Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Daughter who is barely out of HS may be accepting a dance position at local dance company. She will need housing in a safe area in reasonable proximity to the dance company facilities in uptown. May or may not have a roommate (still trying to figure that one out). May or may not have a car at least for the first couple of months.
Our paramount concern is her safety, although as an unpaid entry level dancer, we will be supporting her, so a high-rise upscale apartment with granite counters/spa, and/or a bunch of other high end bells/whistles is definitely not required. (Well, not gonna lie that an in-unit washer/dryer would be a huge plus with all those sweaty ballet clothes.)
Are there ANY workable options that can use safe/reliable public transit? (She could be getting out of rehearsals rather late in the evenings at times.) Are there specific areas that we should be sure NOT to consider? (My research so far tells me we should avoid the University, Coulwood, Steele Creek, and generally West Charlotte areas.) I get conflicting opinions on much of the rest of it. South Park seems by far the best spot as far as safety goes, but it also seems to be in the boonies and about as high priced as uptown rentals. Daughter will be a brand new driver on top of all this, so having her deal with crazy folks daily (yes, I've heard drivers are NUTS in Charlotte...lol) is yet another concern.
Frankly my Internet research is starting to freak me out. Seems like Charlotte is fairly crime ridden, but then that may just be that it is an urban environment (and who knows how reliable/current some of the info is I'm finding on the Internet either).
Yeah, yeah -- I'm obviously a fretful mother, and I DO realize we can't protect our kids from everything life has in store for them, but I'd sure like to start by at least having her in some kind of affordable apartment that is reasonably safe, esp if she ends up having to live on her own to start with.
Yeah, a budget will be helpful. If you're looking at $600/month for rent, probably going to be a little difficult. $800+, then you've got a chance. Your daughter's age is also going to be a cause for concern for anyone who is renting a place. Many landlords have had the experience that teenagers simply aren't worth the risk, and won't rent to them, even with a cosigner. Some of the issues have been noise, guests, and sometimes worse. The upside is that you can search in areas around King's College, Queen's College, Johnson & Wales, or an other colleges and maybe have some better luck. They'll probably be pricey areas, but they will be safer than most places that will rent to teens.
Daughter who is barely out of HS may be accepting a dance position at local dance company. She will need housing in a safe area in reasonable proximity to the dance company facilities in uptown. May or may not have a roommate (still trying to figure that one out). May or may not have a car at least for the first couple of months.
Our paramount concern is her safety, although as an unpaid entry level dancer, we will be supporting her, so a high-rise upscale apartment with granite counters/spa, and/or a bunch of other high end bells/whistles is definitely not required. (Well, not gonna lie that an in-unit washer/dryer would be a huge plus with all those sweaty ballet clothes.)
Are there ANY workable options that can use safe/reliable public transit? (She could be getting out of rehearsals rather late in the evenings at times.) Are there specific areas that we should be sure NOT to consider? (My research so far tells me we should avoid the University, Coulwood, Steele Creek, and generally West Charlotte areas.) I get conflicting opinions on much of the rest of it. South Park seems by far the best spot as far as safety goes, but it also seems to be in the boonies and about as high priced as uptown rentals. Daughter will be a brand new driver on top of all this, so having her deal with crazy folks daily (yes, I've heard drivers are NUTS in Charlotte...lol) is yet another concern.
Frankly my Internet research is starting to freak me out. Seems like Charlotte is fairly crime ridden, but then that may just be that it is an urban environment (and who knows how reliable/current some of the info is I'm finding on the Internet either).
Yeah, yeah -- I'm obviously a fretful mother, and I DO realize we can't protect our kids from everything life has in store for them, but I'd sure like to start by at least having her in some kind of affordable apartment that is reasonably safe, esp if she ends up having to live on her own to start with.
Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?
You need to define "affordable" - that's a very relative term.
What is your bottom line number?
In your situation, especially given her very young age, I would suggest you consider a room to rent situation rather than her own apartment. She would likely be in better situations/neighborhoods that way.
I don't think we'd want to go much above $1100 tops for rent (and hopefully more in the realm of $600-800), esp if a car and related expenses have to be factored in. Having a roommate or renting a room in a homey environment actually is more preferable to us for security sake, but we're just not sure if that can be figured out in the little bit of time we're going to have to figure this all out. She is also right now training at a major ballet company elsewhere who seem to really like her, and so she can't even really get serious about Charlotte options until she sees whether the company she is at now is going to offer her a spot there. I'm just trying to see what the options are/maybe get some kind of headstart on this process so that the minute we know NC is truly where she will need to be, we can try to hit the floor running.
I can well understand any potential landlord feeling leery about her age. (I know her dad and I are leery about her age as far as sending her off to a city on her own this soon.) However, even knowing how I must sound right now as her mom (feel free to roll your eyes...LOLOL), it is true she has a firm goal in mind and a whole lot of singlemindedness about accomplishing it. (She graduated HS with close to a 4.00 GPA while she was also maintaining a 30+ hour a week ballet schedule 7 days a week at the rigorous ballet program she was in.) She also plans to start college on line one course at a time in and around the rigors of her NC ballet schedule, so she just won't have time to party or much inclination.
We can provide many excellent references on her personally and on our family financially as we've rented properties as a 2nd household in the state she has lived in for her ballet training for the past several years.
As I said, I'm trying to at least narrow things down to specific areas and eliminate areas that are unsafe from the list.
I don't think we'd want to go much above $1100 tops for rent (and hopefully more in the realm of $600-800), esp if a car and related expenses have to be factored in. Having a roommate or renting a room in a homey environment actually is more preferable to us for security sake, but we're just not sure if that can be figured out in the little bit of time we're going to have to figure this all out. She is also right now training at a major ballet company elsewhere who seem to really like her, and so she can't even really get serious about Charlotte options until she sees whether the company she is at now is going to offer her a spot there. I'm just trying to see what the options are/maybe get some kind of headstart on this process so that the minute we know NC is truly where she will need to be, we can try to hit the floor running.
I can well understand any potential landlord feeling leery about her age. (I know her dad and I are leery about her age as far as sending her off to a city on her own this soon.) However, even knowing how I must sound right now as her mom (feel free to roll your eyes...LOLOL), it is true she has a firm goal in mind and a whole lot of singlemindedness about accomplishing it. (She graduated HS with close to a 4.00 GPA while she was also maintaining a 30+ hour a week ballet schedule 7 days a week at the rigorous ballet program she was in.) She also plans to start college on line one course at a time in and around the rigors of her NC ballet schedule, so she just won't have time to party or much inclination.
We can provide many excellent references on her personally and on our family financially as we've rented properties as a 2nd household in the state she has lived in for her ballet training for the past several years.
As I said, I'm trying to at least narrow things down to specific areas and eliminate areas that are unsafe from the list.
I don't think we'd want to go much above $1100 tops for rent (and hopefully more in the realm of $600-800), esp if a car and related expenses have to be factored in. Having a roommate or renting a room in a homey environment actually is more preferable to us for security sake, but we're just not sure if that can be figured out in the little bit of time we're going to have to figure this all out. She is also right now training at a major ballet company elsewhere who seem to really like her, and so she can't even really get serious about Charlotte options until she sees whether the company she is at now is going to offer her a spot there. I'm just trying to see what the options are/maybe get some kind of headstart on this process so that the minute we know NC is truly where she will need to be, we can try to hit the floor running.
I can well understand any potential landlord feeling leery about her age. (I know her dad and I are leery about her age as far as sending her off to a city on her own this soon.) However, even knowing how I must sound right now as her mom (feel free to roll your eyes...LOLOL), it is true she has a firm goal in mind and a whole lot of singlemindedness about accomplishing it. (She graduated HS with close to a 4.00 GPA while she was also maintaining a 30+ hour a week ballet schedule 7 days a week at the rigorous ballet program she was in.) She also plans to start college on line one course at a time in and around the rigors of her NC ballet schedule, so she just won't have time to party or much inclination.
We can provide many excellent references on her personally and on our family financially as we've rented properties as a 2nd household in the state she has lived in for her ballet training for the past several years.
As I said, I'm trying to at least narrow things down to specific areas and eliminate areas that are unsafe from the list.
I can so relate to what you are going through because my son went off to Manhattan for his first year of college as an 18 year old,
Difference is, he was in a dorm and had a bit of a safety net you know?
Your daughter is awfully young and inexperienced to just go off to a large unfamiliar city without SOMEBODY looking out for her. Not that Charlotte is Detroit or anything, but bad stuff does happen here and I want you to be sure you don't put her in a bad situation. The good news is, your budget is good, so you'll have more options.
I'd recommend making an inquiry with Johnson and Wales University in downtown Charlotte. If I remember correctly that school does not have dorms so the students rent apartments around there. While your daughter won't be going to school there, they may be able to point you to some sources of information and/or roommate situations with other students.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
