7 replies to this topic

[BobbyS]

I'm moving to the Triangle area.  I'll be working in the southern part of RTP (off Kit Creek Rd).  I'm trying to keep my commute under 20-30 min (possibly unrealistic).  Condo, towhouse, SFH - I don't care.  

I'd like an mixed-use area.  Walkable, not so auto dependent. Which is probably nonexistent in a pure form in Cary!  java script:emoticon('')
smilie

But I guess it's a question of degree!

I like what's apparently starting DT in Durham - but maybe that's a brutal commute? Those converted warehouse condo's look nice.  I don't need good schools.

The area right around RTP seems like low density, sprawl, so maybe a TND-type deal is more feasible.   So...

I looked at Carpenter Village in Morrisville - which is pretty nice.   I wish it included more retail.  

I checked out the Cary Park website, but it's funny how the housing types are totally segrated, and there's no street grid.

Those are the only 2 I know of right around that area, but I have limited knowledge of the that general part of the Triangle.

Thanks.

[JunktionFET]

Cary has a few large scale mixed use projects in the works, but it will be a while before they come online... One such development is near the NC55/I-540 interchange, which I believe is barely a mile from where you work.

Anyway, the commute from downtown Durham shouldn't be too bad at all. Durham Freeway directly connects downtown Durham with Alexander Dr in RTP. From Alexander you have a few options--the most direct being to get on NC55 eastbound for a mile or two. Or to avoid construction traffic on NC55, you can hop over to Davis Dr from Hopson(? I think that's the name), and connect with the other end of Kit Creek.

In addition to the future Cary projects, the planners for Morrisville also have some ideas they'd like to see for a walkable urban-ish core--and such a development would place you very close to your job as well.

Downtown Durham is a good choice though--I would certainly considering moving there. There is growing momentum there, and a ton of potential. This is old school urban--none of the new-urbanist stuff that smaller places like Cary and Morrisville are having to deal with.

[urbanesq]

We lived in downtown Durham (Trinity Park) and loved the architecture and neighbors, and the proximity to just about everything, but to be perfectly honest, there was too much crime for us to stay.  Everything from petty theft (our cars were broken into regularly) to violent crimes, one in particular against a very good friend who lived in the neighborhood at that time.

I still like Durham, and think it has great potential, and love the authenticity of the people and am excited about all that's going on there.  But until they get a handle on the disparity of income and concentration of poverty there, it's not going to be a place I could recommend living, especially for households with female family members.

Meadowmont in Chapel Hill is a quasi-new-urbanist community with retail, office and walkable streets.  It's very close to RTP-- around a 15 - 20 minute commute on most days.  It has excellent bus access, but will not be served by the TTA rail transit.

Southern Village is the same way-- neo-urban-ish, a relatively close commute to RTP (more like 30 minutes, I'm guessing), and very walkable generally.  

I've not been there, but have heard that Carpenter Village in Cary is nice.  Again, a Triangle adaptation of new urbanism.  Won't be served by transit, but has all the other trappings.

Falls River in North Raleigh is another of these large developments built in that style.  I'm guessing with I-540 it's a pretty decent commute to RTP, around 30 mins, I'm thinking.

Of course, there's always Oakwood, Raleigh's oldest neighborhood, and Cameron Park, Boylan Heights and the Five Points/Hayes Barton areas inside the Raleigh beltline, all of which were built for walking and have nice architecture and good schools (which makes for good re-sale even if you don't need good schools for your own situation).  I can get from downtown Raleigh to the Park in less than half an hour at most any time of day.

[NCMike1981]

My uncle lives in North Central Durham....by Costco off Broad Street and his house has been broken into several times. He even has to chain the lawnmower up b/c ppl stole his old one out of the storage shed. It started going downhill when alot of gang activity moved into the old, HUGE apartment complexes like Palm Park. A guy was actually shot outside my uncle's house and the cops were banging on his front door at 4 am several weeks ago. The only reason he doesn't move out is b/c he can't afford to. He got laid off at his other job and works for like $7/hr at a store....plus his house is paid off (built brand new for my grandparents back in '48, before I-85 was built, when Broad St was a dirt road and the house was on the outskirts of town). Crime is definately an issue in parts of the city....but other parts are ok...like in the newer areas around the city's edge.

Btw, at risk of sounding stupid, but what is a "TND" exactly?

Edited by NCMike1981, 26 June 2005 - 02:12 PM.

[urbanesq]

NCMike1981, on Jun 26 2005, 04:06 PM, said:

Btw, at risk of sounding stupid, but what is a "TND" exactly?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Traditional Neighborhood Design" or "Transit Neighborhood Development"
I've seen both.  Also TOD ("Transit Oriented Development") and NUD ("New Urban Development")  All are shorthand for walkable, urban-like, mixed-use areas.

[yfreemark]

I've heard a lot about crime in Durham, but having lived there for my entire life (19 years), I've never been a victim of crime, nor has anyone in my family. We live in Watts-Hillandale, which is near the Ninth Street area and downtown, and I think you'd be quite interested in the distinctiveness of Durham and its neighborhoods.  They're not Cary or Morrisville, or North Raleigh or Southern Village, specifically because in Durham, people of all types mix together in ways that are not evident, frankly, anywhere else in the Triangle.  Durham's downtown area has some of the best and most interesting communities in the Triangle, and the commute times to RTP are short.  It's the most exciting and fascinating place to live in this region.

[willrusso]

some areas in east durham look like a bomb went through them..........but other parts of the city look fine.  I guess that goes for any city.

[NCMike1981]

vfreemark, I like that little area of Durham...especially Club Blvd with all the great old houses. I used to walk to Oval Park in elementary school with my grandparents. I pretty much grew up in that area, living in houses off Forest Drive at Broad, Leon St and Palm Park. In retrospect I think I may have been given too much freedom. I used to walk everywhere in elemetary and middle school....sometimes alone....from basically Costco I'd walk to Oval Park, Duke Park near Club Blvd elementary school, Northgate, the Museum of Life and Science back when they had the dino trail, and all around the neighborhood of Brogden. Then in High School my mom moved us out to just outside of Hillsborough, and that is the point where I stopped walking anywhere, b/c everything was too far. I guess that's the good thing about growing up in the city, the true city, not suburbia...u get your excercise lol