Thinking of moving to Charlotte

[RiverYuppy]

Hey guys!

I have not spent much time looking through the Charlotte forum on here, but I'm a regular over on the Richmond, Virginia one.

I'm a big fan of RVA, but I'm thinking of possibly moving to Charlotte at some point because the parents of the girl I'm dating live here and she would eventually like to settle here.

I'm very much a city person.  I want to live in a walkable area.  My girlfriend like a bit more calm.  She wants to have a peaceful outdoor space, so a condo would not work for her.  A small backyard would be nice.

Currently we are dog sitting in her parents house in Matthews.  I was hoping that maybe we could explore a neighborhood or two and grab dinner & drinks while we're out.

Given what I have said and us having a budget of under $450k, where would y'all recommend looking to get a feel for what it might be like to move to Charlotte at that price point.

[HopHead]

Right now, like a lot of metros around the country, the real estate market is out of whack from a pricing standpoint. Normally, given your price point I'd recommend a lot of areas to check out such as Plaza Midwood, NoDa, Cherry, Chantilly, Elizabeth and Sedgefield or South End. At some point the market will settle down and pricing will hopefully come back down to earth a bit. Inventory is really low and people are overpaying for properties left and right. A friend of mine is moving down here from Maryland next month and he lost out on several properties in south CLT where multiple parties were offering $30-40k over asking and still losing out before he settled on a place out in Indian Land (just across the border in SC). Might be worth renting for a year to see where things are and even then you'll probably find an area you prefer. There are  some others here that probably have more knowledge than me so they may chime in. Just my experience.

As far as neighborhoods to go for dinner and drinks, I'd definitely recommend Plaza Midwood, South End, Dilworth and NoDa for local dining and drinking establishments. Lots of cool restaurants, breweries, etc. in those areas. Uptown/Downtown you'll find more of the high end steakhouse type places there though I'm sure some things have changed since Covid. This is a good link to check out: https://charlotte.axios.com/city-notes-new-movers-guide/. Also check out Yelp if you have a specific cuisine in mind. 

BTW - I moved here to the CLT area about 15 years ago from Richmond. Things were a lot different then obviously, but I ended up putting down some roots and definitely love the area. Charlotte obviously isn't perfect, but tons to do here, the metro is growing like crazy, plenty of opportunities and people from all walks of life live here. Definitely a big melting pot. I try get back to Richmond every so often as I have friends there still. Hardywood and Veil are two of my favorite breweries and are always worth the trip. Cheers!

[InSouthPark]

Define "walkable" as it pertains to you?   I was renting a house in Spring Valley neighborhood (Park and Archdale) and it was a perfect mix of walkable and peaceful (and in your price range).  But my definition of walkable might be different than yours.  I am a walker and runner and typically walk at least 3m a day, up to 10m a day on nice spring/fall days. From Spring Valley neighborhood, I could take a 35min walk to Legion Brewery.  I could walk 30 minutes up the greenway to the Harris Teeter on Park/Selywn and load up a backpack.  My go to coffee shop was right there (Mugs).  I could walk another 10min to get to Brawleys.   The Greenway there makes it so easy to access the Selwyn/Montford area.   When I would ride my bike, I could get to Brawleys in 10 minutes.   You could your bike to Target on the greenway as well (now it goes all the way into Pineville).

When we bought our house last year, that neighborhood was high on our list but ultimately nothing came up for sale in there while we were looking.  Its an older, 1960's neighborhood with mostly brick ranches and neighborhood access to the Little Sugar Creek greenway.  I still miss walking to Mugs on Saturday mornings for our coffee fix.  We saw deer, herons, turtles, fish, coyotes, ducks, etc along the greenway with regularity (well the coyotes weren't regular but you saw their poop daily). 

EDIT:  To get an idea where Spring Valley is, here is a listing of a house I lived a hundred yards from.  https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6600-Maris-Ct-Charlotte-NC-28210/6259741_zpid/

Edited July 22, 2021 by InSouthPark

[SouthEndCLT811]

I live in Collingwood/Collins Park area off Scaleybark.  We're a 15 minute walk from the Scaleybark light rail stop, 15-20 min from the LoSo (cringe) brewery area.  And 15-20 minutes to Park Road Shopping Center using the little foot/bike path at the end of Belrose Lane

We usually walk or uber to start and then take light rail or depending where we end up there are typically some Bird/Lime scooters around.  Rare occasion they start off in our neighborhood, the old bikes used to be way more prevalent.  

Here's a house nearby up for sale for reference like InSouthPark provided

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/820-Lochridge-Rd_Charlotte_NC_28209_M55873-95330

[KJHburg]

I agree there are a lot more walkable neighborhoods than just those intown with a mile or so of uptown.  Oakhurst,  Southpark area even some newer areas in south Charlotte and Steele creek are walkable to parks and shopping and so forth.  I think the neighborhoods a few blocks off South Blvd are very walkable to the transit and shops etc.  

While I think price increases will cool down I don't think prices are going to fall across the board.  Why?  there is not much housing be built under $300K in this market and even under 450K has not much new construction especially intown at least for single family.  I think interest rates will be higher a year from now as inflation is increasing and the Fed will be left with no choice to start pushing up the rates.  If rates go up and prices stay the same you will paying more anyway.  I think long term 5-7 years real estate is always a good investment given tax benefits, and rents that increase every year.  

[turbocraig]

A good friend of mine moved here from RIC about 3 years ago.  He’s part owner in Ardent, if you know them.  Anyway I asked him for his sound bite thoughts and he said: “Charlotte is very liveable similar to Richmond.  But if you like the “cool richmond,” it’s going to be a lot less cool here. But you will find people and places that are.”

So… I don’t know if that was helpful to anyone… I just thought I had something relevant to add to the mix. 

[TGIBridays]

10 hours ago, turbocraig said:

A good friend of mine moved here from RIC about 3 years ago.  He’s part owner in Ardent, if you know them.  Anyway I asked him for his sound bite thoughts and he said: “Charlotte is very liveable similar to Richmond.  But if you like the “cool richmond,” it’s going to be a lot less cool here. But you will find people and places that are.”

So… I don’t know if that was helpful to anyone… I just thought I had something relevant to add to the mix. 

My sister lives in Richmond right off of Monument Ave.  It's definitely a very hipstery/cool area and the river really notches that coolness factor up, in my opinion.  Makes me wish Charlotte had been settled nearer the river/lake and it was a more integral part of Charlotte.  We just need to make I-277 a river and we'll be as cool as the RVA folks. 

[HopHead]

37 minutes ago, TGIBridays said:

My sister lives in Richmond right off of Monument Ave.  It's definitely a very hipstery/cool area and the river really notches that coolness factor up, in my opinion.  Makes me wish Charlotte had been settled nearer the river/lake and it was a more integral part of Charlotte.  We just need to make I-277 a river and we'll be as cool as the RVA folks. 

I've often said that if you could combine the strengths of both Charlotte and Richmond, you'd have one of the truly great American cities. 

[Crucial_Infra]

I would concur on the coolness comments. There are plenty of cool people in Charlotte but people don’t move to Charlotte for its coolness. If you want that, you go to Durham/Chapel Hill or Asheville or yeah Richmond. Atlanta’s not cool either. Charlotte is probably the most “happening” city in the state as far as things to do but there are lots of cooler places to live in North Carolina if you know what I mean. Cool is overrated. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Crucial_Infra

[videtur quam contuor]

Larry Johnson, basketball player, some recall him. First big draft choice for the original Hornets. A few years after he arrived he was quoted in a reply to another player about what there was to do in li'l 'ol Charlotte. His reply was "Ain't nothin' to do here but LIVE."