Moving to Charlotte..where to live & schools to work at?!

[RichelleL]

Hey everyone! So we have been house hunting and we found some houses that we really love in Matthews that are in our price range, but I’m worried my commute to Belmont will be too long. When I GPS it, it says only 30 minutes, but it looks like it’s taking me directly through the city so I worry about rush hour traffic. Thoughts?? Is rush hour traffic typically pretty brutal in Charlotte like it is in other cities?

[MikeyRocksNC]

Originally Posted by RichelleL

Hey everyone! So we have been house hunting and we found some houses that we really love in Matthews that are in our price range, but I’m worried my commute to Belmont will be too long. When I GPS it, it says only 30 minutes, but it looks like it’s taking me directly through the city so I worry about rush hour traffic. Thoughts?? Is rush hour traffic typically pretty brutal in Charlotte like it is in other cities?

I love Matthews. One of my favorite burbs with a nice little downtown area and some decent character. If you’re working in Belmont, I assume you’d either take 485 or 74 to 85. If you go 485 past Providence and Ballantyne as well as the Pineville area, all of those are major arteries and traffic for typical school hours is going to be a nightmare, in my opinion. Easily 45 minutes to an hour each way if traffic resumes in the near future. If you take 74 to 85, 74 into town will be extremely heavy and 85 will be heavy as well. Either way will be a rough commute.
Personally, I also love Belmont, especially the downtown area. Tons of charm and some local spots for a brew, dinner, coffee, it is smaller but still a wonderful place to live and much closer to your work.

All that being said, I have a 30-45 minute commute into the city when I go to the office so I also chose to live in an area I love and understand that my commute could have been shorter, but I bought exactly what I wanted and it is worth it to me to make that drive to my home each day. Only you can make the decision of whether it is worth it or not, but if you love the home that much, it may be worth the drive. But it will be a heck of a drive.

[Gapeach69]

Question for you...why do you want to leave Pittsburgh? My daughter just moved there and we haven't been to the area yet, so I'm curious. She lives in the North Hills area.

[RichelleL]

Originally Posted by Gapeach69

Question for you...why do you want to leave Pittsburgh? My daughter just moved there and we haven't been to the area yet, so I'm curious. She lives in the North Hills area.

Hi! I moved because of the lack of jobs in my specific career in the area. I’m a speech language pathologist (or SLP) and for whatever reason, Pittsburgh is a very saturated city for SLP’s. I worked at a school district over the border in WV last school year while living in the Pittsburgh area and lost my job at the end of the school year due to budget cuts. In the south, SLPs are in high demand so I knew it would be easy for me to find a job here VS in Pittsburgh. I was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area. It will always be “home” for me, but it was time to venture out! Not to mention, you just can’t beat the weather down south! Pittsburgh is notorious for pretty crappy weather. The North Hills of Pittsburgh is a nice area! I grew up west of Pittsburgh and was living in the South Hills area for about a year before moving to the Carolinas.

[RichelleL]

Just an update for everyone, we decided on a house in Lake Wylie (clover) SC and so far we love it! Thank you all for the help.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by RichelleL

Just an update for everyone, we decided on a house in Lake Wylie (clover) SC and so far we love it! Thank you all for the help.

Congratulations!