Help Me Pick A Safe Area To Live In Sw Charlotte (Huntersville: appointed, foreclose)

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Weedydidi

The Crossings is a very nice family neighborhood located right behind Lake Wylie Elementary.

I LOVE the Crossings and was going to recommend it I think it's neat the way the kids can walk or ride their bikes down the path thru the neighborhood to the school

[NCgirl]

One thing to consider - CMS plans to build three new schools in the a few years. I don't know how this will affect individual neighborhood assignments but it may be worth checking into. From the Steele Creek Residents Association's meeting.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Guy Chamberlain discussed plans being developed to provide new school facilities in response to the rapid growth that is occurring in Mecklenburg County. CMS staff have updated their 10 year plan for consideration by the school board. The plan identifies needs that are expected to cost $2.5 billion over the next ten years. The school system needs to spend $250 million a year just to keep up with growth.

Much of this funding will be determined in the future, but several projects are already funded and scheduled for the next few years. Much of the funding will come from school bonds approved by voters in 2007.

Two elementary schools are expected to open in August 2009. The first is on the north side of Berewick. The school will share a site, which is already owned by the county, with a new district park. This school will help relieve Steele Creek Elementary School and will provide a neighborhood school for Berewick residents, who currently are assigned to Berryhill Elementary School.

The second elementary school is called "New ES #6 (Youngblood Rd/Steele Creek Rd)" on CMS lists and maps, but it actually will be located on property already owned by the school system on the northwest corner of Hamilton Road and Smith Road. This school also is scheduled to open in 2009.

A third elementary school is expected to open in 2010 and will be located in the Red Fez Club Road area south of York Road. It generally will be located on the west side of the proposed Palisades town center. CMS is working with Palisades developers to identify the precise site.

The two Lower Steele Creek schools will help relieve Lake Wylie and Winget Park Elementary Schools. Winget Park significantly reduced the overcrowding at Lake Wylie when it opened in 2006, but both of these schools are experiencing increasing crowding issues as a result of the rapid growth in Lower Steele Creek.

[BigCountry]

Originally Posted by nkjaws

Thumbs down to that side of Berewick. With a four year old son, (when will they start kindegarden?) as the school zoned for Berewick right now is BerryHill Elementary, far away and in a undiserable location. I would steer clear of SW Charlotte and maybe move to North or South Charlotte.

Dixie River Elem is slated to be completed Aug 2009. So your 4 year old would be just fine..

Far as Berry Hill being far away? Try like 4-5 miles (if that)..that's not far away..but yeah it's overpopulated right now, but that's the only issue with it that I can see.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by BigCountry

Dixie River Elem is slated to be completed Aug 2009. So your 4 year old would be just fine..

Far as Berry Hill being far away? Try like 4-5 miles (if that)..that's not far away..but yeah it's overpopulated right now, but that's the only issue with it that I can see.

Thanks for saying that, as my recollection was that Berryhill was a short drive to Berewick It is an older school, so how exciting your area will be getting a brand new one next year!

[nkjaws]

Originally Posted by BigCountry

Dixie River Elem is slated to be completed Aug 2009. So your 4 year old would be just fine..

Far as Berry Hill being far away? Try like 4-5 miles (if that)..that's not far away..but yeah it's overpopulated right now, but that's the only issue with it that I can see.

Actually it's not the only issue. Berryhill is not in the greatest location, 80% of the children that attend there have free or reduced lunches, and we know parents who have their children going there and it takes them 15 mins in the morning to get there.

Yes the Dixie River School is coming in so that will be great for Berewick residents. That being said if the OP decides that Berewick is a good place to live for her family I would recommend the Shea homes or McCar. As with some other neighborhoods in Steele Creek, the KB side of Berewick has some problem families living here that seem to contribute with some of the crime in the neighborhood. The other builders in Berewick haven't had the price drops that KB had, and thus seem to have more upscale families living in the other parts of Berewick.

[nkjaws]

Originally Posted by nkjaws

Actually it's not the only issue. Berryhill is not in the greatest location, 80% of the children that attend there have free or reduced lunches, and we know parents who have their children going there and it takes them 15 mins in the morning to get there.

Yes the Dixie River School is coming in so that will be great for Berewick residents. That being said if the OP decides that Berewick is a good place to live for her family I would recommend the Shea homes or McCar. As with some other neighborhoods in Steele Creek, the KB side of Berewick has some problem families living here that seem to contribute with some of the crime in the neighborhood. The other builders in Berewick haven't had the price drops that KB had, and thus seem to have more upscale families living in the other parts of Berewick.

Also, to the OP, if you do move to Charlotte I would encourage you to check out the CMS scores per school. Berryhill only has 60% of its students at or above grade level, Lake Wylie has 75% at or above grade level, Winget 70% at or above grade level vs Matthews Elementary which has 88% at or above grade level. Use the link to compare all schools:
School Profiles

[BigCountry]

Originally Posted by nkjaws

As with some other neighborhoods in Steele Creek, the KB side of Berewick has some problem families living here that seem to contribute with some of the crime in the neighborhood. The other builders in Berewick haven't had the price drops that KB had, and thus seem to have more upscale families living in the other parts of Berewick.

???

Absolutely nothing in that quote is actually fact...purely fictional...

[nkjaws]

Originally Posted by BigCountry

???

Absolutely nothing in that quote is actually fact...purely fictional...

Nope it sure isn't fictional at all. We bought our home a year and a half ago in Berewick, paid what the going rate was back then, moved in and then prices were slashed. The same house as ours sold for $60,000 cheaper, 7 months later, 3 houses down from us. McCar homes have not lowered their prices drastically like KB has. In addition, if the OP were to take a drive thru Berewick she would see that the McCar and Shea homes have nice brick fronts, have beautiful landscaping, have fully sodded yards. While the KB side looks cheaper, most do not have fully sodded yards, (even though we did put all these options into our house, many did not), are overgrown with weeds, etc, and you see very few with brick fronts.

There actually are some families that have teenagers that contribute to the drug activity in this neighborhood. Also, when you look at the cmpd site, a good deal of calls to the Berewick neighborhood are on the KB side. Yes, I have the facts to back it up b/c I keep a log also we are home a lot and notice how frequently they are called here:
2/16/2008 6:39:05 PM STEELE CREEK 9900 GLENBURN LN DISCHARGING A FIREARM MISC INCIDENT
2/23/2008 5:37:58 PM STEELE CREEK 9700 GLENBURN LN DISTURBANCE MISC INCIDENT
2/26/2008 9:33:16 AM STEELE CREEK 9900 BARRANDS LN ALARM-RESIDENTIAL MISC INCIDENT
2/26/2008 8:27:12 AM STEELE CREEK 6100 BEREWICK COMMONS PY BREAK/ENTER
RESIDENTIAL-UNOCCUPIED CASE REPORT
2/26/2008 8:26:33 AM STEELE CREEK 6100 BEREWICK COMMONS PY BREAK/ENTER
RESIDENTIAL-UNOCCUPIED CASE REPORT
2/26/2008 8:11:37 AM STEELE CREEK 9500 SEAMILL RD BREAK/ENTER COMMERCIAL CASE REPORT
2/26/2008 1:35:36 PM STEELE CREEK 10300 BARRANDS LN ALARM-RESIDENTIAL ACCIDENT REPO

TO LOCATE
2/29/2008 8:47:27 AM STEELE CREEK 9300 SEAMILL RD BREAK/ENTER CASE REPORT
3/1/2008 7:36:11 PM STEELE CREEK 6600 BEREWICK COMMONS PY SUSPICIOUS PERSON/PROWLER MISC
IN
3/4/2008 1:02:56 PM STEELE CREEK 9400 SEAMILL RD ALARM-RESIDENTIAL

The OP did ask what areas have less/more crime which is why I posted the above info. So if I were the OP I would seriously consider a different part of Charlotte or like we have already stated, Fort Mill, SC.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by nkjaws

Nope it sure isn't fictional at all. We bought our home a year and a half ago in Berewick, paid what the going rate was back then, moved in and then prices were slashed. The same house as ours sold for $60,000 cheaper, 7 months later, 3 houses down from us. McCar homes have not lowered their prices drastically like KB has. In addition, if the OP were to take a drive thru Berewick she would see that the McCar and Shea homes have nice brick fronts, have beautiful landscaping, have fully sodded yards. While the KB side looks cheaper, most do not have fully sodded yards, (even though we did put all these options into our house, many did not), are overgrown with weeds, etc, and you see very few with brick fronts.

There actually are some families that have teenagers that contribute to the drug activity in this neighborhood. Also, when you look at the cmpd site, a good deal of calls to the Berewick neighborhood are on the KB side. Yes, I have the facts to back it up b/c I keep a log also we are home a lot and notice how frequently they are called here:
2/16/2008 6:39:05 PM STEELE CREEK 9900 GLENBURN LN DISCHARGING A FIREARM MISC INCIDENT
2/23/2008 5:37:58 PM STEELE CREEK 9700 GLENBURN LN DISTURBANCE MISC INCIDENT
2/26/2008 9:33:16 AM STEELE CREEK 9900 BARRANDS LN ALARM-RESIDENTIAL MISC INCIDENT
2/26/2008 8:27:12 AM STEELE CREEK 6100 BEREWICK COMMONS PY BREAK/ENTER
RESIDENTIAL-UNOCCUPIED CASE REPORT
2/26/2008 8:26:33 AM STEELE CREEK 6100 BEREWICK COMMONS PY BREAK/ENTER
RESIDENTIAL-UNOCCUPIED CASE REPORT
2/26/2008 8:11:37 AM STEELE CREEK 9500 SEAMILL RD BREAK/ENTER COMMERCIAL CASE REPORT
2/26/2008 1:35:36 PM STEELE CREEK 10300 BARRANDS LN ALARM-RESIDENTIAL ACCIDENT REPO

TO LOCATE
2/29/2008 8:47:27 AM STEELE CREEK 9300 SEAMILL RD BREAK/ENTER CASE REPORT
3/1/2008 7:36:11 PM STEELE CREEK 6600 BEREWICK COMMONS PY SUSPICIOUS PERSON/PROWLER MISC
IN
3/4/2008 1:02:56 PM STEELE CREEK 9400 SEAMILL RD ALARM-RESIDENTIAL

The OP did ask what areas have less/more crime which is why I posted the above info. So if I were the OP I would seriously consider a different part of Charlotte or like we have already stated, Fort Mill, SC.

Here we go again

[nkjaws]

Just a little side note to this: If I bought this same house for $60,000 less then what we had paid for it, I would have felt like it was a bargain. But b/c we paid so much more it feels like we got ripped off. In addition, you then have people living on this side that wouldn't have been able to afford to before the major price drop: people who can't even afford a lawn mower to keep their yard up or grass seed to grow grass, or curtains instead of sheets and cardboard on the windows for months and months. Ofcourse, it is only my opinion that the McCar and Shea homes are nicer looking and don't seem to have a lot of the problems that KB have. Like I said, if we could do it again, we would live in Fort Mill, SC.