OT: Potentially Moving to Charlotte

[TheRogers]

Just got word about my area being relocated from CT to NC.

The new area is somewhat close to the SC border.

Wanted to get your thoughts as to the following:
a) Good areas in terms of school districts
b) Are there benefits living in SC vs NC?
c) Any pitfalls I should consider/avoid?

 

[Pudge]

Schools mostly suck. And, my relatives were in Rock Hill, SC near Charlotte. I always thought it was perceptively more worn and run down on the SC side of that line. (maybe it was the company I was with)

 

[HooperScooper]

One of our former neighbors got transferred to the Charlotte area (which is near the SC border) and they ended up in Rock Hill, SC also. They liked the town and the school system.

Be prepared for culture shock. They told me some funny stories. Like the time they were at their son's youth soccer game and a dad drives up in a pick up truck with an all terrain vehicle and a dead deer in the back. He's in fatigues on the side line and another father comes up to him with a shot gun and they start comparing their shot guns and pointing them towards the woods like they're shooting them. He e-mailed me a picture of them with the soccer game in the background that looked pretty funny. O.K. somebody is going to kill me for busting on the south but I don't think that's something you'd see around here.

 

[UCweCONN]

Just got word about my area being relocated from CT to NC.

The new area is somewhat close to the SC border.

Wanted to get your thoughts as to the following:
a) Good areas in terms of school districts
b) Are there benefits living in SC vs NC?
c) Any pitfalls I should consider/avoid?

I could have relocated a while back but turned it down for a number of reasons, UCONN is in my blood and I'm not a NASCAR fan.... I could have had a brick house on a golf course for $400k. That's my only regret other than I hate snow and cold weather. I was going to send the kids to private schools. The schools in both North and South Carolina are both historically bad although there are some exceptions. Rock Hill is an upscale area with good schools. I also looked at some new developments in Charlotte. Charlotte is very nice and cosmopolitan with a huge number of out of state transplants due to a number of large corporate headquarters (Bank of America). South Carolina is where all the manufacturing jobs are going since it's a very business friendly state (BMW etc). It's a great place for sports with the Panthers, Bobcats, minor league baseball and outdoor activites like fishing and hiking. Another thing, in addition to the poor schools, SC is last in the nation in health, probably due to poverty and southern fried diet. If you want my recommendation, go with North Carolina. Private message me and I'll try answer any more questions and I'll do my best to answer.

 

[CTBasketball]

You have NASCAR down there. That's always a good time.

 

[huskyniner]

I had a blast there when I went down for the UConn/Wake Forest bowl game a few years back. That's all I can offer.

 

[kbdiggity]

Just got word about my area being relocated from CT to NC.

The new area is somewhat close to the SC border.

Wanted to get your thoughts as to the following:
a) Good areas in terms of school districts
b) Are there benefits living in SC vs NC?
c) Any pitfalls I should consider/avoid?

I live in Charlotte. You can really tell from the previous posters that they are talking about South Carolina experiences. You'll figure it out when you get down here that across the border in SC and up in Concord (northeast of Charlotte where the speedway is) is where you'll run into the largest population of good 'ol boys. Charlotte proper is absolutely full of people who moved in from out of state. It is a running joke among Charlotteans that none of us were born here.

Plenty of great schools in the Charlotte area. The nicest high schools would be Audrey Kell, Myers Park, and Providence. I guess you could throw Butler in there as well considering it is relatively new. Most of the elementary and middle schools who feed into those high schools are equally nice.

Can you be more specific about where near the SC border your "new area" is supposed to be? I mean, do you know where you'll be working at? The reason I ask is that the whole southern side of the Charlotte metro area borders South Carolina. I could probably give you more direct and specific recommendations if I knew what area you were looking at.

I can tell you that if you are on the southwest side of the city, around where I-485 and I-77 meet, that is known as Steele Creek area. That has some reasonable housing and feeds into Olympic high school, but the crime rate is higher than a lot of other southern sections of the city (though there are far higher crime rates in sections of the north side or in sections of the east side.) There is the very rich area known as Ballantyne which is on the south side of the city. That mostly feeds into Audrey Kell high school. There are neighborhoods along Providence Road and Rea Road, south of highway 51 (also known as Pineville-Matthews Rd.) where the houses vary in price and age. Both Providence and Rea run into south carolina eventually. These neighborhoods either feed into Providence high or Audrey Kell. There may be a few who still feed into South Meck high school, I'm not sure if they've redrawn the districts.

 

[TRuconnfan]

I can't really tell you much about those specific areas because I'm too far away, however when I did my research a few years ago we decided to live in SC mainly due to the better weather (I live more in the mountain area) and saving money with tax credits. So if you plan to own a house you should look into that. SC gives you a huge tax credit if you live in the house you own. I pay like $1800 instead of $6k a year, huge savings! Honestly I can't remember (or if it's changed) what NC rates are...maybe someone living in that area can chime in if this may be one of your factors.

 

[kbdiggity]

Pretty safe to say the weather difference between south Charlotte and across the state line into south carolina is negligible.

 

[Northbound]

One of our former neighbors got transferred to the Charlotte area (which is near the SC border) and they ended up in Rock Hill, SC also. They liked the town and the school system.

Be prepared for culture shock. They told me some funny stories. Like the time they were at their son's youth soccer game and a dad drives up in a pick up truck with an all terrain vehicle and a dead deer in the back. He's in fatigues on the side line and another father comes up to him with a shot gun and they start comparing their shot guns and pointing them towards the woods like they're shooting them. He e-mailed me a picture of them with the soccer game in the background that looked pretty funny. O.K. somebody is going to kill me for busting on the south but I don't think that's something you'd see around here.

You clearly do not live in Upstate NY.

 

[uconnfan68]

Just got word about my area being relocated from CT to NC.

The new area is somewhat close to the SC border.

Wanted to get your thoughts as to the following:
a) Good areas in terms of school districts
b) Are there benefits living in SC vs NC?
c) Any pitfalls I should consider/avoid?

Under pitfalls... don't live downwind from any pig farms, and don't live within hearing distance of any race tracks. ;^)

 

[kbdiggity]

Under pitfalls... don't live downwind from any pig farms, and don't live within hearing distance of any race tracks. ;^)

Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Dragstrip are in Concord, NC... which is northeast of Charlotte.

Pig farms are all around ECU.

 

[BUHusky]

Just got word about my area being relocated from CT to NC.

You by any chance work for MetLife?

 

[Peacefrog]

I moved from Woodbury, CT down here two years ago. The area has undergone significant changes in the last 15 years or so. The big banks have contributed a lot to the culture change. I live in a subdivision in western Union County and 90% of the families are from the north. We chose this area because of schools, taxes and atmosphere. The negatives in SC are education and more rednecks but taxes (real estate, income and corporate) are lower and real estate is more affordable but compared to CT you can live like a king in NC as well. Gas is cheaper in SC as well and we all go there to buy our fireworks too. You're going to be amazed how much lower your utility bills are going to be. Indian Land, Clover, Rock Hill and Fort Mill are some places in SC you could consider but after looking we decided to stay north of the border. Oh, and if your kids go to college, the public system is a great deal in NC. It's about $18K for Chapel Hill and residents get very preferential acceptance.

We were warned by several friends from the area to avoid the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System. The schools can be hit and miss with lots of redistricting and other headaches. Check out the ratings for schools in Marvin, Weddington and Wesley Chapel, they are all in the top few percent for the state and have lowest school crime rates. Even at the better schools in CMS the crime is much higher. Again, the taxes are considerably lower in Union County and many are fleeing south out of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County.

Some of the choice may depend on where you have to drive for work each day. There are some nice areas up on Lake Norman as well but the schools aren't quite as good and if you have to commute in and out of Charlotte each day the traffic is murder.

South Park/Meyers Park are very nice if you can afford it and you enjoy living in a city. If you don't like congestion etc. I would consider western Union County (Eastern Union County ie: Monroe, not so good).

 

[ctchamps]

Do a little research. There are some very good schools in the Greenville, Rockville, Charlotte triangle.

The numbers regarding obesity, poor education and poverty are skewed because there is a large black population (second largest percentage wise of all states) that has unfortunately been held back. South Carolina goes out of its way to minimize help to the poor relative to what takes place in the northeast.

South Carolina is growing faster than North Carolina but it's starting with a lower population base. Boeing set up shop in Charleston and has announced an expansion. Charlotte is banking and a nice metropolitan city. Greenville has BMW and other manufacturing companies. Check prices, and tax rates and schools ratings in the area both in NC and SC. Just as there is a diversity of living conditions in CT there is a diversity of living conditions in North and South Carolina. You won't be living everywhere in any state. You just have to find a community that satisfies you and your family.

BTW, I lived in northwest CT before moving south and guys with pick ups, shot guns and deer were easily spotted.

 

[Perspective]

The numbers regarding obesity, poor education and poverty are skewed because there is a large black population . . . that has unfortunately been held back.

This is America 2013.
50 years of affirmative action and preference in job hiring and academics and they are completely blameless and have been "held back."
Not held back from McDonalds on the EBT, I'd wager.

 

[ctchamps]

This is America 2013.
50 years of affirmative action and preference in job hiring and academics and they are completely blameless and have been "held back."
Not held back from McDonalds on the EBT, I'd wager.

I'm generalizing but there is definitely an edge with how things are carried out in this state. My wife worked in one of the democratic offices and contacted people who were still afraid to vote as a result of fear of getting hurt. Is it as bad as fifty years ago. Not by a long shot. But there are rural schools in this state with no funding and that would never be the case in CT.

Are people responsible for their own actions. Sometimes. Are people victims of other people. Sometimes. It's a combination. Some people more responsible for their own fate while others are less responsibile for their conditions. Preferably we would look at things on an individual basis. But a generalization can be made that this state sets up conditions to maintain advantages for those already with advantages at the expense of those disadvantaged in a much more effective way than CT.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This is America 2013.
50 years of affirmative action and preference in job hiring and academics and they are completely blameless and have been "held back."
Not held back from McDonalds on the EBT, I'd wager.

There's an aptly named Cesspool for this ****.

 

[RS9999X]

You clearly do not live in Upstate NY.

Or Northwest Hills CT.

Even the Actors and Actresses behave like red neck townies. Rip Torn for instance (the head of Men in Black. Agent Zed)

Typical Rip headlines:
Rip Torn Drunk Driving Charges With A Christmas Tree Atop His Suburu Sleigh (2008)

Actor Rip Torn arrested, charged with breaking into local bank with loaded gun when drunk (2010)

It's CTs only Republican County .

 

[GemParty]

Just got word about my area being relocated from CT to NC.

The new area is somewhat close to the SC border.

Wanted to get your thoughts as to the following:
a) Good areas in terms of school districts
b) Are there benefits living in SC vs NC?
c) Any pitfalls I should consider/avoid?

Check your Boneyard inbox!

 

[captainron2]

Look in Wilmington NC. Beautiful area, decent schools and not far from the border

 

[TheRogers]

Thank you all for your inputs! I will be going through them and taking notes.

 

[TheRogers]

I live in Charlotte. You can really tell from the previous posters that they are talking about South Carolina experiences. You'll figure it out when you get down here that across the border in SC and up in Concord (northeast of Charlotte where the speedway is) is where you'll run into the largest population of good 'ol boys. Charlotte proper is absolutely full of people who moved in from out of state. It is a running joke among Charlotteans that none of us were born here.

Plenty of great schools in the Charlotte area. The nicest high schools would be Audrey Kell, Myers Park, and Providence. I guess you could throw Butler in there as well considering it is relatively new. Most of the elementary and middle schools who feed into those high schools are equally nice.

Can you be more specific about where near the SC border your "new area" is supposed to be? I mean, do you know where you'll be working at? The reason I ask is that the whole southern side of the Charlotte metro area borders South Carolina. I could probably give you more direct and specific recommendations if I knew what area you were looking at.

I can tell you that if you are on the southwest side of the city, around where I-485 and I-77 meet, that is known as Steele Creek area. That has some reasonable housing and feeds into Olympic high school, but the crime rate is higher than a lot of other southern sections of the city (though there are far higher crime rates in sections of the north side or in sections of the east side.) There is the very rich area known as Ballantyne which is on the south side of the city. That mostly feeds into Audrey Kell high school. There are neighborhoods along Providence Road and Rea Road, south of highway 51 (also known as Pineville-Matthews Rd.) where the houses vary in price and age. Both Providence and Rea run into south carolina eventually. These neighborhoods either feed into Providence high or Audrey Kell. There may be a few who still feed into South Meck high school, I'm not sure if they've redrawn the districts.

This has to do with the MetLife move from Bloomfield to this address:
14120 Ballantyne Corp Place
Ste. 505
Charlotte, NC 28277

I'll be doing my own research as well but there's no better intel than from the locals.

 

[TheRogers]

You by any chance work for MetLife?

Yes. You as well?

 

[TheRogers]

Look in Wilmington NC. Beautiful area, decent schools and not far from the border

Thanks! All good info