Charlotte Living: Downtown Urban Lifestyle, Lake Living, Land, Retirement, and Amenities in NC Charlotte - CarolinaLiving.com

The largest metropolitan area in the Carolinas, Charlotte attracts 500 newcomers each week. Roughly one in four residents moved here in the last decade.

What’s the allure? Good jobs in a business-minded atmosphere, a can-do community spirit, a mild climate with four seasons, rolling land and rural beauty, good schools, affordable homes in communities that range from Main Street Mayberry to metropolitan, and plenty of diversions, including professional sports, outdoor recreation, and arts and entertainment.

Easy Travel

An international airport, network of Interstate highways, and easy drives from the mountains and coast make the Queen City of Charlotte perfect for frequent travelers, family trips North and South, and great weekend getaways. Try Blowing Rock or Asheville in the mountains, Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington on the North Carolina coast, Charleston for old Southern Lowcountry charm, and family friendly beaches with nearby golf at Kiawah Island, Isle of Palms, Hilton Head Island and Pawley’s Island, all in South Carolina. North Carolina has even more award-winning golf courses, and Blue Ridge Mountain resorts. North Charlotte has Lake Norman, while South Charlotte is near Lake Wylie. Both are great destinations for day trips, or for lakeside living.

Popular Neighborhoods

Home prices in Charlotte vary greatly by zip code, with the highest appreciation just north of Uptown and the biggest depreciation in the center city. Realtors say uptown’s drop is due to smaller, less expensive condominiums driving down prices – great for young professionals and empty-nesters. Gains in North Davidson, or NoDa, are a result of that area’s transition from former blight to a creative, funky neighborhood lined with galleries and restaurants.

Charlotte’s most popular neighborhoods tend to be clustered in certain parts of the city: In Uptown, revitalization and new construction are in full swing. Residents can choose from sleek new high-rise condominiums or century-old Fourth Ward Victorians, and walk to and from work. Down time offers Broadway shows, gallery openings, cutting edge restaurants, fun taverns and clubs, outdoor concerts, museums and professional sports.

Just outside the Center City are Charlotte’s first suburbs – the grand mansions and willow-oak lined streets of Myers Park, the charming cottages of Dilworth and the funkier, younger and cheaper revitalized neighborhoods of Elizabeth, Plaza-Midwood and Cotswold.

Skip down to South Charlotte’s Ballantyne, Stonecrest and Arboretum communities and across the Union County line into Weddington and you’re in the soccer-mom suburbs.

Upscale shopping centers, great schools, golf courses and family friendly communities are the norm in this more conservative, transplant-heavy area.

Waterfront Properties

Water views also remain a top draw. Lake Wylie, southwest of Charlotte, offers new communities such as The Palisades and The Sanctuary as well as renovated older homes on quiet side streets. Lake Norman, north of the city, is more developed and congested with its incorporated towns of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Denver and Mooresville.

But no matter which part of Charlotte folks call home, weekend excursions seem to take residents everywhere.

Around the City

Newcomer and TV anchor Morgan. Fogarty, for example, enjoys shopping chic stores at SouthPark Mall, watching boat traffic from the deck of T-Bones at the Lake on Lake Wylie; dancing with friends at Menage, sipping Irish imports at Ri-Ra, listening to jazz at Blue, and tailgating at Carolina Panthers NFL games.

Critics who claim Charlotte has no character or charm haven’t taken the time to discover its culture, history and, in growing pockets, funky vibe. More importantly, says Ms. Fogarty, the people in Charlotte are the jewels in the Queen City’s crown.

“You don’t have an identity based on the number of old buildings or museums you have,” she says. “Your identity is wrapped up in who lives here. Charlotte is really a cross-section of America, with people moving here from all over the country and making it their own. Part of the attraction is that it’s new and clean. It’s just waiting for people to make their imprint on it.”

About the Author

Leigh Pressley is a Charlotte-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications such as Southern Living, Our State, The Charlotte Observer, SouthPark Luxury Living, Lake Norman Magazine, Lake Wylie Living, Charlotte Place and Creative Loafing. She published City-Smart Guidebook: Charlotte in 1999 and two editions of Insiders’ Guide to Charlotte in 2002 and 2005. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Leigh spent five years interviewing movie stars, traveling with rock bands, flying in hot-air balloons, scuba diving and driving NASCAR race cars as an entertainment and features reporter with the Wilmington Star-News and the Greensboro News & Record in North Carolina.

Be an Insider

To purchase a copy of Leigh Pressley’s ninth edition of Insiders’ Guide to Charlotte at $17.95, contact the author at 704-679-7212 or leighpressley@aol.com

What Charlotte Homeowners Say

Fox News Anchor loves Variety

Morgan Fogarty, a weekday morning anchor and reporter on “Fox News Rising,” always accepted she’d have to move to different markets to succeed in television.

But transferring to Charlotte was a pleasure for the Washington, D.C. native who grew up in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

“I had been to Charlotte to visit friends and really liked it a lot, so it was one of the top choices for me,” she says. “Everybody says it, but it’s really true – Charlotte is a big city with a small-town feel. You can go out to a sophisticated club one night and to the farmer’s market to buy locally grown vegetables the next morning. It’s a young city with plenty to do.”

Ms. Fogarty, 27, moved from Fredrick, Maryland in February 2005 and settled in Steele Creek, a community southwest of Charlotte near Lake Wylie. The mortgage on her three-bedroom home in Yorkshire is cheaper than rent for her tiny apartment in the D.C. suburbs.

“I was so impressed that the real estate down here is still reasonable compared to where I was in the Northeast,” she says. “It’s amazing what you can get for your dollar here.”

In fact, the Charlotte area’s overall average home sale price edged up just 1 percent between June 2004 and June 2005. Nationwide, the median home price shot up 13.6 percent in the same period. Analysts say the fact that Charlotte isn’t in a hyper-inflated market protects homeowners from the often-touted real estate bubble and can be attributed to abundant land and a competitive homebuilding industry.

Small Town Feel Near Big City Amenities

Iowa native Tracey Brown moved to Charlotte about 10 years ago for a job with a healthcare consulting firm, The Lash Group. She settled in Steele Creek to be close to her job near the Charlotte Coliseum, but recently built a custom home in Ashton Oaks, a gated community within The Palisades.

Located on the Mecklenburg County line southwest of Charlotte at Lake Wylie, The Palisades will one day include 2,000 homes, as well as a community retail center with a supermarket. Amenities include a golf course, fitness center, swimming pool, soccer fields, an equestrian center and several miles of jogging trails. HomeArama, Charlotte’s premier custom home tour, was held at The Palisades.

“I looked at moving uptown or to the Dilworth/Myers Park area, but it was just too crowded,” says Ms.Brown. “I also looked at Weddington and Waxhaw, but the commute was not appealing. The Palisades really offered anything I could get anywhere else, but it still had a small-town feel. It’s a community unto itself and it’s a place we could settle in and really grow with.”

Ms. Brown recommends Charlotte to newcomers for its laid-back feel in a business-friendly environment.

“Being a small-town girl from the Midwest, I can appreciate the rural feeling here,” she says. “I like the fact that in Charlotte you can still get all the features of a larger city, yet you have the opportunity to get outside and still feel like you’re in a small community. It’s not cut-throat like some cities and it’s not overly competitive. It’s very conducive to families and more and more, single people.”

Mild Climate, Four Season Appeal

Rick Spath came to Charlotte single and stayed to marry and raise four children. A cruise director on the luxurious Crystal Serenity who has spent more than 25 years at sea, Mr. Spath, 49, has sailed around the world several times and visited more than 130 countries. Even though he could live anywhere in the world, the New Jersey native settled in Weddington.

“I love it here for several reasons,” he says. “You have four seasons with no drastic winter. I don’t think there’s a better family-oriented community than the Weddington area. Charlotte is growing in a positive way. And I can’t see a better location -- halfway between New York and Florida, a couple of hours from the mountains and a couple of hours from the beach. It’s absolutely fantastic.”

Rural Views, Jack Nicklaus Golf

Weddington residents Bob and Karen Gourlay moved to the Charlotte area from Atlanta a little over a year ago. The Gourlays, who are in their early 50s and recently retired, built an 8,000-square-foot custom home at The Club at Longview, a gated community overlooking a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. Longview was developed by Mel Graham, the nephew of famed evangelist and Charlotte native, the Reverend Dr. Billy Graham.

“Once I saw the land and the golf course, that was it for me,” says Mr. Gourlay. “…It’s been really nice to get out and walk the dog, to talk to our neighbors, to work out, play golf and go have dinner at the club. We see a lot of deer and we have a raccoon that visits. We look out our windows and see trees, fairways and the silo. To us, Longview is the place we’ve come home to. It just feels like home.”

The Facts about Charlotte

Tips from Locals

Charlotte Accomplishments

Charlotte residents love to tout the city’s accomplishments. This hang-up probably dates back hundreds of years when George Washington called it a “trifling place.” Some kudos you’re likely to hear:

It’s not Perfect

Growing cities have growing pains. This may be a big city with a small-town feel; it’s still feeling the pinch with congested traffic, always-under-construction roads, overcrowded schools and a battle between old-timers who want to stay small and newcomers who embrace growth.

Newcomers get Royal Treatment

Queen City residents will treat you royally. Charlotte is still a town where people install water fountains for joggers – and their dogs; where neighbors show up with cookies, cakes and casseroles for newcomers; and where folks are more apt to ask where you go to church than where you work.

Clubs and Pubs - Meet Friends Here

Uptown is hot and happening. The Center City is the place most young professionals go out on the town. Try these:

This banking town is not necessarily all buttoned up. Charlotte has a growing number of creative communities where art galleries, cool restaurants and funky shops can be found. Check ‘em out:

NoDa along North Davidson Street with its twice-monthly gallery crawls and restaurants like Cabo Fish Taco (3201 N. Davidson St., 704-332-8868, www.cabofishtaco.com).

NoFo is another up-and-comer on Elizabeth Avenue with the new cozy Italian joint Volare and wine/martini bar Loft 1523.

Restaurants

Food, Glorious Food! 

Uptown, head to:

Sonoma Bistro (129 W. Trade St., 704-377-1333); Cosmos Café (300 N. College St., 704-372-3553, www.cosmoscafe.com);

McNinch House (511 N. Church St., 704-332-6159);

Carpe Diem, 1535 Elizabeth Ave., 704-377-7976, www.carpediemrestaurant.com);

Aquavina (435 S. Tryon St., 704-377-9911, www.aquavina.com).

Other worthy restaurants scattered around the Charlotte area:

Upstream (Fairview Road at Phillips Place near SouthPark Mall, 704-556-7730, www.upstreamit.com);

Bonterra (1829 Cleveland Ave. in Dilworth, 704-333-9463, www.bonterradining.com);

Noble’s (6801 Morrison Blvd. near SouthPark, 704-367-9463, www.noblesrestaurants.com);

Zebra (4521 Sharon Road near SouthPark, 704-442-9525).

Want ultra casual? Pick up chicken at Price’s Chicken Coop (1614 Camden Road, 704-333-9866);

Find a Southern feast at Simmons Fourth Ward (516 N. Graham St., 704-334-6640);

Soak up local flavor at Lupie’s Café (2718 Monroe Road, 704-374-1232).

For lake views, try:

T-Bones (NC 49 at the bridge, Lake Wylie, 803-831-0170).

Shopping is king in the Queen City.

The top shops are at SouthPark Mall, Phillips Place and scattered through Myers Park, South End and Dilworth.

Polka Dots. Sells stationary and very unique gifts items, with a wide assortment of gifts for all occasions. business cards, wedding invitations, clothing and accessories.

803.548.3888

940 Market St # 116

Fort Mill, SC

Bombay Bazaar is one of many ethnic stores in Charlotte, offering items including asoefatida, turmeric, fresh cardamom, garam masala, some chai (tea) and a few other Indian whatnots.

704.643.4647

6233 South Boulevard, Charlotte

Maddi’s Gallery is a fun, eclectic art gallery featuring fine American craft, jewelry and Southern folk art. It was named Best New Gallery in America in 2006 by NICHE.

704.332.0007

1530 East Blvd., Charlotte

Sloan Boutique brings to Charlotte fashionable coordinates and accessories from popular designers Betsey Johnson, Diane von Furstenberg, Theory, Trina Turk, BCBG, Nicole Miller and more.

704.338.1400

1419 East Blvd #B, Charlotte

Black Forest Books & Toys, located in the Myers Park section of town, stocks quality toys for young children, including Legoland, Playmobile, Madame Alexander dolls, Steiff stuffed toys, Brio, and more, staffed by teachers and librarians.

704.332.4838

115 Cherokee Rd

Charlotte, NC 28207

Sports to Watch and Play

Charlotteans love sports.

Football. Carolina Panthers (descriptive sentence and link to come)

Basketball.

Charlotte Bobcats

Charlotte Sting

NASCAR races,

Hockey. Charlotte Checkers

Baseball. Charlotte Knights

Fishing. Bassmasters’ Classic on Lake Wylie.

Golf.

Plus, Friday night high school football and Saturday morning soccer are all big draws.

Arts and Entertainment

Get some culture. There’s plenty to be found in Charlotte The Mint Museum and its affiliate the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, (link to come)

Levine Museum of the New South (link to come)

The NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center (link to come)

Great for kids!

Discovery Place, a hands-on children’s museum on Tryon Street in Uptown (link to come)