Wake Forest Divided Over Which Way To Grow

And that's 20,000 residents who are divided over how the town should grow.

"I think we're trying to be another Cary, and Cary took many years to establish," Wake Forest resident Trice Moore said. "We're trying to do it overnight and the roads aren't keeping up with all the growth."

Resident Ed Lyons said growth was about moving "upwards instead of backwards."

"Unfortunately, some people may not see it right away," he said. "But then in the long run, they'll realize it's convenient. It's not an inconvenience."

A lot on South Main Street where a single family house sat for decades has become a point of debate in the town and in the upcoming Board of Commissioners election. Developers recently hauled the house away and cleared the trees with plans to build on it.

"If people like that kind of development, I'm not the man for them to vote for," Frank Drake, a candidate for the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners, said. "That lot and a similar one on Durham Road represent to me a heartache. They are a heartache. That land was plundered."

Town Commissioner Rob Bridges said Wake Forest must keep the "bigger picture in mind."

"We have to have long-term goals in mind," Bridges said. "In a year from now or two years from now, something very nice will be there hopefully and will be much better looking than it is now."

Wake Forest residents will be given the chance to voice their opinions on the growth debate during Tuesday's elections for the Board of Commissioners. Two seats are open, and the candidates are Bridges, Drake, Chris Kaeberlein, Chris Malone, and Margaret Jones Stinnett.