One of the many downsides to not having a municipal pool in Cary is the higher cost to swim at pools provided by other organizations.  Unlike municipal pools, many of these organizations don’t even offer daily swim passes.  Instead they require you to be a monthly member – often with an initiation fee.  Of the pools in Cary, only three offer day passes: UNC Wellness at $10, Rex Wellness at $10, and Triangle Aquatic Center at $7.  That makes the average daily swim rate in Cary $9.  Compared with the municipal pools from the surrounding communities, Cary is more than twice as expensive.

Pool Daily Admission Rate

It’s actually cheaper to drive outside of Cary to another city’s pool and swim at their non-resident rate (except for Durham at $9 for non-residents).  So while Cary likes to brag about their lowest tax rate in the area, they fail to mention it comes at the cost of fewer municipal services and resources.  While this may not be a big burden for certain demographics of Cary, it does present a large barrier to entry for many others.  In doing so, access to pools is restricted, fewer people learn to swim and/or enjoy the many health benefits of swimming.