North or South of Charlotte, Which is Better? (Raleigh, Greensboro: equity, budget)

[Rettsie in NJ]

Hi All,
My husband and I have been talking about moving to the Charlotte area for some time now. We have a trip planned in mid June and after reading about (and looking at the spotcrime website) all the crime in Charlotte we are very concerned and want to either move north around Huntersville, Davidson, Mooresville or south to SC near Lake Wylie or further south. Can anyone tell me the benefits or drawbacks to NC vs. SC? I've already changed my hotel from South Park to Huntersville.
We appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

[nkjaws]

Originally Posted by Rettsie in NJ

Hi All,
My husband and I have been talking about moving to the Charlotte area for some time now. We have a trip planned in mid June and after reading about (and looking at the spotcrime website) all the crime in Charlotte we are very concerned and want to either move north around Huntersville, Davidson, Mooresville or south to SC near Lake Wylie or further south. Can anyone tell me the benefits or drawbacks to NC vs. SC? I've already changed my hotel from South Park to Huntersville.
We appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

I can't really speak for north Charlotte b/c I haven't been there, but I do hear Huntersville is low crime, good schools, and very nice. South Charlotte (not Southwest or Southeast, just South) is nice too, but the homes are older. It does have that neighborhood feel to it but I do know there have been some robberies over there of late that have alot of people concerned. The Lake Wylie community is also beautiful. IT all depends on your price range?? Also Fort MIll, SC is great too. Low crime, great schools. I think the taxes are a bit lower in SC

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Rettsie in NJ

Hi All,
My husband and I have been talking about moving to the Charlotte area for some time now. We have a trip planned in mid June and after reading about (and looking at the spotcrime website) all the crime in Charlotte we are very concerned and want to either move north around Huntersville, Davidson, Mooresville or south to SC near Lake Wylie or further south. Can anyone tell me the benefits or drawbacks to NC vs. SC? I've already changed my hotel from South Park to Huntersville.
We appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

Wow, too bad you aren't staying at South Park - you'll miss some great restaurants and shopping in a really nice area. Plus you would have been more centrally located to explore both areas.

[njmdpanc]

Originally Posted by Rettsie in NJ

Hi All,
My husband and I have been talking about moving to the Charlotte area for some time now. We have a trip planned in mid June and after reading about (and looking at the spotcrime website) all the crime in Charlotte we are very concerned and want to either move north around Huntersville, Davidson, Mooresville or south to SC near Lake Wylie or further south. Can anyone tell me the benefits or drawbacks to NC vs. SC? I've already changed my hotel from South Park to Huntersville.
We appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

Neither is better than the other. They both offer different homes and communities. I would not have changed my hotel from South Park because that is where you will get a good feel of the Charlotte lifestyle. South Park is the second largest business district in Charlotte, behind uptown. Staying in Huntersville will leave you further out of the city.

[Petro2008]

I prefer the South but that is just personal preference both areas are nice and you will really have to spend time in both areas so that you will know what area is best for you. It'd be a shame to buy in one area only to find out later that you should have checked out both areas.

[vanyali]

The crime in Charlotte is overblown. South Charlotte is very safe. I've never locked my front door, and never had a problem. As far as I can tell, there have just been a couple of incidents in Dilworth and Plaza Midwood, and the whole idea of a crime being committed anywhere around there is just so shocking that people just can't stop talking about it.

That's like a little while ago in Cary (up by Raleigh) -- one guy robbed one store. Once. And his girlfriend came into the local tattoo shop and got the guy's initials tattoed on to herself somewhere, and told the tattooer the story about how her b-f was going back to jail, etc. The next week, a policeman came in to the same shop for a tattoo, and told the story of the same guy from the other side -- he was the arresting officer I think. There's so little crime in Cary, that when something happens, it's the talk of the town for weeks.

I think you should look into the closer-in South Charlotte neighborhoods before committing yourself to living so far out, especially if you're going to need to commute into Uptown. Traffic isn't too bad, but you're talking about a significant distance to travel, even without traffic. There's nothing wrong with Huntersville, Davidson, and all that, but there's really nothing wrong with Myers Park either.

[groove1]

I prefer the southside of town (most of it except southwest). You have more things available such as the light rail, I-485, more travel lanes if on 77, etc...it seems the north side of town gets shunned on alot of things. The advantages to living in SC are lower taxes, but Lake Wylie can be a tough commute.

[BlueLily7]

What kind of lifestyle do you want? Do you want to be in a "neighborhood" or do you want to be in a more rural feeling area? Do you want a house on a tiny lot or do you prefer larger lots or more land? Do you want to be in the crowd or do you want to live away from the crowd but convenient to - what- shopping? work? schools? etc.....

So with that in mind, I wanted to be convenient enough to anything in Charlotte- shopping at South Park mall, working Uptown...but actually living my daily home life OUT of the crowds and congestion. I prefer a more rural area...but I like shopping to be near. I'd rather drive 45 minutes to work than to HAVE to drive 45 minutes for my favorite shopping.

Huntersville was nice enough but getting congested on the few main roads. I preferred Harrisburg to Huntersville. I would have preferred some nice acreage just over the state line in Fort Mill, especially the schools there too, but it was out of our budget when we lived in this area.

For me, I preferred to be just north of Charlotte in Cabarrus County. Pretty much anywhere in Cabarrus County was convenient enough to Charlotte, convenient enough to any mall I felt like driving to, but I had all the shops, restaurants, and the mall at Concord Mills as well as really great doctors in whatever area I ever needed working out of the CMC-Northeast umbrella. In Cabarrus County I enjoyed living in the Harrisburg area but a bit north off Hwy 49- also, having kids, that area was convenient to Badin Lake, the NC zoo in Asheboro, and convenient enough to Uptown Charlotte for Discovery Place, Columbia SC's zoo (a bit more of a drive) and things in Rowan County too, plus if I wanted to drive to Winston-Salem or Greensboro for a day trip, it wasn't a bad drive at all...the area was convenient to UNC-Charlotte when I was taking classes and a fine enough drive in to CPCC in Charlotte if I wanted to take a class there a night or two a week (and I lived in this area for a few years while working daily in Uptown). That's just me...I don't care at ALL about "developments" with "amenities"....I want a more rural, country feel but still in a nice area.

I loved the Harrisburg and Concord area for all of those reasons so again for Cabarrus County I recommend the Poplar Tent Road area or area around Harrisburg especially. Huntersville was a nice enough area- it's got a separate feel to Charlotte but was just growing so much...I prefer other lakes to Norman because it's so crowded, I like to go boating and have a quiet, isolated area to relax in peace. We were considering moving to Fort Mill before we left the area for my husband's job, when we had more equity to trade up with...the only downside to Fort Mill for me, because I LOVED the rural areas and the nice neighborhoods, was its distance from Concord and everything I had gotten to love about that area.

For young professionals who can afford it, staying in a nice condo in Uptown near work would be awesome. Charlotte is a very nice city for city people, the actual Uptown area is pretty much clean and nice. I'm just way too much of a hermit to want to live IN a city's downtown area. I need the countryside.

If you're looking for a sort of Wisteria Lane, there are areas IN South Charlotte (not south OF Charlotte) that would fit the bill and a lot of people discuss those neighborhoods here. South Park, areas off Providence Rd, etc. Again, not for me..I want to be a bit more out of the city and further away.

So my favorite areas are the best places in Fort Mill SC, or Concord or Harrisburg NC, with Huntersville coming in last but still ok. If I wanted to be near Huntersville I'd have liked some land off 73 between Concord and Huntersville or something. Or something toward Davidson.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by groove1

I prefer the southside of town (most of it except southwest). You have more things available such as the light rail, I-485, more travel lanes if on 77, etc...it seems the north side of town gets shunned on alot of things. The advantages to living in SC are lower taxes, but Lake Wylie can be a tough commute.

Groove, I really do think a commute from Lake Wylie is much better and shorter time-wise than a commute from Lake Norman. Plus, I love how calm and peaceful Lake Wylie is compared to all the craziness that happens on Lake Norman on the weekends.

[groove1]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Groove, I really do think a commute from Lake Wylie is much better and shorter time-wise than a commute from Lake Norman. Plus, I love how calm and peaceful Lake Wylie is compared to all the craziness that happens on Lake Norman on the weekends.

That is definitely true about the craziness.