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In Cabarrus county, they have bus stops at different schools for some of the magnet schools. You might be able to take advantage of that. The applications for the magnet schools might still be open in Cabarrus. It's a lottery system as well here.
There are some new neighborhoods opening up in the next few months. Latana by Shea Homes will be opening and would be within your budget. It's outside of Highland Creek. There are also townhomes being built if you would consider those and it's around the HC area. Winding Walk has some homes for sale within your budget and Sq footage requirements. Check out Moss Creek as well. The commute to UNCC for any of the neighborhoods mentioned is around the same time. Not a bad commute at all.
Hotrod - Are there other neighborhoods that you recommend we consider? My biggest priority is schools and easy commute to UNCC. We would prefer to stay in the $250-$300K range and something around 1700-2200 sq ft. I'd rather have smaller and updated than bigger and not updated. I've noticed there are lots of "McMansion" style houses in Charlotte that were built during the boom. That isn't really what we need for our family. We do have two dogs, so an average sized yard is necessary, but we don't need or want anything too huge.
I would consider the Harrisburg area. Good schools, easy access to UNCC, similar growing pains to highland creek. Unlike highland creek you may be able to find an older smaller home depending on the area of Harrisburg you are looking in. The budget and inventory might be a bit tough for a renovated home in an established neighborhood in Harrisburg. Still worth looking at though.
The pro's:
Convenient to everything, even moreso with the development at Christenbury Corners.
Sidewalks everywhere if you're into walking/jogging.
Lots of pools and parks in the neighborhood.
When we were there the HOA was pretty hands-off and didn't send letters unless you had a really unsightly violation.
The elementary school (on the Meck side) is really good.
Lots of price points within the neighborhood.
The con's:
Traffic has gotten worse with the development.
The middle and high schools on the Meck side have mixed reviews.
We ended up moving to Harrisburg, but that was primarily due to trying to shorten my commute (I work in Union County).
The pro's:
Convenient to everything, even moreso with the development at Christenbury Corners.
Sidewalks everywhere if you're into walking/jogging.
Lots of pools and parks in the neighborhood.
When we were there the HOA was pretty hands-off and didn't send letters unless you had a really unsightly violation.
The elementary school (on the Meck side) is really good.
Lots of price points within the neighborhood.
The con's:
Traffic has gotten worse with the development.
The middle and high schools on the Meck side have mixed reviews.
We ended up moving to Harrisburg, but that was primarily due to trying to shorten my commute (I work in Union County).
Awesome info! Thank you! We have Harrisburg on our list, as well. Would it be a shorter commute to UNCC or similar?
Awesome info! Thank you! We have Harrisburg on our list, as well. Would it be a shorter commute to UNCC or similar?
Depends on where in Harrisburg you are. The main road that runs through Harrisburg is HWY49/University City Blvd. it runs right into UNCC. If you live on the very North/East side of Harrisburg like the Pharr Mill Rd area it will take about 20-25 minutes due to the speed limit being 35 through Harrisburg. If you live more West/South towards Stallings Rd it would be really quick as the speed limit jumps to 55 right as you exit Harrisburg. The pinch point/slow moving area is the HWY49/485 intersection. It takes me 30ish minutes to get to work and I am at Wells Fargo CIC which is 5-10 minutes or so from UNCC.
We moved to Harrisburg earlier this year from Charlotte proper and love it. There is a bunch of development going on so traffic will probably become heavier but the schools and community feel we get where we live makes up for it. There is currently a huge shopping center being built with a Publix and a ton of other things right on HWY49, and then down Rocky River Rd. there are going to develop a big Birkdale Village style housing/shopping area called Farmington. Also on Rocky River they are trying to develop another 450 homes that is currently "rural land".
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