Demographics

Living in Cary

Living in Cary, North Carolina, is certainly not a prerequisite for being familiar with the progressive city to Raleigh’s west. Accolades and rankings, like Money Magazine’s listing of Cary as one of the best places to live in the USA, have already secured the city’s reputation for offering an excellent quality of life and substantial business opportunities. Now the third largest municipality in the Triangle behind Raleigh and Durham, it is no wonder that Cary was also named one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.

Cary is a vibrant community teeming with diversity, and it’s been named one of the safest cities in the United States. Active singles, young families, and retirees alike happily call Cary their home. In fact, if you are relocating to Cary from outside North Carolina, you will not be alone. Data from the 2000 US Census shows only 29.2% of Cary residents are native to North Carolina. And, 55.2% were born in other states. Moreover, Cary has a significant population of residents from India and other East Asia countries.

Cary’s real estate market has historically proven to be one of the highest appreciating in the Triangle. The average percentage gain per year for Cary homes has been 4.68%. To put it another way, the average sales price for a house in Cary increased by 15% between the second quarter of 2006 and the second quarter of 2008. Currently, that average sales price is approximately $346,000.

This excellent real estate climate exists for many good reasons. Here are some specific ones:

• Part of Cary’s appeal is undoubtedly due to the local government’s dedication to aesthetics and purposeful planning within Cary city limits. For example, the town created a unique Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning category in 1971 to help accommodate the population growth. The PUD allows developers to plan an entire community before doing anything to the proposed site. This provided potential residents with information on future school, retail, and industrial locations within a new community. A 976-acre portion of the Pine State Dairy Farm became the site of present-day Kildaire Farms, North Carolina’s first PUD.
• Not to be outdone by its neighboring cities, Cary offers plenty of opportunities for shopping. From boutiques downtown to the plethora of stores at Cary Towne Center, Crossroads Plaza, and Waverly Place—Cary is one of the premiere shopping destinations in the Triangle.
• Green space is another popular amenity in Cary. Numerous parks connect to each other through a network of sidewalks and paved trails throughout the town. Cary Greenways and Trails manages the trails, sustaining a park-like atmosphere with strict environmental conditions.
• Similarly, thanks, in part, to the town’s consistent implementation of bicycle lanes, the League of American Bicyclists named Cary one of the fourteen recipients of the Bicycle-Friendly Community Award for “providing safe accommodation and facilities for bicyclists and encouraging residents to bike for transportation and recreation.”
• The Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park serves as Cary’s primary venue for live concerts and outdoor events throughout the year. World-famous musical artists and various festivals draw patrons from across North Carolina and beyond to Koka Booth in ever-increasing numbers.
• Affectionately referred to as the “Technology Town of North Carolina”, Cary is home to such leading Fortune 500 Companies as IBM, SAS, Lucent Technologies, MCI WorldCom & Siemens. Not just for large companies, the town of Cary contains over 6,000 businesses.