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Relocating to Charlotte?


monsoon

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Thanks all for further thoughts about neighborhoods. I really appreciate your efforts to describe neighborhoods in ways that non-Charlotteans would understand.

Plaza Midwood sounds good from what folks have said here and confirms what I was thinking from the threads on UP I'd read previously. I'm just hoping we can find something affordable (it's largely the reason we're moving out of NYC afterall).

I'm wondering too about renting townhomes. I've never lived in a townhome community and gated isn't exactly appealing to me, but many of them seem very affordable in good locations (or perhaps I'm just being swayed by the fact that an on-site swimming pool sound fantastic). Any advice or cautions would be helpful.

Many Thanks!

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Well the thing about Plaza/Midwood is that it doesn't have any bustling streets of retail as you requested. There are a few random places mentioned above, but for the most part it is a residential neighborhood that is surrounded by a lot of crime and a freeway. The neighborhood itself is nice, but you could say that about most of the neighborhoods in Charlotte. The other downer is the neighborhood will never have direct access to a transit line except for a street car that may travel down central in the future. The nice part of Plaza/Midwood will be a bit of a walk from the closest station. The neighborhood is well served by city buses.

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hi lptk,

I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about hot water heat pumps.

my wife and I just bought out first home and it is all electric. we have an old tank water heater that we would like to replace and I was thinking of going with a tankless but I just don't know that much about them (and their requirements in particular)

currently our heating and cooling is handled by a heat pump unit. would the one for the hot water be similar is the basic way that it works? only this one would be located inside the house, replacing our old tank WH?

thanks very much for any insight, your post was very informative and it looks like I will be learning a lot in a short time period as I try to get a handle on what would be best in my situation. :) thanks,

Matt

also, since it is veering OT for this thread, we could continue it here

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alright since this is the thread for new people to ask questions - i just a really nasty traffic ticket and need a really good lawyer to help me out. Im not talking about that 250 dollar lawyer who got you out of a 11 mph over speeding ticket. any recommendations?

We don't do those kind of recommendations here.

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Well, construction and real-estate are BOOMING here. All of the sunbelt cities are growing by leaps and bounds so neither of you will have any trouble. However, when it comes to real-estate in this thread we dance dangerously close to recommending agents or offices which we can't do. Sorry... but a real-estate agent or someone in the construction field can make a killing with all of our new growth in both the city and metropolitan area. In some of our other threads you can check out projected new home construction numbers which are mind blowing, I just wish I remembered which thread they were in. I'll look around but, rest assured, if your carrier is in real-estate or construction your guaranteed work here.

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I really would recommend that anyone moving to Charlotte spend at least a week in a hotel room... drive around, learn the traffic patterns and what neighborhoods seem like a good fit. Don't just accept a relocation agent's advice on what should work for you.

And don't take the Realtor websites too literally. They tend to use the panache of a gentrifying area, to describe the location of a listing in the edge 'hoods nearby. (Some Realtors think Midwood stretches all the way from Belmont to Darby Acres. :rolleyes: )

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One of my favorite things about Charlotte are the distinct personalities of the city neighborhoods. For a sprawling "New South" (god I hate that moniker) city filled with sterile development, Charlotte has done a relatively good job preserving residential character in the remaining historic areas. Newcomers should take their time before choosing an area and also talk to current residents and not just market driven realtors.

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Didn't really know where else to put this, so I'll put it here.

I've been in Charlotte for a little over a month now. I've found a place on Park Rd. in Dilworth and really like the neighborhood. The activity/development along East Blvd. is great, and South End is not far at all. I work out on WT Harris near NorthLake Mall. I'm not much of a fan of this area, it's nothing but sprawl. I've gone out in Uptown a few times, and hope to get more familiar with it soon. But anyways, these are the areas of town I'm most familiar with.

From UP among others, I've heard a lot about other areas I havent really seen. Esp. the NoDa area. So yesterday, I decided to explore and drive out there. It was not at all what I expected. I'm not going to write it off, as I only saw it one suday afternoon, and I'll give it another couple of chances. But along N. Davidson before the "NoDa" area, I had to roll up my windows due to the "activity" along the street. The only way I could tell I had actually reached the area were the street signs and the mill apartments.

So I guess my main question is, did I miss the heart of the area? I know with South End, you see the wrong area and it could come off wrong too. I could see that the area (at least what I saw) had a unique feel to it that gave it great potential, but it had along way to go. Also, any other areas I should check out?

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Welcome to Charlotte GCE! I live on Park in Dilworth. North Davidson can be rather deceptive depending on the day you are out there. Its a fun and interesting area but very much in flux between changing from a quirky artsy area to trendy yuppie area. Drive out there again five years from now. You will like it better then :lol:

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Welcome to Charlotte GCE! I live on Park in Dilworth. North Davidson can be rather deceptive depending on the day you are out there. Its a fun and interesting area but very much in flux between changing from a quirky artsy area to trendy yuppie area. Drive out there again five years from now. You will like it better then :lol:

Gamecock Engineer...I'd agree with voyager, except I'd add NoDa is in flux between a quirky artsy area, a trendy yuppy area and a true "hood". There's actually a sentiment among many that further gentrification is undesirable. I'm not sure how I feel on this...I'm all for the idea of further development, but I don't think the area should be sanitized to pablum. If you want to get another feel for NoDa, and you like to hang out, check out Gilda at Highland Mill on a late thurs or fri nite, and you'll get a sense of the bohemian glam edge of NoDa. BTW, I don't think there's truly any dangerous street activity in NoDa, except possibly along N. Davidson closer to downtown. From the heart (36th and N. Dav.) down to Highland mill, you should be fine.

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GE -- check out NoDa tonight - first and third Fridays of the month are gallery crawls. They are not as large as they used to be, but there is definitely life there with open galleries the the new slew of bars and restaurants.

NoDa is funky and your first impression wasn't wrong or right. To get a real feel go to an event or two, check out the businesses, but make sure you cruise the neighborhood streets. The houses and streets show the artsy side of the 'hood. Also check out the neighborhood website, www.NoDa.org.

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GE -- check out NoDa tonight - first and third Fridays of the month are gallery crawls. They are not as large as they used to be, but there is definitely life there with open galleries the the new slew of bars and restaurants.

NoDa is funky and your first impression wasn't wrong or right. To get a real feel go to an event or two, check out the businesses, but make sure you cruise the neighborhood streets. The houses and streets show the artsy side of the 'hood. Also check out the neighborhood website, www.NoDa.org.

Thanks all. I didn't get a chance to make it, but maybe I will one of the next go rounds.

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Any thoughts on the neighborhoods surrounding Southpark? Beverly Woods, Beverly Woods East, Fairmeadows, Barclay Downs? It looks like there has been a lot of appreciation as of late in these neighborhoods. I'm moving to charlotte within the next 6 months and would like to live in that area. Curious what locals thought about the housing market.

Thanks

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There is nothing wrong with these neighborhoods as they have continued to rise in value since they were constructed in the late 60s - early 80s. The only downer is it is in a very traffic congested part of the city and there are no plans to extend the mass transit system there. Some like this, others don't.

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Any thoughts on the neighborhoods surrounding Southpark? Beverly Woods, Beverly Woods East, Fairmeadows, Barclay Downs? It looks like there has been a lot of appreciation as of late in these neighborhoods. I'm moving to charlotte within the next 6 months and would like to live in that area. Curious what locals thought about the housing market.

Thanks

I own a home in Fairmeadows that I bought well below market as an investment. It's a great neighborhood and hasn't fully realized the appreciation around SouthPark because the homes are older and look the part. It's a pretty safe bet that within a year or so that neighborhood will rocket in value a la Sharon View Rd.

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From the real estate listings that I've seen, I'm surprised of the great values available in Beverly woods, fairmeadows and beverly woods east given the cost of barclay downs. These neighborhoods are not that far apart, but there is a significant difference in price

I own a home in Fairmeadows that I bought well below market as an investment. It's a great neighborhood and hasn't fully realized the appreciation around SouthPark because the homes are older and look the part. It's a pretty safe bet that within a year or so that neighborhood will rocket in value a la Sharon View Rd.

What's the deal with Sharon View road?

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From the real estate listings that I've seen, I'm surprised of the great values available in Beverly woods, fairmeadows and beverly woods east given the cost of barclay downs. These neighborhoods are not that far apart, but there is a significant difference in price

Barclay Downs is much closer to Myers Park which has appreciated greatly over the years. It benefits from that. It's also on the Charlotte side of South Park which makes it easier to get downtown. Beverly Woods and Fairmeadows were kind of ignored for a long time in the Southpark area as more prestigious homes were built in Foxcroft and points down Carmel Road. They are being rediscovered, but the homes in these neighborhoods (built in the late 60s - 70s) are badly out of date and require a lot of rennovation to bring them up to the standards of other homes in the area. With that said, they are generally in good shape, are on good lots, and if you don't mind living in what is basically 70s urban planning complete with a shopping mall, its a pretty good area.

Sharon View has a lot of new high end construction that has driven up prices. This is in part due to the construction of Morrocroft and the completion of Colony Rd. For decades, Sharon View really wasn't well connected to the rest of the city, but when they finished Colony that changed things a lot.

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Barclay Downs is much closer to Myers Park which has appreciated greatly over the years. It benefits from that. It's also on the Charlotte side of South Park which makes it easier to get downtown.

The school assignment for Barclay Downs helps too. Children in Barclay Downs are (at least in current plans) assigned to Myers Park High, which appears on lists like this one. It's so close to Myers Park that it would be suprising to see this change.

When comparing against other neighborhoods in close proximity that are assigned to South Meck that is another that adds to valuation differences. Of course that's not to say that there's anything wrong with SoMeck...

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