What Are The Neighborhoods In Central Charlotte, NC. Area Like?

The central neighborhoods of Charlotte have a different flavor of their own. Tree-lined streets in Elizabeth and Myers Park, funky shops and venues in Plaza Midwood and Dilworth and the quiet neighborhoods in Cotswold. Charlotte’s central neighborhoods are full of restaurants, parks, shops, churches and schools. Most of these neighborhoods in Charlotte are easily accessible on foot or by bike. One of the newer retail centers in Central Charlotte is the Metropolitan. Minutes from uptown and a stone’s throw from Elizabeth, Myers Park and Dilworth, this plaza’s anchor stores are Target, Trader Joe’s, Staples and Marshall’s. A small park and walking path runs one side of the Metropolitan which also backs up to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Close to uptown Charlotte is the historic neighborhood of Elizabeth, which was established in 1907 with a mix of large homes with porches and small bungalows. This Charlotte neighborhood has many locally owned shops, restaurants and businesses, such as Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find, the Cajun Queen and the Philosopher's Stone. Chantilly, a much smaller neighborhood is located right where Monroe Road becomes 7th Street. Follow Pecan Avenue or Hawthorne Avenue through Elizabeth to Plaza Midwood. While Chantilly is Elizabeth’s twin, this Central neighborhood in Charlotte is Elizabeth’s funky sister. Many similar homes with the large porches, newly built craftsmen style homes along with newly built apartments and tiny bungalows weave around the retail area of Plaza Midwood along Charlotte’s Central Avenue. Play shuffleboard at Zada Jane’s, pick up fresh baked goodies at Nova’s Bakery before heading out to Midwood Park, which has a playground, amphitheater and tennis and basketball courts. Stroll along Central Avenue and browse funky shops for art, used books and vintage finds. Myers Park, one of Charlotte’s most affluent neighborhoods, has tree-lined streets that create a canopy over Queens Road which is criss-crossed by Providence Road. Right at this Charlotte intersection is where Queens Road leads to Queens University and Myers Park Country Club. Turn onto Providence Road to a newly-renovated Harris Teeter and many high-end and trendy boutiques or grab a bite or have a leisurely dinner at several restaurants. Follow along Queens Road to Selwyn Ave for casual dining and specialty shops. Turn off Selwyn Avenue to Colony Road, which leads to Myers Park High School, Alexander Graham Middle School and Selwyn Elementary School. Park Road Shopping Center, one of Charlotte’s first outdoor shopping centers, is close by and features a Harris Teeter, Blackhawk Hardware, a movie theater, toy shop, winter sports and bike shop, casual restaurants and a book store. Two parks, Latta Park and Freedom Park in Dilworth are its heart but East Boulevard is is its backbone with many locally-owned shops and restaurants. Freedom Park, the much larger of the two Charlotte’s parks, has a walking trail, pond, the Dilworth Little League and other sporting facilities, a playground, pavilion and an entrance to the Charlotte Nature Museum. Latta Park has a small shaded walkway and playground, basketball court and a splash pad. Cute bungalows and large craftsmen-style homes can be found in Dilworth along with Dilworth Elementary School and the adjacent Charlotte’s Tom Sykes Recreation Center, where the annual Dilworth Jubilee takes place. Cross over South Boulevard to Atherton Market in Historic Southend to board a LYNX train or walk and bike to other area shops and restaurants Cotswold, an older neighborhood in Charlotte is a mix of 1950s-style brick ranches on large lots, mid-century modern homes and new construction on large lots. This neighborhood is just a quick drive to uptown, Eastover and South Park. Take Providence Road to uptown or Randolph to uptown and Elizabeth or Sharon Amity to either South Park or 74 and East Charlotte in the other. Charlotte’s first suburban mall, Cotswold Village Shops, is surrounded by several medical facilities, offices and other retail centers. Many of Charlotte’s private schools are within an easy driving distance to Cotswold and Charlotte’s Cotswold ID Elementary and Randolph IB Middle School are close to the Cotswold Village Shops. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Helen Adams Realty Cell: 704-519-7895 ddicecco@helenadamsrealty.com www.davedicecco.com

Family Friendly Things To Do In Charlotte, NC.

If you think Charlotte might be your new home, it helps to know what and where the fun is. The top 5 family fun attractions in the Charlotte area are: Carowinds, the U.S. National Whitewater Center, Discovery Place, NASCAR Hall of Fame and Great Wolf Lodge. Carowinds, which is right on the edge of Charlotte but actually in South Carolina, is a 398-acre amusement park with more than 50 rides. There are 13 roller coasters and a water park with two wave pools and several slides and tube rides. This year, Dinosaurs Alive! Opened at Carowinds. This new interactive attraction features 32 life-sized roaring and moving dinosaurs. If you love the outdoors, its not far from Charlotte. In fact, the U.S. National Whitewater Center is still inside Charlotte’s city limits. Go kayaking, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, take a canopy tour, climb the climbing wall or paddleboard the Catawba River at this beautiful whitewater center which is located not far from the urban areas of Charlotte. Considered one of the best hands-on science museums in the nation, Discovery Place, which is in uptown Charlotte, also has an IMAX Dome Theatre. Families can have fun in this newly-renovated museums with not only the fun interactive exhibits but they can also take part in summer camps and educational programs. On the other end of uptown Charlotte, sits the NASCAR Hall of Fame. See what it’s like for race car drivers in the iRacing Simulator Refuel or challenge yourself y jacking up a car to change a tire with the Kobolt Pit Challenge. Watch a film about NASCAR in the High Octane Theater and grab a bite at the Pit Stop Cafe before exploring more of Charlotte. Towards Concord and not too far from Charlotte is the Great Wolf Lodge. This family resort has 400 guest suites, kid-friendly spa, games, dining and even an ice cream parlor. But the real fun is the 80,000 square-foot indoor waterpark with its 11 water slides, 1,000 gallon tipping bucket and four pools. Looking for something else fun for family in Charlotte and the surrounding area? Here’s a list of a few other venues, museums and attractions to check out: Billy Graham Library Bost Grist Mill (Concord) C. Grier Beam Truck Museum (Cherryville) Carl J. McEwen Historic Village (Mint Hill) Carolinas Aviation Museum Charlotte Trolley Powerhouse Museum N.C. Transportation Museum (Spencer) President James K. Polk Historic Site (Pineville) Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site (Midland) Schiele Museum of Natural History (Gastonia) Wells Fargo History Museum Energy Explorium (Huntersville) Fort Dobbs (Statesville) Heritage Farmstead (Statesville) Historic Brattonsville (McConnells, SC) Historic Rosedale Carolina Raptor Center Hugh Torrance House and Store (Huntersville) Iredell Museum kids@play (Statesville) Latta Plantation Levine Museum of the New South Lincoln County Museum of History (Lincolnton) Main Street Children's Museum (Rock Hill, SC) Mint Museum Mint Museum of Craft and Design Museum of the Waxhaws (Waxhaw) Museum of York County (Rock Hill, SC) N.C. Auto Racing Hall of Fame (Mooresville) Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden (Belmont) As you can see Charlotte offers a lot of fun and different activities for families from museums, galleries to sport venues. Charlotte is also home to the NFL Carolina Panthers, NBA Charlotte Bobcats, Minor league Hockey team the Charlotte Checkers and Triple A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox the Charlotte Knights. In addition to the speedway which hosts the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Bank of America 500 in October. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Helen Adams Realty Cell: 704-519-7895 ddicecco@helenadamsrealty.com www.davedicecco.com

Traveling Around Charlotte Not For The Faint of Heart

One thing newbies in Charlotte find exceptionally confusing about this city is just driving around it. There are lots of ways to get from one place to another but it seems like Charlotte just loops around. Take a drive on any of Charlotte’s major thoroughfares and you will find that you’ve driving on three, four and maybe even five different streets without ever once taken a turn. You could start on Idlewild Road then Rama Road find out you are on Sardis Road and before you know it Fairview which changes to Tyvola. There are other roads that abruptly change names without any rhyme or reason like Alexander Road and Rea Road. A lot of streets in Charlotte have similar names, which is also confusing. There are Providence Road, Providence Lane, Sardis Road and Sardis Lane. New drivers in Charlotte will find that these road cross each other just to make things more crazy. Looking for a specific address? Make sure you know whether its north, south, east or west or you will find yourself on the other side of Charlotte. There are actually same number addresses on North Tryon Street and South Tryon Street so you’d better know which direction you’re going in before you head out. Take a quick trip around Myers Park and you find yourself at an intersection in which Queens Road East, Queens Road West and Queens Road all intersect. And there isn’t just one street in Mecklenburg County that has these problems. Even Queens Road and Providence Road cross each other but if you want to continue on one road and not the other, you will have to make a turn to stay on the road you want, otherwise you’ll be on an entirely different one. Some streets are named for the town and the direction you’re going in. For example, Matthews Township Parkway is inside Matthews city limits but travel one way the road becomes Pineville-Matthews Road and Matthews-Mint Hill Road in the other. Not sure if you are still in Charlotte or that maybe you’ve crossed into one Mecklenburg County’s neighboring towns? Check the street signs. If you see a white crown on them, you are still in the Queen City. I-485 is a wonderful way to loop around Charlotte but take the inner loop when you need the outer loop and you’ll find yourself circling nearly the entire city. Most of the time if you are inner loop, you are closer to Charlotte, while the outer loop tends to bring you closer to the other cities in the area, like Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville, Concord and Pineville. However, this isn’t always the case either. Instead of driving Charlotte, you could ride the LYNX Blue Line, the 9.6 mile light rail. Park for free at any park and ride stations starting at I-485 and South Boulevard and ride to the end of the rail line, which is ImaginOn. Round trip tickets are inexpensive and children under 5 ride free. The Gold Rush, a trolley replica, is a fun and free way to tour Charlotte’s Center City weekdays from 7 am to 6 pm. Someday a streetcar may ride the tracks on Elizabeth Avenue but this project has yet to get the green light. Charlotte has also recently started the largest urban bike sharing program in the Southeast. There are 200 bikes located at 20 stations located near uptown Charlotte. Other unusual ways to motor around Charlotte is the pedicab, which is available Wednesdays to Saturdays after 7 pm or even horse drawn carriage rides in Center City. Tour Charlotte on a segway if you’re feeling a little more adventurous. One of the busiest airports in the world is the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which is located in southwest Charlotte, close to I-485 and I-77. Want to take a train instead? Ride Amtrak’s Piedmont to Raleigh or take the Carolinian to Washington D.C. or New York. Still want to brave the mean streets of Charlotte and drive around the city but are still confused about which direction to go? Then the best traveling companion you’ll have is a GPS. Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Helen Adams Realty Cell: 704-519-7895 ddicecco@helenadamsrealty.com www.davedicecco.com