Where Are Good Neighborhoods to Raise Kids?

M.,
I don't know where you are moving here from but I moved to the area from NY 18 mos ago. Have you done your research in Union County. Charlotte is in Mecklenberg county and school districts are iffy. It is also hard to buy in a decent area for $150,000. Union county is a hop, skip, & jump from Charlotte. We are the #1 schools in NC. The website for our county schools is: www.ucps.k12.nc.us/ Anyway, the only schools I would stay away from would be Benton Heights, East, & Walter Bickett. All other Elementarys are great, even the ones that they are currently building are in good areas.
Have you tried KB Homes-St.John's Forest? If you go to KBHomes.com and click Charlotte area, you can search it. It will either say Wesley Chapel or Monroe (28110) If it is 28112 which is also Monroe-don't look there it is not the nice part of Monroe.) I think the houses start at 130,000 and they are still building. Are you looking for new or resale?? Anyway, Union county is area 10. Some areas of Charlotte that are nice are AReas 4 & 5. (Pineville, Ballantyne, and Matthews. Most other parts of Charlotte I would stay away from except Southpark which is up in the millions. You can also go on www.newhomes.com and search. Also www.Allentate.com is good for resale. They are located in the Weddington/Wesley Chapel area. Email back if you need more info.
Waxhaw is 28173 (nice place to look-great schools) Matthews or Weddington (both use same codes 28104 and 28105).
Hope this helps.

Hello M.,
Try S & L Homes they have nice affordable homes in great neighborhoods.

Hi M.,

I have to disagree with the previous poster. I lived in south Charlotte for 30 years and then my husband got a job even further north than where we live. But the houses in our neighborhood are reasonably priced and it a great place to raise a family, lots of kids here. I'll send you a private message with the neighborhood website and we're really close tot the new mall with lots of surrounding construction still in the works, so the cost explosion hasn't happened yet.

If you want/need to live on the north side of town, it's a nice place to be. Good luck!!

Hey M.. My husband works for Bellsouth/AT&T and is out there working in Charlotte every day. I asked him about your request you posted on here and what zip codes would be good for your price range since he knows them all. He works in these people's homes and deals w/them one on one. He sees crime and knows what goes on in what neighborhoods for the most part. I, myself, lived in Charlotte for about 15 years, or right next to it, in Mint Hill. It's a suburb of Charlotte. The part of Mint Hill I lived in is a min from Charlotte actually, and i know that part of town now is awful. But that was on one side of the Mint Hill/Charlotte line. My husband said in all honesty, being we are telling you what we have found to be true and did for our family, is actually not move in Charlotte city limits. But to move to either a small suburb in the Charlotte area or right outside of it in Union County. The only suburbs in Charlotte we can think of in your price range would be maybe Mint Hill and Matthews. Most of Mint Hill is really nice. And Matthews definitely is.
Or Union County. Charlotte is in Mecklenburg County, but Union sits right next to it. Many of our neighbors were moving to "Charlotte", and ended up right here due to the price drop, the neighborhoods, taxes are less, schools are better. Lots of things.
A brand new house in the bad neighborhoods where my husband also has to work he said run about 170,000. But the neighborhoods are awful there.
There's alot more i could tell you! lol But don't wanna go on and on. I will send you a private message w/my email in it. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. Best wishes w/your move.

You do not want to be in charlotte. I recoment Cabarrus county, which is just outside Mecklenberg (charlotte). Taxes are lower and schools are better anywhere outside mecklenberg. I live in Concord (Cabarrus county) and the schools are very good and most of the new construction communities are small. I live in Brandon Ridge (CP Morgan homes) and our neighborhood is filled with kids. I think Brandon Ridge is now sold out, althought there are a few resales, but a new community is going in just down the street from us. Hallstead and Park Place are both CP morgan and offer a lot of house for the price. We didnt want ot go over 150,000 either and we were able to keep to that with CP Morgan. If I can help you with anything else let me know. Good luck

My husband and I moved here about three years ago from Indiana. We live in Indian Trail, Union County. They have wonderful schools if you stay in the area of Sardis Elementary, Shiloh(year-round), Hemby Bridge, and Porter Ridge. I am not saying that the others aren't good but if you get into Monroe the schools there can be rough. The zip code for this area is 28079. We searched for months before we decided to move to this area. The housing is fair. If you go on the north side of Charlotte you will pay alot for a house and property taxes are high.I hope this helps you out

Hi M. -

Welcome to Charlotte! We just moved from Charlotte proper to Waxhaw and it is an excellent neighborhood to raise children in - lots of young families here. However, it's a commute and I don't know if you want to go that far. I recommend that you join CharlotteMommies.com. They can give you all kinds of information about the area. God bless!