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I'm sorry I meant to address the response regarding the job location which is from home so we can live anywhere. My kids are really into sports! We love museums, theater, the outdoors (hiking, biking & fishing) and good places to eat!
Depending on where you live, I wouldn't suggest Charlotte for schools right now. There's a big social experiment going down courtesy of CMS. Trying to make Myers Park kids go to East Meck and what not. I attended Myers Park, albeit for only a year, and I've been to East Meck in the last few years. Yeah, no way MY kid's being sent to East Meck vs Myers.
Depending on where you live, I wouldn't suggest Charlotte for schools right now. There's a big social experiment going down courtesy of CMS. Trying to make Myers Park kids go to East Meck and what not. I attended Myers Park, albeit for only a year, and I've been to East Meck in the last few years. Yeah, no way MY kid's being sent to East Meck vs Myers.
Mattman, the fact that the school superintendent is considering taking some kids out of the very overcrowded Myers Park High School and reassigning them to the under utilized East Meck High School can hardly be called a "big social experiment" - not even close. It's a numbers game that he has the responsibility to play as well as he can.
In addition, Charlotte has its share of big city school issues, but it also has many really fine grade A schools. No one should ever discount Charlotte as a place to live if good schools are important.
We live in Clayton, outside of Raleigh and lived in Charlotte for eleven years. When comparing Raleigh to Charlotte, I much prefer Charlotte. It's vibrant, clean, lots of shopping, etc. Schools can be good...you just have to do your research. Wake County (Raleigh) and Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) have had issues with growth and, therefore, bussing and reassignment. Charlotte has a great downtown, NFL team, great restaurants, etc. Raleigh, being the capital city, has more state employees and colleges. Charlotte is closer to the mountains, Raleigh closer to the coast. From Raleigh/Cary, etc you can get to the beach in an hour and a half-two hours. From Charlotte, you can get to the beach in three hours. Areas of Charlotte that are nice are Southpark, Huntersville, etc. The Ft. Mill area, south of Charlotte in SC, is supposed to have great schools. We lived in both Mecklenburg County and Cabarrus County in Charlotte and loved both areas. Some people will tell you to avoid Cabarrus County but ignore that. Years ago Cabarrus County was considered sort of "back woods" to it's neighboring Mecklenburg County but there has been so much development on the county line that there are great schools and communities/shopping in that area. Charlotte, in my opinion, has much better shopping than Raleigh. I currently live in Clayton, in Johnston County. We moved here to avoid Wake County because of the school situation. There are decent/good schools in Johnston County and some beautiful homes in the area. It is 13 miles SE of Raleigh and takes about 25 minutes to get to the mall. I have met people that have moved here from all over. Many people absolutely love it. They love the quiet, small town feel. I have been here four years and currently have our home on the market to move back to SC, where we are originally from. Again, you will see many negative things about Clayton/Johnston County but you need to not take anyone's word or perhaps include things that are important to you, other than schools. Personally, I like convenience and I am willing to trade my beautiful home for something smaller in an area that offers more convenience...which is what I was accustomed to. Like I said, lots of people absolutely love living here. I will be happy to give you more information if you'd like on all the areas. Where do you live now? That may give me some insight as to what you are used to. Also, do you have an idea of a price point range you would be looking in. That, too, will make a slight difference as to the different geographical areas of North Carolina.
Also go to ReDir to get information on schools. And I just read back on your posts that you want to live close to the city but not in it and your boys like sports, hiking, biking, fishing, etc. You may like Clayton. There are not reassignment issues here at the moment. I would AVOID Wake County. I personally could not handle my children potentially getting reassigned every two years. The Huntersville area of Charlotte is close to Lake Norman for fishing and boating. You may want to look into Mt. Pleasant, SC, too. That's where we are moving to. Excellent schools, beach, beautiful downtown Charleston...I could go on. But we have enjoyed living in North Carolina.
Thanks starbuckzombie! That is some great insight! I would not like my kids reassigned. We have had our share of problems with the schools out here! We lived in Auburn which is in Northern California. Auburn is a small town with lots of charm inspired by the gold rush days. Our closest major shopping area is about 15mins from us. I like it that way. We have groceries and Target in town. We have lots of lakes around us and can ski in the winter about an hour from our house. We are a good three hours from the coast. Mt. Pleasant sounds right up our alley! We will have do look into it. I have family that live in New Bern NC but have never visited. We don't really have a price range for homes. California is so expensive!
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my bad...
