There used to a be a running joke that went something like this; what’s there to do in Charlotte? You can visit Asheville..take a day trip to Greenville…Check out Atlanta….Go Shopping in DC, etc.
What they were trying to say is that there wasn’t much to do in the Charlotte area.  While this was just meant as a joke, I don’t think it’s true any longer. A lot has charged in the Charlotte metro area in the last 10+ years (and the last few specifically) and now there’s a ton to do.  With the addition of the light rail, BB&T Ballpark and the Epicentre, Uptown is no longer looked at as a 9-5 area, and these are just the changes Uptown.
With the all the changes to the area in general, Charlotte is now looked at as a great area to live, it’s extremely affordable, kid-friendly with good schools, there’s tons to do outdoors & it’s also a great city for entrepreneurs. All of this came to mind recently when I stumbled across an article in the business journal that was ranking schools and towns in the Tar Hell State.Â
It was surprising that the top 5 were are all areas that are basically Raleigh suburbs. We don’t need to get into the Raleigh-Charlotte dynamic, but once you got past the top 5 there was a ton of spots in the area. Some of these areas include Huntersville, Matthews, Weddington, Davidson and Charlotte itself. In total there were 9 areas in and around Charlotte in the top 25.
As far as school systems in North Carolina, it had Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools ranked 6th overall with a score of B+. School systems can be a little harder to evaluate because there’s so many different schools in the entire system. I’ve heard recently that the elementary school in Ballantyne got ranked #2 in the nation, and still, overall B+ is pretty good.
Anyway, running across these different rankings of towns and schools, reminded me of how great the area is and how lucky I truly am to live here. There’s a ton to do in the area, the weathers great, and you can get a nice house for relatively cheap.
What do y’all think about the Charlotte area as a place to live, work, play and raise a family.
