Well, there are a number of hospitals in addition to the center city ones. Good luck in your search. Whatever group he joins will probably have real estate agents they deal with. It would be good to engage one for the day to take you around the city to show you the possibilities. You will love the neighborhoods/divisions. It is a beautiful city with a LOT going on.
One plug for the center city--your children and you will want to do things in the downtown area--museums, sports, children's theater,etc. It is nice not to be 40 minutes drive from downtown.

Best of luck in your search. Even in the best of situations, moving can be difficult at best.

Don't know where you went to school but both Ohio State & Ohio University have sizable, & very active, alumni associations here in CLT. You may want to contact them as well, if you are an alumni, of course.

topping for chgeeb

ttt justin case

This message is for SAnParis2. I don't know how better to contact you but my husband and I are searching for a neighborhood around the Gastonia area...preferably between Gastonia and Charlotte that is similar to Dublin in Columbus, Ohio. We currently live in Hilliard, OH but plan on moving to Dublin if we stay in Columbus. I saw that you have expensive knowledge in the two major city comparisons and were able to provide great surrounding suburb comparisons as well and would really like your help. Any direction you can provide would be greatly appreciated!!!

Although not necessarily 'like' Dublin, the only place I would really consider on that side of town is the Belmont area. Adjacent to Lake Wylie & home of the www.usnwc.org. The West side (due to the Airport & Industrial nature of I-74/Wilkinson Blvd. are not ideal. The older part of Belmont is not unlike the 'older' part of Hilliard. Most anything else are smaller towns (like McAdenville) which hosts the annual XMas light extravaganza. Will you/your husband be working in Gastonia ? How far a commute would you consider acceptable ? If you are going TO Gastonia you would be going against traffic which may alter your perception of an acceptable location in which to live. Belmont is also in Gaston Co. which means cheaper taxes as well (well most of it anyway). http://www.cityofbelmont.org/, http://www.belmontrocks.com/

How about Cramerton, San?

I don't know much about Cramerton...I only know about Belmont as I thought about moving there at one point in time + I've spent a little time on the Lake over that way.

I agree on Belmont. You certainly don't want to live on the west side of Charlotte and probably don't want to live in Gastonia either. Mount Holly is reportedly an up and coming area, though I think it still has a way to go. McAdenville is cute, but the housing stock is still largely little mill houses I think.

If you're coming from a city, anything between Belmont and Gastonia is going to feel like the country, and not always in a good way.

I am jumping on the bandwagon a little late here but have to agree with many of the others on the towns that have been mentioned (I am a big fan of Belmont, NC and Matthews, NC). I also agree with Fort Mill, SC but I also wanted to throw out Tega Cay, SC. Both are within the FM school district which has an excellent reputation. Tega Cay has walking trails, a golf course, located off of Lake Wylie, tennis (public and private), organized sports for children and kids.

In regard to medical facilities - there are plenty in town and near by.

Answer to 'Why do you like the Fodor's Forum?': This post and the detailed thread that follows. I'm also a doc in the midwest- SE Michigan, and we're seriously thinking of moving to Charlotte. We're passing through at the end of August, and will check out some of the places mentioned. Does anyone know if there are rowing clubs in the area??

http://www.nccommunitysailingandrowing.org/, http://www.usnwc.org/

Hi to all! If any of you happen to see this post from so long ago, I'd love to hear your opinion about a few other towns in NC. There is a group in Salisbury looking for a radiologist, and from the homes availble there, we guess that this is a rather small, still-developing town. It looks as though there are many attractive towns within about 20 miles of here: Kannapolis, Concord, Lexington, and of course the entire Lake Norman area. We will be visiting this area shortly, and would love to hear what you all think of this area (and any other areas close to Salisbury). Thanks so much (again!)

I am not keen on the northern part of Meck. Co. or Iredell Co. To get into CLT from that area most anytime can be a challenge. Many of the towns are/were lacking any development plan & thus are travel nightmares due to the lack of planning & growth that was too fast & uncontrolled. Of the options available, my first choice would be Davidson. However, when we were exploring areas away from Uptown (we lived in Elizabeth but were disinclined to spend $400k for a Single family residence). The Southern portion of the County was way more attractive to our personal needs/wants. For example, here in Matthews, we can walk to everything, I believe the walk score on Zillow is in the 90's out of a 100. For most of the other towns, although convenient to many amenities, you need a car to pretty much go to the bathroom. Lots of slap up subdivisions w/little regard to much of anything else. The walk score for many of those towns are closer to 40 or 50 (to the best of my recollection. I can't speak much to Salisbury as my knowledge is limited but you will be right in between Greensboro & Clt & I-85 can be busy quite a lot as well.

SanParis - Are you not keen on the Northern part of Meck and Iredell Counties because of the commute into Charlotte? If my husband was working in a smaller hospital outside of Charlotte (Salisbury) where he wouldn't have to make the commute, would the area be more appealing to you? I would think we would have to stay within a 20 mile radius of Salisbury, which I believe, eliminates Davidson. (It looks like it's almost 25 miles away.) Any other suggestions, keeping in mind that we wouldn't have to commute into Charlotte?

Obviously there are tons of people that live up that way, personally, I loathe the area. It displays everything that is wrong w/unfettered development (for the most part). You may be better served to Start a new post specific to areas which you have an interest in, or I believe your husband & I are attached on LinkedIn if I can help w/specifics. A Salisbury would be like a Lancaster (to further the Columbus area v. CLT area comparisons). We didn't look that far a field but the research I have done, made our choice quite easy. I would certainly suggest a trip down after doing some research. I would also guess as far as housing goes that you may have a better opportunity in finding a 'deal', than in some other areas.

So funny - When we were looking on realtor.com this morning, my husband said, "I bet this area is like a Lancaster or Marysville." I guess he was right on target! We will still be heading down that way - It's worth a look as we will pass it on our way to SC. As I had mentioned a year ago, we love Dublin - it's an ideal place to raise kids, but the current tax situation in Ohio, coupled with the pending health care reform (which will most certainly affect us negatively,) have propelled us forward on our quest to relocate. I will continue to research different areas, but I do not feel a "Lancaster or Marysville" would be our ideal type of town. What about suburbs around Lake Norman?

For taxes you will want to look at Cabarrus County. Also Salisbury is on I85 and the Lake Norman area is on I77--not a huge jump, but significant. I would look at Concord, if you don't want Salisbury. Our niece lives there--married to an ophthamologist. We also had a family (doctor) that went to Charlotte Country Day--all the way from Salisbury. They rented an apartment in Charlotte when their kids were in HS to stay when bad weather or late sports games came up. Niece's children go to private school and Woodberry Forest now.
If you want a wonderful north Meck town, why not Davidson--you can shoot over to I85 on Route 73, I believe.
Concord/Kannapolis were mill towns that are about to and are in the midst of a true makeover. They are to become another Research Triangle because of the purchase by Robert (?--is that the one) Murdoch of the Cannon Mills property. MANY high tech research facilities are coming and some have already come. There is already a large hospital facility there--Northeast Medical Center. I would also assume that they are making large advances on their school system, and they do have a good private school in the Cannon School.

Not sure about taxes in Ohio, I thought they were actually fairly similar. I would also think (generally speaking) that Columbus housing would also be similar to CLT. Taxes will be cheaper anywhere outside of Meck. Co. W/SC being cheapest. I don't know any specifics as to the North of CLT becoming a 'new RT type' area. Call me a skeptic, but I generally need to see it, to believe it. Much like Ballantyne was going to become the new Southpark, it now sits w/plenty of cheap office bldgs. & tons of empty office space that can't even be given away. CLT is way over-built in all sectors right now, which should serve you well, if you intend on buying.