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My family is moving down to Charlotte in the coming months, and we are looking for any advice on what would be a good and safe neighborhood between uptown and university areas to rent either a single family house or an apartment at least initially.
It seems that it's much harder to find information on neighborhoods in north Charlotte as compared to south Charlotte, so would appreciate any insights. We have heard the Noda would be a good area, but don't really know about any other potential good neighborhoods along that corridor.
We care more about how the neighborhood itself is, over the commute traffic, though in your experience, how long would the commute be from the university area to uptown in morning commute traffic (or reverse route in evening commute traffic)?
The 85 corridor has 8 lanes so living in the University area itself and commuting to Uptown isn’t bad
The most desirable areas would be NoDa and Plaza Midwood just north and east of Uptown. From Tryon and 36th on north you would probably want to avoid most of those areas up until the area where Tryon intersects with University City Blvd. The light rail also follows the N Tryon corridor so that’s an additional option for commuting to Uptown.
Are you looking for an urban/ in town neighborhood with walkable shops, historic houses, etc.... OR are you looking for a brand new neighborhood of new tract houses.
If you want the in town neighborhood (and splitting the commute between Uptown and University City), look at Noda and Plaza Midwood. You can also throw in Cherry, Elizabeth, and Oakhurst. Cotswold wouldn't be too bad a drive either.
For newer suburban neighborhoods look at Highland Creek, Concords Mills area of Concord, Harrisburg, Mint Hill. These would be slightly further from Uptown, but still an ok commute. Commutes won't be bad to University City.
Personally, the only area I would consider between UNCC and uptown is NoDa. It is a "special" neighborhood. By that I mean eclectic. I enjoy going their for bar hopping and dining. It is a fun area on the light rail and I believe it is a pretty safe place for walking around and living, but it is definitely a 20s/30s type place. There are lots of renovated older homes around and plenty of apartments and condos. I can't tell you about the schools. As far as Midwood Plaza. Personally, I don't care for the area. There are cool places there, but the crime element exceeds NoDa and everyplace other than NoDa and uptown from UNCC is sketchy. I don't know your age, workplace location, rent money limits, race, likes/dislikes and/or other factors that are important for choosing the right place. More information would be helpful. Good luck and be sure to check the CMPD crime statistics and school ratings for the areas. Since you specifically wanted to know about the area between UNCC and uptown, I refrain from personal suggestions. Good luck.
A little more about ourselves. We are in our early 30s with a young child, so school district won't really be an issue for at least a couple more years. For the first year or so, we are hoping to rent a single family house with at least 3 bedrooms for hopefully no more than around $3000 a month. We prefer more of a suburban community setting, where it's safe to stroll around the neighborhood and let kids play in the yard, but we are not excluding the apartments in Uptown including the highrises.
I'll be working mainly by Uptown, whereas my wife will be working mainly by University area, hence why we are looking along that corridor, but we would be open to any safe neighborhood that would be of reasonable commute to Uptown and University area.
From everyone's input, it seems that there's not that much choice between Uptown and University area, but we may be a little past the 20s/30s type place that Jewkranian is describing NoDa to be with the bar hopping scene.
How about if we were to go a little more north, between university area and Huntersville? Would the commute be much worse to Uptown? We have heard that commute traffic is bad on Interstate 77, but sounds like not bad if we stick with Interstate 85? It seems that there are a lot of new construction houses along that corridor, and we will probably be buying a house in that region within a year of moving to Charlotte, though that would be a more permanent next step, and we would take into account school districts at that step. Of the newer suburban neighborhoods that CLT4 suggested, Highland Creek and Concord Mills seem to be in that area. Any other suggestions? I guess with newer suburban neighborhoods, it may be hard to get info on them?
Highland Creek, Concord Mills area, Harrisburg, Huntersville, etc.. are all good family friendly options and there will be lots of homes in your budget.
The biggest benefit of being near Noda is the restaurants and bars, but the neighborhood isn't really set up around young kids. I would not recommend Noda unless you get a chance to visit first and see if it fits your family before signing a lease.
They are about the same from the Concord Mills area. There isn't a better way to go. It takes the same amount of time. I do it everyday and have used both.
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