Relocating to NC- Job is in Concord (Charlotte, Kannapolis: apartment complex, to rent)
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.
My husband has just accepted a job in Concord NC and we are looking for a quiet and safe place to live. We don’t have to live in Concord but an hour commute would be too much for us.
We are from Texas and we have lived in big cities and small cities but we are looking for a city or town that is on the smaller side, with little congestion, good schools and reasonably priced. We are looking to rent for the time being and our budget is around $900.00 a month, house, duplex or apartment.
We are not familiar with this area and are very concerned about living in an unpleasant area that may have negative activity. I’m looking for any information that may ease our concerns with relocating or that might detour us from one area or another.
Congratulations on your upcoming move and I'm sure you'll find the Charlotte area to be a friendly place. I lived and worked in Concord and can tell you that it fits a lot of the criteria you've described. Though it is technically large and one of the fastest growing towns in the CLT metro area, it has a distinctly small town and southern feel.
Most folks think of Concord Mills / Speedway when they think of Concord, but this super developed (strip malls, outlet shopping, chain restaurants) part of town is just at the edge closest to CLT. Moving past this, there are really nice communities that feel suburban or even rural. There's a lot of that kind of diversity in Concord, so it really does offer a lot of options.
Concord also has a lovely historic downtown area, which many towns in NC still do. However, Concord's actually has an economy as well: there are independent shops and restaurants, a pretty greenway, and a thriving arts and cultural scene. At the Cabarrus Arts Council and Old Courthouse Theater, you can see a performance or a gallery exhibition, and often the downtown area has public art events in conjunction with a lot of the shops downtown. It's a really nice little gem out in the middle of Concord.
As for living, it depends on exactly what you're looking for, but there are tons of nice spots along Weddington Road, which starts near Concord Mills and cuts up to the center of town. Many of these are planned developments, but there are a lot of other neighborhoods in there too. Afton Village might be a good choice, but I'm not sure if that would be over your price limit.
There are not many dangerous places in Concord - it's relatively safe all over. A couple of blocks close to the downtown area might be questionable, but I've never had a problem and even that area is being developed by the city to improve the quality of living. You really can't go wrong.
Others may have suggestions for nearby towns, but if you have any more Concord-specific questions, feel free to post them. Good luck!
900/month rent is certainly doable in the Concord area. I don't know the school districts too well though so I'm not going to give you any advice on exactly where to look.
I do want to reiterate and expand on eastcoast127's point about 2 Concords: The area by the Concord Mills and Speedway and the other rest of Concord. The Mills/Speedway area is a traffic nightmare and I would strongly suggest you try to avoid that area for living.
There really is no dangerous parts of Concord so no worries there.
My advice is look at the location of the job and then do a trulia/zillow search of rents in that area and the relevant school districts.
I would stick with looking at Concord for now due heavy traffic on I85 during rush hour. Hopefully, the traffic will get a lot better once the I85 widening project is finished and you could look north of Concord. Where in Concord will your husband be working? Downtown, near the race track, or another location?
Thanks so much for that info! It's always scarey moving to a new state and not knowing the area. We hope to out and look around at least once before we re-locate but that my not be an option for us. We are both in our early 30's and looking to start a family in the near future so I want to be sure we are in a comfortable area for when the kids arrive!
We are very outdoorsey people and love the idea of NC and being so close to the AT is unbelievable to us. We do a lot of biking, camping and hiking. We live in a smallish city now in Texas but we like being more on the outskirts and having some yard for our dog and garden.
I'm not sure of the EXACT location yet but once they finalize paperwork I will update my post. Thanks again!!!!!
The location my husband will be working at is off International Drive in Concord, NC. We are trying to find an apartment in Concord, NORTH Charlotte area or surrounding areas. I've been told that kannapolis NC isn't a "safe area" but I'm not sure if I was properly informed.
We saw a lovely (and expensive) place in the Huntersville area but wasn't sure of the local's take on it. I've been trying to stay away from the speedway (thanks to all of you for the warnings!!).
trust me because i live it everyday, but you do not want to make that brutal commute everyday on hwy 73 going across town everyday unless he works 2nd or 3rd shift. With gas prices going up and down if i was you i would definetely try to find something in the concord area
I would argue that Kannapolis being unsafe is definitely misinformation. It is largely rural, though a few years ago the NC Research Campus was built near to downtown, which attempted to jump-start the small downtown area. But I've never heard nor felt that that area was unsafe and I'm not sure why anyone would say that. Good luck in your search!
You could look in Kannapolis off of Kannapolis Highway. There are some really nice apartments not far from the intersection of 73/Kannapolis Highway. It wouldn't take long for you to get to International Drive as it's off of 73. It's also a good school pyramid there. The elementary is Charles Boger and there is also a doctor's office not far. On the other side of Kannapolis Highway is the Target, some restaurants, FF places too. Not a bad location and it's safe. If and when you are ready to buy there's a neighborhood called Kellswater that has SFH's. I've heard great things about the neighborhood.
I lived in Fort Worth Texas for awhile and lived 12 miles from down town and my commute was 45 minutes, I'd like to never live that again, thank you all for your information.
Good news on Kannapolis, nc! I've been doing multiple searches on Concord trying to find a good apartment complex but I keep finding the same 9 complexes and I don't know if the area offers more. I'm used to a college town where we have so many to choose from it will make you dizzy! I would like to live in a newer build apartment if possible but a house is ideal.
We will accept any positive info!
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.
Thanks!!
