My husband and I will be moving to Charlotte later this year -- my husband has a job opportunity there, and we've both been wanting to move away from the NYC area (love the food, arts, and culture, hate the congestion and go-go-go lifestyle). We're super excited but could definitely use some guidance in terms of which neighborhood to live in since we're not very familiar with Charlotte yet!
Some info about us:
- We're in our late 20s... looking to start a family soon, but still enjoying the "no kids" lifestyle for now
- Want to rent for about a year before buying a house and starting a family -- focusing on rental right now
- Easy access to downtown Charlotte (or "uptown" as I've learned you guys call it!) is important since my husband's job requires him to visit clients wherever they might be
- Would like to be close (within walking distance, preferably) to cafes, shops, restaurants, bars, etc., since that is the part of city-living that we love
- Ideally want something in a safe area but with a diverse population
- Looking for a nice 2 bedroom/bathroom place (apartment, house, condo, doesn't matter) and would prefer to pay $1200-1400/mo or less... we pay a LOT more on rent currently though, and we'd be open to paying a little more (probably up to $1600/mo) if all the other factors line up and it seems like a good value
We visited Charlotte for a weekend in May when we started contemplating the move, and we really liked the vibe of the NoDa/Plaza Midwood areas, but I'm sure that what we experienced was only surface-level and would definitely be open to other advice/suggestions. We stayed at an Airbnb in the Elizabeth area and thought that was nice also, but it seemed pretty quiet and more suburban... more along the lines of what we figure we want down the road... but I could be wrong. We didn't really love the feel of the uptown area (we went to the Epicenter for about 3 minutes before quickly leaving :P), but I'm aware that things might differ between the "wards." Everyone we talked to while we were visiting pretty much advised us against anything west of Rt. 77. And that's pretty much everything we know about Charlotte-area neighborhoods!
Based on all of that, I would really appreciate any guidance or suggestions that anyone may have about which neighborhoods might be a good fit. Thanks in advance!!
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