We're visiting Charlotte (considering a move there) for a weekend with our kids - advice needed (Huntersville: fit in, best neighborhoods)

[GACLT]

We've spent countless hours researching the best towns for our family to live in the southeast (we currently live in GA), Charlotte is near the top of our list. We're planning a weekend visit there in a couple of weeks.

Our budget is $700k - $800k, and we want a commute no more than 40 mins to Uptown.

We've been focusing on the south area of town - Matthew, Indian Trail, Ballantyne, Waxhaw, Weddington, Marvin. Is this a good starting point?

Our wants for a new town are typical and certainly not unique:

- Low crime suburban area
- Highly rated schools
- Kid friendly neighborhood with a good pool and close to green space
- Within 5-10 minutes of good grocery stores, restaurants, parks
- We'd prefer not to live in a cookie cutter neighborhood, but aren't entirely opposed to the idea
- We enjoy outdoor activities; walking, biking, parks/green space near by would be preferred
- Good recreational sports (soccer) for the kids
- A backyard with a bit of space that would allow kids to run around

We want to bring our kids (9-10 years old) during our visit so they can get a feel for the area. We also realize they’ll get bored driving from town to town all weekend so we’re going to plan an activity for them. We were thinking about spending a couple hours at an indoor rock climbing place we found in Matthews. Any other recommendations regarding a good activity for the kids on a Saturday in the area?

We’d also welcome any opinions regarding the best areas/neighborhoods to focus on when we visit if you think we've left some out.

[MikeyRocksNC]

Sounds like you’ve got good areas with highly rated schools planned, if you want to be within 45 minutes of uptown, I’d check out the areas close to 485 between Ballantyne and Matthews. The new Ballantyne Backyard green space where the golf course used to be is a nice new feature, the YMCA (Brace Family YMCA) off McKee is a good option for the family and there are some parks/greenway options in that area outside Matthews for outdoor activities. There are also some great older neighborhoods through there with decent sized yards that may be a good fit in the area. Convenient to 485 to get to the airport or get out of town as well. For reference, I live around Providence rd and 485 and it takes me about 35 minutes to get into uptown in morning traffic.

[Riley09swb]

You might want to check out the White Water Center for activities if you'd be up for something outdoors on Saturday. Also, check out Strikers for rec soccer. They have an Indian Trail location and Huntersville (my daughter plays at the Huntersville location).

[UDcc123]

If commute is a concern, be aware that current commute times are "COVID times" and will get worse once the big banks require their employees to return to office. If 40 minutes really is the max, you definitely want to be "inside the I-485" corridor, which eliminates most of the Union County areas you've mentioned. Those areas would be "40 minutes on a good day and 60+ minutes in rush hour"...though you do get more house for your $$ down there.

If you'd prefer non cookie-cutter, you'll also have more options inside the I-485 loop since the outer areas tend to be newer housing tracks. Inside tends to be more established neighborhoods with some new tracts thrown in.

Also be aware that there are some areas in South Charlotte that are in a redistricting discussion and some of the existing school boundaries are a bit odd...so just do your research there and ensure you're comfortable with the ES/MS/HS you'll be zoned into.

Lastly, as I'm sure you know...the Charlotte housing market is bubbling right now. Home prices are easily 20-30+% higher than pre-COVID and they're selling almost immediately after going on the market. Something to consider is renting a single family home for a year before deciding on a purchase. Not only would the market settle a bit, but you'd also have a greater familiarity with the area before purchasing. We are so thankful we did that as we found the area we rented in (that we probably would've bought in) was not our ideal spot after living there for a year.

In terms of activities, it really depends on your kids and COVID comfort. A few ideas:
- Discovery Place science museum uptown
- White Water Center (it does get busy on the weekends)
- Carowinds (big amusement park...again, gets busy on the weekends...but great spot if they love big roller coasters)
- Sports Connection down in Ballantyne (bouncy houses, laser tag, video games, etc)
- We did something called "District 57" recently...it's North of the city in a shady shopping strip, but once you got inside it was an amazing experience and something we've never seen anywhere else.
- Walk through Freedom Park just south of the city...they have a nice pond with walking trail around it...plus a rather large playground and Panthers "Play360" course.
- Southpark Mall is the "fancy" mall (more upscale stores...they still have Dick's, Disney Store, Claire's, Lego, Apple, etc. too)
- Charlotte is lacking a bit on mini-golf, but just South of Ballantyne over the SC there's a great pirate themed course that's probably the best in the area
- The indoor rock climbing in Matthews is definitely fun as well. You have to belay your own kids, but they train you in 5 minutes and it's not intimidating or difficult.
- If you're into escape rooms, Masterpiece Escapes is down that way and is our favorite in the area. Metro Mayhem is still our favorite room ever and it's the right skill level for your kids ages.
- There's plenty of trampoline places in the area...Big Air off Independence Blvd/74 in that area is quite good (in addition to jumping, they have a mini Ninja Warrior course, ride the mechanical bull, and a few other things too)

[GACLT]

I appreciate the great recommendations from everyone regarding activities. That's a big help for someone that's never visited the area!

[GACLT]

Originally Posted by UDcc123

If commute is a concern, be aware that current commute times are "COVID times" and will get worse once the big banks require their employees to return to office. If 40 minutes really is the max, you definitely want to be "inside the I-485" corridor, which eliminates most of the Union County areas you've mentioned. Those areas would be "40 minutes on a good day and 60+ minutes in rush hour"...though you do get more house for your $$ down there.

Wow, I assumed commute times were a bit shorter now, but didn't think it would be 50+% longer post-COVID! To check commute times from various towns/neighborhoods we've been using Google map directions as a projection during different times of the day. Over an hour commute each way isn't going to work for us. I guess if we're unable to work remotely on a permanent basis we'll need to look at neighborhoods closer to town.

Our hesitancy with being closer to town is due to our assumption that traffic will be much worse and the overall pace of life will be very busy in those areas. This is one reason why even though we live in GA we eliminated Atlanta from our list. The northern suburbs of Atlanta are highly rated, and we're familiar with them since we visit there often with our kids due to the abundance of good parks, playgrounds, restaurants, and shopping. The downside is it can take 10-15 mins to drive just a mile or two in those areas. The amount of people packed into those suburbs is amazing. Of course, great areas to live are busy for a reason, everyone wants to live there. I joke with my wife that although it's a ways off, I couldn't imagine trying to teach our kids how to drive in an area like that when they turn 16. I get anxiety just thinking about it

Of course ATL is much more densely populated than Charlotte, but I've heard people make reference to Charlotte as being "Little Atlanta". This has me worried about looking inside the I-485. Are my assumptions wrong?

Originally Posted by UDcc123

Also be aware that there are some areas in South Charlotte that are in a redistricting discussion and some of the existing school boundaries are a bit odd...so just do your research there and ensure you're comfortable with the ES/MS/HS you'll be zoned into.

This drives us crazy. It's hard enough to choose a school district when you're new to an area, but then we keep hearing about how redistricting occurs on occasion which makes it difficult to pull the trigger on a specific location. The kids' education is top on our list of priorities, despite all the reading we've done we haven't made a decision on the best school zone in the area.

Originally Posted by UDcc123

Lastly, as I'm sure you know...the Charlotte housing market is bubbling right now. Home prices are easily 20-30+% higher than pre-COVID and they're selling almost immediately after going on the market. Something to consider is renting a single family home for a year before deciding on a purchase. Not only would the market settle a bit, but you'd also have a greater familiarity with the area before purchasing. We are so thankful we did that as we found the area we rented in (that we probably would've bought in) was not our ideal spot after living there for a year.

We'll only be able to make a couple of in person visits to Charlotte which makes renting the ideal situation so we can learn the area. We've discussed renting but haven't found many good rental houses. It pains me to think about purchasing a home at the height of a housing "bubble", but we also worry about our kids adjusting to a relocation if our move only puts us in a temporary location. Also, it appears housing prices are projected to increase another 7% through the end of 2021 and another 5% in 2022. Those figures might be low for Charlotte, I've read story after story of houses selling at 5%-10% above asking price within an hour of being listed. Finding an ideal home in that buying environment could be nearly impossible.

[Riley09swb]

Look in Cabarrus County, just over the Mecklenburg County line. I've been working from home for the last 16 months but have started to commute once a week every other week, and it takes me 30 minutes to get into Uptown now. Come September 7th, when most of the banks have everyone RTO, it will be a longer commute, but it shouldn't be more than 45 minutes. I take the toll road home, and I am home in 20 minutes; I think the toll road will help a bit.

[Charlotteborn]

I can't imagine spending hours each day on commuting so stay inside I-485 if commute is of any concern. IMO the best neighborhoods in Charlotte are in south Charlotte (north of I-485). Lots of established neighborhoods, some with great neighborhood pools and no cookie cutters! Check out Beverly Woods, Mountainbrook, Fairmeadows - any of the neighborhoods close to Southpark. As stated, homes in these areas that are fairly priced sell very quickly so you may have a wait.

[ZeusAV]

Agree on South Charlotte inside of 485 if you want those criteria without being in cookie-cutter suburbia and having a reasonable commute. If you do decide to go outside of 485 then you'll want to choose somewhere that avoids using the I-77 corridor to commute as that's Charlotte's most congested highway. The 85 corridor would be a better choice in terms of commute, Cabarrus County Area.

[Charlottean1996]

I’m retired and my kids are grown.

If I had your budget, I know of a hidden ‘gem’ here in Mecklenburg County right on the Catawba River, south of Wilkinson Blvd and the Catawba River Bridge. Very nice, upscale brick homes, many waterfront lots, many are not ‘waterfront’. I found it by accident many years ago - drove through the development recently and its still a long ways from being 'built out’.

I believe the neighborhood was originally known as 'River Walk’ but now there is no sign at the entrance. Take Amos Smith Road south off of Old Dowd Road (Old Charlotte Highway before Wilkinson Blvd. was built in 1925). Turn right (west) on Riverwalk Way.

I fell in love with the development many years ago when I lived right up the street - I now live about 10 miles farther north in the Todd Park-Tank Town area. There are also some high end developments in Belmont in the Hwy 273 - Hwy 279 area adjacent to the Catawba River, basically across from the River Walk development I described previously. Check’em out.