Looking at Gilead Ridge, Stephens Grove and Vermillion (Huntersville: house, established neighborhood)

[hurley10399]

We are moving to Huntersville and confused on where to go! I LOVE the area, which makes it hard to narrow down. Vermillion is a great concept, but I don't think I'm crazy about the schools. I like the schools better at Gilead Ridge, but is it really going to be finished building. Does anyone know if there are cut-throughs etc. planned- maybe the Hugh Torrance Parkway. Thank you!

[amploud]

Originally Posted by hurley10399

We are moving to Huntersville and confused on where to go! I LOVE the area, which makes it hard to narrow down. Vermillion is a great concept, but I don't think I'm crazy about the schools. I like the schools better at Gilead Ridge, but is it really going to be finished building. Does anyone know if there are cut-throughs etc. planned- maybe the Hugh Torrance Parkway. Thank you!

Yes, there is a plan to expand Hugh Torance Parkway. If you search for "hugh torance parkway, 28078" on Google Maps, you will see 2 unconnected sections of Hugh Torance Parkway. One is in Wynfield and the other is in Gilead Ridge.

Here's a presentation on the future plan:
http://www.huntersville.org/Planning...0p%2053-67.pdf

There is another presentation that has better pictures of the expansion, but I can't seem to locate it at the moment...

Of course, I'm not sure how the economy affects the time-line of these plans.

[lumbollo]

Yes, Hugh Torrance Parkway was once known as the Stumpton Road extension. A decade ago, Wynfield and Wynfield Forest had a war over this road as Wynfield wanted it as a back entrance to the neighborhood and Wynfield Forest didn't want it because it cut the neighborhood in 1/2. The road was in the neighborhood plan and the developer had already set aside land for it.

Huntersville wanted this road and had decided to fund it on it's own when the above war brought in the state who prevented the town from building it. However it ended up that Wynfield Forest compromised and agreed to the road if the 4 way stop was added where it enters into that neighborhood. The section that is open, including the two traffic circles, was actually paid for by the McAuley developers who agreed to build the road in return for getting the zoning to allow the construction of McAuley. I am pretty sure this road is designated a minor thoroughfare by the NCDOT and one day could be carrying a good bit of traffic.

If you drive down this road and head into Wynfield Forest you can see where there is a wide space between the two rows of homes where the it presently dead ends into Wynfield Creek Parkway. This wide space is land the developer set aside for this road. If you were to continue down this road if it were built, it would eventually hit the yet to be built Vance Rd extension and then into the other neighborhoods that exit onto Giliead past the Cook farm.

The point here is that do your research on whatever property that you intend to buy. In the case of Wynfield Forest, the people there didn't do this even though Huntersville long ago had required that developer to set aslde land for the road. I do tend to believe the economy will slow down the plans for these roads, but that also ought to be some warning on puchasing a house yet to be built. It's not a problem in established neighborhoods in Huntersville like Wynfield which was built out years ago, but in places with lots of empty lots, watch out.

[Comfort Food]

Just curious, which schools in Vermillion are you not crazy about? It's zoned for North Meck, while the others neighborhoods are zoned for Hopewell, I've not heard anything about Hopewell that makes it seem any better than NM.

[hurley10399]

I have read a few things regarding Blythe (my kids are just starting elementary) being overcrowded and testing low- I know that this doesn't mean that my kids will do poorly, but I want the transition to be as smooth as possible. Any advice or comments would be welcome....