Where to Live in Raleigh NC: Ultimate Raleigh Living Guide

Note:  See video for a more visual breakdown.

Downtown

We will start downtown and work our way out and up.

As with any downtown, the living options mostly revolve around apartments and condos, which for Raleigh, most options involve apartments for rent. 

This is an area that Raleigh has expanded in significantly with their offerings in the past 5-10 years, as places such as the Dillon, Skyhouse, 400H, and more offer perfect living spaces and atmospheres for young professionals.  There’s also the new developments of the Weld and Rockway Raleigh going in immediately south of downtown.

And, rent prices in downtown Raleigh are very reasonable when compared to similar situations in other major cities.

Downtown Raleigh is also rapidly expanding their restaurant, shopping, and entertainment options, as Raleigh is leaving its’ former reputation of being a “boring” city behind.

On the outskirts of downtown lies several historic style neighborhoods, like Historic Oakwood, Historic Mordecai, and Boylan Heights.  These neighborhoods have incredible architecture and style to their homes, and are perfect for those who want to be within walking or biking distance of downtown.

On the southern and eastern sides of downtown Raleigh, you’ll see a multitude of smaller neighborhoods that generally have older homes, and smaller to medium sized lots that are very reasonably priced.

The west side of downtown is dominated by NC State.  Many of the homes on the perimeter of campus are rented out to college students as you will naturally have that theme in those areas. 

Just north of NC State is the Village District, which has apartments of their own in a shopping center with a ton of vintage and unique stores and restaurants, and it has become a popular place to live. 

Surrounding the Village District though are some very popular neighborhoods, highlighted by Forest Park, due to their proximity to downtown and the Village District.  These homes are mostly older and vary wildly in pricing, but the land prices are higher in general.

On the northern side of downtown, you’ll find a collection of very similar neighborhoods around Five Points like Hayes Barton, as well as places like Glenwood Village.  These neighborhoods are all very similar, in that the homes were built years ago and have a lot of character to their architecture.

These neighborhoods are generally lined with trees and while lot sizes aren’t huge, they are enough to provide privacy.  As you could imagine, these are some of the most expensive homes and neighborhoods in Raleigh given their location, and many of the lesser expensive homes are being torn down and replaced with luxury, new construction homes.

I-440 to I-540

On the northwest side of I-440 is an area with quite a few shopping centers, hospitals and medical facilities.  The neighborhoods around them are also on the older side, are very forested, and while still expensive, are much cheaper than homes inside I-440. 

There are some pockets of smaller, new construction neighborhoods, and you can get some land here on certain homes as well.

As we get into more along the west side of Raleigh, we get to a collection of neighborhoods between 30 to 50 years old on average that again, have great tree cover with a mixture of styles.  Lot sizes though are in general fairly large for Raleigh, as it’s common to find 0.5 acre lots on some of the mid-sized and larger homes. 

And there are a lot of ranch style homes here as well, especially those going on the lower end of the average price.

Brookhaven, Stonehenge, Valley Estates, and Leesville are amongst the larger and more popular neighborhoods in this area.  There’s also Brier Creek, which many consider Durham but it does have a Raleigh address and is literally right next to the airport. 

These last two areas are in arguably the best location in Raleigh, as you’re close enough to downtown but also close to the airport, Durham, and the Research Triangle Park; however, you do need to watch out for airplane noise on the northern side.

One of the most popular areas of Raleigh is what people refer to as “North Hills,” which centers around the massive North Hills Shopping Center.  Many young professionals are attracted here as there are high rise, apartment style options available, along with many great restaurants, shops, and entertainment options all right there.

There’s also Glenwood Place by Crabtree Valley Mall that has a similar feel, but on a smaller scale.

The neighborhoods surrounding North Hills are all very similar in that they were built 50 or more years ago, and are being aggressively targeted by builders for tear down and rebuild homes, as a significant number of very expensive, luxury new construction homes are going up everyday there.

For the older homes, you’ll see many ranch and split-level style homes that are certainly going for more than they are worth given their age, but the land prices here are very high.

So if you want to be in the “happening” part of Raleigh, especially for those who want the high rise apartment lifestyle, North Hills is it.  Note that North Hills is expanding with its’ new Innovation District as well as the new Exchange Raleigh development just southeast of that.

On the east side of Raleigh is a variety of older homes and relatively newer neighborhoods as well that are generally on the more affordable side.  There’s even a neighborhood in Hedingham with a golf course.

These neighborhoods are right next to the Neuse River and the 26 mile Neuse River Trail, and are great places to live for those who enjoy that amenity; however, some of these neighborhoods surround Capital Blvd, which is one of the most crowded roadways in Raleigh, so be conscious of that if looking in this area.

As a whole, especially on the western and middle portions of the area between I-440 and I-540, you will find a number of aging shopping centers that are getting face lifts over time.  So there is a collection that look brand new as they were recently renovated, and some that still appear on the older side.

North Raleigh

Next we will move into North Raleigh, which will get to the newer side of Raleigh as a whole; but, before we do, if you want to see homes in any of these areas, we have one of the top teams in the greater Raleigh area and we would love to help you.

Now back to North Raleigh, speaking of shopping centers, they’ve been built here over the past 20 years and still look relatively new and up-to-date, but are established enough such that there are mature trees so it doesn’t look newly constructed.

The marquee neighborhood of North Ridge has a top-notch country club and has a variety of homes that are very similar in age to the North Hills area, and they are also being targeted for tear down and rebuilds of luxury homes.

But beyond that, you’ll see a variety of neighborhoods on the more affordable side that were built 20-30 years ago.  Some of the more popular neighborhoods are Summerfield North, Durant Trails and Trace, Falls River, and Bedford. 

Falls River and Bedford offer a very unique feel and are master planned communities that have a multitude of great amenities, and are two of the most sought after neighborhoods in Raleigh.

And just north of that is Wakefield, which believe it or not is still within the limits of the City of Raleigh.  Wakefield also has a country club and has everything from smaller, more affordable homes to multi-million dollar mansions, and everything in between.  Despite it being on the most northern side of Raleigh, it is actually about 30 years old.

There are a lot of really great parks in and around the North Raleigh area, so if you enjoy the outdoors, this is definitely a great place to live.

Outskirts of Raleigh

Now there are multiple areas that are not within Raleigh city limits but have a Raleigh address, and are arguably some of the best places to live.

The first area is between I-540 and Hwy 98, which has mainly luxury neighborhoods.  There are a large number of luxury neighborhoods built anywhere from 30 years ago to new construction neighborhoods that are currently under construction.

The new construction neighborhoods are typically fairly clear, but the older neighborhoods in this area in general have significant tree cover and large lots.  The main draws of this area is that it provides privacy overall, is close to Falls Lake for those who enjoy boating and fishing, and is still very close to all the shopping, restaurants, and entertainment of Raleigh.

The last area we will cover is the area just southwest of Raleigh, that is also in an incredible location sandwiched between Raleigh, Cary, and Apex.  You will find a wide variety of homes, very similar to what was described in the area near North Raleigh, which many newer, luxury neighborhoods along with older, more wooded neighborhoods that offer large lots.

This is a great area for those who work downtown but want to feel further away from the city, as the commute is not too bad if you use back roads and it offers more private options.

That is a quick rundown of the various areas around Raleigh to live.  Check out our other blogs on living in Raleigh NC and the ultimate Raleigh neighborhood showdown and for information on Raleigh’s suburbs, check out our breakdown of Raleigh NC suburbs.

If you need help finding your next home in Raleigh, Durham, or anywhere else in the triangle, our team at the W Real Estate Group would love to help!