Lake Norman-aka LKN:
When people say
LKN or
Lake Norman, we are speaking of the area around the lake of course. But this covers a large area.
LKN proper (meaning where the most action is and population growth) is considered within the town limits of
Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, and Mooresville. These towns line up one after the other from exit 18 to exit 36 on I-77, although lake communities do not begin until about exit 25 to exit 36.
Of these towns,
Huntersville is closest to Charlotte (it borders Charlotte). Huntersville offers plenty of shopping and entertainment with Birkdale Village being the work, live, play community minutes from the lake.
Cornelius is a small town whose main drag strip is Catawba Avenue (exit 28). Catawba runs from Highway 73 through historic downtown to Highway 115. Lots of marina options on Catawba, and one of the lakes wealthiest communities, The Peninsula, is off the road as well.
Davidson is a wonderful small town, tight knit community off of exit 30. It hosts Davidson College, who are now in the Sweet 16 NCAA tournament after their thrilling win over Georgetown University. The town is mainly set back away from the lake on the east side of 77, but their is a couple of marina options west of exit 30.
Mooresville comprises of exit 33 and 36. It is more of rural town but it rapidly growing, as evidenced by increasing traffic. Many NASCAR drivers call Mooresville home. It is a decent size in terms of town limits and outer edges from the lake keep you within 15 minutes to the shore if you want a more rural setting. However, plenty of medium to upscale housing options. Mooresville with also be home to the new mega retail/residential/corporate development known as Langtree, which will envelope the future exit 32.
Other parts of LKN include
Troutman, Sherrills Ford, and Denver, with the latter becoming the new up and coming area on the west end of the lake. These towns are the most rural of all LKN communities, so you will likely get more for your money in terms of housing. However, this trend is likely to diminish in the near future because these areas are experience population growth as well. I will let others who live in these
LKN "minor" towns because they obviously will have more experience.
All in all, LKN (no matter "proper" or "minor") is IMO the best place to live in all of Charlotte metro. LKN offers towns of every pace of life, so it's easily to find the town that suits each family or individual. Crime is a non-issue in all towns, and there is beaucoups of entertainment options, even if you live in the more rural settings since you can hop on the boat and pull up to one of the many restaurants, or take a short drive. Of course, the lake is awesome too and probably is the most recreationally (that's not even a word but it works for me!
) active lakes in NC.
I hope this helps add to the discussion, and please others offer more insight into the smaller communities of LKN.
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Is there any urban-like living in Charlotte or nearby?
