Brier Creek has WakeMed too. It’s biggest calling card though is clearly location (to anywhere except downtown Raleigh lol).
It’s a great location if you are part of a couple where one works west and the other works east.
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Haha I don’t! But once I get my PE next year I do want to get my real estate license and do a little on the side
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Yep. That’s why I chose Brier Creek
Do you hear any of the people moving any say they were thinking about buying around downtown Wendell? I have seen two people I am twitter friends with post about how excited they have been to get a home around downtown Wendell in the last 6 or 7 months, and it seems like a really up and coming area. Similar vibe to what you are saying about around DTR being to expensive, so what they get with the ability to still walk to downtown (Wendell) was a big selling point for them.
My wife actually really likes Wendell Falls! The times we have driven by she pointed out how nice it was to have the daycare right there. Side note, how have you found crossing the main road on bike or foot? I know the day care is on the other side from the grocery store, so wondered about that. When we drove through we were heading to downtown Wendell, and it made me wonder if there were any plans to make Wendell Falls more connected to downtown Wendell. I think it is about ~3 mile away? I get the feeling it would be big task, but a greenway between the two would be a great idea IMO.
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Downtown Wendell is like a classic small southern Downtown still. It’s lined with local shops and restaurants. They’re just now starting to get the first set of downtown townhomes and there’s the expectation that some mixed use buildings in Downtown are soon to come.
As for crossing Wendell Falls Pkwy - they recently added a signal when Publix opened that’s not too bad to cross but even more exciting, there’s actually a pedestrian tunnel under the parkway at the center of the neighborhood connecting the two sides. It’s not paved yet, (happening this year) but I actually cleared the path a few months ago. I also helped organize a meeting with NCDOT to help potentially look at some other safety enhancements along the corridor.
As for connecting Wendell to Wendell Falls, the Greenway connection along WF Pkwy is among the town’s biggest priorities right now. We’re hoping to have that in the next few years.
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Oh wow, that tunnel is huge for you. Very cool to hear about the Greenway!
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I had cousins living out in Wendell in the 80s. Went to go downtown the other month and it was eery how much I could recognize from when I was 7. Even Aubrey’s Grill was still there. We ended up eating a nice small pub in a renovated bank. Something old, something new,
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There’s also a county planned Greenway planned on the other side of the neighborhood along Marks Creek that’ll connect to the Mountains to Sea Trail and extension of the WF Trail to Downtown Knightdale that connects to Crabtree. Theoretically soon I’d be able to bike directly to DT Raleigh. Just have to get my stamina up haha
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Funny that there’s a street named after a local band called “Future Islands”, who I saw pretty recently at The Ritz. I guess one of the members is from Wendell.
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Yeah, Raleigh’s strict units-per-acre density limits (just recently repealed!) and high per-unit parking ratios made it all but impossible to build any studio apartments until pretty recently. So it’s no surprise that actual studios were only recently built and only in downtown, which didn’t have DUA limits and had lower parking ratios.
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I would like to bike out there. I rode to the end of the Knightdale Greenway from Crabtree. Would love to see if I can make it out to Wendell. It would be a stretch so I’d probably need an ebike lol. My buddy rode all the way down to Clayton from Crabtree. He was completely exhausted when he got back. We don’t have fancy road bikes.
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I would actually go as far as to say that there’s a massive downside to raising a family in the suburbs: lack of independence. Until suburban kids are old enough to have their own cars, they are pretty much confined to their house and backyard or wherever their parents decide to take them, especially if they live in a smaller subdivision next to a major road. I grew up in a neighborhood like that, and sure, I could ride my bike, but to where? I wasn’t allowed on the main road, so I had to stay in my little neighborhood. I pretty much only did that when I needed to get some time alone.
City kids actually get to experience some form of independence at a younger age. A twelve-year-old can take the bus to go see a friend or walk to a nearby park. If they get an allowance, they can actually go to a corner store and spend it on something if they wanted to.
Americans think that a big yard is the best option for their kids because we’re obsessed with safety and privacy, but then we complain about how “kids never play outside anymore.” The whole built environment is flawed. I know everyone freakin’ hates hearing that because we’re so used to driving everywhere, but it’s just the reality of the situation. Kids have more independence in a lot of other countries because they actually have places they can go.
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Some might interpret that suburban bubble to mean “security” and independence a “threat”. I would disagree based on my upbringing, but I always like to see the flip side.
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Oh, that’s exactly how they feel, and that’s part of the reason that I grew up where I did (and why my parents are still in a suburban, car-oriented neighborhood). But I think the threats are, more often than not, misconceptions. “The city is dangerous” comes from a very different era in American history paired with a fundamental misunderstanding of crime statistics (of course there are fewer murders in my hometown, there are only 8,000 people there). Plus, I think the mentality of “we are safest here in our own little corner of the world” instills narrowmindedness and fear of “them” in kids at a young age. Maybe that has something to do with the current social and political divides here in the States: we don’t really view ourselves as a collective society; instead, we focus on me and mine.
Of course, this also begs the question… what happens when a sixteen-year-old, who has been extremely limited in mobility for their entire life, gets their first car and suddenly has unlimited freedom? No ramp up, no gradual shift. Does their newfound freedom possibly encourage more risky behavior, especially behind the wheel? Just thinking out loud here.
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My only personal yard argument is the dog, fire pit and hot tub haha
But you’re absolutely right. Mine is big enough for just that. But once the kids are in the picture, I want them out exploring. I have a park right next to my lot in WF. I would never consider a traditional roadside subdivision with 1/4 - 1/2 acre lots.
The huge arguments being had from outside of WF in Wendell are that there aren’t any neighborhoods like that. Theyre so anti density. I keep trying to explain to them that density will actually bring more services this way and actually reduce traffic but it’s like talking to a wall.
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I have neighbors that complain if they have to park on Harrington St and walk into the building. Not going to get any sympathy from me given my patio is street level and 6’ from Harrington and I watch people walk by all the time. I don’t have any issues at any time of day.
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If I’m ever in town whenever Leo’s holding a get-together, I’m buying you a drink for this.
And to make matters worse, I think that insular narrow-mindedness goes beyond just where you live. When you back yourself into your own corner and turn your back to the rest of the world, everything looks like a threat. You become less open-minded, less inquisitive and curious, less willing to try out new things because everything looks like a threat to your way of life. You build your own echo chamber because you nothing goes in or out of that white picket fence barrier you’ve built for yourself.
At this point, though, do you think changes in land use planning practices are enough? Or are our twisted cultural values so deeply engrained that something more radical has to happen for the conversation to change?
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I think younger generations might be a bit less keen on the suburban American Dream™ as we know it. I think older generations, including a decent number of Millennials, are too comfortable with status quo to change. We still grew up thinking that success meant a fenced-in yard and two cars in the driveway (I know I did). But maybe, with enough Jonathan Meltons on city councils, the younger generations will get an opportunity to see a better way.
So, ultimately, yes. I think changes in land use could do the trick; maybe not for us as much, definitely not for the majority of Boomers or Gen-X, but hopefully for those who follow.
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Not to keep throwing WF in the conversation but wouldn’t the success of here with mostly having little to no actual back yard actually say that the tide is even slightly starting to change?
I think even suburban subdivisions are starting to catch on to that part a little.
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