The Best Independent Living Communities in Wake County, NC

"I chose to live here in Abbotswood at Stonehenge because I have more room than I had where I was living before. I've got a separate bedroom now, which I like, and I am impressed with how long most of the staff have been here. They've been pretty loyal to the place and are pretty attentive to the residents. The food has been good, too, and the service I've received is better. I am in the independent living, but you can get more services if you need them. Although it'll cost you more, it's available here. They have a lot of activities. They have certain nights and times when they play dominoes or do trivia nights."

"It was beautiful. The room that I saw was large and had a lovely view. The people and their dining room were very nice. They had activities. However, they had a very long waiting list. "

"Atria Oakridge is comforting because it is in my neighborhood. I like the presentation the young lady gave me there. I like their rooms, and I like the sunroom. I just felt very comfortable living there. I like the two-meal-a-day program. Also a lot of things that they do are great. I met some people there that really seemed to enjoy it very much. Their activities are very informal. They are nice activities and inexpensive. I like the atmosphere. It isn't stuffy. It is about 10 years old, so it isn't brand new but it isn't very old either. The most important thing is that it is right in my neighborhood. It is also well-maintained and clean."

"small apartments but having the washer and dryer inside is great. I love the large kitchen and do cook at least one meal a day"

"I went to Jordan Oaks, and it was a perfect facility for me. It would be close to my children, closer than I am now. When you first walk in, you walk in to this beautiful foyer, and everything is decorated so elegantly. To the right, there was a big baby grand piano, and as you go into the dining room, somebody plays during each meal -- impressive luncheon dinner, very elegant, and the dining room itself was like a four-star restaurant. They have a four-star chef and a nutritionist that works there full-time to meet all the nutritional needs of the residents. So they work extensively with the chef on what people can have and cannot have. They serve breakfast at a certain time in the morning, lunch at a certain time, and dinner at a certain time. But if you miss breakfast, they have sort of like a little meeting room -- a coffee room on each floor -- that they keep fresh fruits, cereal, and sweets in, and they have a refrigerator in there. "

"Reserve at Mills Farm is a brand-new facility, but a little more homey. It's rustic. The grounds have a pond nearby. It's very close to facilities like grocery stores and Costco. It's only three levels, and they move from independent living to memory care as well. I really liked their memory care concept, which is like cabins. You share a common area in a cabin with five other people, but you have individual rooms, so your staff ratio is very small. They have at least two to one person per patient or resident in the memory care. I really liked the staff ratio. I liked the pod concept instead of individual rooms down a long hallway. You're in a circular cabin, and you just come out into a common area when you want to be out and have your meals and so forth. It has a cozier effect. What I liked about these pods is that they are ranch-style with gardens around them, so they give you a feeling of safety without realizing that you can't wander out of the area. It's almost like a little home. They had a hairdresser onsite. They had a pharmacy onsite, so you could transfer all of your medicines to their pharmacy, and everything could be done in-house. All of the staff members were very caring, nice, and accommodating. They had a big community dining hall and a very nicely furnished ground floor, so you could walk out onto the patio."

"I visited The Cambridge at Brier Creek. They are excellent. It was very high class and very nice. They're welcoming. The young lady who showed us around was just excellent and gave us all the time we needed. The building is a couple of years old, so basically it's new. The apartments have very nice touches to them, like wood floors and up-to-date appliances. It's nice, fresh, and light. They have amenities. They have an exercise person onsite every day, and they have health care. It's just very nice. They have movies and all kinds of things to do."

"We toured Brier Pointe Retirement Community. I liked that it was new. This is the place that had all the dogs on the first floor that I liked. The people were super nice. I felt that the patients, the staff, and everybody were just very friendly people. The sizes of the rooms and the layouts were very nice. The dining area was great, clean, and well-arranged. There were a lot of things about it to like. They had a buffet instead of seated dining."

"I toured the Gardens at Wakefield for independent living. The lobby doesn't appear to be a lobby, so it gives you the impression that you're not actually at the front door, and I found that a bit off-putting. The apartments are redone, and they offer some very nice accommodations. We didn't see a whole lot of resident activity, but what we saw, people seemed to be very active and interested in what they were doing. We had a lot of positive feedback during the tour from residents. The staff member who gave the tour is a marketing person. She was very personable and willing to show us what she could. Overall, she did a good job. They have amenities like a concierge, activities, and transportation. They did not have a pool. You had to go to the YWCA down the road if you wanted a pool. They have an exercise program and a therapy program. They have the usual stuff that you would find in an independent living community. If you need further care, you either hire it and bring it in yourself or move to another community."

"Cambridge was close to us and it was cheaper. Mom was really excited about the activities. They have an indoor pool and activities all the time. "

"I visited the Lodge at Wake Forest, and I enjoyed it. It was very nice. The people were very friendly. I liked all the amenities they have. We stayed there for lunch, talked to a resident who had been there for a long time, and she was very happy. The food is good, we saw the menu, and you can select off the menu every day. They serve snacks, sandwiches and cookies all day long, and you can always go there to take something. The meal times are set, so you can eat if you missed the meals. However, the rooms were a little too small for my furniture, and they don't have a kitchenette, and that's what I needed. It's in a good location. The staff member was very helpful, she showed me the rooms, and the staff member in the dining room was very pleasant."

"Hayes Barton Place is at the top of my list. I visited their model in September, and then I went back in February when they opened, and I just got an invitation today to go to their open house. I walked in, and I knew I would fit in. People looked like me; they were active. They have a big fitness room, an exercise class, and a swimming pool where people are doing aerobics. This is an active community. They have a library and all the amenities that all these places have. Their rooms are nice and updated. They have beautiful appliances. They have a great kitchen, a living room, and a dining area. It's either a two-bedroom-two-bath or a one-bedroom-and-a-den. It is exactly what I'm looking for. I walked in, and they greeted me. The lady that I met in September showed me all around. They loved the place, and you could see they were happy. They have five different places where you can dine, which is one of my concerns. If I'm going to eat a couple of meals a day, I want to have choices. It's just a beautiful, brand-new facility. They have a bocce court, a putting green, a pickleball court, and a cornball. They have things that I like to do. The size of the rooms is good. They have nice bathrooms and beautiful kitchens. It's brand new, and it's state-of-the-art. They had dogs, too. The people who were there had their hair done, and they had smart clothes on. They were my age."

"My sister-in-law's mother is at The Oaks at Whitaker Glen, and it is a very nice facility. It is very clean, operates well, and the staff is nice and helpful. They adhered very well to the COVID protocols, like not allowing anyone in unless they were caregivers. They have lectures, bus trips, movies, and an exercise facility. The food is excellent, too. She's very happy there."

"I moved into Overture Centennial. I'm enjoying it very much. Right now, it is very difficult with the pandemic and all of the care that we have to take, but they have everything that anyone might need. The staff is very helpful, it is not 24-hours, but I'm enjoying it because my apartment is very nice, it's in a good location, and it's comfortable. I do not partake in a lot of activities because of the pandemic. I have not been able to get a vaccination yet, and I'm waiting for the Health Department to call me and say it's time, so I'm being cautious and that's all there is to it. I have things to do for myself and I enjoy the privacy of this place. They have breakfast and that's five days a week, Monday through Friday, but that's about all right now owing to this virus, so they're not serving dinners or anything like that. They're trying very hard to keep the community enjoying the place, and they always have something at the door for a special holiday. Like on Sunday, they had a little candy and a little bottle of Irish cream. They're always reaching out and doing what they can. Because of what they do to get people together and to have a glass of wine, some popcorn, or some cake or whatever, they do it very well. They set it up in such a way that people do not have to be sitting together, you can take what you want and bring it up to your apartment, so you don't have to stay downstairs. I appreciate their imaginative ways of doing things, of trying to get people feeling a part of the community, and there's always something every week. They also keep the facility nice and beautiful, and everything is vacuumed and washed."