Opinions on Rocky Mount/Wilson/Zebulon?

Lurch830

Lurch830

messin' with sasquatch
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Location
Wilton & Albemarle, NC
Long winded post incoming...this all may be for nothing, but if everything works out I'll have a leg up!

I'm interviewing within the company for a position in our Raleigh office and should be through the final interview & know something by the end of July. This would obviously mean moving to eastern NC or suffer a 5 hour daily round trip commute...not happening! I realize this is putting the cart ahead of the horse, but its something I've been thinking about. If I play my cards right and move around Rocky Mount/Wilson/Zebulon (several customers in the area) I would likely get a company vehicle since 50-70% of my time will be in the field. I'd be renting while I get used to the area & looking for a house & property. Any suggestions on where to start looking, places to avoid, counties to avoid and/or lean towards? I like small towns & saw the town of Middlesex and my 14 year old inner self couldn't help but giggle! Things I'd be looking for in a house:

Prefer a 1 story brick house (basement would be a plus)
1500-1800 sq ft w/ a garage (or land to build one)
At least 5 acres, but the more the merrier!
Outside of city limits by a few miles
Far enough off the road nobody driving by can see the house easily
No more than ~45 minutes from office (near 440 & 401/Capital)
~$150k-$200k budget

TIA,
Brandon
 
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RM/Wilson/Zebulon is a right good size area, and RM and Wilson are farther than your 45 min requirement, especially if you have to drive it in normal commuter traffic. I would look towards Bunn/Louisburg/Youngsville myself. Still mostly rural, and the towns are "small towns." You could also look between Wendell/Rolesville/Wake Forest, but good luck getting 5 acres with a house in your price range.

Duane
 
RockTroit sucks. Wiltson isn't much better.

Led Zebulon is a definite step up from either.

Wake Forest/Youngsville craps all over any of them. Much better.
 
If you're in Wilson, go to Flo's and get a biscuit. That's the only helpful thing I have to say :D
 
Well, I'm on to the 2nd round of interviews. The more I think about it and talk to that position's supervisor & VP I have my doubts that a company car is on the table. So if that's not an option (fingers crossed its still an option!), it doesn't matter which direction from the office I live.

kaiser715 said:
Check the area around Red Oak and Nashville.
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Thanks, I'll keep them in mind. I think I'd have to rent in/near Rocky Mount as they guy I'd have to "shadow" until the end of the year lives in/near Rocky Mount.

CLRracer said:
RM/Wilson/Zebulon is a right good size area, and RM and Wilson are farther than your 45 min requirement, especially if you have to drive it in normal commuter traffic. I would look towards Bunn/Louisburg/Youngsville myself. Still mostly rural, and the towns are "small towns." You could also look between Wendell/Rolesville/Wake Forest, but good luck getting 5 acres with a house in your price range.
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Yeah, I gave a broad range so I wouldn't be limiting myself & we have a lot of customers in Rocky Mount & Wilson so I could use that to my advantage when discussing a company car. I'll keep those first towns in mind...might have to rule out the others so I can get some land!

Pacfanweb said:
Led Zebulon is a definite step up from either. Wake Forest/Youngsville craps all over any of them. Much better.
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That's two votes for Youngsville...I'll have to take a look!

Croatan_Kid said:
If you're in Wilson, go to Flo's and get a biscuit. That's the only helpful thing I have to say :D
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If I'm ever there around breakfast time, I'll keep that in mind!
 
DSM Turbos said:
Maybe I can't read but if the office is in Raleigh, why are you looking out towards RM?
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Its too big/busy & I refuse to live inside city limits or anywhere with a HOA...and I probably can't afford what I want land wise in/near Raleigh!
 
Lurch830 said:
Its too big/busy & I refuse to live inside city limits or anywhere with a HOA...and I probably can't afford what I want land wise in/near Raleigh!
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I personally would live that far, you can find the same thing closer to Raleigh, but you didn't mention sq foot requirements.
 
DSM Turbos said:
I personally would live that far, you can find the same thing closer to Raleigh, but you didn't mention sq foot requirements.
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I don't have to live the full 45 minutes away, but I don't really want more of a commute than that.
Good catch on the sq ft...I'd be looking for between 1500-1800 sq ft. I'd prefer a 1 story brick house, but I'm not above living about a garage/shop...just not a huge fan of stairs.
 
Lurch830 said:
I don't have to live the full 45 minutes away, but I don't really want more of a commute than that.
Good catch on the sq ft...I'd be looking for between 1500-1800 sq ft. I'd prefer a 1 story brick house, but I'm not above living about a garage/shop...just not a huge fan of stairs.
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With Raleigh traffic, some of those locations aren't going to be doable in 45 mins if you are needing to be there between 8-9am. The Wake Forrest area in general is booming and has a lot of traffic. 440/Capital area is a very congested area in the morning. I would look into areas like Clayton, Youngsville, the edges of Wake Forrest, etc.

I have 1 acre, 4 miles from downtown Raleigh, all brick ranch, ~1500 sq feet, 750 sq ft garage, no HOA, no city limits, fully redone inside of the house, that I paid in the mid 200s almost 2 years ago. There is stuff out there closer then RM, etc that you won't hate the commute.
 
From the red oak exit on 64 (west Rm) its 43 mins to the 401 exit off 540. Travel times really depend on where and when you need to be.

If I leave RM at 7, everything sucks from Zebulon (264/64 merge) into raleigh. If I leave earlier or later, it's no issue.

If you need any help with rm surrounding areas, shoot me a pm I'll be glad to help. I work all over this area daily and with the exception of living in raleigh and greenville during college, I've lived in rm my entire life.

I'll be glad to help if i can.

Also look at spring hope and middlesex. Small towns with cheap rent that are convenient to everything.

Yes wake forest, Zebulon, youngsville are all better but also cost much more. If I were moving that direction, I would be shopping in wake forest/youngsville/Franklin county area.
 
DSM Turbos said:
I would look into areas like Clayton, Youngsville, the edges of Wake Forrest, etc.
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Clayton is full, go somewhere else :flipoff2:

Mac5005 said:
From the red oak exit on 64 (west Rm) its 43 mins to the 401 exit off 540. Travel times really depend on where and when you need to be.
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And from 401/540 to 440/Capital can be another 43 minutes in morning traffic. It almost takes me longer to get from 401/540 to 401/New Hope Rd than it does from home to 401/540 some mornings.

Duane
 
^^^^^^ yea and growing more every day. We are constantly installing water mains in new subdivisions in Johnson County.
 
You ain't getting from Rocky Mount to Raleigh in 45 minutes if nobody's on the road. It's 1 hour at BEST. Ever. And that depends on what part of Raleigh. Could be longer.
 
I lived in Zebulon and commuted to Raleigh for 2 years. It was usually 30-45 minutes depending on traffic on 264/440. We lived just inside the Franklin county line so we had cheaper taxes. We had right at an acre of land and a smaller sized house(1500sf). I loved living in Zebulon as it was just far enough away from the Raleigh. I would live in Zebulon before moving further up the road to Rocky Mount.
 
Pacfanweb said:
You ain't getting from Rocky Mount to Raleigh in 45 minutes if nobody's on the road. It's 1 hour at BEST. Ever. And that depends on what part of Raleigh. Could be longer.
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Do it all the time from the west side of rocky mount to the ne side of raleigh.

Again, it depends on where in each town.

It's 35 mins from west side of RM to knightdale shopping center.

1:05 -1:15 to ecgs from west side of rm.

All of that if times correctly with little traffic.
 
Heard from a little birdie that I made it to the final round of interviews, so I'm going to start prepping my house to sell. I've thought about it some more, I wouldn't mind living closer to Raleigh, but would want some land (10+ acres) nearby that I could hunt/fish/shoot on and possibly build a garage/shop/barn to store & work on stuff. Adding more options doesn't really help narrow the choices....

DSM Turbos said:
With Raleigh traffic, some of those locations aren't going to be doable in 45 mins if you are needing to be there between 8-9am. The Wake Forrest area in general is booming and has a lot of traffic. 440/Capital area is a very congested area in the morning. I would look into areas like Clayton, Youngsville, the edges of Wake Forrest, etc.

I have 1 acre, 4 miles from downtown Raleigh, all brick ranch, ~1500 sq feet, 750 sq ft garage, no HOA, no city limits, fully redone inside of the house, that I paid in the mid 200s almost 2 years ago. There is stuff out there closer then RM, etc that you won't hate the commute.
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That house sounds about perfect for me other than the price tag!

Mac5005 said:
From the red oak exit on 64 (west Rm) its 43 mins to the 401 exit off 540. Travel times really depend on where and when you need to be.

If I leave RM at 7, everything sucks from Zebulon (264/64 merge) into raleigh. If I leave earlier or later, it's no issue.

If you need any help with rm surrounding areas, shoot me a pm I'll be glad to help. I work all over this area daily and with the exception of living in raleigh and greenville during college, I've lived in rm my entire life.

I'll be glad to help if i can.

Also look at spring hope and middlesex. Small towns with cheap rent that are convenient to everything.

Yes wake forest, Zebulon, youngsville are all better but also cost much more. If I were moving that direction, I would be shopping in wake forest/youngsville/Franklin county area.
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I generally get to work 7-7:30 and work until 4-4:30 unless I'm in the middle of something or on-call/running generators, so hopefully I'd miss some traffic. If the same thing holds true for that area (fingers crossed) I'd be on the short side of travel times. That said, I always try to leave our Raleigh office before 3 to beat traffic to the other side of the research triangle.

Thanks for everybody's responses, the more info the better!
 
Well my gut feeling and the little birdies were right...they skipped 3rd round of interviews & told me I got the job last week & the company announced it yesterday. Officially start the new position August 1st which comes with a bump in pay, some changes in responsibilities, a company car ear-marked for me and I've got to relocate to the Raleigh office by November 1st. So while I'm getting my house listed for sale & living out of hotels in Raleigh/Rocky Mount I'll be looking for somewhere to rent for a while (house/apartment/etc).
 
Congrats! Have you narrowed down your area you want to relocate to?

Duane
 
CLRracer said:
Congrats! Have you narrowed down your area you want to relocate to?

Duane
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Not even close! I'm shadowing a guy that lives in Rocky Mount until he retires at the end of the year & I'll be bouncing between our Huntersville & Raleigh offices until Nov. 1st. Hopefully I find an area I like & can start looking soon.

bigassedredjeep said:
Congrats on the new job! Like most others have already said, I would definitely be looking around Zebulon/Knightdale/Garner before Rocky Mount.
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I'll keep that in mind.
 
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