Bridgehampton，Berkeley, Stone Creek Ranch: public schools and houses (Charlotte: neighborhoods, wedding)

[understandme]

We've been looking at houses in thos 3 communties and would like to hear your comments. My son is in Pre-K right now and will be going to K next year. Plan to have one more kid in the future. We want the best possible schools for the children but also want a nice neighbourhood where kid(s) could enjoy the ammenities. We have friends living in all 3 and they all say very nice things about their communities.

Here are some of my thoughts:
1. Bridgehampton: great look and feel, most lots have grown trees, community has everything: pool, playground, tennis court. Houses are more expensive than the other 2 but seem to retain good values.
School:
Elementary Elon park, great school
Middle Community House: also 10 score school, but I did read some negative feedback on greatschools.net.
High: Ardray Kell, may be just slightly behind Providence High but nontheless a great HS. Some tell me that it's trending up and may match or even top Providence High

2. Berkeley:
Some say it has arguably the best schools in south Charlotte: Providence Spring, JM Robinson and Providence High. Another good thing is that it's closer to good private schools if we ever need to(hopefully not).
But the community is far less ideal compared to Bridgehampton. no sidewalk, not much ammeninities. Houses are mostly older with less open floor plans and less bathrooms. Mostly 2 car garage.
I'm thinking that elementary and HS of Bridgehampton are not too bad but don't know if the difference on middle school is worth it.

3. Stone Creek Ranch
Houses are kind of in between Berkeley and Bridgehampton, not as nice as BH but certainly newer and bigger than Berkely. Good ammenities. Not too far away from the good private schools.
Good middle and HS(Jm Robbinson and Ardrey).
Elementary Polo Ridge is score 10 but community reviews on greatschools.net seems to be pretty bad. Not sure if it's getting a change with new admin.

I'm not considering Marvin at this point because it's just a little too down south and feels a little bit more remote.

Thanks for your input and happy Thanksgiving!

[ZnGuy]

Originally Posted by understandme

We've been looking at houses in thos 3 communties and would like to hear your comments. My son is in Pre-K right now and will be going to K next year. Plan to have one more kid in the future. We want the best possible schools for the children but also want a nice neighbourhood where kid(s) could enjoy the ammenities. We have friends living in all 3 and they all say very nice things about their communities.

Here are some of my thoughts:
1. Bridgehampton: great look and feel, most lots have grown trees, community has everything: pool, playground, tennis court. Houses are more expensive than the other 2 but seem to retain good values.
School:
Elementary Elon park, great school
Middle Community House: also 10 score school, but I did read some negative feedback on greatschools.net.
High: Ardray Kell, may be just slightly behind Providence High but nontheless a great HS. Some tell me that it's trending up and may match or even top Providence High

2. Berkeley:
Some say it has arguably the best schools in south Charlotte: Providence Spring, JM Robinson and Providence High. Another good thing is that it's closer to good private schools if we ever need to(hopefully not).
But the community is far less ideal compared to Bridgehampton. no sidewalk, not much ammeninities. Houses are mostly older with less open floor plans and less bathrooms. Mostly 2 car garage.
I'm thinking that elementary and HS of Bridgehampton are not too bad but don't know if the difference on middle school is worth it.

3. Stone Creek Ranch
Houses are kind of in between Berkeley and Bridgehampton, not as nice as BH but certainly newer and bigger than Berkely. Good ammenities. Not too far away from the good private schools.
Good middle and HS(Jm Robbinson and Ardrey).
Elementary Polo Ridge is score 10 but community reviews on greatschools.net seems to be pretty bad. Not sure if it's getting a change with new admin.

I'm not considering Marvin at this point because it's just a little too down south and feels a little bit more remote.

Thanks for your input and happy Thanksgiving!

BridgeHampton is great neighorhood, we considered buying there in 2004. All the schools from your 3 choices are great. I have some good friends in Berkley and I consider it a very nice neighborhood, great location too. If you like newer construction as we prefered (we built home) Berkley is not for you. We ended up in Brookhaven in Union County, same builder as BridgeHampton and neighborhood just as nice, assume if you have younger children. Schools are very good (Antioch Elementary you can walk to, Weddington MS/HS). Same type homes but a little cheaper than BH and lower taxes. Brookhaven amenities can't be beat.
Neighborhood Detail Cadence

[Ex-LI]

Part of Bridgehampton is in South Carolina. How does that work for school zoning?

[feng21]

Have you seen houses in all the 3 communities? The reason for asking is one builder is kind of high end developer - Bridge Hampton is by John Weiland and their Architecture is 'different'. You will see well planned houses and neighborhoods. BH is bit older community but has retained its value. I live in one of the JW communities - I did see stonecreek ranch but JW houses got my attention. Tried BH but its difficult to find a right house - at least for us. We were looking for well maintained house for about 6 months and finally gave up. The location is pretty good other than the fact that Johnston Rd to 485 seems like a challenge during rush hour.
I believe you are looking at NC portion of BH and not the SC portion of the community- that will make a huge difference. And dont forget they are 13 year old homes; not that it matters if the house is well maintained. Get a home inspection done thoroughly.

If you are comparing the schools then I would say all of them fare in the same range - you cant go wrong with either one of them. All the schools that cater to BH/Berk/Stone Creek are not "much" different with ratings.

If I were not vote, BH gets #1 - good schools, great neighborhood, retains house values.

Did you see the new pulte homes near BH?

[ZnGuy]

Originally Posted by Ex-LI

Part of Bridgehampton is in South Carolina. How does that work for school zoning?

Indian Land in Lancaster. Schools are not comparable, homes in BridgeHampton on SC side were 40-50k cheaper than the NC side when we considered neighborhood.