Moving to Charlotte, North Carolina!

The cat is out of the bag — we are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina!

As we speak, I am on a plane with the kids and Mark is driving our car down to the new house we have bought in Charlotte, North Carolina. In almost any other city it would be called the suburbs, but our address is actually still within the city proper: Charlotte, North Carolina.

It feels a little surreal to finally type that sentence.

We did not make this decision lightly, and the “why Charlotte?” question is one we have heard from family, friends, and strangers alike. There were spreadsheets, countless conversations, house hunting trips, school research, and a lot of back and forth before we decided this was the right move for our family. I will dig much deeper into the why in another post, but for now, a few of the key reasons:

• Fast commutes to the city center
• Lower property taxes
• Better public schools
• Warmer weather — but still four seasons!

And yet, with all of these pros, we do not feel like we have traded away too many of the things we loved about living in the New York suburbs. Charlotte is still a well-connected city — direct flights to London are particularly important for our family, and easy flights to places like Naples certainly do not hurt. It is also a growing cultural hub with professional sports, restaurants, museums, events, and lots to explore.

One of the things that surprised me most as we researched Charlotte was just how much the city has grown and how much there is to do. We wanted more space and a slightly slower pace of life without feeling like we were moving somewhere completely disconnected from a major city. Charlotte seemed to give us the best of both worlds.

Before this year, I had not visited Charlotte since I was a senior in high school, when I came here for a national swim meet. I definitely never imagined that more than a decade later I would be coming back with a husband, two kids, and the keys to our first house.

And speaking of the house, I am SO excited to share more. After years of apartments, rentals, and moving between New York and London, this will be the very first house that we actually own and can make completely our own. There will be plenty of decorating, renovating, furniture shopping, landscaping, and probably more than a few lessons learned along the way.

For now, though, I am researching everything needed to officially change my residency from New York — because there are a lot of steps involved in moving to Charlotte, North Carolina!

I am excited to finally share this news and bring you along for this next chapter. Charlotte, here we come!