5 Reasons Why We LOVE Living In Knightdale NC
5 Reasons Why We LOVE Living In Knightdale NC
Are you considering relocating to the Raleigh area and you've heard of the suburb Knightdale and you're wondering if it's a great place for you and your family to live? Knightdale is located on the eastern side of Raleigh, just about nine miles from downtown Raleigh. It's an affordable alternative to other triangle towns and it's often overlooked and underrated.
It has a small town feel with easy access to big city amenities, attracting families, couples, and individuals who call Knightdale home. Today we'll be discussing five reasons why we love living in Knightdale. If you want to know more of that information, stay tuned because we're at it now.
Hey y'all, welcome to the channel or welcome back. I'm Brandy Nemergut, a local real estate agent right here in Raleigh, North Carolina. Your connection to all things real estate and all things Raleigh. If you haven't already subscribed to the channel, please click the button below and tap that little bell.
And you'll be notified every time we drop a new video. Not only do I love helping you by making these videos, I also love to help you with your real estate needs. So, if you're relocating to the area and considering purchasing a home, please feel free to reach out to me. We would love to help you. All you have to do is give me a call, shoot me a text, or send me an email.
However you want to get a hold of me, I got your back when relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina. Okay, we're going to jump right on in and we're going to start with good ratings. Now, according to Niche. com, Knightdale is the 11th best place to buy a home in the Raleigh area. And gives Del an overall rating of an A, an A in diversity, an A minus for being good for families and a B for housing.
Before we relocated here, we lived in Southern California between Orange and LA County, and we were looking for a community that was not only good for families. but had a good mix of diversity as well as affordable housing and had some spacious yards so that we weren't too close to our neighbors and was still close enough to Raleigh and all the amenities the big city has to offer.
Now a funny story, When we moved here, we were actually renting a home in Clayton, and we had never heard of Nyko. And I actually got some cookies from someone locally, and they delivered them to my door. And I started talking to them, asked them what city they lived in, because I was looking to apply.
Explore and get to know all the suburbs around me. And they said they lived in Knightdale. And I said, I've never heard of Knightdale. Tell me more about it. What do you love about living in Knightdale? And they started to tell me all the things they loved, including how close it was to. driving into Raleigh and all the amenities.
The easy access between all the highways there, the I 540, the 264, the 64, and the 87. As well as all the country roads that you could take if you didn't want to be on the main highways and still end up in Raleigh and all the suburbs. So we were definitely intrigued and had to go out and explore and find out what Knightdale was all about And what we have found is Knightdale has a really nice mix of community You can find anywhere from close knit community house housing all the way up to farmland And you can be more on the countryside where you can still see horses and cows And the farms that are growing their crops from tobacco fields to soybeans collards you name it.
So whether you're looking for a low maintenance yard or anywhere from a quarter to a third, half an acre, or even more, you can definitely find it in NYTGO. And one of the things that we love, we were actually able to find an older home on three acres and it backs up an 86 acre farm. Which brings me to my second reason why we love Knightdale, which is going to be location.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, location was definitely essential for us. We wanted to be within a driving distance of 10 to 20 minutes to all the amenities or no further than 30 to 45 minutes. Because again, coming from Southern California, We were used to having to drive 30 to all the way up to an hour or more to get to some of the places we wanted.
Not because of distance so much, but just because of the amount of traffic. And Night Dell was the perfect location for us because not only does it have access to I 540, you also have, uh, 2 64, 64, the 87 and multiple back country roads that can not only get you into Raleigh, but also a lot of the surrounding suburbs as well.
On average, we're able to get to say North Hills, Raleigh downtown, or even downtown Clayton, within 15 to 20 minutes. and carries only about 25 minutes away. Now, Knightdale is going to be farther east than a lot of the other suburbs that surround Raleigh, but it's still less than a 45 minute drive to get to Durham or Chapel Hill.
I feel like Knightdale is just a hidden gem as far as easy access to so many suburbs and towns surrounding the Raleigh area without all the population and traffic. Which brings me to my third reason why we love Knightdale, and that's going to be population. Population was another thing that was important to us.
We were looking for a town that wasn't super overcrowded. And Knightdale has just under 20, 000 residents that call it home. And that's fairly low in comparison to some of the other towns and cities. that surround Raleigh. Money Magazine named Knightdale a top 100 place to live in America with great food, lots of outdoor activities, and a true sense of community.
Here you can find resale, new construction, and apartments. When we lived in California, we were actually living in Long Beach before we moved here. moved here and it was very congested. Our homes were super close to our neighbors and we had a minimal yard. So when we were looking at suburbs to relocate to, a lot of times the big popular ones that popped up were Cary, Apex, and Holly Springs.
Personally for us, we didn't choose those areas just because it reminded us too much of California and we were looking for a change. We wanted to get out of the big city. out of the traffic and congestion, didn't want to be super close to our neighbors, and we wanted a smaller price point in a home that had more land.
So that's how we gravitated more towards the eastern side of the Raleigh area between Clayton and Knightdale and Wendell. And while I say a smaller price point in houses, across the board, Raleigh still is very inexpensive compared to California. But when we relocated here, we had a dream that we were going to buy two houses, one within the Raleigh area and one at the beach.
So instead of coming here and buying like a mini mansion, we figure why not spread out our money. And be able to enjoy our primary house as well as a vacation house, which is exactly what we ended up doing. And we still paid less for our two houses than our one house that we owned in Long Beach. Our fourth reason why we love living in Knightdale is going to be because of the amenities.
There's no shortage of fun things to do in Knightdale, especially if you love the outdoors. Our small town has great breweries, restaurants, and great parks like the Environmental Education Park, which is going to be behind and next to the library, or the Mingo Creek Park and Trail, Harper Park if you love to play tennis or pickleball, and our favorite and probably one of the most popular here in Knightdale is going to be the Knightdale Station Park.
Now a fun fact, prior to this park being built, it was actually a functioning nursery that was on 71 acres. Now it's been transformed into a glorious park that the whole community treasures. There's even a housing community right behind the park, which is also Knightdale Station. And it has a daycare facility there, a private school, Bailey's Academy, which is pre k through eighth grade.
And what's nice about the community is it actually has walkable sidewalks so you can walk right into the park. There's a YMCA pool. with paid membership. Two miles of paved trails that wind throughout the park and the trails line with beautiful trees so half of your walk you're going to be able to be shaded and the other half you'll be in sun.
There's a splash pad for the kids, a railroad playground, there's two dog parks, one for little dogs, one for the big dogs, have covered picnic area, the outdoor amphitheater which is awesome because throughout the year there's anything you can do. We're from movie nights. to festivals and fun to the farmer's market.
Then just right across the street from the park is Heather's Dance. My daughter's actually been going there since she was three years old. She's done ballet, tap, and jazz. So if you have a little one right here, we have our own little dance studio. And then right next door is Prime Barbecue. The owner and champion pitmaster, Chris Prieto, makes some of the best barbecue that we've had around here.
So if you like pulled pork, brisket, ribs, mac and cheese, green beans, delicious desserts, trust me, you definitely want to stop in. The owner, Chris, is a wonderful staple to our community with a generous heart and a commitment to serve. Then just behind Prime BBQ's parking lot, you're going to find Crafton.
which is a food hall type concept restaurant and they actually house five different restaurant kitchens within the same building and everyone that's sitting there eating in your party can choose the same place or all five different and your food comes together at the same table and you could pay in one bill or split it up.
Now just towards the backside of the park behind where the playground and the dog park is a kid and dog friendly brewery. Called Oak City Brewery. The owners Matt and Bridget are another staple of this community And they just love bringing everybody together to have some fun. Now weekly you'll find food trucks here And then during the months and the year they have different get togethers, festivals, food, entertainment, barbecue competitions.
They do so much fun things and there's so much Mostly outdoor seating you can go inside and there's a handful of tables But most of the time people hang out in the grassy area Let the kids just run around and have fun and you can have a cool refreshing beverage And if you don't drink they do have some non alcoholic options And little juice boxes and water for the kids as well now from the brewery As you start going down you're heading into the old downtown as What we just talked about is more of the new downtown and there you're gonna find a really amazing little bakery It's called la Mexicanita bakery and it's a little store as well So we love to go there and get so many of their delicious things.
They have stuffed donuts They have tres leches then there's rewind retro bar where you can go in grab a drink They usually have food trucks outside as well. And one of the cool concepts about them is that they have old school video arcade games. So you can go in there and play some old school games.
And we have a new restaurant that we've been waiting for it to open. It's going to be opening anytime now. It's called the New Depot Restaurant and it's going to be American cuisine. I'm sure there's going to be some great comfort food in there. So we're looking forward to it. We've had some of their food from their food truck that they've been operating out of and it's definitely delicious.
And in this area, there's even a doggy groomer, a hair salon, and there's First on Main, which is an event place that you can rent out. My friend actually rented out the space and celebrated her 60th birthday. And it was one of the best birthday parties I've been to. It was almost like a wedding without the wedding dress, but she was all sparkled into the nines and it was an absolute blast.
So if you're looking for an elegant and fun place to rent out and have an event, Definitely check out First and Main. Now heading outside of downtown and going back up to Knightdale Boulevard, you'll come to multiple shopping centers and places to eat. One of our favorite seafood places is going to be Annette's Catch.
Now not only can you get some great fish fried right there for you, and you can sit down and eat, or they have a whole refrigerated section of fresh fish and you can get it to go and make it at home. For desserts, we love Cape Town in C. The owners, Jason and Tracy and the family are absolutely amazing and they make some really delicious desserts.
The red velvet cake is our absolute favorite. And not only does she have the bakery by day, but But she also does fun things and brings the community together with some monthly and yearly events. She's done things from martinis and karaoke to decorating cakes and there's more fun to come. And when you walk into their bakery, you will feel like you're home.
We also have a lot of other places like Starbucks, Saltgrass Steakhouse, We have Ipho for sushi, and then we also have a lot of box chain stores like Target, Walmart, TJ Maxx, Kohl's, Best Buy. I can go on and on. We definitely have a lot of amenities here. Another reason why we love living in Knightdale is the friendly community.
Now when we moved cross country from California to North Carolina, We moved here sight unseen in three weeks and we didn't know a soul. So finding a community that was friendly was top of the list. And we found Knightdale to be friendly, kind, and full of helpful people. Moving here, not just Knightdale, but across the suburbs, I would say there's definitely that running thread here.
You always hear about that Southern hospitality, and it's definitely true. There's so many people. That are friendly here and a lot of times when you stop and talk to them, you'll find out you have multiple things in common with them, even if it's that they're from somewhere else as well. And another thing that we love is as we're shopping, going to businesses or restaurants.
When you're coming and going, you're not just another customer. You walk in, a lot of times they're saying your name. They're like, Hey, Brandy. Hey, Lorena. Hey, Lance. How's it going? How'd you do on your Girl Scout sales? How was your trip to the beach? They remember your conversations from the last time they spoke with you.
And a lot of the owners, they're present. They're working the floor. They're stopping and talking to you at your table and asking how things are, how you are, not just how your meal is. And they'll work the cash register. They'll even work the cook line. So I love how involved our community really is. We also have several farms here.
So if you're looking to get some local organic, fresh produce, some freshly processed meats from the farm, you want to pick your own strawberries. There's definitely farms here. One of our favorites is going to be Pope Farms. They're fifth generation farmers here. And if you go say hey to some of the owners, you're going to have Brad and Nick and their family are all absolutely amazing.
They're a huge staple of our community as well. And on their farm, they're always holding annual events, um, that bring in the family, the kids. So there's a lot of fun between the berry picking, there's harvesting for the pumpkin patch. Lots of fun. The Pope family is definitely another staple of this community.
Knightdale is a mix of old school meets progress. The town doesn't have a trendy vibe. It's more of a homey and down to earth with no fancy bells or whistles. But I am an old fashioned type gal, so it works out perfect for us. I know personally, I like nice things. but I also love to live a simpler lifestyle and I feel like Knightdale offers that to us.
Knightdale is a little slice of the South and we love being tucked away from the big city. With the option to hop onto the highway and be there right quick, as they say in the South. It truly is the best of both worlds. If you found this information helpful, please click the like button so others like you can find this information as well.
And if you're considering relocating to the Knightdale area or Raleigh or the surrounding areas, and you're looking to purchase a home, please feel free to reach out to us. You can give me a call. Shoot me a text or send me an email. My information's right there on the screen. We would love to help. Till next time, we'll see y'all later.
Brandy Nemergut, Realtor ~ eXp Realty Raleigh, NC
919-583-6895
