Ballantyne

Ballantyne offers a more upscale style of living for its almost 12,000 residents. With a number of golf courses, luxurious resorts, fine dining and huge corporate giants in the 2,000 acres, this neighborhood is focused around those with a high income. Walking around the community, you can expect to see businessmen and women driving around or walking into work. Business attire is seen all over in BMW’s and Lexus’, on the sidewalks, in restaurants and shopping. Proper attire seems almost mandatory, although the younger crowd doesn’t seem to mind as they blow their money on frequent shopping escapades.

Since this is a major corporate and business area, the typical homeowner works in the area and sends their children to the Ballantyne school district. The multi-million dollar estates, giant retirement homes, adorable cottages, paired with town-homes, condos and apartments are continuing to spring up all over the community. 

Some of the best dining and entertainment can be found at the Aboretum, the Piper Glenn, Stonecrest, and Torrington communities, and the Blakeney Shopping Center, which include activities for residents day and night. 

This area is typically for families or business people who are looking for a safe and economical advantage apart from other areas of Charlotte. For a better social scene, you would want to head to either Uptown or NoDa (North Charlotte). Here, you will find rows and rows of streets filled with bars, clubs and other social happenings. Ballantyne offers some wine bars, like the Vintage Wine Cellar, and the obvious drinks you’ll find at restaurants, but no real bar-only establishments. The Fox and Hound and the Wing Stop are the closest to a ‘social scene’, where you can find people drinking at the bar and catching a quick game. 

The growth rate in Ballantyne is in the triple digits, and the average income is expected to reach $174,098 in the next five years. The rental prices definitely depict the quality of living in this area. If you don’t have the money to move here, you should start looking in the other suburbs of Charlotte. Rental prices can sometimes be similar to one close to Uptown and in the $1,000s per month.

The dining experiences, shopping, parking and cost for events are a tad higher than other Charlotte areas; but the overall living is worth it. Anyone living in this area will feel a sense of satisfaction just stepping outside of his or her home. The land is beautiful, the buildings are immaculate and the overall community is above most out of its surrounding neighbors. 

Ballantyne is the southern most part of Charlotte, offering a short route to South Carolina and surrounding Charlotte neighborhoods. The commute is quite simple for many residents, as the I-485 Beltway offers many interchanges among different routes. It takes about 14 minutes to get to Uptown and is a complete, highway drive.

The parking in Ballantyne is mainly in parking ramps or lots. Housing communities mostly offer garages or parking lots, but since the area is so developed, parking can be difficult in some retail areas. Around the huge corporate buildings, there are many parking options; the same is true for the larger shopping districts and theatre areas.

Many of the housing in this area are for market price home, town-home or condo purchases. Since the area is expanding so rapidly, it is hard to find rentals that would fit a renter’s budget. The people moving to or living in the area are quite wealthy and can afford to purchase their residency instead of renting. However, there area a few neighborhood communities that are available for rent.

The apartments and condos for rent are truly stunning, but you’ll end up paying for the extra amenities and glamour that comes from such places. This is true with the neighborhoods closer to Uptown, so it all depends on if you would like to live in the city, or in a city-like-luxury community a little further away. The rent is similar to the condos in the Center City, and typically around $1,200- $2,000 a month. The resale homes can go for decent prices and may even have a rent-to-own option. You might want to search around and find owners who are trying to rent out their houses or condos to find a cheaper price if needed. 

The busy lifestyle that comes from this neighborhood can either be a treat or a disadvantage for a pet. Depending on where you live, there are not many areas where you can throw a Frisbee or let your dogs run wild. This community gives their pets exercise by taking a morning run or a late night walk. The neighborhood is incredibly safe, so walking a dog late at night or running by yourself is never an issue. Older or calmer dogs may enjoy this scenery better than puppies or highly active dogs.

For other types of pets, many of the living arrangements have large square footage and would offer cats or other animals a spacious living area to enjoy. The pet fees in this area may be quite high, depending on your rental.

This popular community is engulfed with activity, from their amazing school district, to the Ballantyne Resort, residents and non-residents parade the acreage in masses. Considered the largest development of its kind in the Charlotte area, Ballantyne could almost break apart from Charlotte and become its own town.

Included in its immense list of leisure attractions is the Ballantyne Morrison YMCA (which includes a water park), the Anne Springs Close Greenway which sits on 1,200 acres and includes 30 miles of walking trails, the Dana Rader Golf School (one of the bets 25 in the country), Paramount’s Carowinds Amusement Park just minutes away and finally, the US National Whitewater Center, which is the largest facility of its type in the world. Ballantyne takes the cake for recreation.

There is also the Ballantyne Village, which includes an incredible assortment of fine dining to casual restaurants, colossal shopping features, and a theater that lights up the community skies with its architectural splendor. For the utmost indulgence, visit the Ballantyne Resort where you can find a spa, large meeting facilities, the Dana Rader Golf School, an 18-hole golf course and more shopping and dining.

It all depends on what you’re looking for. The Ballantyne Corporate Place is obviously the road that has the large corporate buildings and business centers, the Ballantyne Commons Parkway holds the huge shopping centers and much of the fine and casual dining restaurants. John Delany drive has a good handful of delicious restaurants, as well as Pineville-Matthews Road and near South Blvd. South of Providence Road contains many of the upscale subdivisions and condos. 

The lavish YMCA, with its own water park, is located at the edge of Ballantyne off of Pineville Road. Many residents are members of this gym and are involved in many family activities that the YMCA offers. There are a bunch of locally owned gyms and fitness centers right around the shopping areas and smaller communities located in the area. You could more than likely find a gym within walking distance from your residence or only a mile or so away.

There is a Harris Teeter right off Pineville Road in the center of the neighborhood. Here, you can find all of your essentials and freshly made food, daily. You can also cash check, make money orders and other customer services. Blocks away, is Lowe’s Foods, which offers a more discounted price on groceries, but has a very similar style to Harris Teeter. There is also a Bi-Lo that has the cheapest food in the area, with a much larger selection, and a Target and Trader Joe’s right at the edge of Ballentyne.

You can find a bank on almost every block of the center of the neighborhood, and a gas station every few blocks. There are ATMs for Wachovia, Community Bankers, First Citizens, BB&T, Bank of America and more.

The perfect neighborhood for families: Any child growing up in this area will be showered with opportunity and provided with one of the best educations and environments. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district offers public and private institutions for learning, including Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte Country Day School and Providence Day School. Some of the public schools in the neighborhood are Endhaven Elementary, South Charlotte Middle School and South Mecklenburg High School.

South Mecklenburg High School was named the School of Progress for the 2003-2004 school year, and South Charlotte Middle School is privileged to be recognized as an Honor School of Excellence. Some other public schools in the area are the new Ardrey Kell High School, Community House Middle School, and Hawk Ridge Elementary. 

Safety

When you get closer to the Uptown area, you will see more homeless people and low-income housing, etc. But, in this community, they pride themselves on living a more coveted lifestyle. The grass is always green, the people are always smiling, and the children are always safe. The entire area is pretty intimidating for any crime to happen. Police work with the community to create a wholesome and caring environment that is harmless and protected for all of its residents.