hey travelingcouple and missluv....it appears that many are flocking to the Carolina's....most have come from the east coast while now I am seeing/meeting more people from Florida and my old stomping grounds Southern CA. In fact a couple of weeks ago as I was entering a store I noticed another lady who had CA license plates. Turns out after talking to her (we now live in the same city), we had lived less than a mile apart back in CA (what are the odds:o) Anyway if you get the inkling to look at otherside of Charlotte in SC I would be happy to help with any questions you might have. Good Luck

Hi missvluv,

Why are you so drawn to Tega Cay? We have looked at that area and it does seem to be very nice. The traffic getting to and from Charlotte is a lot worse when coming from South Carolina. That's my main reason for staying away from SC. Most people that we talk to urge us to check out Huntersville since the homes and beautiful, it's very family friendly and it's close to Lake Norman and Charlotte. It all depends on where the job is!

I have concluded from my school research, that the Huntersville, Davidson and Cornelius have great schools while the ones in Charlotte aren't so good. Just depends where in Charlotte one lives. The south of Charlotte also has nice schools (Matthews, Balentine, etc).

When are you thinking of making a move? Soon??

Hi Travelingcouple!

I guess I like Tega Cay because it's a community on the water. We would be able to have a dock and keep our boat right out our backyard. I envision having barbecues on our porch and the kids jumping off the dock and us going out fishing in the lake all the time, and way down the road - doing the same with the grandkids. My son plays little league and I saw from the tega cay website that they have their own little league as well as their own school system. It just seems to have this nice, hometown feeling about it, which is something I would love to have!

My husband has recently put in for his transfer and his offices would be in Ballantyne, which according to mapquest is only 17 miles away. His work will be holding interviews the next 30 days for candidates who want to transfer, and I would assume they wouldn't keep us waiting for too long as they know everyone will want to get their move in order!

What about you - how long until you guys go? where are you from in SoCal? We are in Mission Viejo!

LOVESTEGACAYSC- I have some questions I'd love to ask you about your area - Should I ask them here??

Natalie

to travelingcouple: sorry to intrude (and hope you don't mind that I am) but regarding traffic...I'm told that the worst traffic is to come in from the North side going into Charlotte (keep in mind it's still nothing like CA). The traffic from SC (taking the 77) headed into Charlotte backs up but not as bad. Now if you live in South Charlotte and take the 485 this gets pretty plugged up as so many people have moved out that direction. Now mind you I have family that lives out in Ballantyne and this area is very nice but the freeway was not built for all that have (and are) moving there. Maybe ask someone else what their commute is like on the 485 in the morning or evening.

Hey Natalie: well you apparently are having the same visions that I had once I saw Tega Cay...not that we ended up right on the water...but all we have to do is drive up the road a little bit and in 2 minutes we can be at the lake. Now that we have been here over a year I can honestly say (and I know I have said this several other times on this site) but it does feel as though we are on a constant vacation living here. We had friends come and visit us from CA and of course we spent much of the time on the lake. My favorite moment was watching all of the kids holding hands and jumping off the dock into the lake...if I only had a camera. They have already made plans to come back next summer. Tega Cay is very family oriented and there is always something going on for the kids (as well as us older kids). There are several parks throughout the city, along with baseball and soccer fields (both are very big here), along with a swimteam, jr. golf, tennis lessons, waterski lessons, and more. As far as the schools we do not have are own school system in Tega Cay...the children attend the Fort Mill School District (which are very highly rated schools). If you haven't already done so you can check out the website (the new test scores came out and even with all the new growth the scores continue to improve). If or when you come out here make it a point to call the school and set up a tour.

http://www.fort-mill.k12.sc.us/

If your husband ends up working in Ballantyne he would have it made regarding traffic. I have family that live in Ballantyne and I can either take the freeway (taking apx. 12-14 minutes) or take the back road (and be there in less then 20).

If you happen to have any other questions just post here and all gladly try and help you out. Take care! p.s. some other things to check out: brand new state of the art YMCA (which includes a waterpark), located in Fort Mill (Baxter), Anne Springs Close Greenway, and Carowinds (6 miles up the road)

To Lovetecacay:

If my family had not already decided to move to Mint Hill, NC I would definitely consider Teca Cay. You have really sold me on the area. It sounds like you have found a wonderful community and you love it. My boys are 9 and 11. They are my main concern regarding our move. How did your kids handle it? Thanks.

to twofour: We are very pleased with the community we landed in....but I am sure you too will be feeling the same way soon.

Regarding the move with children....I copied this from an earlier post back in February...hope it helps :o)

hey Leesey: speaking from experience on this one....we have children around the same age. The hardest thing was telling our children that we were going to be moving. But after we promised them the world....just kidding. We did say we would get cable (didn't have it before...but knew our reception would be better out here if we had it....so that was okay with us) and for some reason the other thing they wanted was a 2 story home (we already knew that 2 story homes were about the only thing being built out here now...so that was just fine too :o) The other thing I did was go on to the internet and print out everything that I thought would be of interest to them...such as Carowinds Amusement Park, Discovery Place, Anne Springs Greenway, Lake Wylie....you name it I printed it! This really seemed to help them out and then they were more anxious for the move. We gave them a couple of weeks off once we arrived (don't recommend for everyone but they had been doing really good in school). We felt this would give them a chance to get familiar with their new surroundings. The first day of school I walked them to their classes. Each child before they could even enter their classroom was greeted by 2 or 3 children by name. Apparently the teachers speak to the classroom the day before telling the children their names and where they are coming from. I had also been told by the V.P. when we took our tour (prior to moving here) that there are so many new kids that they all know what it is like the first day. It really seem to hold true and by the time I picked my children up from school that day they were talking a mile a minute. About who they met and what they had done, and so on. The only thing we wished we had done differrently then....was got them into school sooner. We also let the children e-mail and call their friends back where we use to live and that too helped. It really turned out to be harder for us (worrying about how they were going to do) then it turned out to be for them. If you are looking in the Union County area that too is growing fast so there will many kids in the same situation. Wish you the best of luck!

Natalie,

My wife and I live in North County San Diego. I completely understand where you are coming from. California isn't the same state as it was 15 years ago. It's not heading in the right direction espcially with the immigration problems.

I am looking forward to heading out there to check out the area and determine if it's a place we could see ourselves raising our kids.

What are the home prices in Tega Cay? What does $400,000 get you?

Hi Travelingcouple -

Check out this website - this is where I've been searching different areas for homes. I found homes in Tega Cay by clicking the Lake Wylie area on the drop down menu for the "area". I think they pull this search from the real NC MLS, so it seems pretty accurate!

www.charlotte-eba.com/search-criteria.html

When are you going out to visit? When do you think you'll make the move? Are you nervous? I sort of am - but excited at the same time! I am wondering what the winter's will be like!!

Natalie