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My family and I will be moving to Charlotte this summer, and I will be teaching at UNCC. While I will be primarily working and teaching at the University City campus, I will also occasionally be teaching courses at the UNCC Center City campus. I will generally not be commuting at peak rush hour.
I know there are a handful of threads regarding UNCC relocations, but most of them were dated, and during the interview a number of people mentioned that the completion of 485 had really improved commute ties. That said, I was hoping some of the folks on here might weigh in with some up-to-date information about Charlotte-area neighborhoods and likely commute times.
We need at least 4 bedrooms, and our budget would top out around 700k (spending less than that is fine too). We plan on using the public schools, and from what I have been told, this will eliminate large parts of Mecklenberg County, especially in the University City area. Lastly, we would prefer a newer home (e.g., something built after 1990 or so). We have been living in old homes for a while now and are quite sick of the "old house" problems. We like to run and get outdoors, so close proximity to parks/trails, a pool, and the ability to walk to some retail would be a plus, although not a requirement.
Places that have been recommended to us so far include Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Harrisburg, South Park, and Concord. What would the off-peak commute times to UNCC's University City campus look like from these areas? I have calculated the travel times in Google, but I am always a little skeptical about the accuracy. Are there any other areas we should be considering?
My family and I will be moving to Charlotte this summer, and I will be teaching at UNCC. While I will be primarily working and teaching at the University City campus, I will also occasionally be teaching courses at the UNCC Center City campus. I will generally not be commuting at peak rush hour.
I know there are a handful of threads regarding UNCC relocations, but most of them were dated, and during the interview a number of people mentioned that the completion of 485 had really improved commute ties. That said, I was hoping some of the folks on here might weigh in with some up-to-date information about Charlotte-area neighborhoods and likely commute times.
We need at least 4 bedrooms, and our budget would top out around 700k (spending less than that is fine too). We plan on using the public schools, and from what I have been told, this will eliminate large parts of Mecklenberg County, especially in the University City area. Lastly, we would prefer a newer home (e.g., something built after 1990 or so). We have been living in old homes for a while now and are quite sick of the "old house" problems. We like to run and get outdoors, so close proximity to parks/trails, a pool, and the ability to walk to some retail would be a plus, although not a requirement.
Places that have been recommended to us so far include Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Harrisburg, South Park, and Concord. What would the off-peak commute times to UNCC's University City campus look like from these areas? I have calculated the travel times in Google, but I am always a little skeptical about the accuracy. Are there any other areas we should be considering?
Thanks!
Southpark will be a nightmare commute, I'd go ahead and cross that one out. The rest aren't too bad. Harrisburg and Huntersville (if you're close to 77 or 485) are the most favorable.
Southpark will be a nightmare commute, I'd go ahead and cross that one out. The rest aren't too bad. Harrisburg and Huntersville (if you're close to 77 or 485) are the most favorable.
So what exactly do you mean by "nightmare" commute? Right now, Google has the drive from SouthPark mall to UNCC's campus at 31 minutes. Would a drive to campus after, say, 9AM be much longer than that? One of the biggest upsides of the job is the flexibility of when I leave for and return from the office, so I am not overly concerned about what the drive at 8AM looks like.
Southpark will be a nightmare commute, I'd go ahead and cross that one out. The rest aren't too bad. Harrisburg and Huntersville (if you're close to 77 or 485) are the most favorable.
If the OP is willing to take the light rail to UNCC, then living in South Park, or really any area in south Charlotte, isn't a bad idea. They would completely bypass all the traffic along I-77, I-85, and US 74. The light rail would even land them right in the middle of the campus. Pretty easy commute.
Even outside of rush hour commuting between Southpark and UNCC is quite painful. It requires a lot of traveling through town which means lots of stop and go traffic since Southpark is far from all of the interstates. Assuming you're using the Tyvola/77/85 route, you'll also have to use 77 which frequently gets backed up south of Uptown all throughout the day. On top of all of that, the traffic inside the University and Southpark areas themselves can be pretty bad before you finally make it to your destination. Not to mention that the UNCC campus itself takes a while to move through and get in and out of parking. I'd plan to dedicate at least 45 minutes to traveling between the two areas each way.
I wouldn't want to spend $700,000 to be in Harrisburg, Concord, Huntersville, etc. unless you aren't worried about resale. Best resale of those you mentioned would be the Southpark area but most homes are older and in established neighborhoods. Southpark wouldn't be an awful commute - 30-45 minutes and schools are good.
If you want new construction I would probably lower your price range drastically and buy in or near Harrisburg. You would have an easy drive to UNCC. Resale would be a factor - don't count on it being a good investment - especially in the over $500,000 price range.
If the OP is willing to take the light rail to UNCC, then living in South Park, or really any area in south Charlotte, isn't a bad idea. They would completely bypass all the traffic along I-77, I-85, and US 74. The light rail would even land them right in the middle of the campus. Pretty easy commute.
Oh yes the Light Rail will make it much better but we're still almost 2 years away from completion (Late 2017).
Even outside of rush hour commuting between Southpark and UNCC is quite painful. It requires a lot of traveling through town which means lots of stop and go traffic since Southpark is far from all of the interstates. Assuming you're using the Tyvola/77/85 route, you'll also have to use 77 which frequently gets backed up south of Uptown all throughout the day. On top of all of that, the traffic inside the University and Southpark areas themselves can be pretty bad before you finally make it to your destination. Not to mention that the UNCC campus itself takes a while to move through and get in and out of parking. I'd plan to dedicate at least 45 minutes to traveling between the two areas each way.
Thanks for clarifying. I think Google just stops the route at the entrance of campus, so I figured I would need to tack on some time to what they reported, but I wasn't sure how much.
Oh yes the Light Rail will make it much better but we're still almost 2 years away from completion (Late 2017).
I forgot to mention the Lynx in my first post. I commute exclusively by public transit now, and I would prefer being able to take the train in Charlotte. It looked like a lot of the Lynx-accessible neighborhoods were zoned for pretty bad schools, so I didn't know if the light rail would be an option for me. If I wanted to take rail to UNCC from the part of the South Charlotte with good schools, would I generally be parking at a park-and-ride around 485 or Sharon Road and then taking the rail? Any idea how long that would take once the line is completed?
I wouldn't want to spend $700,000 to be in Harrisburg, Concord, Huntersville, etc. unless you aren't worried about resale. Best resale of those you mentioned would be the Southpark area but most homes are older and in established neighborhoods. Southpark wouldn't be an awful commute - 30-45 minutes and schools are good.
If you want new construction I would probably lower your price range drastically and buy in or near Harrisburg. You would have an easy drive to UNCC. Resale would be a factor - don't count on it being a good investment - especially in the over $500,000 price range.
700k is around the top end what we would be willing to spend. We live in an area right now in an areas where the cost of living is much higher, and we are still trying to figure out where to set our price point. If we can get what we want for 400k, awesome. I am not overly concerned about resale. Our investment money is elsewhere.
Is 700k more reasonable in Davidson? From what I could gather online, there appeared to be a number of homes in the Lake Norman area that had sold between 600k and 700k recently.
Out of curiosity, why did you single our Harrisburg for being a poor for appreciation prospects? Aside from being close to campus with decent schools, I don't know the first thing about the area.
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