Charlotte, NC - tell me about the different areas

[mill4023]

DW and I will be visiting the area for a couple days in January. The reason for our visit is to decide if it's an area where we would like to live. So we plan on just visiting different areas and probably looking at some houses to get a feel for some of the neighborhoods and an idea of what we could afford there.
We've never been anywhere in NC, so I'd appreciate anything you can tell me about the area.
Are there certain areas we should look at?
Where should we stay?

Thanks

 

[SC Minnie]

There are a lot of areas around Charlotte that are nice. http://www.charlotteobserver.com Here is the link to the Charlotte paper.

I live just across the state line in SC. What are you looking for in an area?

 

[mill4023]

Our kids are the priority, so we would be looking for an area with lots of families, good schools, and close to activities for the kids. We'd prefer an area with newer homes, but not super expensive. We're not wealthy, but after selling our house here in Oregon, we'll end up with about 80k. So depending on what kind of job I can get(I'm a software developer), we'd ideally be looking for a 4 or 5 bdrm ~2500 sq. ft house for 200k or less.

DW is really interested in a program offered at South Piedmont Community College in Monroe(looks like about 25 miles SE of downtown Charlotte). So if there are any nice areas south of the city, that would probably be ideal. Then again, I may look at taking some graduate classes at UNC, so we'd be interested in looking in any direction.

 

[SC Minnie]

Indian Trail might be a good area to look into. It is between Charlotte and Monroe.

 

[TLHB70]

I would definitely suggest the outer areas instead of in the heart of the city. You will pay much more for homes there.
I live in Waxhaw. I LOVE it!! It is in Union County which is a county right outside of Mecklenburg County (Charlotte's county). All of the cities/towns in Union County are nice: Waxhaw, Marvin, Weddington, Wesley Chapel, Indian Trail, and even Monroe. Monroe is a little bigger than the rest of them.
SC Minnie is in a good area too. That is South Carolina, but still very close. The area of Fort Mill is great. Rock Hill is a good area, too. Though the schools there seem a bit bigger and maybe "rougher." I have heard that Fort Mill schools are great. That is right, huh, SC Minnie????
Our schools in Union County are good.
I would avoid Mecklenburg County (Charlotte's county) schools!

 

[TLHB70]

Indian Trail might be a good area to look into. It is between Charlotte and Monroe.

We go to church in Indian Trail. There are a few nice subdivisions going up in Indian Trail now.

 

[SC Minnie]

I have heard that Fort Mill schools are great. That is right, huh, SC Minnie????

Our schools are great. We are building a new HS and MS and they just redrew the attendence lines and no one is complaining because all the schools are good. You couldn't say the same for CharMeck.

 

[Jockaroo]

Hi. I read your post and just wanted to say that the Charlotte Region is very nice. You mentioned that your wife is looking at a program at South Piedmont Community College. She may want to check out Central Piedmont Community College as well (http://www1.cpcc.edu/). CPCC is one of the nation's top community colleges and may offer the same program. CPCC has campuses throughout Mecklenburg County and therefore could be closer to where you want to live. CPCC offers tremendous educational value.

I will agree with those who have stated that you do not want your children in the Char/Meck schools. There are big problems within the schools. If you choose to look to the northern area, Cabarrus County is a wonderful place to live. Taxes and crime are much lower than in Mecklenburg and the schools are pretty good. The little town of Harrisburg is very close to the county line and is near UNCC (and a branch of CPCC as well). Mecklenburg County has a very high tax rate, which, with the school quality, is why many are leaving the county in droves and going to the surrounding counties.

Banking and finance are very big in Charlotte. Your software development skills may translate well for one of the banks, so consider checking for jobs in this field. Enjoy your visit.

 

[mill4023]

Thanks.
We'll definitely look into the areas everyone mentioned.
DW is interested in the Medical Sonography program at South Piedmont. But that would be a couple years away when our youngest goes to school, so who knows if that's what she'll still want to do.

Any recommendations on hotels or areas to stay? I've heard the south park area is a good place to stay.

 

[saucymb]

South Park is a nice area...a quick google search showed me several nice hotels (Hyatt, Doubletree, the Park), they may be a bit pricey (not sure if you're looking for budget). It's not very near the interstates, but there is a great mall right there. It's really a business district, good restaurants in the area, safe.

There's also a Westin, an Adam's Mark, the Omni, and a few other great hotels in Uptown Charlotte. You would be fine at any of those as well. Again, may be pricey.

There is an Embassy Suites right off of I-77 on South Tryon Road, which would be very convenient if you are planning to utilize I-77 for scouting around.

 

[TLHB70]

You can also get hotels in Pineville if you don't want to be driving from uptown, the heart of the city. There is a Hampton Inn and Suites, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Suites, and some others. Pineville will be closer to Union County and South Carolina areas if you want to look there. If you want to look at Cabarrus County (I agree with Jockaroo. Harrisburg is very nice!), then staying in Charlotte would be closer. When we traveled into Charlotte to look at the area and find a place to live, we stayed in hotels in Pineville just because there was less traffic. Plus we knew that we wanted to live in the area of south Charlotte or SC or Union County because of DH's drive to work. The traffic is lighter, too. There is a mall by these hotels in Pineville, also. (Carolina Place Mall) There are numerous restaurants around for eating.

 

[SC Minnie]

mill4023-- I sent you a PM

 

[tar heel]

No way would I move to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. It's a huge system and, while some of the best schools in the country are there, it's got some bad ones, too.

Cabarrus County schools range from okay to excellent. To ensure you're in the excellent district, you may have trouble finding a 4-bedroom newer house for under $200,000. Harrisburg and Western Cabarrus, where the best schools are, are also the most expensive part of the county but it's a good area to live in. I can get to UNCC in less than 15 minutes, uptown Charlotte in 30 if it's not rush hour and am in very close proximity to a megamall. If you decide to look in Cabarrus, pm me and I'll tell you which schools are considered the best.

Keep in mind that this is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, which means that new schools open all the time and your kids may get moved. Since everyone in the neighborhood and a lot of the kids and teachers in the old school move, too, it's not that big a deal b/c the new buildings awesome and the parents in my area are not going to accept mediocre education.

 

[Maude4Disney]

Dh and I lived in Pineville shortly after we were married (15 yrs ago) and were actively looking for housing in Monroe, Matthews, and Fort Mill area. I'm sure alot has changed since we were there, but those were some nice areas and out of the "city" but still close to everything. We had friends that lived on the north end.... Concord I think and that seemed like a nice area as well. Not sure about schools as we didn't have kids at the time and it hadn't become a priority yet. I do remember there being alot of problems w/ the schools in Charlotte, so I would definitely try to get out of that area. There is sooooo much to do in the Charlotte area. The malls are great, there was a childrens museum downtown, The Charlotte Knights (baseball), NASCAR (big fans), the football stadium was just being built when we lived there, they used to have the Hornets (basketball), great places to shop and EAT and Carowinds in right on the border between NC and SC... only a few hours from the ocean and a few from the mountains. It's a great location!