For the Love of North Raleigh

For me it’s the old growth trees, large lot sizes, and sought-after schools. Still an easy commute to downtown Raleigh, Durham, or RTP but it feels like a wooded oasis. Many neighborhoods have HOA pools, playgrounds and courts. I can hike the Mountain to Sea trail or enjoy Falls Lake but also easily go shopping or grab a bite locally, or take a short drive to North Hills or downtown. 

As the rest of Raleigh gets denser and denser, far North Raleigh will remain a little slice of woodsy heaven. Why? Zoning. A lot of the area north of 540/around Falls Lake is zoned R40W, vs R40. What does that mean? Big lots! The W is for Watershed-  a zoning overlay for environmental protection. Falls Lake is a water source for the city of Raleigh so on top of a pretty large buffer around the lake of state-owned land, the neighborhoods near it cannot be too dense in an effort to minimize runoff. The max dwelling per acre of a development is 1. 1 house per acre! That’s not to say every single lot is 1 acre+, but the average of a neighborhood must be. 

So as “midtown” Raleigh (between 440 and 540) fills in, lots subdivided, townhomes, multifamily, and condos built etc, far North Raleigh will remain tranquil.