Best Lake community? (Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham: home, neighborhood, good schools)

[Kaligirl]

Hi Everyone,
Can you please tell me in your opinion, what is the best lake community in NC, in regards to family living? We are a family of five, love the water, boating, swimming, biking, practically every outdoor activity
We need great schools, affordable home and a 1 hour or less commute to major airport for work. Looking for a neighborhood where you can make life long friends, etc.

Any ideas for me to check into? And why is that your favorite spot, ammenties, local culture, area events etc?? Places to steer clear from?

Thanks for your time, can't wait to here all about it.
~Kali
PS We have narrowed it down to a few states. Please help us decide where to take our next visit and start our search for a new quality of life!

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Kaligirl

Hi Everyone,
Can you please tell me in your opinion, what is the best lake community in NC, in regards to family living? We are a family of five, love the water, boating, swimming, biking, practically every outdoor activity
We need great schools, affordable home and a 1 hour or less commute to major airport for work. Looking for a neighborhood where you can make life long friends, etc.

Any ideas for me to check into? And why is that your favorite spot, ammenties, local culture, area events etc?? Places to steer clear from?

Thanks for your time, can't wait to here all about it.
~Kali
PS We have narrowed it down to a few states. Please help us decide where to take our next visit and start our search for a new quality of life!

Maybe Denver NC would be a good fit for you. I don't live in Denver but I'm thinking close to the lake, not that bad of a commute to Charlotte and decent schools. Lots of folks on this forum seem to like Denver. Start with that.

[ncmomgoinczy]

Kaligirl,

I know of a huge beautiful lake called Lake Jordan and it's probably less than 30 minutes from RDU airport, that's Raleigh, Durham. I'm sorry I don't know the name of the county that the lake is in, the town may be Pittsboro, I'm not sure. But you can google it. Both the lake and the airport you can get to right from highway US 1, which is a major highway. We enjoy camping on that lake every year. The immediate surrounding area is not over populated by any means and yet your fairly close to major shopping. Hope this was of some help to you.

[Kaligirl]

Hi Sheena and NCMom
Thank you for posting for me. I will check into both of your suggestions. I really appreciate any input here.
Regards,
Kali

[southward bound]

I could offer you a lovely home in a beautiful lake community if you wanted to move to NH! check out Moderator cut: Advertise personal residence in our Classified Ads forum only, please

We retired to NC winters as I was tired of making angels in the snow in my driveway - and the winters just got too much for these ol' bones. Plus, I was looking for a longer gardening season. Can't believe we were eating local strawberries in April!

[cooperwx]

Lake Wylie sounds like it would work for you. There's no more major airport in the Carolinas than Charlotte.

[beckybee22]

Originally Posted by Kaligirl

Hi Everyone,
...1 hour or less commute to major airport for work. Looking for a neighborhood where you can make life long friends, etc.


We have narrowed it down to a few states. Please help us decide where to take our next visit and start our search for a new quality of life!

That sounds just like us! Is your husband a pilot? My husband will be starting as a pilot this fall. We are narrowing our search down to a few states too and Charlotte, NC is our top pick. Anyway, just thought I'd ask.

[friendnc]

I'd say the Lake Wylie/Tega Cay area near Charlotte.

[Kaligirl]

Whoops couldnt find my thread it's been a while, so sorry!! It's been crazy these few weeks with commitments, kids were so sick, etc....could go on, but no worries I won't

THANK YOU. Those are so great choices to research further! We are outdoor and water lovers. My husbands dream to have a boat. My dream to have my children go to good schools with neighbor kids that become life long friends. For us as a family to have a sense of community and a home where my husband and I can open the oven and dishwasher at the same time without having to take turns.

So please keep the information coming.....I truly appreciate it.

Someone earlier had asked me why not the ocean and coastal communities... so here goes

We currently live in Southern California. And it's a beautiful area with lots to do and we love our friends and community. Our home sits sort of semi-coastal. However we have been in our small starter home for over 13 years, but now we are a family of five. We feel priced out of the market even with it coming down, the cost per sq. ft is insane because land is so expensive, so we are considering other areas. Why not coastal, well we cannot afford it here and the East coast frightens me a bit with Hurricanes, I know that probably sounds silly to most, but I'd prefer to be inland a bit. So can anyone tell me how far inland the hurricanes come? and now someone else mentioned tornados? I used to be more tough than this, but after motherhood, it's like my heart is running around outside my body with fast feet and freckles. I dont take uninformed chances anymore so please take pity on my lack of knowledge and inform me of the real deal! Educate me please and if anyone wants Earthquake knowledge I'd be happy to share it, LOL.

Thanks again, Kali

[Kaligirl]

Originally Posted by beckybee22

That sounds just like us! Is your husband a pilot? My husband will be starting as a pilot this fall. We are narrowing our search down to a few states too and Charlotte, NC is our top pick. Anyway, just thought I'd ask.

Hi Beckeybee! I wish you every luck in finding your special city. I would love to know your other "top picks"... It might help me if you have leads on other places with simular qualities. The more I seem to search the more I get confused, anyone else with this problem?

No my husband is not a pilot, actually I was the crazy one who flew and did my soloflight many years ago. (See I told you guys I used to be more brave, LOL). Anyhow, that was BC (before kids) now I just brave the traffic to get everyone where they need to be and back on time!

Our circumstance ...we went through nearly four years of him commuting for literally 3 hours per day for work (not from lack of trying to change this). Well we finally got the break (read as a blessing) that we were working toward and now he works for a company in another state and he can work in one of their branch offices or a home office (which we cannot have here do to our tiny house). We need access to a large airport for his traveling, this is essential (but he is more than willing to commute up to an hour to get the right family type community). By the way, even though he travels even more now than before, we actually get to see him more without the dreaded weekday commute. Something to be said for quality of life!

Well now didn't I ramble on......so sorry.
Hugs to all, Kali