Family-oriented neighbourhood with good schools and short commute? (Charlotte, Huntersville: middle-class, rentals)

[getmeoutofnj]

Help me find my eutopia! Just kidding.

I realize I may not be able to find all of these in one place but if anyone could give me any insight, it will be appreciated.

We are a married couple with a 10 yr old. Therefore my high priority is the school system. If I may quote lovesMountains from another thread, this sums it up well:

".. there is a lot more to a school than its test scores. The schools in Cabarrus county are not plagued with the problems some of the schools in Mecklenburg county are. Because it is a much smaller school system things can be taken care of more effeciently sometimes. And the level of parental involvement is much higher, which can help a school in so many ways."


*Of course I would like a low-crime area with good schools and maybe some parks around.
*Doesnt have to be "hip", more family oriented.
*Nice people.
*Short commute to uptown/downtown(within 30 mins preferably).
*I also like to have a small-ish town feel but with all the amenities very close by.
*probably upper-middle-class if I have to use a label(dont like to).
*home prices below 600K
*Clean and pretty

More about me:
I like a simple, but good life which is why we decided to move to Charlotte. For me, I dont need a very big house(frankly sick of all the houses looking the same also) but neighbourhood is important. Perhaps Im one of those "buy the smallest house in the best neighbourhood" kind of person.

I want to have a vegetable garden, is that a problem in subdivisions? I dont really want to live "in the country" or have a large piece of land.

I must have a gas stove! Hope electric is not the norm down there. is it?

I like art districts, but I can drive to them. I love ethnic cuisines, again I can drive to get it. Doesnt have to be outside my door.

If anyone here knows about the town of Okemos MI, I liked it there. Sidewalks on every street. 3-4 nature centers nearby. a park with a small lake in driving distance. Mall, doctors, grocery store, school in walking distance. People outdoors alot(weather permitting!). Easy driving(but it wasnt a suburb of a major city).

OK enough rambling from me now, if you made it this far Kudos to you!

[getmeoutofnj]

One thing to add...
It looks like I will have to move next month itself. So, I will have to rent an apt first. We are hoping to buy a house by this summer.
Its alot to ask, but it would be great if we could rent in the same place we potentially want to buy in a few months. Basically this is so my kid will be in the same school system. (Kid is in fifth grade now, so next year will be middle school, which gives some leeway.)
Thanks y'all!

[businessperson]

Feel free to use my website to view properties in the area. You can find it under my "profile". You just put in your price range and any other criteria that is important to you. A lot of people on this forum prefer Union Co schools but I've heard a lot of good comments about Cabarrus Co and Fort Mill, SC as well. Let me know what your price range and what area you want to be in and I'll keep my eyes open for a rental for you. You would probably be best off to buy without renting though because its hard to get a month to month without a going into a long term lease. Let me know if I can help.

[getmeoutofnj]

Thanks for replying, business person, but thats just it... I dont know which area at all!
My price range is 300-600k. Neighbourhood is more important to me than the house size.
I am worried abt lease breakage but since I am moving too soon, I doubt there is time to buy a house. Plus I havent even visited Charlotte yet.
But I will check out your site.
Which out of union, cabarrus, and fort mill would you say is the nicest all around area based on my criteria? Do they have good commute times?

I have thought abt south charlotte/ballantyne as a possibility but is it more on the "urban feel" side?

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofnj

Thanks for replying, business person, but thats just it... I dont know which area at all!
My price range is 300-600k. Neighbourhood is more important to me than the house size.
I am worried abt lease breakage but since I am moving too soon, I doubt there is time to buy a house. Plus I havent even visited Charlotte yet.
But I will check out your site.
Which out of union, cabarrus, and fort mill would you say is the nicest all around area based on my criteria? Do they have good commute times?

I have thought abt south charlotte/ballantyne as a possibility but is it more on the "urban feel" side?

South Charlotte/Ballantyne is what I would call "suburban chic" Not much of an urban feel out that way at all. For an urban feel you'd need to stay closer to uptown - Dilworth, Myers Park, Elizabeth or NoDa.

[getmeoutofnj]

No, actually dont want an urban feel(if I was single then yes!).

[south.charlotte&union]

South Charlotte (including Ballantyne) as well as Union county would work for you. Commute times to uptown during rush hour would probably be around 45 minutes for the communities closer in to town. If you are not working uptown, you could have shorter commute times.

That is a pretty wide price range -- you should have no problem finding what you are looking for in this area. Feel free to PM me if you would like or search my website for ideas. Best of luck

[getmeoutofnj]

Thanks Everyone.
The reason my range is wide is because I can afford 600+ but I dont really prefer to have "that much" house. It seems that the way homes are priced in NC that I can get what Im looking for closer to 300. BUT, Im willing to go much higher than that for the right neighborhood

Some places that are sounding good are:
Harrisburg
Huntersville
Cornelius
Matthews
Ballantyne(wherever it is, lol)
and Tega Cay, SC

Anyones opinions/comparisons of those places are most welcome

[DawnW]

Ok, just a quick response from my personal experience.....whatever you tell most realtors you are "willing to go up to" will be the price range he/she will show you.

(yes, I know there are some realtors who are very patient so please don't everyone jump on me here.)

My suggestion would be to start at the low end and work your way up.

That is what we did. We started at our low end and decided we really needed to go up a bit to get what we really wanted. We were happy to not spend even close to what homes were in other areas of the country.

Are you coming down here to look around? Get a realtor and spend a day or two looking if you can to get a good idea of what you will be looking at price wise.

Dawn

[megassel]

I think you would LOVE Baxter Village in Fort Mill, SC. It's the area's first experiment with "new urbanism", which is basically a new small town. Shops, parks and restaurants within walking distance, sidewalks on every street, neighborhood activities and sports, 25 minute commute to uptown, beautiful houses with traditional architecture (Craftsman style) and great schools. It's been a very successful experiment - several more similar developments are underway. You could also look at Afton Village in Cabarrus County for the same type thing (I've just never been there so I can't elaborate).

Those areas are most like those charming Michigan small towns (I'm from MI). I'm going through the early parts of a move to Tega Cay, SC (from Charlotte) right now, so feel free to PM me if you need any info on rentals, etc. I just went through all the research to figure out where different people rent in Fort Mill and Tega Cay while they're waiting for their houses. Best of luck!