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I was born and raised in Yonkers, NY, but have spent the past few years living in the soccer mom suburbs of Atlanta (Cobb County to be exact). My fiancee and I have finally made the decision to relocate again, and have decided on Charlotte for a number of reasons. We are in our early thirties, make decent money, and have no kids. She is a suburban girl, but I am a city boy through and through. I feel that what I have been missing the most in my life is a neighborhood, and that is the reason for this post.
So ... what do I mean when I talk about a neighborhood? I'm talking about an area that is mixed residential and mom and pop retail. I'm talking about an area where you can walk to a local bar or restaurant without worrying about having to cross an interstate. I'm talking about an area where the residents really have a discernable identity and are aware that this is THEIR neighborhood.
Does that exist anymore?
I have been focusing my home search in Plaza-Midwood and NoDA based on research I have already done and the advice of a realtor. Our price range is between $300k and $400k, and we are looking for a 3 - 4 bedroom (not a ranch or a bungalow) with at least a little bit of yard. I prefer older homes or newer homes that were designed to look like older homes. I know that we are priced out of Dilworth unless we want to live in a shoebox and we barely make it into the areas we are currently looking in.
So, my question is, am I missing something? Are there other (maybe less popularized neighborhoods) in Charlotte that we should also be looking in? Any advice would be appreciated, and I look forward to becoming a fellow Charloteean in the very near future.
I was born and raised in Yonkers, NY, but have spent the past few years living in the soccer mom suburbs of Atlanta (Cobb County to be exact). My fiancee and I have finally made the decision to relocate again, and have decided on Charlotte for a number of reasons. We are in our early thirties, make decent money, and have no kids. She is a suburban girl, but I am a city boy through and through. I feel that what I have been missing the most in my life is a neighborhood, and that is the reason for this post.
So ... what do I mean when I talk about a neighborhood? I'm talking about an area that is mixed residential and mom and pop retail. I'm talking about an area where you can walk to a local bar or restaurant without worrying about having to cross an interstate. I'm talking about an area where the residents really have a discernable identity and are aware that this is THEIR neighborhood.
Does that exist anymore?
I have been focusing my home search in Plaza-Midwood and NoDA based on research I have already done and the advice of a realtor. Our price range is between $300k and $400k, and we are looking for a 3 - 4 bedroom (not a ranch or a bungalow) with at least a little bit of yard. I prefer older homes or newer homes that were designed to look like older homes. I know that we are priced out of Dilworth unless we want to live in a shoebox and we barely make it into the areas we are currently looking in.
So, my question is, am I missing something? Are there other (maybe less popularized neighborhoods) in Charlotte that we should also be looking in? Any advice would be appreciated, and I look forward to becoming a fellow Charloteean in the very near future.
Thanks!
I cannot recommend NoDa - still too transitional with much crime. I would recommend you look in Elizabeth and am surprised a realtor didn't mention this great uptown neighborhood to you. In addition, check out the neighborhood next to it - Chantilly. Best of luck
My vote is for Plaza-Midwood! I have been there almost 20 years and love it! It is centrally located and has all the things you are looking for, retail, mix of old an new construction. For your price range you can buy a nice home.
Just for comparison you might want to check out Chantilly and Elizabeth neighborhoods. The Plaza-Midwood and Elizabeth neighborhood are walkable from Chantilly. The Elizabeth neighborhood has a nice mix of retail at Pecan and 7th as well as Hawthorne and 7th, just around the corner from there is Elizabeth Ave which is undergoing a big redevelopment.
Another neighborhood is Wilmore, just west of the city. Not sure about the retail though. Check out neighborhoods around the rail line south of town, there is a big surge of retail happening there.
Well, I am going to throw something out there a little different. You might check out Baxter Village, located in Fort Mill, SC. While Baxter Village is a newer community (than the others mentioned above), many of the homes have the appearance of years gone by. The design of the village is just that...to be able to walk to a local pub, or restaurant, and/or even do a little shopping if necessary. There's also office buildings, an after-care medical facility, and an incredible YMCA there as well. Baxter Village is located right of Interstate 77, and within a 20 drive to uptown Charlotte. It has been so successful there are plans to build another in the near future.
I will definitely expand my search into Chantily and Elizabeth ... thanks for the tips!
I am already working with an agent, who has been very supportive and willing to change focus from SouthPark (which is what my fiancee initially wanted, and is, as far as I am concerned, the exact opposite of what we are looking for) to the neighborhoods I mentioned. I will be sure to ask her about these other neighborhoods when we go up to Charlotte this weekend.
I am not so sure a planned neighborhood like Baxter Village is really what I am looking for, but thanks for the suggestion.
I am glad to have found this board, as you all seem very knowledgable and willing to help out.
On a side note - a perfect neighborhood should always have a great pizza place that sells by the slice, a great deli (not a sandwich chain), a couple of bars (ideally one that caters to local bands), a bakery that is open early on Sunday mornings, at least one barber shop run by a cranky old man, old ladies looking out windows, a park or two and some colorful history that long time residents have a tendency to exaggerate ....
I will definitely expand my search into Chantily and Elizabeth ... thanks for the tips!
I am already working with an agent, who has been very supportive and willing to change focus from SouthPark (which is what my fiancee initially wanted, and is, as far as I am concerned, the exact opposite of what we are looking for) to the neighborhoods I mentioned. I will be sure to ask her about these other neighborhoods when we go up to Charlotte this weekend.
I am not so sure a planned neighborhood like Baxter Village is really what I am looking for, but thanks for the suggestion.
I am glad to have found this board, as you all seem very knowledgable and willing to help out.
On a side note - a perfect neighborhood should always have a great pizza place that sells by the slice, a great deli (not a sandwich chain), a couple of bars (ideally one that caters to local bands), a bakery that is open early on Sunday mornings, at least one barber shop run by a cranky old man, old ladies looking out windows, a park or two and some colorful history that long time residents have a tendency to exaggerate ....
Well, Elizabeth and Chantilly have all that!!! You may have just found your neighborhood
Hi LAMF, My husband and I seem to want exactly what you and your girlfriend are looking for (and we're the same demographic, except with a 1 year old). Let us know what you think about those neighborhoods. We've been researching online Plaza-Midwood, Elizabeth, and Chantilly, but haven't seen them in person.
I live in Huntersville and love it! It is definitely a suburb but it’s close enough to Charlotte for the commute. The traffic jam starts at exit 23 on I-77 and that’s where we are. I have everything I need in close proximity and rarely go to Charlotte. We have little new “villages” for shopping that are set up around or in developments. I live in Rosedale and could walk to a bunch of places to eat and we just had a sports bar open up. There’s a huge hospital with a brand new maternity ward. We have a lot of new construction going on that’s going to be plazas, hard to tell what will be in there. We are going to have a little more shopping, kind of like a mini-Birkdale, how I understand it.
We have a bowling alley around the corner and a pizza shop with great food. They actually serve real Buffalo wings, white pizza, Fri. Haddock fish fry, and top it off with a Labatt’s Blue. I’ve even found a decent hot dog! Shopping is not a problem with Northlake and Birkdale nearby, also not too far from Mooresville and Concord Mills Mall. And what about Lake Norman?!
Birkdale Village is another option in Huntersville. Again, it’s a little “village”.
But Birkdale is much pricier than Rosedale. In Rosedale, you can find a brand new house with a 2 year warranty 3000 sq ft 5 bdr/2-3ba/2cg for under $300k. We also have monthly ladies Bunco and the neighborhood is almost completed. I know a bunch of my neighbors but there are some that keep to themselves, too. But I consider this a REAL neighborhood and the best of both worlds!
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let me know what you find!
Love my neighborhood!
