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I have a potential employment opportunity in Charlotte, NC. I would be moving there with my wife and two young children (6 & 4). I would like suggestions on where to live. Any insight would be much appreciated.
Some parameters of things I would like:
* Good/Great schools. What are the best school districts in the area?
* Willing to sacrifice commute time for larger house/more land. I'm used to over an hour commute now. Ideally, I would like to drop it down to 30-45 minutes. Open to North or South Carolina.
*I have a limited budget. I would like to spend no more than $230,000 on a home.
Related Question: Why do most homes around Charlotte not have a basement?
Hi...if you can identify which part of the Chicago area that you are from, there are many of us from that area that are on this board who can help you transition to someplace that you will be comfortable with. One thing that will be of assistance is where your potential employer will be. Charlotte, much like Chicago, is very spread out. While traffic here is not comparable to Chicago's, we have to battle with roads that are too small for the amount of traffic, people who like to drive like Nascar wannna-bes and far too many transplants all trying to drive like they used to somewhere else. So, it is fairly ideal that you would want to live in the general vicinity of your employment.
There are a multitude of threads that discuss the lack of basements in the Charlotte area. Quick answer has to do with the red clay "dirt" that is here and the fact that it has little drainage capabilities.
Welcome to the area...especially if you are a Cubs fan!! there are lots of us here!
I have a potential employment opportunity in Charlotte, NC. I would be moving there with my wife and two young children (6 & 4). I would like suggestions on where to live. Any insight would be much appreciated.
Some parameters of things I would like:
* Good/Great schools. What are the best school districts in the area?
* Willing to sacrifice commute time for larger house/more land. I'm used to over an hour commute now. Ideally, I would like to drop it down to 30-45 minutes. Open to North or South Carolina.
*I have a limited budget. I would like to spend no more than $230,000 on a home.
Related Question: Why do most homes around Charlotte not have a basement?
Welcome to Charlotte
The basement question is an oft asked one, lol. Lack of them is a bit cultural and mostly soil and topography.
You'd need to tell us your job location to get the best suggestions on where to live and get the commute you want.
Thanks for the quick responses so far. My potential employer is located SOUTH of downtown Charlotte. According to Google Maps, the office is EAST of I-77, WEST of NC-74 (Independence Blvd/Andrew Jackson Hwy) and NORTH of Quail Hollow & Carmel Country Clubs and the southern rim of I-485.
@ ChicagoCubs.....I am a Cubs fan (I consider the Cubs the only MLB baseball team in Chicago). I currently reside in Aurora, IL, at the very far NE part of town, near Fermi-labs. Close to Naperville, Batavia, North Aurora. Are there any decent pizza joints down there? I would like to live in Charlotte's equivalent of a Naperville, Geneva, Batavia
Well, a hearty welcome to another follower of our Lovable Cubbies. Of course, they are the only team in Chicago (or anywhere for that matter!)...
It sounds like you might be near to the Ballantyne area. Ballantyne is comparable to Schaumburg or S. Barrington...the area around Willow Creek. It is fairly upscale, so, your budget might be a bit tight. However, if you ventured just a little south of there into South Carolina, some better deals will be easy to get. That would be Lancaster, SC for your searches. However, that area was also hit hard by foreclosures, so, you might find a good deal that way.
I can't speak to the school districts as my kids are grown. They do have a lot of charter schools and magnet schools here which are a good thing if you are not happy with the school in your district.
I don't know much about Aurora or the surrounding areas. I am a city girl, but, most of my relatives now live in the outlying northern suburbs...DeKalb, Rockford & near to Fox Lake...but, there may well be others on the board that have better knowledge of the area...
Let us know if you have any other questions....feel free to DM me if you want.
oh, BTW, the only "baseball" we have here is the feeder team to the White Sox. Obviously, I don't go there. Plus, it is not real baseball anyway...they have a mascot running around!
and, no to decent pizza...but, we CAN get hot dogs & Italian Beef at a place called Matt's Chicago Dog. Kind of expensive, but, they have to import everything from the city. They have two locations. They're from Arlington Heights.
Thanks for the quick responses so far. My potential employer is located SOUTH of downtown Charlotte. According to Google Maps, the office is EAST of I-77, WEST of NC-74 (Independence Blvd/Andrew Jackson Hwy) and NORTH of Quail Hollow & Carmel Country Clubs and the southern rim of I-485.
@ ChicagoCubs.....I am a Cubs fan (I consider the Cubs the only MLB baseball team in Chicago). I currently reside in Aurora, IL, at the very far NE part of town, near Fermi-labs. Close to Naperville, Batavia, North Aurora. Are there any decent pizza joints down there? I would like to live in Charlotte's equivalent of a Naperville, Geneva, Batavia
Sounds like the job will be in the Southpark area actually. That's one of the more desirable areas of the city
You won't find many homes in Southpark in your budget, but you can get pretty close in other parts of south Charlotte or Matthews. I'll send you a few links to give you some examples.
The "good pizza" thing is purely subjective. Obviously, people from different parts of the US grew up eating different styles of pizza, and most of those people always think that style pizza is the best, no if's ands or but's. Well, I can tell you there are plenty of great non-chain pizza joints in Charlotte. Luisa's Brick Oven (my personal fave), Hawthorne's NY style, Mellow Mushroom, Palone's, Wolfman's, the list goes on and on....
swampfoxer, to a true Chicagoan, the only decent pizza is a Chicago-style pizza. It is pretty much heresy to eat a NY style pizza and there is nothing in the Charlotte area that even comes close. Sorry. We are a very traditional group that does not stray far from our origins where food is concerned (well, especially food & baseball!)
I just moved from NJ to Charlotte about 6 months ago. With children, it is VERY important to move to an area where the school district is excellent, then look for homes in your price range. That is what we did and I am very happy that we did. I moved to Willowmere(in Charlotte). It is a community near the Matthews border where the schools are rated # 1. My children go to JM Robinson MS and Providence HS. (Do your homework on the NC school report card web site)..unless you want to pay for private schools. The homes are built around 1999 so they aren't brand new, however, they are affordable and in the range you are seeking. Good luck...If there is one think I can stress to you- find a good school district FIRST..I looked for 3 years prior to moving down and came 8 times before doing so...if you need an excellent realtor, let me know..I loved mine and he worked with me for 3 years!
I just moved from NJ to Charlotte about 6 months ago. With children, it is VERY important to move to an area where the school district is excellent, then look for homes in your price range.
This is a very good strategy.
But you can also move where the school district is terrible (Title 1) and get preference in the lotteries for magnet schools. I'm in a neighborhood with a title 1 elementary school assignment where literally every elementary school age child (and there are many) are enrolled in magnet schools.
Plus, if you're in a title 1 school district CMS must offer you alternative schools (one of my choices was Selwyn, for example).
That's what we did, and I couldn't be happier with our school (Language Academy). Plus, our High School is Myers Park... so the crappy school district does not translate to every level.
Bottom line, this board will push you to a suburban lifestyle. And that's great for many, and exactly what many want. But you don't have to choose between your child's well-being and a car-centered vanilla bean suburban lifestyle if other things are important to you. I'm 5 minutes from center city and about 10 minutes from SouthPark. And that's at ANY time of day.
Last edited by Native_Son; 04-09-2012 at 12:44 PM..
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there are lots of us here!
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