Cary is the seventh largest municipality in North Carolina. Cary is in Wake and Chatham counties in the state of North Carolina. Located almost completely in Wake County, it is the second largest municipality in that county and the third biggest municipality in The Triangle after Raleigh and Durham.
Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill constitute the three main cities of the Research Triangle metropolitan region despite the fact that today Cary is the 3rd largest municipality in the metropolitan area.
Situated in the Piedmont region of the eastern United States, Cary is close to North Carolina’s Research Triangle. It is surrounded on the north and east by Raleigh, on the north and west by Research Triangle Park and Morrisville, on the south by Apex and Holly Springs, and on the west by the Jordan Lake area. The town is hilly, with a great deal of the undeveloped land blanketed in dense woods. Several creeks and small lakes appear in the area, particularly Lake Crabtree in the north.
Cary is in the Humid Subtropical climate zone. It gets hot summers and mildly cold winters, with many months of pleasant weather each year. Temperature extremes here range from the negatives to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Hurricanes and tropical storms can impact Cary, usually after weakening considerably from being over land. Some, such as Hurricane Fran in 1996, have created great damage in the area. Snow falls every year, averaging around 6 inches annually.
Today’s Cary began in 1750 as a settlement called Bradford’s Ordinary. About 100 years later, the building of the North Carolina Railroad between New Bern and Hillsborough went through the town, linking Bradford’s Ordinary to a main transportation route.
During the early years Cary implemented zoning and other ordinances on an ad-hoc basis to manage growth and give the town structure. Beginning in 1971, the town created Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning to support population growth associated with the rise of Research Triangle Park nearby. A PUD allows a developer to organize a whole community prior to starting development, thus allowing future residents to be familiar with where churches, schools, commercial and industrial areas will likely be situated prior to such use begins.
The median household income for Cary as of 2011 was $110,609.
Cary has a council-manager government; the mayor and council members serve a four-year term, with half of the council seats being up for election each odd-numbered year. Four of the six council seats are elected by district; the remaining two seats are at-large representatives.
Cary Greenways and Trails keeps a network of sidewalks and paved trails linking neighborhoods and parks through the entire town. These greenways place strict specifications on environmental conditions to maintain a park-like atmosphere. Additionally, traditional sidewalks and paths exist through the entire town.
Take some time to visit this great city and explore. You will soon see why Cary is such a great place to live.