Relocating from NY - Commute Question

[CLT4]

Originally Posted by mrballar

Yeah, was just looking at Salisbury and the commute between both locations looks a little easier. I've read plenty of horror stories about the I-77 commutes.

How is the community in Salisbury?

Here are some good threads:
Please tell me about Salisbury and surrounding areas.

Salisbury move

https://www.city-data.com/forum/char...salisbury.html

Salisbury has some beautiful architecture in the downtown. It is slowly been revitalizing and attracting restaurants back. The city's economy in the late 1800's and early 1900's thrived off the old textile industry and many of the old mansions were owned by prominent business owners. Over time that industry moved overseas so Salisbury has been rebuilding in the new economy, but the architecture remains.

Downtown Statesville has done a good job investing in parks and street improvements to revitalize their downtown area as well though.

[nicholas_n]

Originally Posted by mrballar

Hello All,

My wife and I are relocating to NC and I'm taking a job in Davidson. My wife is job hunting and has a possible opportunity on the table in Winston-Salem (west side of the city).

We are looking to buy a house somewhere in the middle and I'm trying to get a sense for the commute times. Statesville seems like an attractive location and the commute (from first glance) looks to be around 30-35 minutes to Davidson and 40-45 to Winston-Salem. Ideally, we'd buy on the east side of Statesville. Are these commute times correct?

We live in upstate New York currently and my commute is around 30 minutes (20-25 miles currently) and my wife has worked jobs in the past with a 40-50 minute commute (35-40 miles). I've worked jobs with a one-way commute of 75-80 minutes, though I'd never want to do that again. I've read plenty of postings where people dread a commute over 20 minutes, but we're both fairly used to it at this point.

Ultimately, we'd love a balanced commute for both of us in an area with affordable housing and options for a little bit of land. The outskirts of Statesville look like a reasonable option?

Thanks in advance!

Salisbury and Statesville are the main cities to look at for your situation. Presently, they're roughly the same size with generally the same amenities, but Salisbury has more long-term potential, so I would lean towards it. The city is building a nice park in downtown, and has a few private redevelopment efforts going on in addition to that. There is also a nice Amtrak station in downtown (which will hopefully also function as a commuter rail to Charlotte in the future).

Commuting to W-S will be roughly the same from either city via I-40 from Statesville or I-85/I-285 from Salisbury. Driving to Davidson is a little bit more of a wild card. From Statesville, I-77 can be brutal around Lake Norman, but tolled express lanes were recently added which will hopefully alleviate some of the congestion. From Salisbury, you'll be using state highways (likely NC 150 and NC 115) or back roads. There generally isn't as much movement from one ring city to another, such as Salisbury and Davidson, as there is between one of the ring cities and Charlotte. But that doesn't mean there won't be traffic.

[Edward Teach]

Davidson sits at the far north end of I-77 traffic issues. I don't think you'd have problems on a regular basis...most of the issues are further south between Huntersville and Charlotte.