Traditions

Traditions is the largest master-planned community on the north side of Wake Forest, with about 1,600 homes planned and construction still underway since 2013. It has a clubhouse, a resort pool and miles of sidewalk, and that last part is what residents mention first. You can walk the neighborhood. It also has a lot of moving trucks. A place that has been building for more than a decade turns over constantly, and new neighbors are a permanent condition here rather than an event. Prices run roughly $450,000 to $800,000, which covers a wide range of house sizes. The Del Webb 55-plus section sits inside Traditions with its own amenity center, so the community holds both families and retirees.

Where it is

Traditions is north of downtown Wake Forest, along Highway 98. The entrance is on 98, and new retail is coming there, which will change the daily routine for anyone who currently leaves the neighborhood for a gallon of milk. For now, most trips start by getting back out to the highway. Downtown is a drive, not a walk. Inside the neighborhood it is a different story, since the sidewalk network is good enough that plenty of people get around on foot without touching a car, at least for anything that happens between the clubhouse and their own street.

What to know if you're moving here

Two numbers do most of the work here, the annual dues and the price spread. The first is modest for what it covers, and the second is wide enough that two houses in the same neighborhood are barely comparable.

• The HOA is $900 a year, billed annually, which is modest for a neighborhood that includes a clubhouse and a resort pool.
• There is a pool, and that alone puts Traditions ahead of plenty of Wake Forest subdivisions in the same price band.
• Schools are Richland Creek Elementary, Wake Forest Middle and Wake Forest High, all on the newer end for this side of town.
• Build years start in 2013, so the oldest houses are barely a decade old and maintenance costs should stay low for a while.
• Parts of a community that has been building for ten years are still a job site, with truck traffic and phases that open on the builder's schedule.
• The $450,000 to $800,000 spread is wide, and what you get at the bottom of it looks nothing like the top.

What to do if you're visiting

Traditions is residential, and the clubhouse and pool are for residents, so a visit means seeing someone who lives there and then leaving the neighborhood to eat.

• The sit-down option nearby is Il Bacio Italian Grill & Pizza.
• For something faster, MOD Pizza – Wake Forest does the job, and Culver’s Wake Forest works on the way in or out.
• Evenings end at Lumpy’s Ice Cream if there are kids in the car, and there usually are.
• The honest answer is that the draw here is the neighborhood itself, and the things worth driving to are in town.