Who lives in NC?? Need some help...

[llori7]

My husband and I are looking into moving to NC in the next couple years. I am starting to research some areas now, and I thought there is no better place to start than the disboards!! He is a chemical engineer, so he would like to work in the Research Triangle Park, since there is so much opportunity there for him. So I am looking for what areas around there (15 minutes) are a good place to call home. We have 2 sons, 5 and 2 so schools will be an issue. Anywhere we should not look??? Thanks for all your tips!!! I need all the help I can get

Lori

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

First...I hope you enjoy living in NC...my DH is from Ohio too and says he likes it here better...he has learned to love everything fried!

As far as places to look, a lot of people are looking in the Johnston County area these days. It gives you more rural living but still near RTP. I am not real sure about the schools, but with the growth in the are I am sure they are pretty good. There is always Cary...and no matter how some of my southern counterparts will I am sure will show up to bash Cary (there are a lot of relos to that area) it is a very nice area. It offers good schools, good shopping, nice houses. The house prices tend to be a bit higher there.

I would avoid Durham County...Sorry all my Durham friends...you know what I mean! There are some nice areas in Durham, but when we were living there, the crime rate was pretty bad. We moved after 10 cop cars were at our neighbors house!

I guess first you may want to figure out where your DH would be working...that will affect where you want to be in relation to his work...to avoid the dreaded 40 rush hour!

Oh and fair warning...when it snows here...the world shuts down. We are not prepaired in the south to handle snow like you guys in OH. It jsut because we only get snow about once or twice every other year really! But when we do, we usually get ice too. Things are getting better...but if we get a real good snow...it can be days before you can trully go anywhere!

I hope some of that helps! and GOOD LUCK!

 

[llori7]

Thanks Moonk's Mom!! I will look into Johnston County. I need all the help I can get it!

I have been looking at Wake County School schools today. Anyone familiar with them?? Some of them have year round schooling? Any thoughts?? Is Wake County pretty safe with good schools??

 

[luvmy3jewels]

The Raliegh area has become a very high growth area of the state. I agree with the previous poster to stay away from Durham. Cary is very nice and the Chapel Hill area is gorgous!! The town of Wake Forest is also very nice. I know a lot of people that are from my community that have moved to that part of the state. I think there are a lot of opportunities (jobs, cultural experience and education).

Wake schools have a reputation for being good but they have had major problems with overcrowding. I think Johnston County has had similar problems in their schools because of their rapid growth.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

I forgot to add....a good resource for info. on their schools might be by reading the Raleigh News and Observer. There are a few year round schools in the Wake system, but the last that I heard they were considering ending the year round thing due to a lack of participation (parents fought it tooth and nail). I think as with any area, there are probably schools that are really good and then schools that are not so good. The key is figuring where the best schools are and then moving into that district.

 

[lalagrace]

Not because we didn't like it, but to be near family. After 7 months in VT, there are for sure some things I miss about the RTP.
I grew up in Durham, and have lived in Cary and Raleigh.
That area is great for kids. In downtown Raleigh there is a great kids museaum called Marbles, as well as a wonderful science museam and art museam. We loved loving in the 5 points area in Ral, but it is pretty pricy for housing. Now since I have seen shacks going for 200,000 around here I realize the prices are not all that bad....
I also think that there are some nice places in Durham, I grew in Parkwood, which was once one of the only houseing devlopments near RTP.
You just have to choose carefully, near the downtown durham area crime can be bad.
If I could have my choice I would love to live in Carrboro or Chapel Hill, they have a great local community and wonderful schools.
All over the RTP area their are great magnet schools.
Check out City-data forums for more chat about the RTP area.
good luck!

 

[mom2travel]

Here is a link to a website that provides stats on the schools in NC (if it doesn't work just do a search for ncreportcard):
http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/main.jsp?pYear=2006-2007
It will tell you lots of good information about the schools within each district. Feel free to message me if you have any particular questions; we went through the same process about 3-4 years ago.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We live about 30 miles north of Charlotte. There is a new research campus being built in Kannapolis NC. It will involve medical/biotech reseach. It is going to be world renoun and is bringing in people from all over the world. We live near China Grove about 10 minutes north of that. It is a wonderful area with mild weather and good school. Google the research campus and check it out.

 

[llori7]

Great info so far. Looks like I have lots of research to do!! Keep it coming! Thanks!

 

[MSSANDRA]

ncresearccampus.net

Check this out.

 

[cmaee]

We moved to NC about 9 years ago and we love it. I second a previous post about when it snows here the world shuts down....even the hint of snow and chaos breaks out. My DH jokes that the weathermen get a kick-back from the grocery stores....when they forcast snow, people will come in droves and cleanout every loaf of bread, milk, eggs, anything....it is insane.

We love the Orange County area - Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough. We lived in Hillsborough for 5 years and really liked it there. We moved for DH's job advancement or we will still be there. It is so convienent to everything, but it retains the small town vibe. I also agree with avoiding Durham. It is really bad. Crime is ridiculus there. Cary is nice as well, but if I were to live on that side of RTP, then I would choose Apex.

Good luck!

 

[ScoobySMC]

Yeah i agree greg fishel even mentions snow.. You can hang up getting bread milk, eggs, canned goods All the grocery stores are wipped out!!! We live in Rocky Mount about 45 mins from Raleigh. While i love Raleigh I hate Raleigh traffic, and congestion. I have been in a wreck on the belt line before for 6 hours. So that pretty much did me in!!!

 

[llori7]

ncresearccampus.net

Check this out.

This didn't work...

 

[llori7]

We will only be moving, if dh gets a job in RTP. I can't find a map with the list of cities in/around RTP. Once I get some cities, I can start looking into school and such.

Thanks!

 

[SarahD]

I'm from Ohio - and back here now. We lived in Apex (right next to Cary and slightly more affordable, still Wake County School system) and loved it! We moved in 2002. Another affordable area that was up and coming at that time was Fuquay-Varina. If I remember right, it was southeast of Cary. Cary is always voted the #1 small town to live in in the US. It's very convenient to RTP. I'm jealous...since I'm back in northeast OH for the first time in 13 years. Going to miss those southern winters!

 

[jamesmommy]

This didn't work...

http://ncresearchcampus.net/

This works, not sure if it is what you were looking for though.

 

[daleswife]

I hope you like it better there than I did. I hated it there. I lived in Roanoke Rapids. The people there were awfully rude. It was about an hour from the triangle. Good luck.....

 

[srandsr76]

We live in Wake Forest, NC and LOVE IT!!! Which is about 30 minutes from RTP with little traffic.
Both my husband and I grew up in Eastern NC and went to college in Raleigh. GO PACK!!

We lived in Raleigh near the Airport after getting married and then started heading NORTH to get more for our money. We moved to Wake Forest a little over 3 years ago and we love it. After growing up in a small town - Wake Forest offers those same feelings!

Wake County Schools do have an overcrowding problem, which they are trying to fix with year round schools. We LOVE year round schools. DD6 is in 1st grade and we love the freedom as working parents to take our vacations year round and beat some of those DISNEY crowds and not save for Summer childcare - it is broken up throughout the year.

GOOD LUCK!! Feel free to PM me if you need more specifics!!

 

[torinsmom]

I live in Hillsborough,http://www.ci.hillsborough.nc.us/ and used to teach in Morrisville(right in the middle of RTP) It took me 20-25 minutes to get to and from work. Traffic tends to be heading the opposite way(in from or out to Raleigh) so it really isn't a problem. Hillsborough is a little city, but it has plenty of gas stations, fast food, and retail stores. Durham is 10 minutes away, as is Chapel Hill, which have a little more to offer. Hillsborough is a very historic town, and is definitely more affordable than Cary, Raleigh or Chapel Hill. The schools are great here, and have fairly low ratios. They are not overcrowded as tends to be the case in Wake County. They are always reassigning kids in Wake because of the influx of new people.

I actually work in Durham Public Schools now, and I have to say that we have some great schools here, as you can see from the NC Report Card link someone posted. There are actually two public Montessori schools(I work at one of them ) There are areas that are more affected by crime than others, but there are also a lot of great areas too.

I would avoid Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs and even Cary. Although they may be within 15 miles of RTP, the teachers I knew driving in from there had a much longer commute than I did. Sometimes it took them an hour to get to school; traffic is TERRIBLE coming from that way.

Marsha