Easy access and the lure of cheaper land are pushing the suburban dream of a big house and a two-car garage to spots once unimaginable -- in rural corners of southern Mecklenburg County, along the eastern edge of Lincoln County, along Interstate 85 south of Salisbury.

Like Exit 25, these places didn't exist 10 years ago.

These new communities represent another generation of Charlotte-area suburbia. In a way, they're the next natural step in this region's growth. Today's cities spread outward, and development almost always follows transportation.

Since the first Native American trappers floated down the Catawba River, transportation has defined Charlotte. The city was formed at the crossing of two Indian trade routes; its early suburbs grew at the end of trolley lines.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the automobile spread Charlotte to a five-mile radius. In the 1960s and '70s, with the construction of Interstates 77 and 85, people began to move outside Charlotte. They began abandoning the city for new communities on the fringes of old mill towns such as Concord and Rock Hill.

But most of Charlotte's older suburbs were tied to the central city, close to a downtown, considered part of an existing community.

Today, however, many people seek a lifestyle that reminds them more of the past. Of the places they grew up, or the places they wished they'd grown up.

They want to raise their kids in neighborhoods without crime, miss heavy traffic when they go to church on Sunday morning, still afford a big house on a half-acre lot.

``People are seeking a different kind of lifestyle,'' said developer Frank Niblock. ``They don't want the hassles of the city. They want the feel of a small town.''

But they also want the convenience of city life. Easy access to major highways. Nearby stores and restaurants.

NorthCross represents the heart of Exit 25 -- on weekends, residents pack the aisles of the spacious new Target, plan their decks and patios at the spacious new Lowe's and sample any of the 32 types of cheese sold at the spacious new Winn Dixie. When they need a break from spending money, families walk or sit around the center's fountain, a gurgling, goldfish-filled reminder of the traditional town center.

``NorthCross is my village green,'' said Huntersville resident Jeanie Linker. ``I see my friends there at the grocery store. My husband gets his hair cut there.

``I even took the kids there this year to see the Christmas tree lighting.''

Exit 25 isn't the only new community in the Carolinas.

Growth around the Kings Grant development, off Interstate 85 in Cabarrus County and including the planned Concord Mills mall, is expected to draw more than 2,500 residents. The Prosperity Church Road urban village, being built at a future I-485 interchange, could be home to nearly 10,000.

In north Mecklenburg, Highland Creek will eventually house more than 5,000 people. South of Charlotte, Ballantyne is expected to be home to more than 15,000. In Hickory, the opening of the new U.S. 321/U.S. 70 interchange next fall is expected to prompt major retail construction -- and could create a mini-town of more than 3,000. Clear Springs, a new-urbanism style village planned outside Fort Mill, S.C., could someday welcome more than 25,000 residents.

These communities all share a common trait: They're not built around any established government or political body. They're being carved out of forgotten farmland -- and dreams of a simpler way of life.

``Eventually these types of communities will ring cities the size of Charlotte,'' said urban architect and planner Greg Devine. ``The appeal of it is so great.''

But what kind of community is being created?

Primarily white. Fairly conservative and well-educated. Quietly religious. And, above all else, upwardly mobile.

``The people who move here, they're looking for something,'' said Phil Dishman, a real estate agent. ``They drive through these small towns, and a lot of them remember their childhood. So they want that feel -- and they don't want anything else left out.''

This kind of development is rapidly spreading throughout the region. Developments that combine homes, apartments, stores and offices are planned across the outer edge of Mecklenburg County, and similar projects are being discussed in outlying counties.

In northern Mecklenburg, developers took a risk, banking that they could entice affluent families toward Lake Norman. The more people and money a community has, the more political and social clout.

``The new suburbs are where the power is going,'' said north Charlotte neighborhood activist Dena Langtree. ``It's the people out there who are going to determine where this region goes on issues like neighborhood schools.

``These communities are, eventually, going to become the new silent majority of Charlotte. They're the ones the politicians are going to listen to.''

What do these people care about? The basics: traffic, schools, infrastructure.

``I moved out here to make my life simpler,'' said James Leifert, who moved to Exit 25 two years ago from south Charlotte. ``It sounds bad, but I don't really care about uptown redevelopment, I don't really care about this debate over arts funding or about building a new arena for the Hornets.

``All I really pay attention to are the issues that affect the way I live -- where my kid goes to school, how much traffic I see in the morning and whether my property value is going up.''

That's not to say residents of these new communities aren't into civic involvement.

When Francie Ross and her husband moved to Cornelius six years ago from Boston, Ross decided she was going to quit working. Now she volunteers at Alexander Middle School, serves on the Huntersville Elementary PTA, plays piano at her church and drives the morning car pool.

``It's a very insular sort of life -- everything revolves around family,'' Ross said. ``But that was the goal when we moved down here. A secure, stable home is what all my friends and I, whether they work or not, wanted when they moved here.''
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