so when we lived in new york we had a 1500 square foot house and we paid more in taxes
for that house than we do down in garner in our over 3 000 square foot house and
you just can't beat the quality of life and living down here the weather is beautiful
sometimes it's a little too hot for me the last friday of every month from april through november
is last friday in clayton so all the businesses stay open late there's live music on all the
street corners there's a farmers market in the square there's just like i mean it's
palpable you can like walk around and really feel it there's like free horse and carriage
rides there's kids there's families you can go out drinking and partying or you can make it
like very family-centric but it's nice to see all the businesses openly so that's awesome
clayton and garner are two towns in the triangle and often people who are considering one location
will also consider the other because they have a similar cost of living and they're right next
to each other although they encompass a fairly large area so there can still be an impact on the
commute depending on which one you choose today we're going to look at some of the similarities
and some of the differences between clayton and garner clayton is a town located in johnston
county which is just south of wake county one thing about clayton is it's a bit further removed
from other parts of the triangle it's about 25 minutes to downtown raleigh on the highway
which of course can get congested at times and add to that drive and clayton has a very small
town vibe about it about a mile outside of downtown clayton recently finished the sam's
branch greenway and the clayton riverwalk which connect to the neuse river trail that runs along
the noose river all the way up to falls lake dam which is a 33 mile walk or bike ride from clayton
the town of garner is located in wake county but there are parts of garner that are located in
neighboring johnston county it's about 15 minutes to downtown raleigh and garner has a very suburban
community feel one thing that a lot of people tell me who live in garner is that it feels like a very
close-knit community and you're going to run into people you know pretty much everywhere you go
there are a couple of popular parks that people in garner really love
lake benson and white deer park they're right across the street from each other and this is
where many community events and activities take place in garner lake benson hosts things like
the moonlight paddle when you can take canoes out onto the lake after dark and white deer
park has this great nature center where they offer some really neat programs and classes
the clayton harvest festival is by far the biggest event in clayton drawing 20 000 people from
all over the state for five days of carnival rides food performances and more in downtown
clayton
at the same time the harvest festival is
happening the shindig music festival is happening right in downtown as well
downtown clayton is a pretty popular spot and every year residents look forward to
summertime when they can grab a blanket and enjoy free summer movies in the town square
they also have food trucks and a bounce house and face painting before the movies start every year
in garner businesses and local organizations set up along the one mile loop trail in white oak park
and everyone comes dressed up at halloween for the trick-or-treat the
trails fourth of july is also a big event in garner lake benson hosts this annual event
the north carolina symphony plays there are games plenty of food and crafts put
on by kids adventure zone and of course the amazing fireworks display you don't
have a lot of big box stores in clayton and if you need that kind of thing you're
gonna have to go to garner which is only about 15 minutes away so no biggie right
but the cool thing about the lack of this kind of shopping in clayton is that they
have a vibrant historic downtown in some little towns in north carolina you might
see these cool little historic districts and they'll be completely empty just shop
after shop boarded up it's kind of sad really but not in clayton people really support the
local businesses here and for a small town there are a decent number of things to do
the community gardens it's going to be about three blocks down in the right-hand side right whenever
you get there there's like um there's an open box of like people can take any food goods that they
need or any like women's toiletries supplies yeah then there's community gardens where you can go
in and make your own they told us there was this little community garden and it's for whoever wants
to come in and grab some veggies so we're actually going to see if there's any veggies in here
nothing yet
right in downtown you can go axe throwing at epic acts there are
batting cages boulevard west is a great little coffee shop
there's a wine bar a tavern and a whole bunch of little restaurants and boutique
shops garner is a pretty small town but over the last few years there's been quite a bit of
development in the shopping arena you can find pretty much anything you need at the white oak
shopping center but i think this is one area that depending on your personality can feel a little
bit lacking in garner because the current shopping that exists in garner is almost all big box stores
everything you need is there but if you're looking for quaint privately owned shops you're probably
going to need to head to clayton garner does have this historic downtown district but it's still
in the revitalization stages and there's just not that much there yet hopefully we'll see more from
garner about this in the future clayton is home to 21 000 people for a small town clayton has some
big employers johnston county schools and johnston health each employ over a thousand people and
the two health care manufacturing companies nova nordisk and griffels employ similar numbers which
again is quite surprising for a town this size the median home price in clayton is 268 thousand
dollars at the time this video was released home prices are much more affordable in johnston county
compared to wake and the only thing you really give up is that convenience to wake county
amenities you know your downtown raleigh museums larger name concerts and events and that kind of
thing but for 260 thousand dollars you can get a home like this one three bedrooms three baths
and 1700 square feet garner is home to about 29 000 people the largest employer in garner
is amazon their fulfillment center employs 3 000 people other than that the majority of
professionals in garner commute into raleigh or surrounding areas garner's median home price is
276 thousand dollars as the time of this video was released this is very affordable compared to
many places in the triangle and for that price you can get a home like this one in garner how
cute is this it's three bedrooms two beds just under 1600 square feet and look at that yard
and i think probably it's we're very focused on arts and community and i think that just opens
the door to all different types of folks and you know tattoos or piercings or you
know purple hair or whatever you are as long as you're a good human and as long as you're
you know kind awesome we're very open so awesome love it thank you so much if you like this video
i think you'll really like this one comparing carrie to holly springs i would like to use
you on camera i like that you've got tattoos because well people have this idea about like
north carolina that it's like you know it's where the bible built it yes no no no so i want to show