Hello mtbacon-Matthews is a very nice town and your relatives are right there are loads of positives. You asked about the down sides and I would have to say there is possibly two. One would be traffic. If you need to drive into Charlotte for work I understand that the 485 is a nightmare. The other seems to be the schools. Many parents are not pleased with the Charlotte/Meck. schools and are looking to breakaway (Matthews is one such town). Another option you might what to take a look at is where we decided to land (tegacaysc.org) and that is in SC. We are 20 minutes outside of Charlotte and the schools are fantastic (Fort Mill School District). Maybe this is why Fort Mill is the fastest growing area in York County!

We're considering relocating to Charlotte from Houston area. Are allergies really bad in Charlotte? Where can I find information about it? We have two boys (4yrs and 9yrs) and would like to move to a place with good school district. Is Fort Mill the best one? Are there other options? Any pointers would be helpful.

Thanks

Hello tiger2005: coming from the west coast I can say I really knew nothing much about this area prior to our move....thank goodness for the internet though. Such sites as this, city-data sites, Monster.com, and the school district websites really helped us out in our decision process. Regarding allergies....I've got them... I do get hit hard the first of spring and fall but for me it is a small price to pay for just how pretty these seasons truly are (in CA I just had less trees and flowers and more smog to contend with). Fort Mill Schools have been great. Everyone told us that we were so much more advanced in CA but I have yet to see it...in fact just the opposite holds true. Some of the other areas you might check out in the SC area is Tega Cay, Fort Mill, York, Lake Wylie, Clover (only the first two are within the Fort Mill School District). Good Luck with what ever you decide!

I just moved here from Ottawa (I'm origianlly from Virginia) and I love it. We have 2 kids, age 3 and 5, who will be coming down with my wife in June, so schools for us are the driver in buying a home.

We have found Fort Mill, SC schools to be excellent, but not everyone wants to live just across the border. If you want to stay in NC, Union County seems to be where you want to be, as opposed to Mecklenberg County (unless your in the Ballantyne area). The Weddington School system seems to be top notch, like the Fort Mill, SC schools plus the property taxes are half what they are in Mecklenberg County. The Fort Mill tazes are low as well.

As far as allegies, I'm not sure, spring has just arrived.

All in all, South Charlotte seems to be everything I have read and more. You will love it here.

Hello lovetagacaysc and gravynorth,

Thanks for your helpful messages. It is very nice to see you taking your valuable time to post messages. Planning to visit the area in the next two weeks to check out. Mtbacon, I am new to this forum and didn't know much hence I posted in the thread created by you. Hope it was useful to you also.

Once again thanks to all of you.

I have lived in Charlotte for 20 years. Schools are an issue if you plan to move to any urban area. While it's true that some schools in Mecklenberg have many challenged students, others, such as Providence High School (in southeast Charlotte) which is ranked in the top 50 HS in the US (US News), do not. If you want to move to the boonies like Ballantyne, SC, the Lake, or Union County that's a different lifestyle - and possibly a LONG (like over an hour one way) commute. If you have a boat and live on one of the lakes or have horses and live in Union County it makes sense, though. But the best restaurants, art galleries, concerts, events, shows, and life in general is found towards the city. Around the downtown area - which is BOOMING with condos - are a ring of charming, some very expensive, older neighborhoods. A lot of people who live near the city have their children in private schools (there are tons) - Latin, Providence Day, Charlotte Country Day, the catholic school system. - which far surpass any of the area public schools test scores - in North or South Carolina. Education is always a choice. The public NC university system is excellent - and inexpensive.

Hope that gives you something to think about. You should think about what a 2 hour a day commute is worth. If you live close in, you can get home AND take the kids to their games - on time.

We are from Chicago, We live in Crystal Lake and we want to move to Charlotte, if you hear anything about the schools can you please let me know because we have a 11 yr old and We would like to send him to a good school. I heard the schools are not that great out there but I don't know beacuse I don't live out there. If it takes 1hr to drive to work my husand is fine with that. Is there alot to do out there for kids, We are outdoor people. Anything will help. Thank you.

TC153 - Now I'm a little concerned. We planned on looking at houses in Union County (maybe Cabarrus as well) because we wanted better schools, but still be close to a big city. We currently live in Westchester County in NY and it's about a 30 minute drive to Manhattan and a 45 minute train ride. But Westchester is far from rural - lots of restaurants, shopping, parks, etc.

Is Union County really that rural with nothing around? If that's the case, then we may need to rethink our plan. We want suburbs, but not farm land! Is there any shopping? Also, I thought Union was only about a 30 minutes outside of Charlotte?

Any advice from any one is appreciated. Thanks.

I live in Union County (Weddington) and have the past 6 years.

Weddington is far from being farm land. It takes me about 15 minutes to get to the Arboretum or the Promenade and about 20 to get to the shopping in Piper Glen. South Park Mall is about 30 minutes away and downtown Charlotte (Discovery Place) is about 45 minutes. We have a grocery store 5 minutes away with the usual blockbuster, food places, hair salon, and dance or art for the children. The Y is 10 minutes away and we are surrounded by 4 dance studios no more than 15 minutes to each one. There are two new neighborhoods being built right on the Union County Charlotte Meck line. The houses are 5 and up. We have a new elementary school that opened in the fall. Our 5 year old girl is at Calvary Child Development in Charlotte, a 20 to 25 min drive for me. Excellent school by the way for 2 to kindergarten. Further into Union County is Wesley Chapel School which we were slated to attend before the new school was built. It was the reason we moved here. The test scores for the elementary school were as good or in some case better than some of the private schools in Charlotte. Weddington is a great place to be as is Matthews and I have only heard really great things about Stallings and Mint HIll (still in Union County). Weddington only has acre plots which is really nice for children. My husband just mentioned that the Weddington school system is one of the best in NC. Hope this helps.

Hi There,

Guess what? I am from Chicago (St. Charles) and lived there 20 years or so... and also graduated from Miami of Ohio (as did my husband). I'll tell ya, this area of Charlotte is chock-full of midwesterners and we LOVE IT HERE! We live in the Lake Norman area about 15 miles north of Charlotte (consider Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville). The schools are good up here, and it's a concern for us too b/c we have a 13-month old girl. You will find it amazing what you can get for your money in Charlotte vs. Chicago (or the burbs). This area is also BURSTING with little kids. Our little one will have no shortage of friends to play with in our new neighborhood. I'd definitely urge you to also check out this area north of town in addition to looking in South Charlotte and Matthews.

Good luck!!! Hope you find a great place to call home.

Carrie

P.S. - My allergies and asthma are better here, but everyone gets affected by something different... hard to say if yours will be worse.