Considering a move from Arizona to Charlotte with kids - looking for great schools and neighborhoods! (Matthews: how much)
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Hi All,
This is my first time posting here! We currently live in Scottsdale, AZ, and my husband is considering a job in Charlotte. He works in finance and would be working remotely for now and then commuting into the city. I work from home, so I don't need to worry about a commute. We have two kids (11 and 13) and they are both in middle school. (There have been similar posts but they seem to be a few years old, which is why I'm posting now!) We could use some help on neighborhoods to look at that have excellent middle schools and high schools. We would prefer public if possible. Our price range is $650-800k. It would be great to find an area that is safe and has a nice sense of community with easy access to shopping/restaurants, etc. My husband would prefer a commute that is preferably less than 45 minutes. Would love to hear your thoughts - thank you in advance!
Hi All,
This is my first time posting here! We currently live in Scottsdale, AZ, and my husband is considering a job in Charlotte. He works in finance and would be working remotely for now and then commuting into the city. I work from home, so I don't need to worry about a commute. We have two kids (11 and 13) and they are both in middle school. (There have been similar posts but they seem to be a few years old, which is why I'm posting now!) We could use some help on neighborhoods to look at that have excellent middle schools and high schools. We would prefer public if possible. Our price range is $650-800k. It would be great to find an area that is safe and has a nice sense of community with easy access to shopping/restaurants, etc. My husband would prefer a commute that is preferably less than 45 minutes. Would love to hear your thoughts - thank you in advance!
With a healthy budget like that, my recommendation is always somewhere in south Charlotte, Weddington, Marvin, or Waxhaw. If schools are the most important then I’d say Marvin/Waxhaw. In general, the best public schools in the Charlotte metro are really grouped up Around that part of the city. The drive from Waxhaw proper into uptown for work would be almost an hour with traffic so I’d definitely stay north of there, but those are the areas to check out. Only drawback in my opinion is that Waxhaw and Marvin aren’t exactly exciting areas. They both have everything you’d need on a daily basis, they just feel pretty rural in my opinion. But, they aren’t far from 485 and other popular areas.
Weddington and Ballantyne also offer great public schools, they’re pretty crowded, but high performing. Ardrey Kell and Providence are great schools overall. Those areas also get your family a little closer to some additional shopping destinations, more restaurants, more stuff to do in general.
Depending on how much house you want, you could also afford South Park, Dilworth, and some areas of Myers Park. The schools are a slight downgrade but you get into some of the nicest parts of the city and are very close to uptown for an easy commute. Those areas have tons of shops, food, things to do, great places to raise a family.
"Ditto" to what MikeyRocks said. Weddington, Marvin, and Waxhaw are pretty far out so your selection of restaurants would be limited and the commute is outside your 45 minute window. But the neighborhoods are very affluent and the schools are good. Marvin Ridge High, Weddington High, and Cuthbertson High all rank among the top 26 high schools in NC.
Ballantyne is a great area and may be within the 45 minute window. Ardrey Kell High (ranks 2nd in Char-Meck Schools) feeds Ballantyne. Also, consider South Park in southeast Charlotte (CLT) and Matthews in east CLT. South Park and Matthews are within the 45 minute window. South Park has great restaurants and short a commute to Uptown.
If you would like to be near Lake Norman, consider Cornelius off I-77, 20 miles north of Uptown. Hough High ranks 7th in Char-Meck Schools. But the restaurant selection on Lake Norman will not compare to southeast CLT, and the commute may be an hour or more. But if you enjoy boating and skiing then this could be for you.
You cannot go wrong anywhere in southeast CLT. All areas are pretty affluent although all neighborhoods will not have homes in your price range. But the worst ranking high school in southeast CLt ranks 13th in CMS and 92nd in NC. All areas in southeast CLT are within an easy drive of restaurants.
Thank you both so much for all this great information! Very helpful! From the sounds of it, I think Waxhaw and Marvin might be too far out if it's more rural. We don't need anything super exciting for nightlife, but in Scottsdale we have small lots/close-knit neighborhoods and are close to everything - shopping/restaurants/schools, etc. I love the charm of the houses I have seen in Dilworth, Southpark and Myers Park and the houses seem nice in the Ardrey Kell/Providence areas, too. I'm surprised the schools in the Dilworth/Southpark/Myers Park areas are not as good, especially with the high RE prices. Do you know why that is?
I don’t have kids so I can’t speak from any experience, but my clients typically tell me that schools around here are extremely crowded, especially just south of uptown for Myers Park HS. A lot of people I know through there send their kids to private school. But I don’t really know a reason why the schools through there struggle more.
If I were you, I’d look around Waverly, Rea Farms, Arboretum, Ballantyne Village...basically anywhere from the intersection of John Street and 485 to the intersection of Johnston Road and 485 in south Charlotte. That 5 mile stretch has a TON of shopping options, great schools, nice communities, very safe, I think you’d have everything you’re asking for through there. I live at Providence and 485, my commute to uptown is about 30 minutes in the morning and evening if I end up going to the office for anything. If you have any questions about the area down here or specific neighborhoods just ask. I’m sure others can chime in and help.
If you look at a map, you'll see that I-485 makes a circle around Charlotte...in South Charlotte, stay inside that circle for a "reasonable" commute...anything outside for the most part can be over an hour's drive from Uptown on the way home each night.
Charlotte also has what they call the "wedge"...picturing that I-485 circle as a clock...anything between 5:00-7:00 is where the upper middle class lives...which is why you're getting a lot of recommendations for South Charlotte. Just FYI.
Schools are larger here than other places, especially the high schools that can have 3,000+ in the 4 grades. Myers Park and South Meck HS's are more "campus feel" with detached buildings, whereas Providence and Ardrey Kell HS are more single building based...but still large w/2,000+.
They are considering building a new HS in South Charlotte to relieve over-crowding...nothing is imminent, but it may open before your children graduate. If you value continuity without being redistricted, I'd recommend living closer to a high school (CMS district encompasses the entire county and is one of the largest in the country). Specifically if you end up in the Carmel MS area and near the line of Providence/South Meck/Ardrey Kell districting...who knows how those lines will end up after a 4th South CLT school is added.
Also key to note is that there are no specific "feeder" schools from ES to MS to HS. So you could have some areas where graduating 5th graders end up in 3 different MS's the next year based on where they lived...same thing with graduating 8th graders. That's one of the reasons you may see discrepancies in school ratings for a house with a high/low ES/MS rating and the opposite HS rating.
As to your concerns around South Park school ratings, remember that the closer to the city that you get, the thinner that wedge becomes, so it pulls in more areas outside the wedge. So Myers Park HS for example pulls from the richer neighborhoods in the wedge but also from areas east and west of that wedge. Whereas further south, Providence and Ardrey Kell HSs are in the wider portion of the wedge and pull predominantly just the upper middle class neighborhoods. The other issue is that a lot of the private schools are in that area, where a lot of the million dollar home babies end up going.
As for retail/lifestyle...it's really personal preference. Every area has their own goods/bads. Ballantyne is still the shiny new penny with a decent socio/economic mix (starting middle class and up). Waxhaw is more whitewashed with a higher prevalence of stay-at-home moms. As you move north, demographics mix a bit more on both extremes.
In my opinion Weddington offers best option for commuting (closest to 485 and top schools) with Marvin #2 option.
Very close to new huge modern shopping/entertaining areas: Rea Farm and Waverly.
Also in close proximity to Matthews and Ballentyne while still benefiting of lower Union County taxes (compared to Mecklenburg taxes).
Highway 485 is currently adding 2 additional lines (total of 4) at Providence Rd - main access to Weddington, Marvin and Waxhaw.
This is such great and useful information! Thank you all so much! Once we get closer to the move, I may reach out with more questions!
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