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There is a fair bit of crime and A LOT of homeless people not only in the city but the towns surrounding it. Daily I see them at the stop lights to shopping centers. In the 5 weeks I've been here I've been approached (including knocking on my car window) 4 times.
A LOT of homeless? Have you ever lived in even a medium sized city?
Compare the numbers to Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle, or Los Angeles.
Then tell me how Charlotte has A LOT of homeless people.
Many of them are panhandlers that at the end of the day go back to their nice car parked in the nearest parking lot and they drive home.
Let this be a lesson to thoroughly check out the area before you move!
I have lived in Charlotte all my life and I don't see or hear the 'Jesus' stuff and I am not easily offended by bumper stickers. I have been asked about church maybe twice in my life. I think crime is everywhere but some areas are much worse than others - again - be careful where you move....
I've said it numerous times but I will say it again. If you move here with excitement, a positive attitude and you expect to like it here you will. Most people do as evidenced by the number of people that continue to move here. If you think a move will solve your problems - it probably won't. If you move here with a negative thoughts and think in terms of stereotypes - please don't.
Steele Creek was not our first choice. We wanted Davidson/Cornelius but it fell through last min. We had to choose an area close to my husbands job. We were essentially told either Steele Creek area or Lake Norman areas are the only two really nice places to live. Honestly outside of Davidson I haven't found an actual "town town" feel. Most of the places are just areas dubbed certain names within the limits of the city. We were told to look at Gastonia and driving through yesterday all we could think was it looked like a crumbling old railroad town with a drug problem. Many of the buildings were boarded up or crumbling. Maybe it was just the part we drove through but we weren't impressed.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms
Steele Creek was not our first choice. We wanted Davidson/Cornelius but it fell through last min. We had to choose an area close to my husbands job. We were essentially told either Steele Creek area or Lake Norman areas are the only two really nice places to live. Honestly outside of Davidson I haven't found an actual "town town" feel. Most of the places are just areas dubbed certain names within the limits of the city. We were told to look at Gastonia and driving through yesterday all we could think was it looked like a crumbling old railroad town with a drug problem. Many of the buildings were boarded up or crumbling. Maybe it was just the part we drove through but we weren't impressed.
You were told to look at Belmont in Gaston County. There is a revived downtown. When people say Gastonia, they are not referring to west Franklin. If someone is looking for schools, I tell them to look at SE Gastonia. That's where the best schools are. If schools are not involved, I may tell them to also look at York Chester which has nice older houses & is just south of west Franklin. I'll bet perfectly good money that you didn't drive on Garrison. There are nice houses in all price points on Garrison, even in areas where I wouldn't recommend it because of schools. The biggest boarded up building on west Franklin is a boarded up motel that has a sign in front of it showing the ball field that will be built for their minor league baseball team. You apparently didn't go much further or you would have seen the Wow Supermarket that is a nice full-size Hispanic supermarket.
If you only drive on west Franklin, it looks like former mill towns in the MidAtlantic. Since Gastonia was sort of the hub of the mill economy in the area, that would explain that.
Steele Creek was not our first choice. We wanted Davidson/Cornelius but it fell through last min. We had to choose an area close to my husbands job. We were essentially told either Steele Creek area or Lake Norman areas are the only two really nice places to live. Honestly outside of Davidson I haven't found an actual "town town" feel. Most of the places are just areas dubbed certain names within the limits of the city. We were told to look at Gastonia and driving through yesterday all we could think was it looked like a crumbling old railroad town with a drug problem. Many of the buildings were boarded up or crumbling. Maybe it was just the part we drove through but we weren't impressed.
I looked for places around Gastonia as well, based on suggestions from others that one could get more house for the money compared to other parts of greater Charlotte. Like you, at first when I saw the old part of Gastonia I was "not impressed". But after looking around in areas the southeast, east and part of northeast sections of town, I was VERY surprised to see what Gastonia had to offer overall.
Some parts of the area are very nice. However, as you mentioned, there are parts that are pretty rundown. From what I could tell, Gastonia is half good/great and half not so good. Generally the landscape goes from average to nice--to very nice covering the eastern portion of town. While it is mostly poor and old on the western side.
You were told to look at Belmont in Gaston County. There is a revived downtown. When people say Gastonia, they are not referring to west Franklin. If someone is looking for schools, I tell them to look at SE Gastonia. That's where the best schools are. If schools are not involved, I may tell them to also look at York Chester which has nice older houses & is just south of west Franklin. I'll bet perfectly good money that you didn't drive on Garrison. There are nice houses in all price points on Garrison, even in areas where I wouldn't recommend it because of schools. The biggest boarded up building on west Franklin is a boarded up motel that has a sign in front of it showing the ball field that will be built for their minor league baseball team. You apparently didn't go much further or you would have seen the Wow Supermarket that is a nice full-size Hispanic supermarket.
If you only drive on west Franklin, it looks like former mill towns in the MidAtlantic. Since Gastonia was sort of the hub of the mill economy in the area, that would explain that.
I'm new and have no idea the differences in a lot of places. People speak of places like University City, NODA, Myers Park etc and these are just general names of areas, not actual towns. I would consider Davidson a town. Its a separate entity from Charlotte. These other areas like I live Steele Creek are not towns, which I was thrown off on when people were recommending places. We also drove out to Matthews which had a very old downtown as well. We went to the splash pad in Stallings which everyone raved about and the entire way in was trailers on blocks. I don't know where these people are coming from to rave about such places as family friendly and "beautiful" but it has to be some pretty awful places. I would consider Ballentyne to be closer to where I came from (for comparison) but still a little older feeling. I guess I just had higher standards for all these "raved" about towns everyone keeps talking about.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms
I'm new and have no idea the differences in a lot of places. People speak of places like University City, NODA, Myers Park etc and these are just general names of areas, not actual towns. I would consider Davidson a town. Its a separate entity from Charlotte. These other areas like I live Steele Creek are not towns, which I was thrown off on when people were recommending places. We also drove out to Matthews which had a very old downtown as well. We went to the splash pad in Stallings which everyone raved about and the entire way in was trailers on blocks. I don't know where these people are coming from to rave about such places as family friendly and "beautiful" but it has to be some pretty awful places. I would consider Ballentyne to be closer to where I came from (for comparison) but still a little older feeling. I guess I just had higher standards for all these "raved" about towns everyone keeps talking about.
Before you moved Belmont was recommended to you. That contrasts with what you stated in this thread. It's a nice smallish town across the Catawba from Charlotte with decent schools. It might not be as diverse as you would like, but Gastonia is just down the road with a lot of Puerto Ricans, the Wow Supermarket, & 2 small independent Hispanic grocery stores on Garrison. If you had asked, I would have told you this before you wasted the gas. Did you even see the mall & the ton of shopping on East Franklin & New Hope? You only described West Franklin & presented it as if it was what the whole city looks like. That's not nice, in my opinion.
I’ve visited Charlotte and don’t remember seeing that many homeless.
We just had a fire here started at a homeless encampment. They had to call a hazmat team due to the amount of feces found and we’ve had an outbreak of Hepatitis A. That’s a lot of homeless. Is that happening there?
I'm new and have no idea the differences in a lot of places. People speak of places like University City, NODA, Myers Park etc and these are just general names of areas, not actual towns. I would consider Davidson a town. Its a separate entity from Charlotte. These other areas like I live Steele Creek are not towns, which I was thrown off on when people were recommending places. We also drove out to Matthews which had a very old downtown as well. We went to the splash pad in Stallings which everyone raved about and the entire way in was trailers on blocks. I don't know where these people are coming from to rave about such places as family friendly and "beautiful" but it has to be some pretty awful places. I would consider Ballentyne to be closer to where I came from (for comparison) but still a little older feeling. I guess I just had higher standards for all these "raved" about towns everyone keeps talking about.
You seem to be only seeing a slice of the recommended towns and then come back here to complain that the town's aren't up to your standards. You should have come to visit before moving sight unseen. Perhaps if you did you wouldn't be unhappy as you seem to be.
I’ve visited Charlotte and don’t remember seeing that many homeless.
We just had a fire here started at a homeless encampment. They had to call a hazmat team due to the amount of feces found and we’ve had an outbreak of Hepatitis A. That’s a lot of homeless. Is that happening there?
No.
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