Finally moving to Charlotte and putting your great advice to good use!

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by soccermama

Southbound, since you seem to be a resident traffic expert, could you chime in on this idea: Someone had suggested to us that the Cotswold area would be just as easy as some of the others we were looking at, because you could just hop on 74 to 277 (then I presume follow your previous advice of Wilkinson Blvd, etc.)
Does that make sense to you? We've been to Charlotte many times (have family there), but haven't yet tried any routes during rush hour like we should before committing to a house. It's very different visiting a city vs. planning to live there!
Thanks again for your ever-valuable input!

I'll be honest, I haven't been to Cotswold. However, if you are talking about 74 east of Uptown, that's a whole different scenario than west of uptown. East of Uptown it's called Independence Blvd. West of Uptown it's Wilkinson Blvd. 74 is an old US Highway. It goes by many names. From Charlotte to Kings Mountain it is Independence Blvd, Wilkinson Blvd, Franklin Blvd & Kings Mountain Highway. There are also stretches named for local polititians.

I can't give you a drive-time to reverse what I posted because I always make one or more stops. I have driven a good way out on Independence Blvd. It's a very busy road.

If you recall, in one of the Kings Mountain threads, Coupon Jack warned against Matthews & Union County. Jack travels the region for his job. He comes to Kings Mountain on a regular basis.

If you are somewhere in the vicinity of CMC, that is a tolerable commute, but I don't know which schools are involved there. I do know that there are a fair number of nurses at CMC Main who commute from Gastonia & Kings Mountain.

I think that there is another route to the CMC area from Cotswold, but I can't vouch for those roads. Before the Ulta opened in Gastonia, I tried to get an appointment at an Ulta in a shopping center in or near Cotswold. They didn't have an appropriate time open, so I went to the shop in University City.

[soccermama]

I do remember seeing that comment in the King's Mountain threads about traffic in Matthews/Pineville. Other people who live there have seconded that advice.
I'll be down there in a week or so to see for myself, but it really helps to narrow it down. Thanks once again!

[ex-burgher]

I believe Madison Park is Harding - you do not want to go there! Montibello is a great neighborhood but is South Meck High. A motivated student can do well there, but it's an average school

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by soccermama

I do remember seeing that comment in the King's Mountain threads about traffic in Matthews/Pineville. Other people who live there have seconded that advice.
I'll be down there in a week or so to see for myself, but it really helps to narrow it down. Thanks once again!

I found that thread. It was BugGuy & Loves Mountain who advised against Matthews & Union County. Jack did post in the thread. https://www.city-data.com/forum/charl...-mountain.html

[movedtothecoast]

a great charming area in cotswold is found off randolph rd towards fairview,
hunter lane, wonderwood and shasta lane.

not cookie cutter and a few moderns there.

[soccermama]

Good catch on Madison Park and Montibello schools. I think my younger son would be fine at South Meck, but i'd worry about my older one...so glad we have the luxury of time to think it through.

@movedtothecoast: I'll take a look at that Randolph Rd/Fairview area when i'm there next week.

This is perfect - can't get this kind of specific information anywhere else!

[jojo1567]

Hi Soccermomma-
How did your move to Charlotte work out? I'm in a similar situation except i 2012....kids will move there this summer 10th and 8th grade girls, and I'm really nervous about finding right neighborhood. We live in St Louis MO and love it...Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks so much!

[uswith6]

Originally Posted by jojo1567

Hi Soccermomma-
How did your move to Charlotte work out? I'm in a similar situation except i 2012....kids will move there this summer 10th and 8th grade girls, and I'm really nervous about finding right neighborhood. We live in St Louis MO and love it...Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks so much!

I moved an 8th grade rand 2 6th graders middle of the school year...my biggest concerns were they right neighborhood with enough kids their ages and the right school system. My kids did well but they did say it helped moving mid-year. However it is harder to move a highschooler here mid-year because we have semester like classes, meaning finals are next week or so, then all new classes start.

That being said do you know what district you want to move into? If you have picked a school we can point you to neighborhoods with many kids the ages of your kids. If you want you can direct message me, or post away here.

It will all work out everyone here seems to have been "the new kid" at some point which I think helps

[soccermama]

@Jojo: We're not there yet! We'll be moving at the end of the school year, too. I'm going for a visit next week, an overview of neighborhoods and a few houses with our real estate agent.
I think mewith3 has the right idea; if my kids were younger we'd rather move during the school year, but they will be in 10th and 8th grade next year, too (but both boys). They were 8 and 6 last time we moved, and we moved in May, right before the school year ended, so they headed into summer with lots of new friends. But with a kid in high school, it's really disruptive to move during the school year, especially with so much emphasis on testing.
Funny that you're from St. Louis; I moved there when I was 14, and lived there for 16 years, until after I was married....our first house was in Kirkwood. Where do you live in St. Louis? Even though I'm not that familiar with Charlotte yet, I probably know St. Louis well enough to give you some idea of where you might find something similar in Charlotte.