Buena Vista, Winston-Salem: homes, schools, parks and commute

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Sources: the City of Winston-Salem’s Northwest Winston-Salem Area Plan, the city’s school zone and parks map layers, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s 2025-26 accountability data, WSTA’s published schedule data, OpenStreetMap and Zillow Research.

Buena Vista is a residential area on the west side of Winston-Salem, north of Salem Parkway and along Buena Vista Road. The city’s Northwest Winston-Salem Area Plan names it with West Highlands and Westview as the suburbs laid out in the 1910s and 1920s, when homeowners moved out from downtown, and says subdivisions continued to the west and north of Buena Vista from the 1940s to the 1970s. Almost all of it is in ZIP code 27104.

What this means for you

• Zoned high school: R.J. Reynolds High, 47.2% of state tests at grade level in 2025-26, according to the state’s accountability data. Confirm an address with the district at 336-727-2292.
• Home value: $372,421 in ZIP code 27104 in August 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
• Nearest freeway exit: Salem Parkway Exit 235 at US 158 and Stratford Road, about 1 mile by road.

Part of our Winston-Salem neighborhoods guide.

Where it is

The Northwest plan area runs from Salem Parkway and West Northwest Boulevard north to Reynolda Village and Old Town Club, and from Silas Creek Parkway east to the Crossnore School and Children’s Home. Buena Vista sits in its southern half. The plan lists Buena Vista Road, North Stratford Road and Miller Street as the minor thoroughfares that connect its neighborhoods to Reynolda Road, Robinhood Road and Country Club Road, and notes sidewalks along Buena Vista Road. The city has installed crosswalks where Buena Vista Road meets Reynolda Road, the plan says.

Buena Vista has no historic district listing. The plan recommends that property owners seek National Register and local landmark designation for eligible places and lists Buena Vista, West Highlands, Westview and Reynolda Park among them.

Schools

Buena Vista is in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. We checked 49 evenly spaced points within about half a mile of the spot OpenStreetMap marks as Buena Vista, against the city’s published school zone map layers:

• Elementary: 39 were zoned for Whitaker and 10 for Brunson.
• Middle and high: all 49 were zoned for Wiley Magnet Middle and R.J. Reynolds High.

Scores are the share of state tests at grade level or above in 2025-26 and the state’s growth rating. The district average was 52.4%. More in our schools guide.

Home values

The Zillow Home Value Index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, not a sale price. Zillow publishes no figure for Buena Vista alone.

ZIP code 27104 had the highest value of the city’s ZIP codes in August 2026 and covers a wide area of the west side, so it is a broad measure. Trends are on our home prices page.

Parks and trails

From the city’s parks map layer:

• Whitaker Park, 470 Dartmouth Road, a 10-acre community park.
• Stratford Road Park, 101 Stratford Road, about 4 acres.
• Runnymeade Park, 1800 Runnymeade Road, and Meadowbrook Park, 1700 Meadowbrook Drive, two small parks.

The plan notes a mapped flood area along the Buena Vista branch of Silas Creek. Hanes Park, with its tennis center and track, is about a mile east. More in our parks and trails guide.

Getting around

• Salem Parkway: Exit 235 at US 158 and Stratford Road is about 1 to 1.1 miles by road, depending on direction; Exit 234C at Cloverdale Avenue about 1.4 miles; Exit 236 at Knollwood Street about 1.7 miles.
• Downtown: about 2.9 miles by road to City Hall.
• Piedmont Triad International Airport: about 26.4 miles by road.
• Buses: WSTA Route 95 (Peace Haven, Country Club, Vinegar Hill) and the 120 WSTA-X West stop in or beside the area, according to WSTA’s current schedule data. See wstransit.com.

Distances were measured with the OSRM routing engine on OpenStreetMap roads. They are distances, not drive times. More in our getting around guide.

Groceries and everyday stores

There is no supermarket in the residential core. OpenStreetMap lists these about a mile south, near Stratford Road and Miller Street:

• Supermarkets: Publix, 34 Miller St.; Whole Foods Market, 41 Miller St.; Trader Joe’s, 252 S. Stratford Road; Harris Teeter, 2281 Cloverdale Ave.
• Pharmacy: CVS Pharmacy, Cloverdale Avenue.

How we built this page

Buena Vista has no published boundary, so we used the area within about half a mile of the place OpenStreetMap names Buena Vista, near Buena Vista Road; the history and roads come from the city’s Northwest area plan. School zones come from the city’s map layers, checked at evenly spaced points; confirm an address with the district. We found no public list of homeowners associations for Buena Vista, so this page does not describe them. No freely licensed street-level photo of Buena Vista was available, so the picture is a federal aerial image of the area.

Frequently asked questions

What schools serve Buena Vista in Winston-Salem?

Of 49 points we checked around Buena Vista on the city’s school zone maps, 39 were zoned for Whitaker Elementary and 10 for Brunson Elementary; all 49 were zoned for Wiley Magnet Middle and R.J. Reynolds High. Confirm an address with the district at 336-727-2292.

What ZIP code is Buena Vista?

Almost all of Buena Vista is in ZIP code 27104, which had the highest Zillow Home Value Index of Winston-Salem’s ZIP codes in August 2026: $372,421, up 0.5% in a year.

Is Buena Vista a historic district?

Not yet. The city’s Northwest area plan recommends that property owners seek National Register and local landmark designation for eligible areas, and it lists Buena Vista among them.

What parks are near Buena Vista?

Whitaker Park, 470 Dartmouth Road, a 10-acre community park, and small city parks on Stratford Road, Runnymeade Road and Meadowbrook Drive.