High Crime in Union County/Charlotte? (Monroe, Weddington: apartment, wedding, school districts)

[mvp19]

Union County (where I live now for 2 years) is in a pretty sad state, with Monroe being the worst. Add together a lot of welfare and medicaid, a heavy influx of illegal aliens, and generally lower imcome people, and you have a recipe for crime. Much of this also has to do with the fact that in the Charlotte area, despite the number of people moving in, there is almost nothing going on to attract quality businesses and jobs, and pitifully little in the way of infrastructure development.

[berryjuice4life]

love living in Union County been here 18 months schools are excellent, we live in the Marvin/Waxhaw area.. no complaints here except for wishing there were some more restaurants..

[CouponJack]

Originally Posted by mvp19

Union County (where I live now for 2 years) is in a pretty sad state, with Monroe being the worst. Add together a lot of welfare and medicaid, a heavy influx of illegal aliens, and generally lower imcome people, and you have a recipe for crime. Much of this also has to do with the fact that in the Charlotte area, despite the number of people moving in, there is almost nothing going on to attract quality businesses and jobs, and pitifully little in the way of infrastructure development.

Wow, talk about being sour about something.......

I've lived here 2 years and don't feel that way at all. Yes, Monroe definitely has its problems (just like parts of Charlotte), however saying the county is in a "sad state", I don't get it.......???? You're ALWAYS going to have your poor in every county no matter what.

The slowdown IMO was the best thing that could've happened for this area. Yes, it hurt alot of people, but looking down the road I feel it'll make this area stronger.

[berryjuice4life]

Originally Posted by CouponJack

Wow, talk about being sour about something.......

I've lived here 2 years and don't feel that way at all. Yes, Monroe definitely has its problems (just like parts of Charlotte), however saying the county is in a "sad state", I don't get it.......???? You're ALWAYS going to have your poor in every county no matter what.

The slowdown IMO was the best thing that could've happened for this area. Yes, it hurt alot of people, but looking down the road I feel it'll make this area stronger.

totally agree and it is good that it is slowing down...let the towns catch up for a little while...

[yrgm]

Originally Posted by mvp19

Union County (where I live now for 2 years) is in a pretty sad state, with Monroe being the worst. Add together a lot of welfare and medicaid, a heavy influx of illegal aliens, and generally lower imcome people, and you have a recipe for crime. Much of this also has to do with the fact that in the Charlotte area, despite the number of people moving in, there is almost nothing going on to attract quality businesses and jobs, and pitifully little in the way of infrastructure development.

from the wife,
Not sure what part of Union County you live in but I don't consider the western part of Union County(Weddington, Wesley Chapel, Marvin, Waxhaw) low income. I personally can not complain. Love it here. The school systems are great and so are most of the ppl. I don't consider $400,000-1.5 million dollar houses low income. Luckily in our area we have not seen an influx of crime.

[nascarnancy]

When we first started looking at homes on the internet we saw some really nice homes in Monroe but once I started reading about the city we passed. We wanted to live in Union County for lower taxes and wound up in the Weddington/Wesley Chapel area. I feel pretty safe and it's a nice area. But as always I park as close as I can in parking lots and always notice who is around me.

We have lived in our home a year and a half and the only thing that's happened was a neighbors son's car was broken into. He left stuff out in the open and I don't believe he locked the car, so...

I just lock everything up as best as I can and keep and eye out of who is in the neighborhood, that's all you can do.

[mvp19]

Actually, I am sure that Weddingron & Waxhaw are in much better shape; I am out in eastern Union county (Monroe, Wingate, Marshville) and it is not so great. And the problem with not building infrastructure is still true for the Charlotte area: I lived in the Dallas, TX area before coming here and whatever issues that city has, not building roads is not among them. They pour concrete like it's an Olympic sport. I don't know how bad 74 is going to have to get before they do something. (Or finish the loop around the state's biggest city for that matter.) I work in a pharmacy in Monore, and until I worked there I had no idea how much Medicaid was costing me...Union County has to be very high by percentage in that regard. ANd I just had a Union County sheriff tell me last week that Wingate has a fair share of crime considering its size...I am definitely worried about burglary in my area.

[jlat]

Originally Posted by mvp19

Actually, I am sure that Weddingron & Waxhaw are in much better shape; I am out in eastern Union county (Monroe, Wingate, Marshville) and it is not so great. And the problem with not building infrastructure is still true for the Charlotte area: I lived in the Dallas, TX area before coming here and whatever issues that city has, not building roads is not among them. They pour concrete like it's an Olympic sport. I don't know how bad 74 is going to have to get before they do something. (Or finish the loop around the state's biggest city for that matter.) I work in a pharmacy in Monore, and until I worked there I had no idea how much Medicaid was costing me...Union County has to be very high by percentage in that regard. ANd I just had a Union County sheriff tell me last week that Wingate has a fair share of crime considering its size...I am definitely worried about burglary in my area.

Good post, M. I think a lot of people that live in the western sectors, don't realize that there is much more to UC than the Waxhaw/Marvin/Weddington/Wesley Chapel area. Out your way, it is totally a different story. UC is still the 7th biggest agricultural producing county in the state (out of 100 counties). People come and settle in western UC because of cheap land and low taxes, and don't complain when their taxes go up, because they are still cheaper from where they come from. What they don't seem to realize is that most of the county is in a lower income bracket and paying higher taxes for infrastructure and schools that they won't ever benefit from is only going to make things harder for the residents that live in the eastern parts. I hope that the new BOC adopts district representation so that the needs of all UC residents, not just those in the western half get addressed or at least get the publicity that they deserve.

I'd also urge all western UC residents to take a little road trip out Hwy 74 towards Wingate and Marshville or Hwy 601 out towards Pageland or even up to Concord. I think you might be surprised as to what you will see out there. Huge contrast between those areas and the Hwy 16/84 corridor.

[mathteacher09]

Originally Posted by jlat

What they don't seem to realize is that most of the county is in a lower income bracket and paying higher taxes for infrastructure and schools that they won't ever benefit from is only going to make things harder for the residents that live in the eastern parts.

I have to disagree with this statement. Yes, the infrustructure has mostly been in western UC, but that is more out of necessity to keep up with demand.

The schools however work a bit differently. The clusters in the eastern portion of the county have benefited greatly from the new found tax base in the western part of the county. For instance, if the schools were funded locally, not county district wide, you would see a much greater discrepancy between schools and thier financial conditions.

[jlat]

Originally Posted by mathteacher09

I have to disagree with this statement. Yes, the infrustructure has mostly been in western UC, but that is more out of necessity to keep up with demand.

The schools however work a bit differently. The clusters in the eastern portion of the county have benefited greatly from the new found tax base in the western part of the county. For instance, if the schools were funded locally, not county district wide, you would see a much greater discrepancy between schools and thier financial conditions.

Sure, there is a single pot for all schools in UC just like most school districts in the area, but I don't think that the board spends the pool equally. For example you haven't seen any new schools in the east or significant renavations (with the exception of Monroe city schools) taking place like the mass building or renovations that is that is taking place in the west. I may be mistaken, but I can't think of a new schools coming online anywhere near Marshville or Wingate and some of those schools have a lot of years on them. Meanwhile if there are more than a couple of trailers on a western school the community is up in arms until there are brand new schools are built.

Sure there was/is demand in the west, but there also has been NO control in place to make sure the infrasturcture kept pace or to throttle back on the growth. This was a total lack of stewardship by the leaders in the county. The uncontrolled growth, over taxed the infrastructure and the only way to catch up is to raise revenue and or take on more debt. Since there's little commerical or manufacturing in the county that would be a good source of municipal revenue, that leaves property taxes as the major fuel to feed the growth engine.