a few years, it does ok. We tore up and replanted our lawn after we moved in. You have to water it, and reseed every fall, but after a few years it gets going. Now we're to the point where we don't have to do major seeding every year, just some bare patches from the dry summer. We have a service come in to do all the fertilizing, and our lawn is very nice - we've given that service many referrals from friends and neighbors who have seen our lawn.
There's a nuclear plant just outside of town, so that's one thing to keep in mind if it would bother you. Hasn't been a problem, though. And the county is trying to put a landfill here, too. We've been fighting that one for *years*. Honestly, though, I don't think it would be much of a problem. And the state built us a whole bypass around town to handle the extra traffic it would cause, so it's made the commute to RTP a bit nicer, too.
For water, we usually have fewer (usually MANY fewer) restrictions than Raleigh or Cary. We used to buy all our water from those towns, but they built a new pipeline to the Cape Fear river, so now we have our own water source, and they made it big enough to cover anticipated growth for years to come.
Holly Springs is just a bit farther out and a bit smaller than Apex, but is close to so many ammenities. We've got more restaurants and grocery stores in town now, and the super Wal-Mart is just about 6 miles away in Fuquay. It's 20 minutes to Cary and any store you could want. Plus, Fuquay has the cheapest gas prices anywhere around that I ever see, so I always fill up there. Oh, and we just got a Chick-fil-A in Fuquay, so that's all you really need to know!
I love NC, and the only reason it's not perfect is that our family is all up north. I'll never move someplace where the kids need heavy winter coats until they're both out of car seats! I wear a fleece jacket most of the winter. The summer does get a bit hot for my liking, but I'll take it for the nice winters.
As for the grass, this area is really in-between planting zones. A bit too warm for fescue to do really well, and gets a bit too chilly for some of the warmer-weather grasses. Most people plant fescue, and if you baby it for a few years, it does ok. We tore up and replanted our lawn after we moved in. You have to water it, and reseed every fall, but after a few years it gets going. Now we're to the point where we don't have to do major seeding every year, just some bare patches from the dry summer. We have a service come in to do all the fertilizing, and our lawn is very nice - we've given that service many referrals from friends and neighbors who have seen our lawn.
There's a nuclear plant just outside of town, so that's one thing to keep in mind if it would bother you. Hasn't been a problem, though. And the county is trying to put a landfill here, too. We've been fighting that one for *years*. Honestly, though, I don't think it would be much of a problem. And the state built us a whole bypass around town to handle the extra traffic it would cause, so it's made the commute to RTP a bit nicer, too.
I spent many a day there, mainly at Goldston's or Clearwater growing up (I grew up in Lumberton). I think last time I was down there Clearwater was kinda questionable/ghetto looking! Do they still have the WL Water Festival? 
I'd heard it was changing drastically ... obviously it is. The countryside out there is beautiful! 
