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Betsy
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+JMJ+
My husband has an opportunity to be relocated to Cary, North Carolina. I am a Midwest girl and know absolutely nothing about this area.
I there anyone out there that is familiar with this area, home schooling, churches, etc.
Thanks,
Betsy
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SeaStar
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That is one of my favorite towns in NC! I haven't been there in several years, but last time I was there I enjoyed the small town feel it had while still being close to big towns like Charlotte, Raleigh and Asheville. You get four nice seasons there, and the people are friendly. I'm sorry I don't know more about the school or church situation....
Mel
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lapazfarm
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I lived there as a child and it was a small town then, but last time we drove through there I couldn't recognize the place it had grown so much. I've heard it is quite expensive to buy a home or live there.
Cary is near Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, which includes three major universities (UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, and Duke)so there is lots going on in the area.
The landscape is fairly flat to somewhat rolling hills, natural vegetation is a pine flats. Clay soils. It can get mighty hot in the summer but winters are fairly mild. It is situated well, being about midway between the coast and the mountains (where I live  ) so either place is only a half-day's drive away. The schools there have a reputation for being very good, as they are major feeder schools to the universities. The NC School of Math and Science,a competitive admissions high school, is in the area, as well as the School of the Arts.
Eastern NC is politically and socially rather conservative, but you will find the Chapel Hill area to be VERY liberal, so depending on your preferences, you can find either extreme in that area!
Hope that helps some!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Betsy
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lapazfarm wrote:
| I've heard it is quite expensive to buy a home or live there. |
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This is something that I am kind of concerned about. But, good 'ol St. Joseph has always come through for us.
It was also nice to hear that there are some conservative people in this area!
How is home schooling in general in NC. I read that there are year tests required....that kind of made me nervous.
Thanks for all of the help....anything else would be great!
Betsy
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lapazfarm
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Here is a link to the NC Homeschooling regulations
Yes, yearly tests are required here. Yuck! But we get out of this by being officially Alaska residents (shhh..don't tell!)and homeschooling under their ideal laws.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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mom2mpr
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We almost moved to NC a few years ago and a hs freind who had lived and homeschooled there told me while it looks difficult when you read the legal-ease it really was no different than VA, where we lived at the time. They LOVED homeschooling in NC and being in NC. Though, that was many years ago and things might have changed.
My sister lives in Raleigh and has been a real estate junkie lately. She can give you ideas of places to live NEAR Raleigh but where you can get some land and it isn't so expensive. Clayton was one area I remember her mentioning. I can get some other ideas from her if you want.
I know most who live there LOVE it. We would be thrilled to move there ourselves. The only negative I know of is TRAFFIC!!
Enjoy your research and new adventure.
Anne
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mrsgranola
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I'm not far from Cary. My husband works near there (Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant). There is a TORCH group in both Cary and Raleigh and the HSing laws here are pretty easy... not bad as it sounds. I'd be happy to correspond with you more as I can. I run a little list for Catholic HSers in NC and SC for networking. You can PM me to get more info. on that.
I live within 35 mins. or so of Cary... where you want to live depends on where he's working exactly b/c there's a big radius of commutable area. Clayton is a little town someone mentioned that's very close to me. Johnston County has become the new suburb for Raleigh/Durham in the past 20 years or so... land has sky-rocketed.
Cary is not at all like it use to be. It has a very high-faluting (sp?) reputation these days b/c of it's socialist-type town regulations and high cost of living. I don't mean to offend anyone, but that's the down and dirty of it.  I know many good folks out there but I also know many families who have moved b/c of the high cost of housing, etc. etc.
More when I can... I've got kiddos nagging me... 
JoAnna on the outskirts of Benson
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lapazfarm
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mrsgranola wrote:
Cary is not at all like it use to be. It has a very high-faluting (sp?) reputation these days b/c of it's socialist-type town reuglations and high cost of living. I don't mean to offend anyone, but that's the down and dirty of it. |
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Yea, that's the impression I got, too.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Betsy
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JoAnna,
What you said was very honest. I am not suprised. It will be interesting to see where we might end up. What did you mean by socialist-type town? Is just Cary this way or the general area?
Thanks for all of your info! When I find out more information on this end I will pm you for the contact lists....
Betsy
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Mary G
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Cary is a "planned community" and very upscale. Its central "Triangle" location makes it prime real estate. If possible you might want to head north of the beltway in Raleigh or out to Durham. "Chapel Thrill" as my dh calls Chapel Hill is VERY upscale and Carborro (sp?) is very "alternative lifestyle" with an openly gay mayor and lots of that kind of thing....
There is an EXCELLENT parish in Raleigh, St. Joseph's, run by a dear friend and includes MANY great homeschooling Catholics.... that would be where we would head if we had to go back there.
Keep us posted about the possibility and I can pm you folks to contact for assistance. Hope this helps.....
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Betsy
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Thanks for the real estate advice! I don't know how people who don't believe in the power of prayer could handle going to an unknown area and find a home!
What is the weather like? I grew up in Northern Wisconsin. I am assuming that they don't get winters like that...but do they get any snow?
Betsy
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8kids4me
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Mary G wrote:
There is an EXCELLENT parish in Raleigh, St. Joseph's, run by a dear friend and includes MANY great homeschooling Catholics.... that would be where we would head if we had to go back there.
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Well thanks for the info there! My newly married dd and her hubby will be moving to NC when he gets back from Iraq! He is from Durham and they will be living somewhere in the Triangle area. She had asked me to check around for a nice parish for her. So thank you!!
Also, dd said that in Cary you can't have fences or hang laundry outside. That would doom the place for me.
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Mary G
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8kids4me wrote:
Also, dd said that in Cary you can't have fences or hang laundry outside. That would doom the place for me.
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Yes, Cary because it's a "planned community" is like living in a covenanted neighborhood. Lots of rules that keep everything looking great, but can be a pain when you want to "live" 
Here's a link to St. Joseph's Plan for 2006-2007 and might give you a better feel for what goes on. Msgr John is one of those holy prients who just exudes Jesus!
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MaryG
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Jenn Sal
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Hi! I've been trying to find the time to post and here it is!!! I moved here two years ago this coming November. I thought we would live in Cary, but simply couldn't afford to buy what we needed. It is very busy and we just were not impressed. We live in Holly Springs and LOVE it!!! http://www.hollyspringsnc.us/ It's growing, but still has a smaller feel. You're close enough to Cary and Raleigh that it makes it a great location for us. To top it off, a new library and culture center will be opening down the street in December!!!
We attend St. Bernadette's Church in Fuquay-Varina. http://st-bernadettechurch.org/ We checked out all the surrounding churches, St. Andrew's and St. Mary Magdaline in Apex and St Michael's in Cary. None of them felt at home to us until St. Bernadette's. It is more traditional (for the South)and is growing!!! We have a wonderful priest, Fr. Mark Betti. His homilies are very educational.
My oldest is five, so we are not dealing with any state rules yet, but I moved here from PA, where homeschooling can be challenging. This stae is a breeze!
We belong to TORCH, Cary. TORCH Raleigh was the largest in the USA, until they broke off and made a Cary group last year. You can be a dual member, if you like. I have met wonderful families through TORCH and my daughter is involved in a Little Flowers Girls Club. There is sooo much going on with the group.
My husband works in Triagle Park and communtes about 30 min. Like I said, we love it here. No matter where you end up, the weather and people are wonderful!!!
FYI....there's only one Catholic store and it's located in N. Raleigh...In His Name, http://inhisname.com/
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Jennifer, Texas
Wife to Mark, Mom to Cora 13,Kade 10, Sarah in Heaven 12/05, Colette 7, Corin 5, & Kieran 2
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Betsy
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+JMJ+
Thanks for the post Jennifer. It's official, we are moving around November 1. SO, maybe we can get to gether at some point in time.....
It will be interesting to see where we end up. I think work location and church location will be a big factor. I will definitly check out St. Bernadette's. As well as St. Joseph's that was mentioned previously.
Well, I gotta to run...
Betsy
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amyable
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Bumping this old thread back up --
My dh and I have become interested in this area too, all of a sudden (long story ) ... can I ask a few more questions?
What is the crime like? I guess I'm thinking more in the residential neighborhoods, I'm sure there is crime in Raliegh, etc. But right now, our "nice town" here in the Mid Atlantic has been a host to several armed robberies, many during broad daylight (the last being at 9 AM at the drugstore - the man wanted percocet or something!), a police shootout in the neighborhood due to one of those, a young mom abducted and found murded in a field ....
We really don't want to be right back in a place that is going to be *just like that* because the two reasons we are moving are housing prices (high here - Cary is cheap compared to where we are) and all these new crimes.
And my biggest concern: How are the local libraries? Ours are quite good here, I'm not able to get the exact books I want often, but can almost always find lots of substitutes (i.e. lots of books on Ancient Egypt but maybe not the ONE I was looking for).
Anything else come up about the area since this thread started last fall? Thanks so much for humoring me.
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Louise
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Amy, Cary is one of the SAFEST city in USA!
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Louise, mom of 11
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amyable
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Louise wrote:
| Amy, Cary is one of the SAFEST city in USA! |
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So, you're saying that I can go to the bank there and not fear that *this* is the time that my four kids and I are finally going to meet up with Mr. Holdup- Man?? 
Sounds heavenly, Louise!  Now if dh can just find the job he wants there...
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Amy
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The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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mrsgranola
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Amy, I hope we get you to come this way. :0)
Like I've said before, everyone ELSE in the world is moving here, why can't some of them be Catholic HSing families??!!!
Louise, Jenn, and all-- we really need to have a get-together here in NC. I would love to host one. Let me know if you're interested.
Love,
JoAnna, whose family is ALMOST completely well now
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Jenn Sal
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Amy,
You probably read my previous posts. The library in Apex is better than the one in Cary, from what I've heard. A new one just opened here in Holly Springs with a cultural center . It is small, but you can get anything you want through loans. I use Five In A Row, and have had no problems getting the books that everyone needs! I still prefer it here than in Cary because it's not as busy, yet close enough to everything.
I see your expecting . I just gave birth at the Women's Health & Wellness Center in Chaple Hill. Great experiance if you are interested in a free standing birthing center with midwives.
I love it here in NC. Hope you can join us!
__________________
Jennifer, Texas
Wife to Mark, Mom to Cora 13,Kade 10, Sarah in Heaven 12/05, Colette 7, Corin 5, & Kieran 2
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Moving to Cary, North Carolina
