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I am doing some research on Union County. We are from Europe but living in CA. We just got back from Charlotte. We like the Union County because we prefer new homes with more open and modern layout. Also we would prefer to live in the best possible school district. We could send our children to private schools but don't wish to, if we don't have to. It seems that Union County district has long term potential. We only have 1 child in kindergarten so far so hopefully there will be more schools in the future.
Any plans for new schools in Union County?
Do you know what is the district plan to resolve too many trailers in each school?
Also any plan for new shopping areas closer to Skyecroft. That's one thing that we don't like about Skyecroft. It's quite far out. No restaurants or shopping.
Also the Weddington Road (I hope that the correct name) is quite busy and it will be horrible in the rush hours. Any plans for building more roads or making the streets wider? We also noticed that there are no street lights. My husband works long hours and would be hard coming home at night. How long do you think it would take him to the international airport?
We would like to live in gated community or country club with club house. So far we really like Longview, Skeycroft and perhaps Providence Down South. Any other communites you would recomend? We also like Ballantyne Country club but that's different county. We do have a realtor who does not really work in South. So it will be challenging...
I am doing some research on Union County. We are from Europe but living in CA. We just got back from Charlotte. We like the Union County because we prefer new homes with more open and modern layout. Also we would prefer to live in the best possible school district. We could send our children to private schools but don't wish to, if we don't have to. It seems that Union County district has long term potential. We only have 1 child in kindergarten so far so hopefully there will be more schools in the future.
Any plans for new schools in Union County?
Do you know what is the district plan to resolve too many trailers in each school?
Also any plan for new shopping areas closer to Skyecroft. That's one thing that we don't like about Skyecroft. It's quite far out. No restaurants or shopping.
Also the Weddington Road (I hope that the correct name) is quite busy and it will be horrible in the rush hours. Any plans for building more roads or making the streets wider? We also noticed that there are no street lights. My husband works long hours and would be hard coming home at night. How long do you think it would take him to the international airport?
We would like to live in gated community or country club with club house. So far we really like Longview, Skeycroft and perhaps Providence Down South. Any other communites you would recomend? We do have a realtor who does not really work in South. So it will be challenging...
Thanks for all your opinions!
Julia, if you are sold on the south end of things you are just shooting yourself in the foot by having a realtor who does not work that area. In my opinion you need to seriously reconsider realtors. A good realtor who knows the area you are specifically interested in like the back of his/her hand will serve you SO much better and be ten times more likely to find you what you want. Get a new realtor.
I am doing some research on Union County. We are from Europe but living in CA. We just got back from Charlotte. We like the Union County because we prefer new homes with more open and modern layout. Also we would prefer to live in the best possible school district. We could send our children to private schools but don't wish to, if we don't have to. It seems that Union County district has long term potential. We only have 1 child in kindergarten so far so hopefully there will be more schools in the future.
Any plans for new schools in Union County?
Do you know what is the district plan to resolve too many trailers in each school?
Also any plan for new shopping areas closer to Skyecroft. That's one thing that we don't like about Skyecroft. It's quite far out. No restaurants or shopping.
Also the Weddington Road (I hope that the correct name) is quite busy and it will be horrible in the rush hours. Any plans for building more roads or making the streets wider? We also noticed that there are no street lights. My husband works long hours and would be hard coming home at night. How long do you think it would take him to the international airport?
We would like to live in gated community or country club with club house. So far we really like Longview, Skeycroft and perhaps Providence Down South. Any other communites you would recomend? We do have a realtor who does not really work in South. So it will be challenging...
Thanks for all your opinions!
To address your other questions...Union county IS lovely, but so many people are flocking there that the roads and schools are struggling to keep up with all the growth. Trailers at schools are now just a fact of life, you will not see them go away any time soon - they ARE the plan for dealing with overcrowding. Road widening is also not going to happen very quickly I'm afraid.
I don't know if I would say Union Cty is the best school district in the area. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's bad, but I believe there are better school districts around.
I'd go with Longview over Skyecroft because it has the golf course and is a better ride to uptown than Skyecroft is. Have you considered Springfield in Fort Mill? Homes range from 600's to about 1.9 million. It's also on a golf course - it's a public course but is very nice. Schools there have a very good reputation. Here's a link:
http://www.crescent-resources.com/communit/charlott/springfield/ (broken link)
LovesMountains: Thanks. Well, I have to agree with you. That's scary. I don't think we could be happy in an area that is going to have so many issues that are important to us.
Groovy1: Could you provide the names of the school district. We could send our children to private schools but it is a BIG commitment and we would have to buy a less expensive home. I absolutely love our school district in CA. We live in a small city in Ventura County, CA (near Malibu). We have 3 elementary schools, 1 middle and 1 high school. Is there a district like this? All schools are top rated with extremely high PTA. My child has 17 students in a class.
Marlbmom: I have noticed that Fort Mill has very well rated schools. It might be too far for my husband to the international airport. Our top choice is Longview. We like the location more because it's closer to restaurants and shopping and main roads.
It seems that Chapel Hill is a great district for family with kids. But that's too far. Also we like Peninsula North. But it seems that Davidson has top rated schools. But it might be too country for us. We have to go back and see it again.
The airport would probably be about 20-25 minutes from Springfield in Fort Mill. It's about 3 miles from Springfield to 77, then about 5 minutes on 77 to 485, then about 10 minutes on 485. It's probably about the same or even closer than from Longview. Longview does sound like a great fit for your needs.
We lived in Union County before moving to South Charlotte. We found it a maddening mix. It was remote, yet the traffic was terrible. The infrastructure is not keeping up with growth and is only getting worse. We sold our house within just a few months and ended up moving twice in one year. We made a big mistake by moving to Union County.
The schools are crowded and getting more so; when they build more schools, the lines will be redrawn so you don't know where your children will go, and the trailers quickly fill up again. I don't know of any districts like you describe with just one high school. Even smaller towns like Concord and Davidson have five or six high schools. Maybe someone else can answer this, but hasn't Fort Mill somehow shut down to new students? I thought I heard something like this, but don't know how it could be possible.
Obviously as I have said before, the private school route was right for us. I don't mean this to sound harsh, but what is more important, a quality education or a larger house? For us, the right decision was to choose education.
You can buy a very large house here for under $400k in a good neighborhood. Especially when you compare to Ventura County. My parents live there and are active in real estate; a $3 million home in Ojai would be about $600 here. Without the view, of course
If you are not willing to spend the money for private schooling, why not look in one of the well established areas of Charlotte with the higher rated schools? There are small developments of new homes going in all over south of downtown. These are called "infill" developments, I believe. They are taking advantage of some of the last undeveloped spots in older, established communities. You get a new home, big trees, beautiful neighborhoods, highly rated public schools AND a convenient location near shopping, restaurants, and the cultural scene. Ask a good real estate agent about some of these new neighborhoods.
Good luck with whatever you decide!
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