For 15 years there has been a planning effort among state and local officials to create what is being called the Red Line project; a 25-mile commuter train that will run east of I-77  and link Charlotte to Harris, Eastfield, Hambright, Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and end at Mount Mourne in south Mooresville.

To me the benefits are obvious: cutting traffic on I-77 and helping commuters who work in Charlotte but wish to live in the Lake Norman area.  Opponents of the plan unfortunately include a large chunk of Iredell County elected Officials and several Cornelius town board members who balk at the taxes, proposed development along the line and feel it will benefit just a few.

This past Wednesday, November 30th, consultants outlined a 5-year plan to build the Red Line Regional Rail which included a formal partnership among local governments, the state and Charlotte Area Transportation System.  According to an article by Christina Rogers in Cornelius.net, “Under the proposed plan, the partners would cooperate by setting up a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) which would govern construction and operations costs: 25% from CATS, 25% from the state of North Carolina, and 50% from local governments….The plan…fleshes out how the towns would meet their obligation, and it won’t mean increased taxes for individual homeowners….Instead, under th proposed plan, towns would pay for the rail through revenues expected to result from the increased value of property along the rail line.”

There is a ton of detailed information about the Red Line on the Cornelius News.Net Blog.  They have some great links including this one of the map:

http://corneliusnews.net/Documents/2011/113011%20Red%20Line%20Business%20Plan/RLRR%20Corridor%20Map.pdf

Want to get involved or learn more?

There will be a 4-hour public meeting on December 13th from 10:00am – 2:00pm at the Charles Mack Citizens Center in Historic Downtown Mooresville.  You can also learn more at the Lake Norman Transportation Commission’s website.

Please share with my readers your thoughts, experience or any feedback from these meetings!

Additional Articles 

Economic News Provides Insight into the future of Lake Norman Real Estate

Lake Norman and Charlotte Remain at the Top of  the List of Places to Live

A Glimpse Into Post Recession Lake Norman Real Estate

Lake Norman Area is Growing and Improving Despite the Recession!

Lake Norman Real Estate: Is Mooresville Really Bucking the Recession?

Lake Norman Real Estate: Wow! A Lot of Good News!

Looking at a variety of local and state economic and business news is an important component of gaining insight into the future direction of our Lake Norman real estate market.  I collect such data from various news sources for several months and then share them with you in one blog post with the goal of helping you get a better understanding of the bigger picture in our area’s economy.  This stack of data shows some glimmer of hope:

• ISI Alams announced on 10/5/11 that they will be moving their headquarters and call center to Downtown Mooresville.  (From Concord). This move will include an expansion and, according to CEO Jayson Walker, will  employ about 150 workers within two years.

• Forest City Land Group has requested a rezoning of property on N.C. 801 in Mooresville for their Cotton Creek housing development; increasing the number of single family homes from 655 to 1,100.  While this is a long-term project, it is a positive sign to see developers moving forward with the planning and construction of new homes after years of inactivity and even shutdowns.

• “Facebook ‘likes’ North Carolina, and it’s investing here” according to a Charlotte Observer article on 10/5/11.  The first of Facebook’s 3-building data center is scheduled to go online in March, 2012 about 75 miles west of Charlotte.  The $450 million data center will serve the Eastern U.S. and Europe. This announcement “underscores state officials’ efforts to lure high-profile companies to North Carolina …with the help of incentives including our low-cost electricity, ready access to water and significant building incentives”.  Facebook will join Google, Apple, Time Warner Cable as part of North Carolina’s “data hub”.

• North Carolina ranks as Number 16 cyberstate according to The Triangle Business Journal on 10/10/2011.  TechAmerica Foundations’ annual report stated that North Carolina currently employs 145,700 tech workers.  North Carolina computers and peripheral equipment manufacturing which employs 11,000 ranks 4th nationwide after California, Texas and Massachusetts.

• North Carolina ranks 5th in corporate relocations according to another article in The Triangle Business Journal on 8/17/11. “An Atlas Van Lines migration study shows that North Carolina continues to rank among the strongest states in the country as a corporate relocation destination.”

• North Carolina was 8th in the “Top 10 States for Venture Capital” rankings according to an 8/9/11 article in The Triangle Business Journal.

• “Charlotte among Forbes’ top potential boom cities” was the headline of an article in the Charlotte Business Journal on 7/14/11.  Charlotte ranked 8th on the list “mainly because of its mild climate, low housing prices and relatively small size, which allows it to avoid transportation bottlenecks that strangle larger cities like Atlanta”.  They also considered the Charlotte Airport and Charlotte’s investment in its infrastructure.

• North Carolina is the second-least-expensive state for mortgage closing costs according to a new survey from Bankrate Inc.  I can support these findings as I hear this from many of my relocation clients who are very pleased when they find out their actual closing costs are so low!

• Charlotte ranked 47th in job increases out of all of the U.S’s metropolitan areas according to an article on 10/4/11 in the Triangle Business Journal.

RELATED ARTICLES

Lake Norman and Charlotte Remain at the Top of  the List of Places to Live

A Glimpse Into Post Recession Lake Norman Real Estate

Lake Norman Area is Growing and Improving Despite the Recession!

Lake Norman Real Estate: Is Mooresville Really Bucking the Recession?

Lake Norman Real Estate: Wow! A Lot of Good News!

“Today (Thursday, August 25, 2011), I saw the world’s most beautiful DOT sign”.

I friend of mine (thanks Beth!) forwarded this photo and the caption to me last week.  It is hard to explain how much the quality of life has improved for all of us living down Brawley School Rd (in Lake Norman) since all lanes were opened just in time for the first day of school last Thursday!

It now takes me, on average, 4 minutes to get to the intersection for Brawley School Road and Williamson Road from Isle of Pines.  ( I used to allow 20-30 minutes for this trip depending on the time of day). I have yet to witness any bottleneck at this notorius intersection.  When making a left turn on Williamson Rd on to Brawley School Rd, simply chose one of the TWO left turn lanes and breeze through.

The funny thing is that now that traffic is zooming by (I think folks are so giddy they are exceeding the 45 mph speed limit) merging on to Brawley School from the Harris Teeter Parking lot or the BP Car Wash now requires waiting for a wide enough space to allow us to merge and get up to speed quickly!

As far as I am concerned the 3-year nightmare was more than worth it.  Living down Brawley School Road is now, in my opinion, one of the absolute best places to live in all of Lake Norman!

You can order T-Shirts and license plates like this one online from: Artisan Signs and Graphics.  But, if any of you come up with a better design, let me know and we can use Cafe Press or Zazzle to custom order items.

Now, I ‘m off to preview a waterfront home on Lake Norman just off Hwy 150…I’ll bet it will only take me about 15 minutes to get there, woo hoo!

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Lake Norman Relocation and Resource Guide

Relocating to Lake Norman

60 Things About Life In Lake Norman That You Should Know, Part 1 of 4

Sometimes when the news is full of negativity, it is nice to sit back and take a look at the big picture, especially if you are fortunate enough to live in the Lake Norman Charlotte area.  In the recent Kiplinger article which ranked Charlotte #2  in their Best Value Cities of 2011, there are many great reminders of why the future of our area is still so bright.

Some of their reasons for Charlotte’s desirability:

• Banking/Financial center
• Diversified Economy
• Efforts by local governments to entice small and large businesses to the area
• It is becoming an “energy hub” including Duke Energy, Siemens and Toshiba as well as more than 125 companies in green industries
• Family-oriented, top-notch schools
• Affordability including low taxes, utility rates and reasonable construction costs
• Fun including “upscale restaurants and bars to funky neighborhood eateries”, the “cultural mile”, NBA and NFL stadiums, the arts and festivals
• Greenspace in the form of parks, greenway trails, the US Whitewater Center, and, of course, Lake Norman
• Location: Less than two hours to the Mountains and 3 hours to some of the best beaches on the East Coast

Here are the links to the complete article and even a video:

Kiplinger’s Guide to Best Value Cities Article

Kiplinger’s Guide to Charlotte Ranked #2

Kiplingers Best Value Cities Charlotte Video

They make it sound so good that I want to move here from California all over again!

More Articles of Interest 

A Glimpse Into Post Recession Lake Norman Real Estate

Lake Norman Area is Growing and Improving Despite the Recession!

Lake Norman Real Estate: Is Mooresville Really Bucking the Recession?

Lake Norman Real Estate: Wow! A Lot of Good News!

Anyone who has been driving around Brawley School Rd. in the past week or so has most certainly noticed all of the paving that has been going on during the day resulting in even worse and excruciatingly frustrating traffic delays.  After sitting for almost an hour trying to get out the other day I once again leaned on my friend Mooresville Town Commissioner Miles Atkins for some help trying to figure out what in the heck is going on!

Well, I just got off of the telephone with John Cook, the Resident Engineer of the North Carolina Department of Transportation who has been responsible for oversight of our most challenging Brawley School Rd widening project.  It turns out that after having discovered that night-time paving wasn’t progressing as quickly as possible Rea Construction decided to do DAYTIME paving 6 days a week until the project is completed.  Too bad no one told us, don’t you think?

Anyway, the latest goal for completion of the paving is the first week of August.  After the paving is complete they will do the final painting/striping and installation of reflectors.  “The goal“, according to John Cook, “is to have the traffic in the final pattern before school starts the last week of August“.

Of course, we have been told many completion dates over the years but I am really hoping this one will stick.  Until then, remember when planning any travel around Brawley School Rd that there will be work going every day on Monday – Saturday during the day and to expect delays all day long.  Then if you luck out and breeze right down the road you will be totally surprised!

Want to speak with Mr. Cook?  He has said to call him directly any time:

John R. Cook

Resident Engineer

Statesville Resident’s Office, Division 12

Ph: (704) 876-3543

Fax: (704) 876-6065

Now, who is going to host the celebration when it is actually completed?  I think we deserve a party!

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Lake Norman Relocation Resources

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Lake Norman Foreclosures, Short Sales and Green Homes…Search HERE