Stonewater

Stonewater is a single-family neighborhood off Capital Boulevard, sitting behind the Walmart, and the location undersells it. Past that retail frontage are about 280 houses built between 2006 and 2012, with more tree cover than a subdivision of that age usually holds onto. There is a pool and a playground. Prices run roughly $425k to $575k and the HOA is $500 a year. The draw for most buyers is the driving. US-1 is right there in both directions, so a commute south toward Raleigh or a run north into town starts the moment you reach the end of the street.

Where it is

The entrance is off Capital Boulevard, behind the Walmart, which tells you what is convenient about the address and what you are living beside. Capital Boulevard is US-1, so the highway access people talk about here is simply the road at the front of the neighborhood, running north and south. Downtown Wake Forest is up that road, close enough that dinner on Main Street is a decision rather than an expedition, and Raleigh is the other way. Groceries and big-box shopping are the nearest thing to a next-door neighbor, which is worth more on a weeknight than it sounds on paper.

What to know if you're moving here

Houses here date from 2006 to 2012, recent enough that most major systems are on a first or second round and old enough that the landscaping is not a promise from a sales brochure.

• Dues are $500 a year, billed annually rather than monthly, and the pool and playground are what that money maintains.
• Schools are Jones Dairy Elementary, Heritage Middle and Heritage High.
• The drawback is the Walmart, because you are behind a big-box store on a busy stretch of highway.
• Tree cover does real work once you are inside the neighborhood, but the corridor is still the corridor.
• There is no walking to anything from here that does not involve crossing a parking lot.
• At $425k to $575k this is also no longer the quiet bargain it was when the last section was finished.

What to do if you're visiting

Visiting this part of town mostly means eating along the corridor, which is not the worst assignment. Everything worth the trip sits on the same stretch of road as the neighborhood entrance.

• The loud, casual end of dinner is Buffalo Brothers Wake Forest, which fills up on a weekend.
• For a table that cannot agree on one cuisine, Asuka Asian Bistro (Wake Forest) is the Asian bistro option.
• When the weather takes the day, Brookfields Indoor Golf & Lounge puts indoor golf and a lounge under one roof, which works for adults and teenagers at once.
• Anyone in town for a few nights who wants to be near this end of things can look at Candlewood Suites Wake Forest.