Advice on "Musts" during our upcoming Scouting Trip? (Charlotte: crime, hotel)

[entraNCed]

Hello all,
I am very impressed with this forum- so many friendly NCers happy to talk about their state. How welcoming!
My family is considering relocating to NC. We will be going to scout NC and see for ourselves how we like Charlotte (where we fly in), Raleigh/Durham and a few more central spots in August. I am so excited- I can't wait!
We want to assess for ourselves, as best as we can with the limited time we will be there, the weather, the layout, job opportunities, status of crime and affordability of life there.
What we are really interested in is finding a good place far away from the hustle and bustle, on an acre or several. We still want to be within a 60 minute commute and relatively near a major airport. Charlotte and Raleigh seems to fit that bill. Any more specific areas we should look at (i.e. small towns, zipcodes)?
What "musts" do you advise we do while we are in each city scouting the area? We would consider meeting with realtors, but our time is going to be VERY limited, and cannot spend a whole half-day looking at houses. We are not in that stage yet- more of the information gathering stage.
Are there any websites you would recommend for us to check out to gather information before we go? How can we gauge how good schools are? Individual schools can vary so much. Where can I get a good map showing county loss and gain of population? Areas that have been built out and haven't been developed?
Thank you so much!

[taben]

There will be many on here who will know more than I, but I will share with you what I can...

The 'popular' area in Charlotte is the SouthPark area on down to Ballyntyne (sp.?). These area tend to have the most things going on (churches, stores, etc.), are safe and have good schools. BUT, they are over populated and you would have a hard time finding acres of land.

You might want to consider, therefore, looking North of the city...towards Davidson (visit this cute little college town!) and maybe even Moorseville. Great schools up there, and further north there is still some land!

People speak often of Union County. I do not know about that area but here it is very over crowded, but good schools.

West/Northwest you can look into the Coulwood (well kept secret still...brick homes, large acre + lots, 15-20 minutes from uptown) or Mountain Island Lake area. The downside there is poor public schools, limitted services (stores, etc.).

Finally, a small town 45 minutes away is Salisbury. For many reasons (culture, growth, etc.) I would choose Davidson over Salisbury, but it might be worth a look. I know nothing about the schools there.

Visit for sure, for fun The National White Water Rafting Center in Charlotte and just uptown (what we call downtown) in general. I hope this helps some. By the way, but your topic title, I thought you were speaking of bring a boy scout troop here for an outing!!! Now with that, I could be of help!

T

[Dave O]

Consider the area, warts and all. Find out what people don't like about the area. Watch the local news.

[Southlander]

Darn, I saw the title, with the capitalized "Scouting," and thought you were taking a Boy or Girl Scout troop on a trip....LOL!

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by entraNCed

Hello all,
I am very impressed with this forum- so many friendly NCers happy to talk about their state. How welcoming!
My family is considering relocating to NC. We will be going to scout NC and see for ourselves how we like Charlotte (where we fly in), Raleigh/Durham and a few more central spots in August. I am so excited- I can't wait!
We want to assess for ourselves, as best as we can with the limited time we will be there, the weather, the layout, job opportunities, status of crime and affordability of life there.
What we are really interested in is finding a good place far away from the hustle and bustle, on an acre or several. We still want to be within a 60 minute commute and relatively near a major airport. Charlotte and Raleigh seems to fit that bill. Any more specific areas we should look at (i.e. small towns, zipcodes)?
What "musts" do you advise we do while we are in each city scouting the area? We would consider meeting with realtors, but our time is going to be VERY limited, and cannot spend a whole half-day looking at houses. We are not in that stage yet- more of the information gathering stage.
Are there any websites you would recommend for us to check out to gather information before we go? How can we gauge how good schools are? Individual schools can vary so much. Where can I get a good map showing county loss and gain of population? Areas that have been built out and haven't been developed?
Thank you so much!

First of all, have you made reservations for a place to stay after you land in Charlotte? One place I would recommend is Staybridge Suites in Ballantyne.

Staybridge Suites Charlotte-Ballantyne, Nc

From there you can explore the outer areas where you are more likely to find some acreage. Must sees are as follows: Waxhaw, Indian Land (SC), Weddington and Clover (SC).

On the north end of the Charlotte check out Davidson, Mooresville, Sherrill's Ford.

To the east head out of Charlotte's county (Mecklenburg) to Cabarrus county and see Midland, or Unionville in Union County.

These are just a few ideas...study your atlas to familiarize yourself with some of these places and you'll be off to a good start

[entraNCed]

Thanks so much on the Charlotte input! It is so helpful to get things narrowed down, because again, we won't have scads of time.
How about the Raleigh area? Any "secrets" there? We were looking at the Clayton area as it's possible one of us would have a job in Raleigh and the other one a job in Wilson. I imagine land would be cheaper out there too, the further away from populated areas the cheaper.

[southernpixie]

Downtown Raleigh has some great restaurants, museums and trolley tours of the capital. Smaller places to look would be Wake Forest, Clayton, Apex and so many more - it really depends on what you are wanting to scout. Let me know if you would like some links for things to do or towns.