Moving to the Charlotte are by October, have a few questions (Concord: rentals, home)
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Hello. My husband and I are relocating to the Charlotte area by October. His family lives in the area, so we have visited many times and have been trying to move down for the last few years. The opportunity has finally presented itself, so we are on our way! We have a 3 yr old and a 5 month old, so, schools and family friendly are important.
We visited this past week. His brother lives in Ballantyne. It is a very nice, very new area. My husbands only complaint is the feeling that you need to get into your car to go anywhere, and there doesn't seem to be sidewalks everywhere. Other than that, we like the area and hear it has good schools.
His mom lives in Concord. We like the area, but have heard it does not have good schools. In that area, it seems (from reading this board) harrisburg has the best schools.
We also like Davidson and Matthews for their walkable towns, and Cornelius seems nice as well. We heard good things about south park, but didn't have a chance to visit the area.
Any comments on any of these areas, or any I may have missed that I should check out would be great. I suppose my list of wants would be (in this order) good schools, family friendly, local events and walkable town.
My next question - Schools. We are moving down from NY. I have heard (and have read on this board) that we won't find schools as good as NY schools in NC. What is the difference? Is the curriculum not as difficult? Are the standards lower? I don't really know how to compare NY schools to NC schools, and don't understand why everyone says NY is better. All the schools down there seem brand new and have all the newest equipment, where as here in NY, the schools have been here for years and years and are not equiped to handle all the new technology. I would think NC schools would be better for that reason alone. Am I doing my children a disservice by moving away from NY schools? I find many people where I live now to be crazy competitive and all seem to start pushing for harvard at age 2. We don't feel that way, but do want our children to get a good education and have their options open when it comes to college. If anyone can explain the differences to me, I would appreciate it!!
We live in Westchester. I worked in NYC up until recently. I didn't go back after the second baby and am now a stay at home mom. My husband travels and works from home, so, we really won't have a commute we need to worry about. His mom, brother and sister all live in the area, and two of my brothers are planning to relocate in the next year. We thought with me not having my job, we might as well go live near family.
As for price, we aren't going to buy right away. We thought we'd rent for six months to a year to really get to know the area before making a purchase.
Westchester schools are some of the best in the country, I doubt if you will find the same here. However, I have had a fairly good experience with my son's high school in South Charlotte.
I don't know about every school in Concord but my child goes to Odell Elementary and we love it! My son just started middle school at Harris Road Middle and so far so good! I have also heard a lot of good things about Cox Mill Elementary. You can go to greatschools.net and see parent reviews, scores, etc.
We live in Westchester. I worked in NYC up until recently. I didn't go back after the second baby and am now a stay at home mom. My husband travels and works from home, so, we really won't have a commute we need to worry about. His mom, brother and sister all live in the area, and two of my brothers are planning to relocate in the next year. We thought with me not having my job, we might as well go live near family.
As for price, we aren't going to buy right away. We thought we'd rent for six months to a year to really get to know the area before making a purchase.
I moved down from LI... did the whole NYC thing myself. Renting is a smart move as you get to know the area better.
Find yourself a good, honest realtor - there's several regulars who post here.
Since your husband will travel and need decent access to the airport (assuming), you should probably not stray too far East... I would suggest that you look for rentals in the South Charlotte area and further South into Ballantyne. You could also look in Davidson, which would put you closer to Concord, but further from his brother and the airport. These are the best schools in Meck county.
Matthews would open up Union County giving you tons of options further out and some excellent public school options. For instance, Matthews / Weddington schools.
I grew up in Westchester (Edgemont) -- our first home here was in the Blakeney area (near Ballantyne) and we now live in Union County, just south of the county border. We have three children, all in the Marvin Ridge cluster -- one in high school, one in middle and one in elementary. I agree with MikeyKid, this side of town would be good for convenience to the airport. The biggest difference you will see regarding the schools is that it is a county-wide school system, so reassignments can occur. But certainly check the websites he suggested, as individual schools within the county can show very different results.
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