Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi! My family has been considering a move to Charlotte for awhile. We’re waiting on my husband’s job to open up a position in their NC office. I’ve been casually looking at houses and Dilworth looks amazing! We’ve been there once for a brief visit, but not really long enough to get a true feel for the neighborhood. I’m hoping some locals can answer a few questions about the area.
The most important thing to me is that we are in an area with lots of young families. We have two small children and plans for one more. We currently live in FL, and while I dislike the state as a whole, I love our neighborhood so much. We are walkable to bars, restaurants, brewery, library, and parks. Every week we see the same families so it’s been easy to make friends. Our town has a nice mix of expensive and affordable homes, so it has a down to earth feel. Can anybody living in Dilworth comment on the amount of young families that are actually residents (not just visiting for the day to walk around)? I’d love to make friends with neighbors and walk to restaurants or family friendly breweries on the weekends like we do here. I fear that the area is prohibitively expensive and will be mostly older couples and people without kids. Any truth to that? Are there walkable activities that cater to small kids?
Other random questions - how far is the walk to the light rail? Husbands clients would likely be uptown. How are the schools? Our kids are in Montessori now and we love it, but I would consider public if it’s an amazing school (which I judge by parental involvement and teaching style, not test scores). Will it be hard to find a house in our budget? Looking for a SFH, 4 beds, around 700-800k. We’d be willing to do some renovation.
Dilworth sounds like a great fit for you, overall...other than schools. The schools aren’t great. Not bad, but compared to further south in Weddington, Waxhaw, Marvin, or in SC, the schools are just average. But, I think any average school can serve a child well if they have involved parents who support them and engage their work.
If I were you, I’d look around Dilworth and around Freedom Park. Both are family friendly (although more middle aged than young families, but still a good mix), very nice neighborhoods that you could get into with your budget. Beautiful tree lined streets, nice without being bougie or fake. Got the park, plenty of restaurants and bars in the vicinity. Close to south end for the breweries and fun...not walkable but close.
The western side of Dilworth is walkable to the light rail. Probably not something I’d count on for most of what is considered “Dilworth” though. In my opinion, there are few neighborhoods that are walkable to the light rail that I would consider having a lot of kids. The light rail cuts through south end and has a ton of apartments, condos, and townhomes, not as many single family homes. If I were you and wanted the good neighborhood feel with more kids, I’d stay to the east side of Dilworth closer to freedom park. But you do lose the bar/brewery scene to gain a more family centered neighborhood.
I’m sure everyone else will have additional feedback and opinions, that’s just my opinion.
Hi! My family has been considering a move to Charlotte for awhile. We’re waiting on my husband’s job to open up a position in their NC office. I’ve been casually looking at houses and Dilworth looks amazing! We’ve been there once for a brief visit, but not really long enough to get a true feel for the neighborhood. I’m hoping some locals can answer a few questions about the area.
The most important thing to me is that we are in an area with lots of young families. We have two small children and plans for one more. We currently live in FL, and while I dislike the state as a whole, I love our neighborhood so much. We are walkable to bars, restaurants, brewery, library, and parks. Every week we see the same families so it’s been easy to make friends. Our town has a nice mix of expensive and affordable homes, so it has a down to earth feel. Can anybody living in Dilworth comment on the amount of young families that are actually residents (not just visiting for the day to walk around)? I’d love to make friends with neighbors and walk to restaurants or family friendly breweries on the weekends like we do here. I fear that the area is prohibitively expensive and will be mostly older couples and people without kids. Any truth to that? Are there walkable activities that cater to small kids?
Other random questions - how far is the walk to the light rail? Husbands clients would likely be uptown. How are the schools? Our kids are in Montessori now and we love it, but I would consider public if it’s an amazing school (which I judge by parental involvement and teaching style, not test scores). Will it be hard to find a house in our budget? Looking for a SFH, 4 beds, around 700-800k. We’d be willing to do some renovation.
Thank you!
Dilworth is a lovely area, and you might want to look at Elizabeth or Chantilly as well (pending the proximity to the LYNX yellow streetcar line).
I don't live in Dilworth, but have a family member that does (they're early 30's with no kids). It does sound like it could work for you, but it's definitely more of an upscale feel as pretty much all the homes are expensive. There's definitely kids there, but yeah probably not as many as in other areas due to the home prices, and for those that can afford it, perceived opinion about the schools - some folks also have a general (somewhat unfounded) aversion to CMS as a whole. I don't know this for sure but one thing I think there may be more of in Dilworth (which I see a fair amount in Charlotte as a whole), is families that don't necessarily even start having kids until their late 30's/early 40's. Not there's anything wrong with that obviously as I'm sure that's part of what makes them able to afford to live in Dilworth, just not sure if that fits your definition of "young families."
But I do think you might be intrigued by the schools, and it certainly seems there is a lot of parental involvement. There was a recent reassignment a few years back which has some interesting reading. Basically, they combined 2 elementary schools (1 affluent, 1 not so much but separated them by grade levels so one is only K-2 and one is grade 3-5).
Those are mainly about the elementary school, apparently there was also contention over the middle schools, and I'm not sure exactly what the situation is there. Based on some real estate listings it seems Dilworth is currently split between 2 middle schools - one that "scores" much better than the other. Seems like the plan was to kinda even them out:
BTW...I'm no expert on the area but I just did a quick search and only see 2 active SFH listings under $800K (one of which was just listed yesterday), both only 3 BR's. Going up to $900K gives you 2 more options including a 4 BR.
The folks above gave a balanced view of Dilworth. I lived in Dilworth for 40 years and know it well. The historic district part of Dilworth is from the midline of Tremont avenue north to Morehead Street. This is a wonderful area and the historic district limits teardowns, add-ons and other non contributing (euphemism) structures. This makes the properties more expensive. Renovations are allowed inside, outside reno must meet Commissioners approval. Use an architect who knows the neighborhood to be successful. Change of color is not an issue.
South Dilworth is south of Tremont midline to Ideal way and properties there can be found for a bit less money without the protection of the historic district. Fewer historic looking homes, naturally. Walking to the light rail is 10-20 minutes from some parts of both areas. The further East one goes the longer the time to the rail line. These are hot areas for home sales and a savvy realtor is imperative for such a targeted search.
Schools: My belief is that for young students the key factor is the teacher of his or her classroom. A parent intent on achieving the best result using home support and interaction with the school will find a positive effect. High School is Myers Park with a large component of high achieving students. Middle school is...middle school. Everyone there is emotionally disturbed by definition. Their emotions are going through the disturbance of puberty.
It was wonderful for me in Dilworth.
If I were looking for a home in your price range now I would include Sedgefield, Elizabeth, Maybe Wesley Heights. All three have access to light rail or street trolley as well as bus near the edges of their areas.
Welcome to Charlotte. You have a good sense of our tree covered beauty. Join us and join our community!
The folks above gave a balanced view of Dilworth. I lived in Dilworth for 40 years and know it well. The historic district part of Dilworth is from the midline of Tremont avenue north to Morehead Street. This is a wonderful area and the historic district limits teardowns, add-ons and other non contributing (euphemism) structures. This makes the properties more expensive. Renovations are allowed inside, outside reno must meet Commissioners approval. Use an architect who knows the neighborhood to be successful. Change of color is not an issue.
South Dilworth is south of Tremont midline to Ideal way and properties there can be found for a bit less money without the protection of the historic district. Fewer historic looking homes, naturally. Walking to the light rail is 10-20 minutes from some parts of both areas. The further East one goes the longer the time to the rail line. These are hot areas for home sales and a savvy realtor is imperative for such a targeted search.
Schools: My belief is that for young students the key factor is the teacher of his or her classroom. A parent intent on achieving the best result using home support and interaction with the school will find a positive effect. High School is Myers Park with a large component of high achieving students. Middle school is...middle school. Everyone there is emotionally disturbed by definition. Their emotions are going through the disturbance of puberty.
It was wonderful for me in Dilworth.
If I were looking for a home in your price range now I would include Sedgefield, Elizabeth, Maybe Wesley Heights. All three have access to light rail or street trolley as well as bus near the edges of their areas.
Welcome to Charlotte. You have a good sense of our tree covered beauty. Join us and join our community!
Well that was a very level headed, informative, kind response. Great insight and info.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
