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Hi everyone.
I am new to this site, find it so helpful. Our family is considering a move down south and are beginning to do our research. We have 3 kids, 10, 6 and 1. My kids are very happy where we live, upstate NY and are leery about leaving. We live in a very beautiful area but I am over the long winters and miss the neighborhoods that I grew up in (kids can come home from school and go outside to play with neighbors.) Actually, I miss having neighborhood friends. Up here, play dates have to be arranged, they are often far away, and they are few and far between. Schools are a big issue for me. I see great things about the Fort Mill school district but many of the threads are a couple of years old. I see they still get a good rating on greatschools.com. Initially, I started looking in Cary, NC but was turned off by kids being moved to other schools based on a population explosion. Cary just seems too crowded. So, while I am looking for more for the kids to do, I do not want something that is overcrowded. Baxter village looks nice, we are looking to spend about 300-350. Thanks everyone!
You really need to make a visit. I drove around Ft. Mill about a yr ago - I did not like Baxter b/c the houses are too close together. But that's just my preference. There are a lot of neighborhoods with kids - Whitegrove is one. Go look!
Fort Mill is a great area to be in and the schools are awesome! I know of a few great builders in the area if you are looking to build!! Just let me know!! Good luck!!
We moved from Apex (right next to Cary) to Baxter in Ft Mill. Cary has over 100,000 people so its not fair to compare Cary to Ft Mill but both areas (Raleigh and Charlotte) have been going through population growths that have caused the kids to be moved from schools. As I understand it, this just happened in Baxter.
Since schools are imporant to you, with a 10 year old, you may also want to consider the college issue. Coming fromm the prospective as an engineering grad from NC State, I feel that both NC State and UNC Chapel Hill are better schools than USC and Clemson. I will even say (and this hurts to do so) that is especially true for UNC-CH. BUT, SC has a scholarship program that may be inticing enough to overlook this.
I have 2 kids in elem school, we moved to Baxter in Nov. In regards to the Ft Mill school situation: 2 new elem schools are being built right now in addition to the current ones. They will be open for instruction this school year (2009-2010). The entire district was rezoned for next year b/c of this. Baxter is entirely zoned for Orchard Park starting this Fall (the school is located inside Baxter). I believe Sutton Place is also zoned for OPES, not sure. We did have to enroll in Riverview this year as it was an "overflow" school location for newbies until the new schools opened, but again, that will all be done w/this school year ending. It was a great school. But beware MLS listings--I've noticed some are incorrect, or list the "overflow" school, etc. Best to check Ft Mill schools website. They have an application where you can plug in an address & it will tell you (but again, it may not be updated to reflect new schools until this year is over). Good luck! Millions of kids in Baxter, btw! We love it--it's very social!
It is true that the panhandle part of Lancaster Co. (Indian Land) has undergone alot of development. Fort Mill and Indian Land both have pros and cons so I would take the advice of others here and take a trip down here.
I moved from NY 2 years ago (after visiting the Charlotte area first) and while it was the right choice for me it may differ for you and your family.
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Made the the move, 3 years ago, best decision I ever made.
