Am I missing something about Matthews NC? (Charlotte, Mint Hill: apartment, rentals)
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My husband is being relocated to Charlotte for work. We've hear RAVE reviews about Matthews and how family friendly and wonderful it is. We visited Charlotte this week to look at places to live and I think we missed something in Matthews.
We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on 74 and were not impressed by Matthews at all! There must have been some kind of event going on this week because most of the hotels were sold out. But, we looked at several townhomes in Matthews and it just seemed like a rather rough area. Everything we saw seemed run down, traffic was HORRENDOUS, and it just wasn't what we were expecting.
We drove through Ballantyne and thought it was wonderful but pricey. Did we miss the good area of Matthews? We did go downtown and eat at PURE....which was wonderful! Loved the downtown area. Then we drove out to Wesley Chapel and liked some neighborhoods we saw out there- but is that considered Matthews?
What areas are good in Matthews? We're wanting to rent an apartment, townhome, or house-- we wanted to stay under $1200 but it doesn't seem feasible. We're coming from Atlanta and thought the prices would be about the same up there- but I guess not. Right now we're in a 3200 sf house in a beautiful neighborhood in a suburb of Atlanta but I'm not able to find anything comparable up there. We were hoping to be able to save some money so that once we learned the area we could buy a house next year.
Please let me know if I missed something while touring Matthews. I'm so confused because I've read nothing but good things but it just didn't resemble the town I read about-- so maybe we missed the "good" area or the "true Matthews" area.
I live in Matthews and I think the nicer neighborhoods are on the other side of 74. Meaning you cross 74 after leaving downtown to get to them. They are suburbs with nicer olders houses and up on Idlewild and Sam Newell there are some really nice newer houses. I don't have any info on rentals, sorry.
You also might like Mint Hill which is right next to Matthews up 51. The commute wouldn't be that much worse except for the intersection of 51 & Idlewild. Avoid that during rush hour if possible.
If you think traffic in Matthews is bad, I don't see how you wouldn't think it is worse in Ballantyne. The buildings in downtown Matthews are older but I don't personally think they are run down (except for some of the houses).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MLogan1024
My husband is being relocated to Charlotte for work. We've hear RAVE reviews about Matthews and how family friendly and wonderful it is. We visited Charlotte this week to look at places to live and I think we missed something in Matthews.
We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on 74 and were not impressed by Matthews at all! There must have been some kind of event going on this week because most of the hotels were sold out. But, we looked at several townhomes in Matthews and it just seemed like a rather rough area. Everything we saw seemed run down, traffic was HORRENDOUS, and it just wasn't what we were expecting.
We drove through Ballantyne and thought it was wonderful but pricey. Did we miss the good area of Matthews? We did go downtown and eat at PURE....which was wonderful! Loved the downtown area. Then we drove out to Wesley Chapel and liked some neighborhoods we saw out there- but is that considered Matthews?
What areas are good in Matthews? We're wanting to rent an apartment, townhome, or house-- we wanted to stay under $1200 but it doesn't seem feasible. We're coming from Atlanta and thought the prices would be about the same up there- but I guess not. Right now we're in a 3200 sf house in a beautiful neighborhood in a suburb of Atlanta but I'm not able to find anything comparable up there. We were hoping to be able to save some money so that once we learned the area we could buy a house next year.
Please let me know if I missed something while touring Matthews. I'm so confused because I've read nothing but good things but it just didn't resemble the town I read about-- so maybe we missed the "good" area or the "true Matthews" area.
Where is the job located? Uptown?
bs is a good source for information about Matthews.
I agree with BS13690, you have to be South of Independance. The other side can be a bit sketchy. Weddington Road & Mckee area has really nice homes and a very nice area. It's on the outskirts of Matthews.
I agree with BS13690, you have to be South of Independance. The other side can be a bit sketchy. Weddington Road & Mckee area has really nice homes and a very nice area. It's on the outskirts of Matthews.
You seem to be saying the opposite of BS actually.
Sam Newell and Idlewild are scenic with some nice neighborhoods for sure, like BS said. But on that side of Hwy 74 where Matthews meets the Charlotte city limits it is certainly less desirable.
Matthews is actually best in my opinion on the other side of hwy 51 where it abuts Union County and Mint Hill.
The part you like gets too congested in rush hour, but it is certainly nice too.
If our OP didn't ride through Matthews into Union County, they did not see the best parts for sure.
My husband is being relocated to Charlotte for work. We've hear RAVE reviews about Matthews and how family friendly and wonderful it is. We visited Charlotte this week to look at places to live and I think we missed something in Matthews.
We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on 74 and were not impressed by Matthews at all! There must have been some kind of event going on this week because most of the hotels were sold out. But, we looked at several townhomes in Matthews and it just seemed like a rather rough area. Everything we saw seemed run down, traffic was HORRENDOUS, and it just wasn't what we were expecting.
We drove through Ballantyne and thought it was wonderful but pricey. Did we miss the good area of Matthews? We did go downtown and eat at PURE....which was wonderful! Loved the downtown area. Then we drove out to Wesley Chapel and liked some neighborhoods we saw out there- but is that considered Matthews?
What areas are good in Matthews? We're wanting to rent an apartment, townhome, or house-- we wanted to stay under $1200 but it doesn't seem feasible. We're coming from Atlanta and thought the prices would be about the same up there- but I guess not. Right now we're in a 3200 sf house in a beautiful neighborhood in a suburb of Atlanta but I'm not able to find anything comparable up there. We were hoping to be able to save some money so that once we learned the area we could buy a house next year.
Please let me know if I missed something while touring Matthews. I'm so confused because I've read nothing but good things but it just didn't resemble the town I read about-- so maybe we missed the "good" area or the "true Matthews" area.
Hate to tell you - hwy 74 traffic is always that way.
You want to try to live on the side of hwy 74 that the job is located on so that you never have to deal with being on or crossing over it in my opinion.
BS- I guess we weren't in Ballantyne during rush hour so it just seemed calmer. Neither of us had ever been to Charlotte before our trip the other day.... so we really didn't get to experience each city during rush hour- 74 just seemed like a nightmare at 4pm. We viewed a few properties right there around E. Independence and they were not the "family friendly" area the realtor lead us to believe... they were very run down and the people in the neighborhoods just glared at us when we waved (where we're from everyone waves whether they know you or not).
Southbound-- my husband's job is over off S. Tryon (we really disliked that area!). But he only has to be there 2 days a week- the rest of the time he's out travelling around North Carolina... so it really doesn't matter where we live in regards to his commute-- plus, we're from Atlanta so he's used to a 2+ hour commute during rush hour (even though we only live 23 miles from his office).
Loves- I don't think we rode into Union County. We mainly stayed around Independence, viewed a few townhomes off Northeast Pkwy (I think that's what it was- my husband was driving), we drove to downtown Matthews for dinner (we really liked the cute little restaurants and old time feel down there- I could definitely eat at Pure Taqueria again!!), then we crossed 485 and drove around the Walmart a little.
I told my husband we must be missing the main part of Matthews because I've been reading these boards for weeks (ever since we found out we're relocating) and everyone has been raving about Matthews. I'll have to figure out the right areas to see before we go up again.... we didn't find anywhere we wanted to live on this trip- so we'll be trying again in a few weeks. Hopefully I'll have better places to show him!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lovesMountains
You seem to be saying the opposite of BS actually.
Sam Newell and Idlewild are scenic with some nice neighborhoods for sure, like BS said. But on that side of Hwy 74 where Matthews meets the Charlotte city limits it is certainly less desirable.
Matthews is actually best in my opinion on the other side of hwy 51 where it abuts Union County and Mint Hill.
The part you like gets too congested in rush hour, but it is certainly nice too.
If our OP didn't ride through Matthews into Union County, they did not see the best parts for sure.
Agree. You will have difficulty finding rentals in this part of Union County but may have luck in finding home for rent.
BS- I guess we weren't in Ballantyne during rush hour so it just seemed calmer. Neither of us had ever been to Charlotte before our trip the other day.... so we really didn't get to experience each city during rush hour- 74 just seemed like a nightmare at 4pm. We viewed a few properties right there around E. Independence and they were not the "family friendly" area the realtor lead us to believe... they were very run down and the people in the neighborhoods just glared at us when we waved (where we're from everyone waves whether they know you or not).
Southbound-- my husband's job is over off S. Tryon (we really disliked that area!). But he only has to be there 2 days a week- the rest of the time he's out travelling around North Carolina... so it really doesn't matter where we live in regards to his commute-- plus, we're from Atlanta so he's used to a 2+ hour commute during rush hour (even though we only live 23 miles from his office).
Loves- I don't think we rode into Union County. We mainly stayed around Independence, viewed a few townhomes off Northeast Pkwy (I think that's what it was- my husband was driving), we drove to downtown Matthews for dinner (we really liked the cute little restaurants and old time feel down there- I could definitely eat at Pure Taqueria again!!), then we crossed 485 and drove around the Walmart a little.
I told my husband we must be missing the main part of Matthews because I've been reading these boards for weeks (ever since we found out we're relocating) and everyone has been raving about Matthews. I'll have to figure out the right areas to see before we go up again.... we didn't find anywhere we wanted to live on this trip- so we'll be trying again in a few weeks. Hopefully I'll have better places to show him!
Independence Blvd/hwy 74 is kind of the armpit of Matthews, know what I mean?
The reason Matthews is so well-regarded is because it is very family friendly, has good schools and some of the top Little League teams in the state
But really, it's mostly suburbia - neighborhoods - lots of suburban neighborhoods. You just don't want to ever form your opinion of it based on what is on/around hwy 74!
BS- I guess we weren't in Ballantyne during rush hour so it just seemed calmer.
I live just south of Ballantyne and have never found traffic to be a problem. Even if 521 is slow, there are so many backroads I can get pretty much anywhere without hitting major traffic.
If you think that Ballantyne is expensive (it is) check out south of Ballantyne, either Lancaster/Indian Land area just over the state line (2 miles from Ballantyne, quite literally) or Blakeney.
Good luck!
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