Alicia64 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 DH is considering a Charlotte job. I homeschool and would love to be near(ish) a vital homeschool community. I'm also wondering which part of Charlotte we should look to live in. DH will work in Fort Mills, SC. He'd like to be a 20-minute drive from work. We're suburb people and need a 4 bedroom/ 2 bath home. We love pools and swim a lot. DH is super crime conscious and into safety. I'd like to be in a friendly suburb. I tend to end up in "snooty" suburbs and regret it. Any suggestions? Also, can you tell me what homeschooling in Charlotte is like? I should add that we'd like to keep the rent to $1700 - $1900 and aren't ready to buy. Thank you!! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Charlotte has a very active homeschooling community. I thought I heard it said once that we have one of the largest in the country. Anyway, Ft. Mill is basically on the border as is Charlotte. Because your dh will work in Ft. Mill, you would want to consider south Charlotte and vicinity. Funny thing with Charlotte though, we really don't have suburbs. We have little Matthews and Pineville and while they are quaint, they have very small downtowns. Let's see: a friendly neighborhood with a pool and close to Ft. Mill. Maybe you could try Ballantyne. There are so many new developments that have popped up over the last several years. Are you looking to rent a house or an apt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Fort Mill would be a great place to live actually (or it was when we moved a few years ago). My husband worked in Ballantyne & we lived in SC (right over the border--but not in Ft Mill). Charlotte has an amazing and really diverse homeschool community! I loved it there!! Our co-op was actually in Fort Mill. The laws for homeschooling in SC are a cinch. I think NC is easy too :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I have family in Tega cay. It's really very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 Charlotte has a very active homeschooling community. I thought I heard it said once that we have one of the largest in the country. Anyway, Ft. Mill is basically on the border as is Charlotte. Because your dh will work in Ft. Mill, you would want to consider south Charlotte and vicinity. Funny thing with Charlotte though, we really don't have suburbs. We have little Matthews and Pineville and while they are quaint, they have very small downtowns. Let's see: a friendly neighborhood with a pool and close to Ft. Mill. Maybe you could try Ballantyne. There are so many new developments that have popped up over the last several years. Are you looking to rent a house or an apt? We're hoping to rent a house. Is Charlotte as awesome as it appears to be online?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Is Charlotte as awesome as it appears to be online?? It has an Ikea, so yes. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 We live in the Charlotte area. What area of work is your husband in? My house is just a few miles from the Fort Mill boarder, but on the NC side. I would recommend looking in Ft. Mill or Ballantyne, or even South Charlotte. I can PM you where I live if you want. Tons and tons and tons of homeschoolers! TONS of activities, groups, events, etc.... Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lots of little ducklings Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I have family in Tega cay. It's really very nice. This! We lived here for 2 years just after marrying-- no kids at the time so I can't speak to hs-ing, but we loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 We've lived in many different places and Charlotte was the best when it comes to HSing. We belonged to a large secular Co-op (there are several religious ones also) lots of little home cottage type schools too. Tons of classes in Charlotte through Parks and rec. Matthews is a great area. A friend rents a 3bdrm 2.5 bth house with large kitchen, b-fast nook, living room, family room 2 car garage on 2 acres just north of Matthews for $1400. Pineville is okay except for the traffic, ALWAYS busy.... same goes for Ballantyne (also a little snooty, sorry just my impression). Fort Mill is supposed to be good, just don't try to go anywhere during rush hours. Good luck and you're welcome to PM me if I can help you in anyway. I still have HS people I'm in contact with and can get you some info on local groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I live in the region, all I can say since Charlotte is what I drive through occasionally is the traffic. Its insane.... so definitely get tips from locals on how to be on the wrong side of it or not near it. I do know that every time we go through at evening work rush, that it is very congested going from Charlotte to Rock Hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I think that is true of any large city. All large cities should be avoided during rush hour if you need to drive through them. We moved here from Los Angeles, so my perspective is a little different. I don't think Charlotte is nearly as bad. But I still avoid rush hour if I can. Dawn I live in the region, all I can say since Charlotte is what I drive through occasionally is the traffic. Its insane.... so definitely get tips from locals on how to be on the wrong side of it or not near it. I do know that every time we go through at evening work rush, that it is very congested going from Charlotte to Rock Hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I think that is true of any large city. All large cities should be avoided during rush hour if you need to drive through them. We moved here from Los Angeles, so my perspective is a little different. I don't think Charlotte is nearly as bad. But I still avoid rush hour if I can. Dawn I don't know if it's as bad as other places or not. But we live in NC (about 80 miles from Charlotte) and we do everything possible to avoid going through there at rush hour. We've left home at 4:00 in the morning to beat the rush through Charlotte before. 'Cause if we don't, we'll inevitably spend two hours moving a mile. Or less. And the afternoon traffic always seems even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I'm from Atlanta, so when we lived in the Charlotte area the traffic was no biggie. I used to crochet in traffic when I worked. Atlanta traffic moves slower than a dead turtle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Two hours moving a mile or less? And on a regular basis? I can see if there is a bad accident or something that shuts things down, but not regularly. I have never even taken 2 solid hours to get home from Uptown to my house, a 25 mile drive. And I have had to leave at 5pm before. Dawn ETA: I have now visited several different websites to find out if Charlotte ranks at all as being in the top anything for cities with bad traffic. Los Angeles came in #1 or #2 depending on the website (it ranked with Honolulu). Charlotte came in 35th. I don't know if it's as bad as other places or not. But we live in NC (about 80 miles from Charlotte) and we do everything possible to avoid going through there at rush hour. We've left home at 4:00 in the morning to beat the rush through Charlotte before. 'Cause if we don't, we'll inevitably spend two hours moving a mile. Or less. And the afternoon traffic always seems even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Two hours moving a mile or less? And on a regular basis? I can see if there is a bad accident or something that shuts things down, but not regularly. I have never even taken 2 solid hours to get home from Uptown to my house, a 25 mile drive. And I have had to leave at 5pm before. Dawn ETA: I have now visited several different websites to find out if Charlotte ranks at all as being in the top anything for cities with bad traffic. Los Angeles came in #1 or #2 depending on the website (it ranked with Honolulu). Charlotte came in 35th. Of course not on a regular basis, or not what I'd call regular. As I said, we live about 80 miles away. But several times a year. For a few years we had season tickets to Carowinds, and we learned quickly to wait until at least 7:00 to leave or we'd just sit on the interstate. Last year on the way home from a campus visit to USC traffic was barely moving all the way through Charlotte until we got past Concord Mills. And that is our typical (and now expected) experience with Charlotte traffic when we don't manage to avoid peak times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I would try to live as close to your DH's work as possible while having a residence in NC, just so I could have access to the NC University system as an in-state family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLT Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 We live around the Matthews area. We love the close proximity to uptown (good food!) and we aren't far from SC, either. Matthews has a huge homeschooling community and you should also be able to find a reasonable home to rent in the area. We love it here! GL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 I would try to live as close to your DH's work as possible while having a residence in NC, just so I could have access to the NC University system as an in-state family. This is super helpful -- thank you. Why is the NC Univ. system important? I don't mean that rudely. I'm genuinely asking. Great to know, btw! Thank you, everyone. I'm not sure that DH is going for the job but you're all making Charlotte sound awesome! Now I'm ready to move. Can't speak for my boys. I'm sort of ho-hum on our current town and am ready for try something new that sounds so great. But kids are never ready to move. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 This is super helpful -- thank you. Why is the NC Univ. system important? I don't mean that rudely. I'm genuinely asking. Great to know, btw! Thank you, everyone. I'm not sure that DH is going for the job but you're all making Charlotte sound awesome! Now I'm ready to move. Can't speak for my boys. I'm sort of ho-hum on our current town and am ready for try something new that sounds so great. But kids are never ready to move. Alley I'm not Danestress, but I'll give you my quick opinion (as I head out the door!) -- It would be very difficult to make the argument that the South Carolina university system is better than North Carolina's. UNC (Chapel Hill) is particularly impressive: a "public ivy," the number five national university for 2013 according to U.S. News, and for twelve years in a row it's been Kiplinger's top value public university (no university other than UNC has ever held that spot). NCSU is also a very strong school. Most of the satellite schools are very good. NC has an 18 percent cap on out of state students, which makes it easier for in state students to gain admission. The COA is very reasonable for in state students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 In case you are used to using a virtual charter, you need to know that NC does not have any yet, but SC does. There are organized secular options for homeschoolers if you are looking for that, but many fewer than Christian-specific ones, especially as the kids get older. South Charlotte seems to be closer to the ones around than other areas of town, so that will work to your advantage. I-77 is routinely horrible, so we avoid using it as much as possible (the interstate near Carowinds). Mecklenburg County has a great library system and charges either $35 or $45 a year for out of county residents (we lucked into a lifetime card when they still had them). Tons of relatively new developments and the vast majority of them have neighborhood pools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 You might go to City-data.com and visit the forums and ask some questions there. Most people there are pretty helpful. There are so many subdivisions available with a community pool, etc....but you can also join the YMCA as it is quite big here. If you like a really close-knit feel, you could visit Baxter Village in Fort Mill. It has its own library and elementary school and post office, and restaurants. The people who live there love it. (we aren't those sorts but that is why we don't live there.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 You might go to City-data.com and visit the forums and ask some questions there. Most people there are pretty helpful. There are so many subdivisions available with a community pool, etc....but you can also join the YMCA as it is quite big here. If you like a really close-knit feel, you could visit Baxter Village in Fort Mill. It has its own library and elementary school and post office, and restaurants. The people who live there love it. (we aren't those sorts but that is why we don't live there.) The Siskey Y in Matthews has an extensive set of homeschool classes that sounds interesting, fyi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Are you talking to me or OP? I do get those emails. Dawn The Siskey Y in Matthews has an extensive set of homeschool classes that sounds interesting, fyi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 This is super helpful -- thank you. Why is the NC Univ. system important? I don't mean that rudely. I'm genuinely asking. Great to know, btw! South Carolina has some fine Universities too - lots of kids from Charlotte go to Clemson or USC, so it could be that the "right" school for any individual student is in SC, not NC. But NC has one of the best public universities in the country (if you believe US News and World Reports), and a number of other really good universities in the system - more well ranked public universities than SC - so if I were making a decision where to live with all other things equal and with no idea where my kids would want to go, I would bet on the NC system. It's not perfect and the economy has added to a lot of problems in the system. Still, there are great option in NC for students with various academic abilities, and I consider it one of the great things about this state. My oldest son was a pretty solid B student (with good SATs) and was able to attend a decent University for about $12,000 a year tuition. It seemed like a very good deal to us considering what private schools cost. I know families that choose to live over the line, though, because they like primary school system better. Charlotte is a HUGE school system - where you live determines what school you are zoned for, and there is a perception that some schools are much better than others. Since you homeschool and want to rent, that may not be a big factor for you. Good luck! I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Are you talking to me or OP? I do get those emails. Dawn Sorry I was unclear. I was expanding on your suggestion about the Y for the OP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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