Need neighborhood advice- don't know where to begin! (Charlotte, Huntersville: homes, transfer)

[jwoollatt]

We find out next week if we are being transferred to Charlotte. In the
mean time we are starting to do a little research so as to be prepared.

We have never even stepped foot in Charlotte so we don't even know
where to begin.

I've searched the archives a bit, but perhaps if I lay down some
criteria for what we are looking for in terms of neighborhoods, some of
you can point us in the right direction to begin our search!!

1. Above-excellent schools (our children are elementary aged but we
want to look ahead to HSs as well).
2. We prefer older homes- 1950s-70s in established family-friendly
neighborhoods. We will be looking around the $250s.
3. Liberal neighborhood.
4. We want somewhere that has a community- with pools, and other
amenties close by.

Also when exactly does the school year begin and end in Charlotte?

Thanks so much for your help!

[joanchris2000]

Easy ones first, school year cannot begin before Aug 25th, next year I think it begins on the 27th. This year school ends around June 8.

We just bought a house, will close in 3 weeks, but had many of the same criteria, price range etc. We did look at some older homes, but couldn't find what we needed there and ended up new. Mint Hill (in Meck County, good schools there though, in that area) had a few subdivs that were older, nice, established, well kept up and had pools/comm. centers, and in our price range. I'm sure there are others who are already there, and who are Realtors who will chime in ready to help you find your way.

I used a great website to look at all schools in each county i was looking in, it compared all schools in the county, by elem, middle, and high, using test scores, then you could click on the name and get other data. There was a fee associated, and apparantly my subscription ran out a few days ago (I moved last summer and am moving again, so the 1 yr thing came in handy). the site was PSK12 Public School Rankings
Lots of folks will say go to greatschools.com and I found that ok, but this is the site I preferred. Of course, test scores don't tell all, but it's a starting point.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by jwoollatt

We find out next week if we are being transferred to Charlotte. In the
mean time we are starting to do a little research so as to be prepared.

We have never even stepped foot in Charlotte so we don't even know
where to begin.

I've searched the archives a bit, but perhaps if I lay down some
criteria for what we are looking for in terms of neighborhoods, some of
you can point us in the right direction to begin our search!!

1. Above-excellent schools (our children are elementary aged but we
want to look ahead to HSs as well).
2. We prefer older homes- 1950s-70s in established family-friendly
neighborhoods. We will be looking around the $250s.
3. Liberal neighborhood.
4. We want somewhere that has a community- with pools, and other
amenties close by.

Also when exactly does the school year begin and end in Charlotte?

Thanks so much for your help!

Just curious, what does a "liberal neighborhood" look like??

Not trying to give you a hard time, but you do realize you are moving to the Bible Belt, don't you? That being said, the demographics of Charlotte are such now that you will find a sprinkling of just about everything here somewhere. Though I don't think you will get all of the things on your list above in one place. If by liberal you mean an area populated by more democrats (and I know you may not mean that, I'm just not sure) don't come to south Charlotte. Though I hate to say that, because south Charlotte has the best schools k-12. There are good elementary's all over town, a few good middle schools too, but for high school south Charlotte is the place to be. If living amongst us Republicans is a problem for you though you'd better look in another part of the city

[friendnc]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Just curious, what does a "liberal neighborhood" look like??

Not trying to give you a hard time, but you do realize you are moving to the Bible Belt, don't you? That being said, the demographics of Charlotte are such now that you will find a sprinkling of just about everything here somewhere. Though I don't think you will get all of the things on your list above in one place. If by liberal you mean an area populated by more democrats (and I know you may not mean that, I'm just not sure) don't come to south Charlotte. Though I hate to say that, because south Charlotte has the best schools k-12. There are good elementary's all over town, a few good middle schools too, but for high school south Charlotte is the place to be. If living amongst us Republicans is a problem for you though you'd better look in another part of the city

I agree with LM. As I've said in other posts, the Charlotte area has a nice mix of con/lib/mod who seem to get along pretty well. You shouldn't have a problem finding your nich. I'm conservative and wouldn't mind at all having you as my neighbor . Just be open and friendly to everyone and you should be fine. Good luck in your search!!

[Gosox05]

Originally Posted by jwoollatt

We find out next week if we are being transferred to Charlotte. In the
mean time we are starting to do a little research so as to be prepared.

We have never even stepped foot in Charlotte so we don't even know
where to begin.

I've searched the archives a bit, but perhaps if I lay down some
criteria for what we are looking for in terms of neighborhoods, some of
you can point us in the right direction to begin our search!!

1. Above-excellent schools (our children are elementary aged but we
want to look ahead to HSs as well).
2. We prefer older homes- 1950s-70s in established family-friendly
neighborhoods. We will be looking around the $250s.
3. Liberal neighborhood.
4. We want somewhere that has a community- with pools, and other
amenties close by.

Also when exactly does the school year begin and end in Charlotte?

Thanks so much for your help!

Tega Cay is where you need to be. They have some older homes in that area that fit your criteria. They have Great schools, older homes 1950 to 1970, homes around $250, liberal neighbrohood, and plenty amentities near by.
You should start a Tega Cay Forum yourself and find out more.
Good Luck.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Dave Mags

Tega Cay is where you need to be. They have some older homes in that area that fit your criteria. They have Great schools, older homes 1950 to 1970, homes around $250, liberal neighbrohood, and plenty amentities near by.
You should start a Tega Cay Forum yourself and find out more.
Good Luck.

I know a few families in Tega Cay who are very conservative. Is it suppose to be a liberal neighborhood?

[marvinnative]

Maybe checking out voter registration info by precincts would help:

Mecklenburg County - By precincts
VoterDemographicsSearch

Union County - By precincts
http://www.co.union.nc.us/gov_offices/boe/statistics.pdf (broken link)

Union County - Precinct map
http://www.co.union.nc.us/gov_offices/boe/pollmaps/school.pdf (broken link)

[niknaxx]

Originally Posted by jwoollatt

We find out next week if we are being transferred to Charlotte. In the
mean time we are starting to do a little research so as to be prepared.

We have never even stepped foot in Charlotte so we don't even know
where to begin.

I've searched the archives a bit, but perhaps if I lay down some
criteria for what we are looking for in terms of neighborhoods, some of
you can point us in the right direction to begin our search!!

1. Above-excellent schools (our children are elementary aged but we
want to look ahead to HSs as well).
2. We prefer older homes- 1950s-70s in established family-friendly
neighborhoods. We will be looking around the $250s.
3. Liberal neighborhood.
4. We want somewhere that has a community- with pools, and other
amenties close by.

Also when exactly does the school year begin and end in Charlotte?

Thanks so much for your help!

I like Huntersville and it fits your price range. We live in Rosedale. There are not a lot of older homes here, though, in developments but you might find what you're looking for. I think there are a lot of liberals up here, too. The schools are good and test very well but there are some issues in the high schools. The area is very safe, too.