Charlotte, NC & surrounding areas

If anyone has lived, plans to live, or has visited Charlotte NC and surrounding areas (Lake areas, Monroe, Huntersville...). Can you give your impressions?

Is it just like NoVA? I've heard great things about the area but all second hand.

Thanks! :cheerleader:

(Cheerleader smiley is my fave)

 

I travel to Charlotte frequently for work, it is nothing like northern VA. You can actually get from the outskirts to downtown in a timely fashion. During rush hour, compared to here is like a breaze, not to mention lower cost of living.

While there is lake Norman north of Charlotte, I like lake Wylie, it is south of Charlotte, but the roads going to and from are not that shabby. http://www.crescent-resources.com/communit/wylie/default.asp

the downtown life in Charlotte is pretty nice too.

 

We lived in Charlotte for 12 years (1992-2004) - its a nice place to live. That said, here are a few of my observations:

1. While traffic is not as bad as NoVA, its still pretty bad. The road system is woefully inadequate for the growth. We originally lived near Lake Norman, and I worked in South Charlotte. My commute in 1993 was about 25 minutes - by 1997, it had turned into 1 hour (sometimes 1 hour 15 minutes). Even with the recent construction of the outer belt, its still pretty jammed at rush hour. So don't think you will escape the traffic.

2. Downtown Charlotte, for all the attempts at revitalizing, is still pretty dead after 6 or 7 pm. Visit sometime and walk around in the evening - you'll see what I mean.

3. Public school system in Mecklenburg County is highly variable, with some of the best and worst in the state of NC. If schools are important, choose your home carefully.

4. Cost of living is not bad - compared to here, you will be very pleasantly surprised.

5. Charlotte has the best YMCA system I've seen anywhere - one membership gets you into all the Mecklenburg Y's (I think there are about 6 now) - best health club in Charlotte, with some great outdoor pools/waterparks for the kids.

6. For neighborhood recommendations - try Dilworth if you like historical districts (great, restored arts and crafts bungalows, walk to restaurants, grocery stores); Myers Park is where Charlotte "old money" lives (nice homes, superb mature landscaping, very convenient to downtown, great schools); Southeast Charlotte/Mecklenburg if you want solid, middle/upper class suburbs; Lake Wylie or Lake Norman if you want water recreation and don't mind a bit of a commute to downtown. I would generally avoid North, East, and West Charlotte, although you might find some nice areas in each.

7. Some great restaurants/dives - Prices Chicken Coop, Mr. K's (cheesburgers, onion rings), South 21 drive-in, TinTin Chinese Buffet (Hong Kong soup bar is fantastic here), Lupies (best Chili in town), Macintosh's (Steak).

8. If you like Blues, go to the Double Door - its a great Blues bar which attracts some top blues acts.

Charlotte is a nice place, not as cheap as you might think, fairly conservative, dominated by the banking industry (BofA HQ, Wachovia HQ), and with a great big chip on its shoulder about the fact that its not quite a "big city" even though it thinks it is.

Good Luck

 

My son and daughter-in-law took the plunge this spring and moved to Lake Norman. They had been living in Reston and finally the pace and commutes just became enough for them. Even before they knew whether they would have new jobs in hand, they put their Reston house on the market and bought a home still under construction.

They then each submitted proposals to their WDC area employers for telecommuting. If that was not doable, both were prepared to resign. Fortunately each of their proposals was accepted; in fact, my son telecommutes half the time from his Lake Norman residence and the remaining half he goes to a Charlotte based office (about 25 minute commute). He works for Sprint-Nextel and my daughter-in-law works for Northrup Grummond.

They are both so happy they made the shift for a variety of reasons. They were able to get twice the house for less than they sold their Reston home and on a 1/2 acre wooded lot too. They enjoy the quality of life, the friendliness of the people and the community. They are avid outdoors people and spend a lot of time at the lake.

Neither of them have had any complaints about traffic but again, they do not regularly commute. The majority of their neighbors do commute to Charlotte from where they live. The thing they mentioned missing was that there was no Wegman's there yet! Most of their neighbors were also from the WDC/NY area.

When we visited them we were suitably impressed and can easily see why they chose the area they did.

 

Thanks for all the great info! Bring on more What about Lake Wylie living or Monroe, Huntersville...anything like that. Obviously we're thinking of moving to that neck of the woods.

Sometimes have considered the Wilmington/Myrtle Beach coastal areas as well - but that's just a beach living dream

 

I am a former B'lands resident- we moved to NC in June. We are not in Charlotte but chose the Greensboro area instead. We really love it. I know folks say the traffic in Charlotte stinks and the schools are not good in Mecklenburg county- Union County I hear is good. It is also a bit more expensive than other parts of the state- still a bargain by N. VA standards. Greensboro itself is very beautiful- parts of it remind me of old Bethesda. We live in NW Guilford county, where everything is on an acre! I must admit we do not miss knowing what our neighbors were eating for dinner, much as we loved them. We also have all brick and every feature imaginable- who knew builders actually can buy 7 inch baseboard and some even put up moldings everywhere- I get angry all over when I think about we just "settled" for things in Virginia that builders here would not imagine doing without.

At any rate, NC is a slower pace and the people are nice- you get paranoid at first when they talk to you at the grocery store or the drive thru and wonder if they are actually speaking to you. People call me ma'am regularly- its weird!

All in all, any consideration of NC should include this Triad area (Greenboro, High Point, Winston Salem) There is tons of growth here now and areas where schools are excellent- health care is very good throughout the state, and property taxes are also good if you stay out of the cities. Furthermore, they only assess houses every 4-7 years so your assessment will remain the same- the rate might change a tad but not the huge swings of Loudoun.

Hope this helps- it is a refreshing change of pace- I have sat in traffic just 1 time in almost 4 months and that I believe is almost worth moving for!

Becky

 

My sister and her husband live in the Dilworth section of Charlotte - and yes in an Arts & Crafts bungalow- 3 miles outside of the city. they moved down about 3 years ago, 1 month after my nephew was born. It took awhile for her to get used to it due to the fact that she was now near her in-laws (in Meyers Park) but not us, and the generally slower pace (She's type AAA). She went to College in GA so the southern thing wasn't news to her.

What amazed me the most? Well when she got a really bad case of bronchitis last year, her neighbors bought meals to her FOR THREE WEEKS!!!!

She loves the local YMCA and drops my 2yr old niece and 3yr old nephew there for pre-school. She has become a Personal Trainer while down there. They have book clubs, parties, cocktails - all the things we pine for social wise. We've seen the general friendliness of the metro area decline rapidly over the last 5 or so years.

I'd love to be closer to her, so we'll see if we can do it. Have to make a decision this year as my son finishes up at Stone Bridge and my daughter is in 7th grade (who wants to go to SB, but is currently slated for Bunny Patch - oops, I mean Briar Woods). Personally, we are interested in Hendersonville. Looking for Main Street, USA. We don't want to be smack dab next to our neighbor, but I almost relish the fact that everyone might know everyone else's business. Howdy Y'all

 

Just out of curiosity...What's with the Bunny Patch?

 

Ah...well that would be the moniker our family came up with when the school was named Briar Woods...you know bunnies like to be in briar pactches - aka Peter Rabbit..voila! You have Bunny patch