South Charlotte
Not quite 30 years ago, this area south of the Park Road Shopping Center was mostly farmland. But the arrival of South Park mall changed all that, bringing with it shopping and residential dollars. Newcomers who sought more land than available in the older Charlotte neighborhoods were able to build larger houses at lower cost. Today, building still is brisk, expanding farther south, with houses topping out at several thousand square feet. Traffic can get heavy, especially during rush hour. Residents enjoy the area, however, with its high-end retail and restaurants, especially at the chi-chi Phillips Place and Stone Crest shopping centers. Also in the mix you will find SouthPark Mall expanding to become the one of the largest malls in North Carolina. SouthPark proudly welcomes the second Nordstrom in the Carolinas and Neiman Marcus in the Fall of 2006! More high-end development is wrapped up in the enormous Ballantyne development, which includes a country club, apartments, shopping centers, office buildings and sizeable homes. Construction surrounding interchanges along the relatively new Interstate 485 "outer loop" promises to bring even more--or everything.

Location
With the first sections of I-485 completed a few years back, growth in South Charlotte has exceeded expectations. Although I-485 is not yet complete, part of I-485 in South Charlotte are on the drawing board for road widenings. Most parts of Charlotte
are easily accessible from South Charlotte as I-77, Independence Blvd, I-485 and a host of other major corridors route traffic through this part of the city.