The Village of Lake Park (Indian Trail, NC)

[CharNative]

Lake Park Town History

Just want to start off by saying that this is a great forum and I have been reading and following it for a while. I did a search to see if this has been posted before and if it has then I apologize.

I was born and grew up in Charlotte and for my first home purchase I decided to step over the line into Union County. I remember as a teenager in high school (1993 or 94?) driving through Lake Park when it was just a bell tower, gazebo and a few homes. I rediscovered it when my wife and I were looking for our first home. It was unlike any of the other developments we drove through. Their were restaurants, lots of parks and it really did have this very small town feel with everything in walking distance. All of the development on the fringes of the town has been completed and they are now building mostly in the town center. Their is a nice row of shops only 7 tenants so far, Carolinas HealthCare Family Practice, Hair Dresser, dry cleaners, daycare, coffee shop, Chinese and Italian restaurants. I found it interesting and only realized after I had moved in and spoke with some of my new neighbors that this area was incorporated as the "Village of Lake Park" on July 1, 1994 has a mayor and town council. I will post pictures and the website listed above has pictures but they are about 2 or 3yrs old? Just found it odd and you don't really hear about it much anymore, especially in area as populated as Charlotte region an area incorporating itself to become a town.

Again great forum and if any one is interested in seeing the town for yourselves its eastbound on Independence (74) past I-485, third stop light take a left on Unionville Indian Trail Rd. and the town sign will be on your left about a mile down.

Later,

David

[Neo]

Welcome to the forum David! I agree that the Village of Lake Park is one of the better developments but the last time I was there they indeed needed more village stores, restaurants, etc. It's a great idea, but one that has been refined in other parts of the city. It's not all that different from developments such as Birkdale. The last time I was there was probably six months ago and they had marked off for several new townhomes. Hopefully more townhomes will be built over the larger single family homes to fit more people into the area, hopefully attracting more shopping and restaurant ameneties.

[monsoon]

I have not been in this development in a long time. Probably around the time it opened in the early 90's so its interesting to hear how it turned out. Are there any photos that you can share?

[DigitalSky]

Lake Park is nice, I haven't been there in a while either but I think the area is lacking some retail, it'd be nice to see a grocery store nearby too instead of driving to 74

edit: and then i see this on their site http://www.lakeparknc.com/faq/shopping.htm