just don't live in Duke Villa.

4/14/2008 1:12:25 PM

I looked at getting an art studio in the renovated golden belt building
http://www.goldenbeltarts.com

I live in Raleigh, but I've always felt that Durham had more character. Being from Cleveland, it really does feel like one of those older rustbelt cities as was previously stated

4/14/2008 1:53:11 PM

I work in Durham (at Jordan HS).
The neighborhoods around there are nice. hope valley and whatnot

I haven't spent much time at the other Durham High Schools or middle schools.
Jordan's reputation seems to be the best. The majority of my students are great kids. The general school population is okay. We don't have too many fights or problems (not that I hear of at least).
Our school administration does a great job and we're fortunate to have a lot of fantastic teachers.

off topic but... Wake county schools have gang problems and drug problems too but the problems aren't acknowledged. Durham Public Schools does acknowledge it. I have friends who teach at Wakefield and it's pretty bad there.

When we were house hunting we looked at few houses in Durham. Our main concern was the school district. Our realtor even warned us about buying a house in certain school districts. Jordan's district is the most sought after. There are a lot of nice new houses ($150,000+)
I'm not sure if you're looking to buy or just rent...

We were planning on starting a family so school districts were important to us.

4/14/2008 6:21:24 PM

sounds like your realtor was trying to scare you into buying a more expensive house. god forbid your kids be a minority at school

4/14/2008 7:10:11 PM

South Durham is a nice area

Quote :

"I'm leaving arguably the best school district in raleigh (leesville) for the worst in the triangle (durham)"

Where are you on the Tobacco Trail? If you are down near the corner of the county the school district is pretty good. Parkwood is a great elementary school and Jordan is a great high school. But there are no good middle schools in Durham.

4/14/2008 7:10:14 PM

^^ that had nothing to do with it



[Edited on April 14, 2008 at 8:45 PM. Reason : fu]

4/14/2008 8:44:58 PM

sounds like your realtor was giving you good advice in my opinion

4/14/2008 8:48:38 PM

Quote :

"We were planning on starting a family "

How do you do that?

Also,

the area around Jordan really pisses me off now. That area would be the least desirable in the entire county of Durham to live in imho. I'd rather live in Chapel Hill than around there.
Anyway, my problem is how much development they've done there only over the span of 3 years. It's an absolute monstrosity and you know it's going to get worse. If they keep building all that shopping shit it's going to rival Capital Boulevard.

Makes me so fucking mad every time I have to drive through that Southpoint area.

4/14/2008 8:50:12 PM

OMG I'm sorry I said anything at all

We were house hunting and looked at houses in Wake county, Durham county, Orange county and Chatham county.
We looked at house appreciation/resale values, school districts, and many other factors when looking for a home.

I was pregnant at the time and like most good parents we cared how the school districts compared.
And as an educator it matters even more to me.

Our realtor didn't talk us into buying a more expensive home. We bought what was in our price range and made smart decisions.
I wouldn't mind if my child was a minority at her school as long as I was pleased with the quality of education she was receiving.

^ then avoid Southpoint if the development bothers you.



[Edited on April 14, 2008 at 9:17 PM. Reason : i love trolls]

4/14/2008 9:16:14 PM

Quote :

"Anyway, my problem is how much development they've done there only over the span of 3 years."

Dood you're not lying... the other day I drove thru the hwy 54/751 intersection and i didn't recognize it AT ALL. i made a mental note to avoid that area from now on just because it's sad to see

4/14/2008 9:27:11 PM

Just yesterday you were bartending...

now you're a mother.

4/14/2008 9:47:39 PM

And I wasn't trolling you XCchik. I grew up around that area and yeah, what ^^ said. It's fucking stupid to have 2 Best Buys and 2 Targets and 2 Petsmarts and countless other crap within 5 miles from each other.

4/14/2008 9:50:36 PM

Quote :

"i grew up in durham until high school, and even then, i wasn't really far from the city (though technically i was in orange county)...as has been said - stay out of the thug areas and you're golden...there are some really nice places on the edges of the county (especially towards orange county) that give you really quiet family neighborhoods...and even those are only a whopping 15 minutes from duke on 85/147 "

damn you lived near erwin and whitfield road then?

4/14/2008 10:38:07 PM

Quote :

"god forbid your kids be a minority at school"

realistically, most of those schools suck

i grew up off of Cole Mill Road in North-West Durham

[Edited on April 15, 2008 at 3:33 PM. Reason : s]

4/15/2008 3:31:18 PM

I quit bartending when I found out I was pregnant

I miss the extra income and had fun while doing it
I do not miss the hours, the B.S, or the second hand smoke I felt like I was sitting in an ashtray

4/15/2008 3:37:47 PM

they grow up so fast...

4/15/2008 4:30:20 PM

I work at Brightleaf Square and love this area. I dunno if I'd want to live here though. I don't dislike the commute enough (well, at all--except for the maintenance on my car) to want to push living here.

4/15/2008 5:05:40 PM

you know what kabes? i thought i got a spotting of you the other week (in durham).

do you drive a blue car?

[Edited on April 15, 2008 at 7:50 PM. Reason : k]

4/15/2008 7:45:56 PM

Here's a pretty good article from The Independent from a couple years ago that might interest you, exploring why Durham is unfairly saddled with such a shitty image: http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A31990
I agree that a lot of the "thuggery" in Durham is overstated.

I grew up in Creedmoor, and my first job out of college was at the Mutual downtown. I loved my time in the city. It also has more Biscuitvilles per capita than anywhere else.

[Edited on April 15, 2008 at 11:25 PM. Reason : ]

4/15/2008 11:22:37 PM

Excellent article.

thanks for posting that

4/15/2008 11:48:13 PM

seems like alamance county has like 20 biscuitvilles

4/15/2008 11:50:15 PM

I was born and raised in Durham.
My thoughts are:

Quote :

"north durham is typically more rural and mostly white, west durham is nicer in general (downtown west) south durham is spotty, really nice (duke and Hope valley) and really ghetto, east durham is spotty as well but mostly ghetto, down town has nice bits mixed in with shitty bits."

and

Quote :

"realistically, most of those schools suck"

and if you put your kids in Jordan High then keep in mind at least one senior dies every year.

4/16/2008 12:53:02 AM

Quote :

"hey, I went to Durham public schools for 12 years and I turned out great! in fact, I think it's better for kids to go to shitty schools. that way it's easier for the kid to be at the top of the class. face it - if your kid is smart, they'll be fine no matter where they are. "

wow don't ever bring that attitude in to soap box! In there we are all machines programmed by the oppressors.

4/18/2008 2:08:49 PM

There is a lot of downtown revitalization going on, lots of apartments and restaurants and such.

There are two really nice restaurants planned for downtown:

Revolution http://www.revolutionrestaurant.com

and Ben Benson's

and there's the new performing arts center

[Edited on April 18, 2008 at 7:45 PM. Reason : forgot]

4/18/2008 7:44:20 PM

hey i was raised in durham, and all I can say is DAMN the blacks and the mexicans are really fucking it up for the rest of us.

im moving back and TAKING OVER!!

4/20/2008 3:01:58 AM

4/20/2008 11:08:00 AM

lol

on a serious note, it is not what you see on tv, there is a lot more to it. yes there is crime, yes there are gangs, but raleigh has that too. the difference is, in raleigh the bad element is more constricted to certian reigons where as in durham it is spread all over the place in addition to the hot spots. shop smart and get to know the neighborhood before you even think of moving in anywhere, i am currently doing "recon" on a neighorhood i am thinking of moving to and have been pleasantly surprised at how calm and quiet it is.

4/20/2008 2:11:46 PM

pretty much awesome. been there for about 3 years near southpoint. best place is woodcroft. if you wanna know locals awesome eateries, let me know. i got the dl.

4/20/2008 11:40:23 PM

Lived in durham as well until college....


Stay out of East Durham, If you're forced to live in east durham make sure you go all the way east to the briar creek area.

Dont send your kids to Southern or Hillside (i went to Southern by the by). Honestly i'd suggest Riverside.

dont send your kids to Neal Middle School either if you can avoid it.

North Durham is fine. South West durham is fine (by southpoint etc.) just stay out of east durham.

4/21/2008 2:03:41 AM