Commute from Brookhaven to Uptown (Charlotte, Monroe: lawyer, new house, neighborhoods)
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I am moving to Charlotte but am starting to regret it. (I'm locked in now.) The nice houses are further out, and yet the commute seems to be quite bad from Union County. I find it amazing that such a small city has such horrible commuting.
I am moving to Charlotte but am starting to regret it. (I'm locked in now.) The nice houses are further out, and yet the commute seems to be quite bad from Union County. I find it amazing that such a small city has such horrible commuting.
Sorry to say, "I told you so" but we did have this conversation and you could not understand how this city could have such bad traffic! I hope your post will be taken seriously by others so they too won't be so shocked when they arrive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Londonlawyer
Perhaps some New Yorkers can answer this question.
We're thinking of moving to Charlotte for a variety of reasons, but I am concerned about people talking constantly about horrific commutes from 20 miles away.
I live in Westchester in a town that's about 25 miles from Midtown. I have a 30 minute ride on Metro North, which is an utter pleasure. I read the NY Times in the morning and the Economist, Smithsonian or some other magazine going home at night.
Not to mention, on some occasions, I've driven during weekdays to Wall Street, and it's simply not as horrific as people in Charlotte suggest that their drives are. Can a city with 2 million people have worse traffic than a city with 20 million? I am concerned about this issue. Please let me know your thoughts.
This is what I wrote to you:
Never lived in NY, but I'm going to take a stab at your question anyway. Basically, YES, a city with this much less population can have traffic worse than such a large city as NYC. This is because the Charlotte streets, roads and interstates were never meant to carry the amount of traffic they now carry. Our public transportation system is off to a good start, but in its infancy. You do realize we only have 9.6 miles of light rail track opened yet? NYC has had the subway system for over a hundred years. We've basically only seen use of our city buses in the last 10 years! Neighborhood streets, narrow little streets have now become major thoroughfares all day long. Used to be you could go anywhere in Charlotte and be there in 15 minutes, except for the morning and afternoon rush hours - and that was only about 10 years ago. Now, no matter what time of day you travel you will encounter constant traffic.
I realize to some of you coming from 2+ hour commutes this is all relative. But for those of us here long term we are appalled at the traffic we must now deal with. If the city had been designed to accomadate this many people years ago, then traffic would not be much of an issue. Since no one could ever foresee the huge influx in our population not much was done to prepare for it and we are, I think, very overcrowded. Until our roads catch up I think traffic here could definitely stay worse than traffic in many other larger cities."
Now, all that being said, there are MANY nice areas to live closer in to uptown so that you can improve that commute - the nicest houses are NOT all out in Union County. If you tell us your price range maybe we can make some suggestions to help you
Last edited by lovesMountains; 05-20-2008 at 10:13 PM..
From Bridgehampton, the commute was reasonable, but the area around Bridgehampton is depressing. Also, as one drives into Bridgehampton itself, it goes from beautiful to shoddy in the back section.
I loved Weddington Chase, but driving up Providence Road is ridiculous.
P.S.: I found no new houses in the 600 to 700k range within 485 like one finds outside of 485.
From Bridgehampton, the commute was reasonable, but the area around Bridgehampton is depressing. Also, as one drives into Bridgehampton itself, it goes from beautiful to shoddy in the back section.
I loved Weddington Chase, but driving up Providence Road is ridiculous.
P.S.: I found no new houses in the 600 to 700k range like one finds outside of 485.
Did you consider the many nice neighborhoods off of Carmel Rd by any chance?
Personally I do not find the area around Bridgehampton "depressing" at all - I find it scenic and pleasant - to each his own!
From Bridgehampton, the commute was reasonable, but the area around Bridgehampton is depressing. Also, as one drives into Bridgehampton itself, it goes from beautiful to shoddy in the back section.
I loved Weddington Chase, but driving up Providence Road is ridiculous.
P.S.: I found no new houses in the 600 to 700k range within 485 like one finds outside of 485.
You won't find as many new homes inside the 51 perimeter because it's been established and built out for a while, but some of the older ones are so much better! They have more charm, character and usually are built more solidly than the ones being built these days.
I think it depends on what time you leave. I commute on Providence & I don't think it is as bad as many say it is.
It seemed pretty tied up when I was on it at 7:50 a.m.
Other than Providence, however, I did not find rush hour traffic to be as bad as people say. I made it from Uptown to Bridgehampton in 35 minutes and was on the road at 5:45 p.m.
I was in Charlotte during the weekend of May 17th.
I thought I wanted to live in Weddington Chase until I saw how congested Providence Road is in the morn.
How is the commute to Uptown from Brookhaven? It appears that one would travel via 74.
There are several different ways you can commute to Uptown from Brookhaven. As others have said, the amount of traffic really depends on what time you leave. If you can be out the door before 6:30 am, or out of Uptown before 4:30 or after 6:45 or so, it isn't too bad. Some of the ways you can get Uptown: 485 to 77; you can take 74; you can take Monroe Rd; you can go Providence Rd; my personal favorite is Weddington Rd to Trade St to Fullwood to 51 to Sardis to Fairview to Randolph. Sounds confusing, but it's a lot of quick turns and you get used to it. Any way you go can be awful, but timing is everything!! You can do it in 30 minutes or so if you time it right. It also can take an hour on a bad day, or at peak rush hour times. I guess I'd plan on 45 minutes or so on an average day. Like any other city, the further out you go, the more house you will get for the $$. But your commute will obviously be worse. It's a trade off.
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