Capital Creek

Capital Creek is a 312-unit garden-style apartment community off Capital Boulevard near Gateway Commons, built in 2019, with a resort-style pool and a dog park. Rent runs about $1,450 to $2,300 a month. Of the apartment communities in Wake Forest, this is the one sitting closest to the Raleigh end of the corridor, and the commute reflects it. The school assignment gives the location away too. Children here go to Wakefield Elementary, Wakefield Middle and Wakefield High rather than the Wake Forest or Heritage schools, which tells you how far down the road this address sits.

Where it is

The address is off Capital Boulevard near Gateway Commons, the shopping at the south end of the Wake Forest stretch of that road. Capital Boulevard is US-1, so heading toward Raleigh is a matter of turning onto it and staying on it. That is the main argument for living here instead of a complex further up in town, because the drive starts south of a good deal of the local traffic. The trade runs the other direction. Downtown Wake Forest is a longer drive from here than from the neighborhoods in the middle of town, and daily errands tend to happen at Gateway Commons instead.

What to know if you're moving here

An apartment has no HOA, so the rent is the whole arrangement. The build year and the school assignment are where this address differs from the complexes further up in town.

• The $1,450 to $2,300 range includes the pool, the dog park and the maintenance.
• A 2019 build means the buildings are recent enough that you are not inheriting anyone's deferred repairs.
• Garden-style is the layout to picture: low buildings spread across the site instead of one large block.
• Schools are the Wakefield schools at all three levels, which matters if you assumed a Wake Forest address comes with Wake Forest schools.
• Assignments also get redrawn, so check the current map.
• The drawback is the road, because Capital Boulevard backs up at rush hour and a short commute is shorter on a map than at five o'clock on a Tuesday.

What to do if you're visiting

Gateway Commons is where a visitor ends up, and most of what is worth stopping for sits along that stretch. None of it is a comfortable walk from the apartments.

• The sports-bar end of an evening is covered by Buffalo Brothers Wake Forest.
• For the sit-down end of the same evening, there is Asuka Asian Bistro (Wake Forest).
• For a quick lunch, Canastas Chicken – Wake Forest is the cheaper stop.
• Anyone visiting someone here rather than staying with them can look at Candlewood Suites Wake Forest, which is close by.
• Plan on driving between stops even when the next one looks close enough to skip the car.