Where to live in Charlote, Where to live....

I am planning to move to Charlotte sometime this summer… Since I am not from anywhere near there (Ohio) I figured I would need advice on neighborhoods. So I decided to turn to my fellow Wooters to see if anyone has any advice / recommendations.

My girlfriend just got a job within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district, so we would prefer to not be too far outside the 485 loop.

Was wondering if anyone could let me know what parts of town I should stay away from, and which parts would be good for a couple of 25 year olds…

We are looking at buying a house, so any area that is “good”, plus has inexpensive houses would be a plus…

Thanks,
~ Andy

Nothing is cheap in the area, so be prepared! South, IMO, is the best side to be on, but the north is fine, too. West and East have some really bad neighborhoods. Anything off of Providence Road is nice; it runs southerly. Union, Cabarrus, and Gaston counties connect to Meck. They have nice, nice places with lower taxes, yet outside the 485 loop. Those counties are more likely to help you if you get robbed/car stolen. Meck county is too “busy” with other things for anything that isn’t major crime, otherwise you just get to fill out a form.

Picture of downtown Charlotte, NC:

http://www.workhorseproducts.com/images/Charlotte.jpg

Thanks for the input and the great pic of downtown. From what i can tell the southern side does look nicer. Do you know of any specific areas in the north that are nice?

Anyone else around here from Charlotte?

The Highland Creek area, up towards Concord (I-85) is a lot of new stuff and the big mall. As you go towards Lake Norman, it can get very pricey, but tons of new shopping along I-77. W.T. Harris Blvd and north of that is pretty good. If you LOVE racing, the track is on the north side of Charlotte. I have live all over the south side of Charlotte bec. it used to be more rural and no race traffic. South side is so filled up with houses, now, it’s not funny. I can recommend a realtor friend, if you would like.