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Congrats on the move- I arrived from the UK in January and Charlotte's a great city- so clean and I have yet to see a single chav.
I live in Ballantyne, which although has a 'village' is a fake village with mostly upscale restaurants/wine bars. Dilworth is great for walking to things and is a reall runner community, thats where I want to move to next- may be too far for the job though.
Feel free to PM if you have any questions about moving here.
Al
I have never said the areas SE of uptown Charlotte are not nice. The key word here is Charlotte. I have qualified this many many times by saying that I am only including the area within I-485. I lived in SE Charlotte for many years so I am very familiar with it despite your implications that I don't know what I am talking about. I've simply moved to Lake Norman to be close to the lake activities. I have a boat and when you have a boat you want to use it as much as you can. Nothing more, nothing less.
Suburban Union county has nothing to do with SE Charlotte. The fact that you try to equate the two speaks hugely to my post in that Union county has no distinctiveness of it's own. It's a cheap generic copy of anything consisting of endless track housing and corporate conceived strip malls of mind numbing sameness. In fact, most native Charlotteans don't consider in Union county in high regard. Somehow you are attempting to equate Union county to South Charlotte. There is no equivalence, it's not even close.
I never intended to equate South Charlotte to Union County, I was equating it to the Lake Norman area... which in and of itself is the same horribly planned roads, strip malls, box stores, and "lack of character". The exception being Davidson proper. On top of that - you can't look around Huntersville, Cornelius, and Mooresville without finding the very vinyl tract built subdivisions you go on about. The lake offers you opportunity to use a boat, but seriously - what do you think real boaters say about the quality of the lake?
To be clear I was speaking of the access to South Charlotte which you seem to be adverse to admitting... I could understand you arguing that point if the entire metro wasn't completely car dependent. So, if you're getting in your car anyway (who isn't?) then it's reasonable to access "true" South Charlotte from Union County - heck I'll even give you inside 51 instead of inside 485. Both Rea and Providence have been completed now to make that run up rather easy - to a point where we'll use Southpark mall nearly as often as we use another mall (Carolina Place for instance) - I'm in the car anyway. Where do you head? Concord Mills? You want to talk traffic about that trip?
So when you go on your rants about Union County, I don't understand how you give the Lake Norman area a pass like it's some Nirvana of everything that Union County isn't. That's my entire point and I've yet to see you explain that away, just as I've never seen you admit to the shortcomings of the area you chose to live.
I did qualify my post with the disclaimer of the drive to Union county. I don't know what is most important to the OP so I listed this as an option.
Honestly, Union county near Mecklenburg county is nothing but an ugly mass of very bad urban planning (in fact the worst on the planet) accented by endless over priced track housing in faceless subdivisions and bland faux theme of the day, strip malls with nothing but national corporate retailers and maybe an Americanized Chinese buffet banded by fake garish stucco. The only reason for it's existence is that it is cheap. The traffic through this depressing mess is bad no matter where you are. A drive from uptown Charlotte to say, the hospital in Monroe can easily take an hour.
This is why I said the OP's requirements don't exist in this area, but it might be possible to mitigate given some tradeoffs.
We will have to agree to disagree on your characterizations of Union County
I further disagree that the "OP's requirements don't exist in this area".
I think if he takes my suggestions and looks at the two areas I listed he may feel like he's come close to what he wants
Last edited by lovesMountains; 05-23-2011 at 03:05 PM..
I completely accept that every one has a different opinion and don't fault them for having it. The OP asked for opinions, and I gave mine. It's not necessary to make it personal in order to somehow elevate what you have to say if you disagree. I completely assume the people living in the Union county wonderland, the Charlotte area's version of Bombay Beach, would differ in opinion and in fact might get insulted by my characterization. I can accept why they are upset. I probably would be too.
However the opinion was asked by someone who wanted to know about the area and this is where I direct my comments.
I think if he takes my suggestions and looks at the two areas I listed he may feel like he's come close to what he wants
I agree. Matthews, Arboretum area or Ballantyne is where the OP should look. I don't think someone coming from a foreign country will expect everything to be exactly the same. Yes the US is generally less walkable than Europe, but any newcomer will adapt and learn the appreciate the positives we can offer. Matthews is the most village-like, but if a grocery store within walking distance is a priority, the other two may be better.
Dilworth and Plaza-Midwood are really the best areas for the amount of establishments within walking distance, but I think they are too far for an easy commute to Union County
Dilworth and Plaza-Midwood are really the best areas for the amount of establishments within walking distance, but I think they are too far for an easy commute to Union County
I live adjacent to the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood and commuted to Union County for 3 years. The ride really isn't that bad because all of the traffic is moving the opposite direction. It took me about 20 minutes to get to Indian Trail in the morning and about 25-30 minutes to get to the Hwy 16 exit off of I-485.
From Dilworth it would probably take a little longer to get down to Union County, but that really depends on how quick your access is to the freeway.
I think he should definitely consider those two areas. A 20-30 minute commute really isn't that bad. Then again, he never mentioned where in Union County his wife would be working so it could be even longer.
I completely accept that every one has a different opinion and don't fault them for having it. The OP asked for opinions, and I gave mine. It's not necessary to make it personal in order to somehow elevate what you have to say if you disagree. I completely assume the people living in the Union county wonderland, the Charlotte area's version of Bombay Beach, would differ in opinion and in fact might get insulted by my characterization. I can accept why they are upset. I probably would be too.
However the opinion was asked by someone who wanted to know about the area and this is where I direct my comments.
I know you directed this at loves... But just for the record, I'm not "insulted" (although I agree that some would be) - I enjoy your perspective and missed your posts until figuring out who you were again. I encourage you to keep posting - even if it is bashing Union County. The forum is better with you around.
The only thing I take exception to (and will debate specifically with you) is that you're not an equal opportunity hater and direct ire towards specific areas of the metro while giving others a pass. Which I assume you do because you chose to live there. It's similar to your attitude in this post where you accept them being upset, just as I suspect you'd be to admit to the shortcomings of your immediate area.
However, at the end of the day you should factor in where you're at in your life with where an OP is and try to post accordingly. Specifically raising a family in the Lake Norman area vs. Union County.
Wow...! I hadn't checked this forum for a week or so but just checked in to find lots of really helpful responses! Thank you so much for taking the time everyone.
My wife's job is at an elementary school in Wingate, NC 2.
Lots of people on the teaching programme that we are moving with live in Matthews, so that is definitely somewhere we are looking at. We also have a one year old daughter and there seems to be plenty of options for childcare there.
We had also considered Dilworth. But it seems quite expensive for rent and maybe a long commute? Having said that I guess she would be going against the flow of the traffic?
4 years ago she worked in Atlanta for a year and lived just outside a place called Decatur, which had a really nice feel to it. Once you were in Decatur there was lots to do all within walking distance. However, where she lived was a good 10-15 mins drive away from the downtown. We always said that if had a chance to live in the US again, we would like to live somewhere similar, but ideally without the 10-15 min drive! But maybe that's being unrealistic.
It's more important for me as I will be working from home for a good long while until I find somewhere to rent some desk space. So, I like the idea of having things to do on my doorstep. We will probably only have one car in the short term as well, so I might be stranded during the day.
Anyway, I will spend some time reading and digesting what has been said and post again. But if anyone has any more advice based on what I have just said, I would love to hear it!
Thanks guys!
Tim
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Where to live near to central Charlotte?
