Pros And Cons Of Living In Hillsborough NC - Things Have Changed!
Pros And Cons Of Living In Hillsborough NC - Things Have Changed!
Are you considering relocating to the Raleigh area and you've heard of the suburb Hillsboro and you're wondering if it would be a great place to raise a family. This is one of my favorite suburbs within the triangle, especially if you're looking for a smaller quaint town that has wide open spaces and you'll see farms and horses, then you'll love it here.
With North Carolina's mild climate and four seasons, lower cost of living taxes and housing costs, especially if you're coming from different parts of the country. Many families consider our Southern area and Hillsborough, which is a beautiful slice tucked away within our beautiful triangle area. It's one of the oldest communities within North Carolina, rich in history, dating back to the colonial days.
It has musicians, artists, and stretching farms and horse property. So today I'll be discussing the pros and cons of living in Hillsboro. If you want to know more of that information, stay tuned because we're at it.
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So let's just jump right on in. We're going to start with a pro, which is going to be location. Now Hillsborough is going to be right in the perfect spot between Chapel Hill and Durham. And if you look at a map, it's going to be North above Chapel Hill and Northwest of Durham. So it's going to be an easy access to either of those areas.
The commute time from Chapel Hill and Durham is going to be approximately 15 to 20 minutes. So if you'll be traveling either commuting or having fun, it's going to be the perfect location. Now, if you're commuting into Raleigh, it might not be as ideal of a location as you're going to have a commute that's going to be approximately 45 minutes.
So it's still doable, but it's going to be a bit of a stretch. And if you're going into Raleigh, you can easily access both the I 40 and 85 highway. The next pro is going to be the great neighborhoods. If you like mature trees, and space in between your neighbors and maybe even some horse property, this is definitely the area.
There are some great communities with these options that'll cost right around a million dollars plus. In mid 2023, the median house price here is going to be 443, 700. Now, if we're looking just at single family homes, that price point is going to bump up to about 527, 500. And if you're looking just at townhomes, then you're going to be coming in right around 379, 000.
You'll definitely get more for your money here than say Chapel Hill, but it's a completely different vibe between Hillsboro and Chapel Hill. So just depending what you're looking for. Next up, we have small town feel. Now, Depending on how you feel about small towns, this could be a pro or a con. Now if you're looking to get away from the hustle and bustle and you don't really want the city life like Raleigh or Durham and you want more of that rural feel, then you'll like Hillsborough.
Currently in early 2023 there's approximately 11, 000 residents that call Hillsborough home. I think Hillsborough downtown is one of my absolute favorites. It's like stepping back in time. You have beautiful historical buildings. You have quaint, safe, walkable streets. You have mom and pop shops and even farm to table restaurants.
I love Panchuto for Italian food. And one of the cool things about the owner here is 95 percent of his food comes from the local farm straight to his table. And if you love gumbo and the best andouille sausage, definitely check out La Place. So if you're looking for a town that is easy to make friends and get to know people, then this would be a great place.
But if you don't, you may think that it's a little bit too small here. That's one thing that I've noticed about living within Raleigh and the Raleigh area is you always seem to run into somebody that you know, but they do say everybody has six points of separation, right? I feel like that's definitely so true, especially here in the South.
Now, fun fact, Hillsborough was once considered our state capital for a small time. There's a lot of history dating back all the way through the colonial days. Including Ayr Mount, which is an 1800s plantation. And this home has 14 feet ceilings that was unheard of during that time period. The grounds are absolutely beautiful there.
There's lush green lawns, beautiful trees, lots of walking paths. You can go on poet walk. I've had friends who've actually got married there. They have, um, rocking chairs. You can sit and just look over the water or just the beautiful trees and take in, you know, the fresh air, the birds, definitely spend a couple hours there and your soul will thank you for it.
And with that, I'm going to go over into a con, which is there's not a lot of box store shops here. I know Target's important for a lot of people. There's no Target here, but there is a Walmart. So for the bigger box type stores, you're going to have to drive about 15 to 20 minutes to get into Chapel Hill or Durham for some real shopping or what I would actually consider a pro as well is not too far from here are the Tangier Mevin outlets which is going to be about 15 minutes away which is a good alternative say to going into Durham to South Point Mall but if you're like us and you don't mind eating at a handful of the same restaurants or shopping at some of the same local stores and don't mind a smaller town and when you're ready to explore you're fine driving that 15 to 20 minutes.
or up to 45 if you want to go to Raleigh, then this would definitely work for you, especially if you want that laid back farm type atmosphere. Downtown, there's also Weaver Street Market, which is a local co op. It kind of reminds me of a smaller scale of Whole Foods. And what's really cool about it, a lot of local farms, they carry their products there.
Another pro is going to be the schools. Now it's a smaller town, so you're going to find a lot less schools, but the Orange County schools are great. And according to niche. com, it gives school ratings here an A minus. And according to publicschoolreview.com, Orange County schools rate top 1 percent of North Carolina schools.
And they also have some great charter school options as well as private schools. The next pro I have for you is the outdoors. Now I know I cover the outdoors in a lot of my videos because we absolutely love exploring and being outdoors and Hillsboro has no shortage of beautiful outdoors. The Eno River is here named after the Eno Indians who once lived here.
There's walking trails. and even a yearly festival called Eno Fest and they say it's to save the river one song at a time. There's also some really great parks here. One of my favorite places to walk and explore is the Riverwalk. About a decade ago they built a paved walkway with bridges over the Eno River and it's going to be about a two mile walk and you can actually park right there at Weaver's Market and walk before you go and shop.
On the weekends and throughout the week you'll see families with strollers pushing their kids. Kids running around, people walking their dogs, or even going for a jog. Now I know I used to run half marathons in California at the beach, and this is the next best thing when you don't have the beach and you have the beautiful river views and the lush greenery and the shade.
It's the next best thing as far as views. If you love festivals and barbecues, they have several all throughout the year. In summer, there's Hogs day with music, kids activities, a petting zoo, and a barbecue cook off, including a pig roast. Now, personally, I've never been much of a pork eater, but out here in North Carolina, you can find pig pickings where they actually lay out the whole pig and barbecue it.
And literally, people can go and pick off parts of the pig that they want to eat. And Hillsborough also hosts some great craft shows and art shows as well. And if you love art, you'll find a really nice art gallery here as well. The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts is actually owned by local artists and you'll find everything from paintings to sculptures to photography to jewelry to mosaics, watercolors, wood, and even more.
This part kind of reminds me of like, Laguna Beach in California where, where there's that section and it has like all that artsy section and all the little places to eat. Fun fact, Wall Street Journal once named Hillsborough America's little literary town as so many poets and authors come here. And if you're a writer, there's a lot of writer groups here as well.
Then there's the old Okonichi Speedway. That's one of the first original two NASCAR speedways. And it's the only dirt track left, but it was eventually relocated to Alabama. Now, according to the locals here, the reason why it was moved, it was moved in the late 60s. I want to say it was 1968. And it's because the local
Brandy Nemergut, Realtor ~ eXp Realty Raleigh, NC
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