We consider all price ranges in West Raleigh.
What's the best thing about Raleigh?
What's the best thing about Raleigh? Where does it have the best amenities? Where is it most conveniently located?
Today we're featuring West Raleigh. ITB and Midtown are great. North Raleigh is popular. South Raleigh is growing. But today we're going to argue that West Raleigh is the best part of the city. Debate if you want, but our argument is pretty convincing. Learn more about the different parts of Raleigh and find your home here.
There are places in West Raleigh where you can live with 6,000 acres of backyard space, and we're not kidding: While it may not technically be your backyard, there are homes along Ebenezer Church Road that are within walking distance of Umstead Park.
Umstead Park is comprised of 5,599 acres of forest, hiking, biking and equestrian trails, a lake, picnic shelters and campgrounds. This state park is one of Raleigh's treasures.
To learn more about Raleigh, check out our Living in Raleigh page, or search current homes for sale in Raleigh, NC here.
We'll be looking at homes in a variety of price ranges from $200,000 to $2 million in West Raleigh. We're looking at the area along Highway 70 stretching south towards the PNC Arena and Fairgrounds.
Now, West Raleigh is usually understood to include the area around NC State University, but here we are excluding the area inside the Beltline 440. We love that area of Raleigh, but that’s where we’ll focus in this post.
The area is home to some of the best schools, parks, greenways and shopping in the entire Triangle. If you want to know what locals really think about Raleigh, NC, click here.
Umstead Park
Umstead Park is about 6,000 acres in size and occupies West Raleigh. The northeast entrance is in Raleigh and the southwest entrance is in Cary, so the park straddles both cities. There are 15 different trails within Umstead Park, totaling about 34 miles of trails. There are three lakes and boats available for rent. There is also parking for horse trailers if you need a place to ride your horses.
A trail near Crabtree Creek in Umstead
If you love hiking, biking, or simply spending time outdoors, Umstead offers some of the best amenities in Raleigh. There are several residential neighborhoods near Ebenezer Church Road that are within walking distance of Umstead, and you don't have to pay millions of dollars to get in. Let's start with the cheapest price range.
10 things to see and do in Raleigh
What you get for $200,000
$200,000 will get you a condo or townhouse in this price range, and most of the properties in this price range are a bit older, built in the 70s or 80s.
This property is less than a half mile from the Crabtree Creek trailhead, where you can hop on the connector and be at Umstead Park in just a few minutes.
West Raleigh Amenities
Laurel Hills Park
If you love parks but want more man-made amenities, Laurel Hills Park is the place to be. It has a playground, a community center, baseball fields, and more. Our kids loved this park when they were little. It's less than 2 miles from our condo. Check out other parks in Raleigh, NC here.
Food Trucks at Laurel Hills Park Playground at Laurel Hills Park
Fairground
Another truly amazing attraction in the area is the State Fairgrounds. The State Fair is held here every fall and the Got to Be NC Festival is held here in the spring, but it's less crowded and less well-known and much the same.
The venue hosts all kinds of events, including horse shows, car shows, art shows, and even a flea market.
Across from the Fairgrounds is PNC Arena and Carter-Finley Stadium, so whether you're attending a concert or a baseball game, you'll find it all here.
What you get for $500,000
If you have the budget, you can also buy a single-family home. We also look at older homes built in the 60s to 80s, but they are single-family homes.
Most homes in this price range sit on lots around 1/4 acre. Homes in this price range also typically have original finishes and haven't been updated yet, although you might see kitchens with newly painted cabinets and new fixtures.
There are townhouses in this price range, but they are new or nearly so.
Every now and again, you can find some really great properties in older neighborhoods like this one, where the average lot size is closer to a half acre.
The single-story home sits on a 0.4-acre lot and has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and 1,700 square feet of floor space.
Blue Ridge Corridor
Blue Ridge Road runs through the heart of West Raleigh, and the two main institutions here are the North Carolina Museum of Art and UNC Rex Hospital. Hopefully you'll never need a hospital, but many of Raleigh's best medical facilities are located very close to one.
I'm very excited about this location as an investment destination because there's going to be big changes in this area. This is known as the Blue Ridge Corridor. For a long time, it's been relatively underdeveloped given its location, but that's all about to change.
This area is slated to be the next second-tier urban center like North Hills, but it's better because it has many features that North Hills does not have. Imagine what would happen if North Hills had a stadium, an arena, a nationally renowned museum, multiple parks and greenways, a state fair, a world-renowned hospital, and a Drive Shack all within walking distance of each other, all within two square miles. This does not exist anywhere in Raleigh.
All of the features I mentioned are already in place, but the luxury shopping center has yet to be developed. But that was the last piece of the puzzle, and it's finally on the drawing board. Developers are now focusing on infill and connectivity to make all of these high-value amenities work together and be more user-friendly.
What you get for $900,000
Once you hit the $900 range, things start to get a lot more interesting. While we're still looking at older homes, these tend to have significant updates and amenity features.
Above $900,000, you start to see some really great features, some with large backyards and even walkable access to Umstead Park. This home was built in 1985 and has been completely renovated. It sits on 0.8 acres, but feels like it sits on 6,000 acres.
There's a nice little stream at the bottom of the hill, and in a few years it's going to be a greenway that connects to a park, but you don't need it now, you can walk to the park on state land.
The home has been completely renovated from bottom to top, see it here.
Convenience
And the best thing about this area is that it hardly matters where you work in the Triangle. You're convenient to pretty much everything. 15 minutes from downtown Raleigh and downtown Cary, 25 minutes from downtown Durham, and 30 minutes to Chapel Hill. You couldn't be more centrally located. Oh, and it's only 15 minutes to RDU, which makes those rush-to-flight waits a little easier.
We didn't talk much about shopping.
Crabtree Valley Mall is located at the intersection of Routes 70 and 440.
And the 70 itself is like one long commercial strip stretching from the mall to Briar Creek Shopping to the airport. I'll be honest, it's not the most beautiful road in Raleigh, and traffic around the mall can be a pain at times, but if you're shopping for gear for your new home, this is where you'll want to spend your time.
Crabtree Valley Mall. Watch the video as we debate whether this stretch of road is truly unattractive.
$1.5 million
Add another $600,000 to that budget and you'll get a much larger home and lot — this home is over 4,000 square feet on a 1.9-acre lot.
The home was built in 2000. It is 4,100 square feet, retains original finishes, and sits on 1.9 acres.
$2 million
And once we hit the 2 million mark, new homes start being built, and these are usually homes built on vacant lots where older, smaller homes have been demolished and new, larger homes are being built.
The home sits on a quarter-acre lot just behind Laurel Hills Park. It measures 4,100 square feet and was built by custom builder Homes by Dickerson.