mommyoftwinboys Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 To the other poster wondering about Charlotte, we've owned four homes here since 2002. As far as upscale areas, mostly Lake Norman and South Charlotte, Ballantyne, Weddington,etc. Those areas have sprinklings of homes with one or more acres but you'd rarely find a subdivision with that much. We live on 5 acres now but we are out in the country about 30 min from Charlotte. I've never lived in S. Charlotte so I can't comment on that but do know there is lots of upscale shopping,etc. It's just too busy for my taste. We've lived in Huntersville and Mooresville before moving where we are now and those areas I would consider upscale, heavy transplant, not a ton of diversity but very accepting of others as it seems everyone is from somewhere else. Like the others said, Charlotte is a meca for homeschoolers-I live on a country road with a handful of homes and we have two other homeschoolers on the street...it seems it's VERY popular here...my other neighborhood(in a subdivision) had ton of homeschoolers as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 As far as getting to/from work if he were to work in the city, you have a couple of choices OTHER than the local public bus. They have a commuter/business bus called CATS that runs from downtown (we call it Uptown here) to various areas outside the city. We have friends who use this and love it. Unfortunately, DH's work schedule doesn't allow for consistent times and the buses only run certain hours. The second option is the train (called the Lynx), which DH takes and loves. It is clean and nice. You can live closer to the train station and take that in daily as well. But the public system is not great for just getting around to go shopping or to local museums, etc..... Dawn Thanks! Since dh doesn't drive it is important to have some public transit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMom5 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 We moved from the Washington, DC area to a small city in NW FL, along the Gulf Coast. It's very nice. It snows every 80 years or so. Race relations have been very good. My neighborhood is like the U.N. People from all over the world and we all like and help each other. An interesting fact - lots of Russians and Eastern Europeans. Also, many people are military or former military so they've lived all over and are pretty open-minded. There are lots of bi-racial marriages and internationally adopted children too. Our middle ds is from Central America and he's very popular here. The rest of us are of Mexican descent and no one cares. Homeschooling is easy. The cost of homes is much cheaper than DC or the northeast. There are no state income taxes or personal prop. taxes and comparable sales tax (7.5% non-food). Gas, utilities and groceries are comparable. We still cut our gasoline bill in half due to so much less driving. There is public transportation, limited, but it's here. The only problems we experienced are boredom (only the first year as we transitioned) and anti-Catholic sentiment from the majority of fellow homeschoolers. We've sinced backed away from the big, local homeschool group. Still, we've met many, many nice homeschoolers and tons of really nice public and private school people. I also vote for Texas. Everyone I know who's lived in DFW or Austin has loved it. Easy homeschool laws, open-minded and friendly people. If we were to move, I would want to move to Austin. One word of caution - when we moved to the DC area in '91, DC was the murder capital of the world. Relatives would call and ask if we were ok. The crime was localized to a small area of the District. The rest of the region was virtually crime free. It might be the same for Charlotte. Good luck with your move. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma H Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Thank you all for your replies. This is one to be printed out! It is all so darn mind boggling. In a way I just want to shut down and think normally. It is hard to have a huge life changing decision on your mind. My husband is in real estate. He is an appraiser. The industry has changed recently and it has been very hard on our family. He would like to change careers but he does not know what he wants to be when he grows up! (he's 43) All he really knows is appraising and he is VERY good at it. He is such a hard working man, he has gotten up by no later than 4 in the morning for years and he used to love appraising. It is heartbreaking for me to see him be so unhappy now. We just figured if we could go somewhere and pay cash for a home it would ease some of the burden and he could explore what to change to. He is exploring some options and praying hard but he is just not feelin the love on much. He used to make good money and he has been able to work from home so it is hard to go work for the man. Sorry, I am rambling. Just thinking out loud. I love all these ideas. Anyone know ideas for him to make a living?:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 To the other poster wondering about Charlotte, we've owned four homes here since 2002. As far as upscale areas, mostly Lake Norman and South Charlotte, Ballantyne, Weddington,etc. Those areas have sprinklings of homes with one or more acres but you'd rarely find a subdivision with that much. We live on 5 acres now but we are out in the country about 30 min from Charlotte. I've never lived in S. Charlotte so I can't comment on that but do know there is lots of upscale shopping,etc. It's just too busy for my taste. We've lived in Huntersville and Mooresville before moving where we are now and those areas I would consider upscale, heavy transplant, not a ton of diversity but very accepting of others as it seems everyone is from somewhere else. Like the others said, Charlotte is a meca for homeschoolers-I live on a country road with a handful of homes and we have two other homeschoolers on the street...it seems it's VERY popular here...my other neighborhood(in a subdivision) had ton of homeschoolers as well... Where are you living? You can PM me if you don't wish to post it publicly. I have been trying to find something with lots of land with no success. I'm currently on the Wesley Chapel/Monroe border. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 If you wish to stay in the same area have you looked into Monroe, Marshville, or Waxhaw? I find properties with several acres in all of those. Dawn Where are you living? You can PM me if you don't wish to post it publicly. I have been trying to find something with lots of land with no success. I'm currently on the Wesley Chapel/Monroe border. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 If you wish to stay in the same area have you looked into Monroe, Marshville, or Waxhaw? I find properties with several acres in all of those. Dawn There was one listing in Waxhaw which sold. I really want to stay away from Monroe. I have even though of Marshville so I guess I need to look into that. I think the problem Is probably my price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 It must be, or you may want more land than I am looking at. I have checked AllenTate.com and see quite a few listings between 5-10 acres in Waxhaw. You could also look at Clover, SC if that isn't too far away. Paigeland has land, but it is too far for us. We have 2.5 acres but DH would really like 5 or more so I do check periodically. Dawn There was one listing in Waxhaw which sold. I really want to stay away from Monroe. I have even though of Marshville so I guess I need to look into that. I think the problem Is probably my price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Just looked at your blog, I know you! Sending you a PM. Dawn There was one listing in Waxhaw which sold. I really want to stay away from Monroe. I have even though of Marshville so I guess I need to look into that. I think the problem Is probably my price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Just looked at your blog, I know you! Sending you a PM. Dawn I've had that happen on here too :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allearia Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 As far as getting to/from work if he were to work in the city, you have a couple of choices OTHER than the local public bus. They have a commuter/business bus called CATS that runs from downtown (we call it Uptown here) to various areas outside the city. We have friends who use this and love it. Unfortunately, DH's work schedule doesn't allow for consistent times and the buses only run certain hours. The second option is the train (called the Lynx), which DH takes and loves. It is clean and nice. You can live closer to the train station and take that in daily as well. But the public system is not great for just getting around to go shopping or to local museums, etc..... Dawn I think as long as he could get to/from work without much difficulty on his own most of the time it would work, I would drive to go shopping etc. And I could probably drive him/pick him up once in a while. Of course if he worked from home for the company he works for now it would be less of a concern as long as he can go a few places on his own. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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