charlotte
 

Hello there

My boyfriend and I are relocating to the Charlotte area. I am seeking advice on which suburbs of Charlotte are good to live in. We are both in our low 30's with no children. He will be working in downtown Charlotte and I will be working as a travel nurse in the hospitals surrounding Charlotte. We are looking to rent either a townhome or nice condo at first. We are outdoor people and would like to have plenty of things to do nearby. Thanks for your suggestions!

Check out this website - I think you will find more locals than can guide you. Good luck with your move.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/charlotte/

There are some really nice areas in town. You might want to consider your friend's commute to downtown when looking at any suburban area. Charlotte is a great town.

Define "good" since that word can have all sorts of negative connotations when people talk about neighborhoods.

Considering a commute downtown, the advice above is good. There are great places to live close in.
You can be in the mountains in 2 hours or even other places close by.
Welcome to Charlotte. It is a really good city, and it is good for folks your age.
Condos and townhomes--or apartments--for rent--all over.

It used to be you looked in the newspaper--now it is on line.

Many of the "in town"/old neighborhoods in Charlotte are in the midst of gentrifying so you can find some very nice places close in. There is a LOT of new construction, including town homes, along with beautiful houses--alongside the "mill houses" of old, that are being remodeled.
Chantilly, Plaza-midwood would be those as well as Wesley Heights and many others. There might be some in Madison Park also on the light rail. The corridor along South Blvd. has boomed because it is along the light rail line--a great idea for BF--and close to the interstate for you to get out of town.
I would not go down to Starmount, Arrowood areas, even if on the light rail.

Hope this helps. If you find a place, post it, and we can look at it.
Our DD rented an apartment "somewhere" on a month to month lease --definitely not what they wanted long term, but a jumping off place to house hunt, and very "acceptable". You might consider that as a stopgap so you can get a feel for the city/traffic/shopping/etc.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent...9_zm/?view=map

Sorry, need to get all my thoughts in a row. If you are a part of the Carolinas healthcare System or Novant, they can also undoubtedly help you with recommendations or agents. Just a thought.

Dukey1 on Oct 7, 14 at 9:34am

Define "good" since that word can have all sorts of negative connotations when people talk about neighborhoods.

"Good" is referring to access to outdoor activities like bike trails, parks, etc. Would also like to be close to shopping and restaurants. We would like a safe and clean part of town as well. It would be nice to be around other young couples as well.

Thanks for the advice so far!

Define "good" since that word can have all sorts of negative connotations when people talk about neighborhoods.

Dukey-what do you mean?

Gretchen

Is the South End area the South Blvd area you were mentioning? If not, any opinions on the South End area? I see that is near the lightrail and has many establishments nearby.

Can anyone recommend an apt/condo building in the Plaza Midwood/NODA area? Also, for those of you whom have relocated would it be beneficial to visit the area prior to moving to sign a lease, etc. Not sure if that can be done long distance. Do I trust the pictures the buildings provide?

Absolutely visit. No, do not trust pictures.

Also, for those of you whom have relocated would it be beneficial to visit the area prior to moving to sign a lease, etc. Not sure if that can be done long distance.

ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY. Did you read my post about renting a month--or MORE-- in an apartment that allows that kind of lease.
Please do this. you need desperately to see everything that is available in MANY parts of the city.

MOVE to the area and rent the apartment. Store your furniture if you have it. Think about PODS. A short term "investment" in this will pay off for you to be happy when you decide where and what you want.

Thanks for your responses. We plan on traveling to the area about a month before we move to check out some neigborhoods. We plan on signing a month to month or 6 month lease somewhere until we get our bearings. I think the plaza-midwood/noda area is top on our list.

I live near Plaza-Midwood and like it a lot, and it's great for people in their 20s and 30s looking for a somewhat scruffy, hip area. Just know that it's still gentrifying and has some not so nice areas nearby. NoDa is similar, but is completely surrounded by some bad areas.

While they are building intown apartments as fast as they can around here, it's still and landlord's market, and I doubt you'll find anything less than one year let alone month to month. Unless you do a furnished corporate apartment, but the cost there is astronomical.

Brian has given a very accurate picture of those areas (of course!!)
For your short term lease, I would not worry too much about where it is--his assessment is good there also. I think you will be able to make up your mind VERY quickly and a month or two out of the center won't be so bad to deal with. DD did a month to month in a very acceptable townhouse--out Providence Rd. AND if you found a month to month in Plaza Midwood, it could be in the fringe area. You don't want to do it sight unseen--DD had one on a list in that area.
YOu might look to see if there is something to rent off Montford Dr. I think they looked there, and it is very safe/stable.
But coming and spending a day or two looking for your lease would be the thing to do--not looking for anything long term.

I live in Plaza Midwood and I have for 26 years. I have seen a lot of changes and been through 3 major renovations myself. Welcome to Charlotte! PM is a good mix of young families, older folks, gays, artsy types, etc. there are lots of new apts upcoming and restaurants that have opened. Lots more traffic and parking issues than I have ever seen, but very convenient, especially if you work uptown. I recall when we first moved here there were hookers walking in front of my house and drunks asleep on the sidewalk. DH and our neighbor were very instrumental in working with the cops to change that.

A few years ago Charlotte was ranked as having one of the worse traffic congestion problems in the US. Don't know if that has changed much but you should probably be aware of a potential problem with traffic. A couple month rental in a semi-furnished apartment could pay big dividends.

Totally agree about the rental, as I've said several times, because there are many really great areas to live. And traffic IS a problem when commuting from the outlying suburbs, but maybe not as bad as I25!!. The areas we have been discussing are 10 minutes from downtown at rush hour.
And thanks to Denver's model, we have one light rail line with others in the works so we're workin' on it.

Having been in both, it is worse than I-25. And there is often no way to avoid the problem so you just sit and wait. Remember the traveling nurse has to travel which is why I mentioned the traffic situation.

Always in the eye of the beholder. And yes, it does depend on which way she is going--but he is working uptown. It isn't difficult to get to the interstates from these areas. I think any large town will have traffic problems--but it is another reason to rent before committing to a long term lease/sale.

Decent short-term rentals can be difficult to find in CLT. Strawberry Hills Apartments on Providence Rd did 3 month leases at one time, and may still. It's convenient to center city, shopping, and was a nice, affordable complex (but it's been several years since I used it while building a new house). As others have said, look close to uptown before you commitment to the burbs, and the traffic.

That would be a nice location. We were surprised that DD could find what they did so it isn't impossible.

Wow! Thanks for all of your responses. I got busy and haven't checked this for awhile. We are still thinking about the plaza midwood area. I had never considered a furnished or semi-furnished apartment. My BF has a relocation guy from his company that he is working with and helping us out too. I am just excited to get there to take a look around.

The lofts at Noda Mills. What is the deal with this complex? It seems soo much cheaper then other complexes in the area.

I think that's "affordable housing" with income limitations.

Does anyone know if you can view apartments on the weekends? Or should we plan on weekdays for this? Thanks!

I'm sure you can see rentals any time you can make an appointment. If you BF has an agent contact, use that, of course.
Call ahead?
If you can find something in PMidwood and are satisfied, do it. BUT I would never buy something without visiting--and it is REALLY easy to have a one month or more "hedge" to see the "lay of the land". Our daughter grew up in charlotte and moved back last year. They rented in order to become acquainted to the "new" Charlotte, even having been back OFTEN, and with us and brother living here, and KNOWING the Charlotte neighborhoods--which have changed greatly.

I'd be glad to be in contact with you--I'm not an ax murderer!! LOL

Thanks Gretchen. We are planning a trip out there the week of Nov 10th. I will only be there, however, Thurs-Sun. We do have a relocation specialist but he is based in MPLS. His coworkers in Charlotte have been scoping some areas out for us as well. I am banking on being able to find a decent rental when we come visit in a couple of weeks.

Shouldn't be difficult. look online. You can ask about areas.

If you're not already, I would use a combination of craigslist and realtor.com. Some managers will not list on craigslist but many individual landlords will (and won't have access to realtor.com).

Thank you for all of your advice. We have decided on a place in uptown near the 4th ward park. 6 month lease so we can decide if we like the area. Looking forward to living in the city!

Cool. enjoy yourself and get to know the city.