Need advice on location for move (Charlotte, Greensboro: real estate, crime, house)

[future5]

Here's the situation. Moving your way from western NC.... We have a wide choice in where to move to... Three small kids and a home budget of 350K. If you could pick out a place to live, where would you go? I'm posting it on here b/c I know locals know where the good places are and I need a heads up for safe neighborhoods, good schools and good community feel. I'm considering Lewisville, Clemmons, Kernersville, Winston-Salem area (and then also considering Charlotte area, it's a toss up between the two locations and we've yet to figure out which way to go!) Any feedback and advice appreciated! Thanks!

[cwolfe8229]

I'm in the process of looking in the Triad area as well. Schools are my primary concern, so I've been using greatschools.org as a starting point for my search. I wish I could overlay a school district map to a real estate search, but so far I haven't found a way to do that. But this should give you a strong start on your search.

[jcgso]

Kernersville would be an excellent choice in my opinion. Lewesville would also fit your needs. Let me know a few more specifics to help guide you. For instance, do you have jobs lined up or is there a specific industry you have in mind?

[future5]

Job is taken care of for husband, he can work anywhere. I'm a stay at home mom. So really our location is mostly centered on finding the perfect environment for raising the kids. Looking for that gem of a school system, safe community, the subdivision that has kids.... where we are now, there are no kids at all on our street for our kids to play with, the schools are waaaay underfunded with more nightmare cuts coming soon and drug use and teen pregnancy are huge scare stats. I'm looking for a solid future base to raise them. I know that life happens anywhere, but want to at least give them a fair shake at it....

[jcgso]

First thing is $350K will buy you a great house anywhere in this area. I think you'd be very happy with lewisville, Kernresville, Northwest Greensboro, for all of the things you are looking for.
here are several links that should be helpful.
North Carolina Local Crime Map, Crime Statistics and Real-Time Alerts
Greensboro Crime Statistics
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Yahoo! Communities
GreatSchools.net
National Center For Education Stats
PM me if you need more specific info.

[credfearn]

Kernersville is a great place to live. We moved here about 10 years ago from Sumter, SC. Great weather, great place, even better people. Schools are really good and this is turning out to be a great place to put down roots.