Moving to the Triangle - Real Estate insanity

[Devilwin]

I would choose HS over FV as well but my bias is probably because I live in NW Raleigh (Leesville and I540) so HS feels close to home for me. One quick note about FV high school. They knocked it down last year and are building a new school. Students have been shuffled to other schools. I think another new school, Willow Springs HS is currently servicing FVHS students. I have a good friend that has 3 daughters that went through FV high school (his youngest is now a freshman at UNC-Charlotte, middle is a Marine and oldest completed a 2 year program at NCSU). He and his wife love FV. He and his wife frequent Aviator and meet friends there often (we have driven out to meet them there several times). To be blunt about FV, it's further out and you're going to find more rednecks there. Sometimes that's great, sometimes it's not (depending on what you like and what the situation is). My family is a bunch of SC rednecks so before anyone torches me, I use that term descriptively not negatively...rednecks are just like everyone else: pluses and minuses.

I would expect that FV will have more growth than HS (mostly because it's further out from Cary/Raleigh and HS has had tons of growth for a very long time).

I also have redneck relatives in SC. Greenville/Spartanburg area. Rednecks are loyal like the family dog. In fact, couple of my cousins smell like blue tick hounds..

[elvis14]

I also have redneck relatives in SC. Greenville/Spartanburg area. Rednecks are loyal like the family dog. In fact, couple of my cousins smell like blue tick hounds..

LOL, my pack of hounds is in Greenwood which is about 45 minutes from Greenville (and just north of Augusta).
I'm a Navy brat and grew up all over. My Dad's family is from Greenwood (Georgia before that) and my Mom's is from Groton, Ct.
In Greenwood you'll find Pressley street named after my grandfather :-)

[Devilwin]

My Dad's people were from East Flat Rock, NC, down near Hendersonville. When he was a teenager, he took care of Carl Sandburgh's horses..

[devildeac]

LOL, my pack of hounds is in Greenwood which is about 45 minutes from Greenville (and just north of Augusta).
I'm a Navy brat and grew up all over. My Dad's family is from Greenwood (Georgia before that) and my Mom's is from Groton, Ct.
In Greenwood you'll find Pressley street named after my grandfather :-)

Ha! I thought so:

[curtis325]

It's only 12,356 trips on NC 540. He'll go through that in no time! (Current rate $3.48, NC 55 to I-40.)

(Adding the specific toll information so our OP knows the added costs if traveling to RTP each day from Holly Springs/Fuquay.)

NC 540 is scheduled to be finished to I-40 near Garner in a couple of years (under construction now.) Traffic volume will pick up once it provides a bypass of Raleigh. That'll make travel on the south side of Wake County much easier (but at an additional cost.) The last segment, from the Garner I-40 interchange out to the other end of 540 at I-87 (US 64 bypass) near Knightdale, is scheduled to start in 2029.

I-40 is being widened between I-440 and NC 42 right now, so that stretch will be better. The next needed fix, at the US 1 interchange, will take a little while longer. There's also some relatively minor improvements, adding auxiliary lanes between exits in/near RTP, that are scheduled in the next few years as well.

There have been studies and news stories about adding lanes to highways. In general, it makes things worse. Here's one link and you can google for many more:

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/06/...l-ignoring-it/

[cspan37421]

My Dad's people were from East Flat Rock, NC, down near Hendersonville. When he was a teenager, he took care of Carl Sandburgh's horses..

By any chance, did he ever buy a Chrysler LeBaron that used to belong to John Voight?

Sorry! Couldn't resist.
Intended all in good fun.
My wife and I have been there. Neat place, quite a library.

[sagegrouse]

Thanks for the update on the construction schedule!

As only an occasional user of the toll part of NC-540, it's a godsend! Makes it a quick trip to go from I-40 to Holly Springs and back, rather than a tedious, traffic-laden arduous trip, and I'm perfectly happy to use either my Florida Sun Pass or NJ Easy Pass to pay the tolls, which are discounted when using the passes vs. the "pay by mail" price. I just have to be sure that one of the passes is in it's foil pouch so I don't get double billed by both! BTW, making it a toll road cut about 10 years off the construction schedule. And as to the question as to whether the tolls are permanent or temporary? Bwahahahaha! The tolls on the NJ Turnpike were supposed to be temporary when it was built (opening to traffic on Nov. 30, 1951 - I think OPK and Budwom remember it fondly!), but certainly remain, higher than ever, today.

It's like when they built the 278 bypass on Hilton Head Island - to pay a buck (now $1.25 I think) to miss 20 minutes of traffic going around the heel, from one end of the Island to the other, was well worth it to save the time. If you don't want to pay the toll, you have other free options, it just takes you more time to make the drive.

Not an expert but the only toll road I know of that disappeared was the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, which disappeared in 1992. Probably because it was an inconvenience for residents of those two cities.

Delaware has maximized the ability to export tolls to residents of other states. IIRC, you can get on I-95 in Wilmington, just after the toll plaza, and go to Newark (UDel) near the Maryland border and exit just prior to the toll plaza.

[Bob Green]

Not an expert but the only toll road I know of that disappeared was the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, which disappeared in 1992.

San Diego - Coronado Bridge had a toll from opening in 1969 until 2008. The bridge has been free since.

[jimsumner]

Rats. I read the last sentence as guaranteeing "time travel." I would happily pay toll for starting an hour late and arriving on time.

That's the best use you can make of time travel?

[DU82]

There have been studies and news stories about adding lanes to highways. In general, it makes things worse. Here's one link and you can google for many more:

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/06/...l-ignoring-it/

I would suggest you read some of the comments, which I feel have more actual facts than that article.

If we widen, say, I40 in Durham, then it will draw traffic away from other roads, such as NC 54. That’s not induced traffic, that’s a more efficient transportation system.

There are arguments that more efficient systems allow more “sprawl”. For instance, I doubt that Clayton grows anywhere near as fast without I-40 being built back in the mid-‘80s. (Arguments on both sides of that coin.) Then again, without a growing transportation network, the Triangle region wouldn’t have grown from ~750K to over 2M in the past 40 years.

Further discussion would Likely pull me way into public policy.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

You should look into getting an NC QuickPass. It’s the only electronic tolling device that is compatible with all east coast (and Midwest) toll facilities. It is good with the Florida SunPass, Georgia Peach Pass, North Carolina (of course) and all the EZ Pass facilities elsewhere. And, unlike the NJ EZ Pass, there’s no monthly fee (I assume NJ still charges $1/month.)

(This message brought to you by your friendly neighborhood state DOT.)

(Link for more information and to purchase the proper transponder: https://www.ncquickpass.com/resource...nsponders.aspx

Thanks. Didn’t know there was a reason to get one. Yes, the EZ Pass charges $1/month fee. The Florida Sun Pass doesn’t. I took over my mom’s pass when we took her car away, and at that time the EZ Pass wasn’t accepted in Florida.

[aimo]

If we widen, say, I40 in Durham, then it will draw traffic away from other roads, such as NC 54. That’s not induced traffic, that’s a more efficient transportation system.

There are arguments that more efficient systems allow more “sprawl”.

This cracks me up. Growing up in Durham, I remember avoiding 54 like the plague when driving to Jordan HS in the morning. Bumper to bumper. When I-40 was extended through southern Durham in the early 90s, everyone said Oh, it will take traffic away from 54 finally! Nope, it got worse. Because of all the additional development, I suppose. Then, MLK, Jr Blvd was built. Same thing, it will alleviate traffic in southern Durham. Nope. Now 54 and MLK are both nightmares in the evenings.

Too many @#$%^! people! Driving to work during the "lockdown" was wonderful while it lasted. Traffic is coming back, though.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

This cracks me up. Growing up in Durham, I remember avoiding 54 like the plague when driving to Jordan HS in the morning. Bumper to bumper. When I-40 was extended through southern Durham in the early 90s, everyone said Oh, it will take traffic away from 54 finally! Nope, it got worse. Because of all the additional development, I suppose. Then, MLK, Jr Blvd was built. Same thing, it will alleviate traffic in southern Durham. Nope. Now 54 and MLK are both nightmares in the evenings.

Too many @#$%^! people! Driving to work during the "lockdown" was wonderful while it lasted. Traffic is coming back, though.

So, you'd prefer that LasVegas stay the hell away from the Triangle and mover somewhere else?

[Indoor66]

This cracks me up. Growing up in Durham, I remember avoiding 54 like the plague when driving to Jordan HS in the morning. Bumper to bumper. When I-40 was extended through southern Durham in the early 90s, everyone said Oh, it will take traffic away from 54 finally! Nope, it got worse. Because of all the additional development, I suppose. Then, MLK, Jr Blvd was built. Same thing, it will alleviate traffic in southern Durham. Nope. Now 54 and MLK are both nightmares in the evenings.

Too many @#$%^! people! Driving to work during the "lockdown" was wonderful while it lasted. Traffic is coming back, though.

Yeah. And all those damn machines they keep inventing and building.

[camion]

This cracks me up. Growing up in Durham, I remember avoiding 54 like the plague when driving to Jordan HS in the morning. Bumper to bumper. When I-40 was extended through southern Durham in the early 90s, everyone said Oh, it will take traffic away from 54 finally! Nope, it got worse. Because of all the additional development, I suppose. Then, MLK, Jr Blvd was built. Same thing, it will alleviate traffic in southern Durham. Nope. Now 54 and MLK are both nightmares in the evenings.

Too many @#$%^! people! Driving to work during the "lockdown" was wonderful while it lasted. Traffic is coming back, though.

There are hopeful signs. Several groups (the No-Maskers, the Covid Partiers, etc.) are trying their best to alleviate the problem.*




*Too soon? I suppose right in the middle of it might be considered such.

[aimo]

So, you'd prefer that LasVegas stay the hell away from the Triangle and mover somewhere else?

Hey! I'm a Durham native, lived here all my life, except for a brief stint in college. I wish everyone would go back from whence they came!

[aimo]

Yeah. And all those damn machines they keep inventing and building.

No, mostly poor infrastructure as compared with the development. Starting to creep closer to PP, so I'll stop there.

[jimsumner]

So, you'd prefer that LasVegas stay the hell away from the Triangle and mover somewhere else?

Nah. Just work from home.

But seriously, I assume LasVegas has done his/her homework and realizes that there is no sign the Triangle's population explosion is going away anytime soon. Anywhere the Vegas family moves is going to be subject to developments, road expansions, new schools and all the other benefits of population explosion.

I've mentioned parks and greenways several times upthread. You might visit some part of the Triangle and find the forests and meadows lovely and appealing. But unless they are protected by a government entity or a non-profit like the Triangle Land Conservancy, there's no guarantee those woods will still be around five years from now.

Plan accordingly.

[PackMan97]

Hey! I'm a Durham native, lived here all my life, except for a brief stint in college. I wish everyone would go back from whence they came!

I'm all very happy for them to come out and live in the country with me. Neighborhood down the road building custom homes starting at $700k. Neighborhood across the street is pushing seven figures. Most recent house in my hood sold for $360k, but I'm confident we'll catch up. That was a distressed sale.

[aimo]

I'm all very happy for them to come out and live in the country with me. Neighborhood down the road building custom homes starting at $700k. Neighborhood across the street is pushing seven figures. Most recent house in my hood sold for $360k, but I'm confident we'll catch up. That was a distressed sale.

Which is great if you plan to sell. I plan to stay in my house for a while. All the demand has jacked up my property tax/value like crazy.

And I am constantly getting calls from people wanting to sell my house for me.