Baltimore vs Charlotte (relocating, jobs, house)

[dkgVT]

Is there anyone that has lived in both cities that can make a nice comparison for a twenty-something couple? We currently live in Federal Hill, but may be relocating to Charlotte in the Fall.

Thanks!

[jonjj]

I have been to Charlotte frequently on business and also have one of my closest friends there. I'll stay in Baltimore. Although I hear lots of folks are moving there. I guess it depends on what you like. I am sure there are plenty of folks in Charlotte who will stay there rather than move here.

[etjudge]

Charlotte, NC is nice, I lived there for a very brief time, only moved back becuase of financial reasons. I've never been to Baltimore, MD. I suggest you visit both towns, and then follow your heart!!!

[XNYgirl]

Go where the jobs are. Eeach city has it's pluses and minuses. However, I've been an NC resident for 9 years and Charlotte has exploded and isn't coming close to stopping.

There are many things to do in Charlotte, plus the entire Hot Season. I know that some people want winters and prefer to stay in climates where there are 4 seasons. Charlotte has 3 in my opinion, mild, hot and hottest!

[Streetchie]

Charlotte is a pretty, well kept city but always seems a bit stale to me....very little character. Baltimore is gritty, unique, but has a crime and trash problem. Depends what you are looking for. You'll find good people in both cities.

[vanyali]

Charlotte is an empty shell of a city. If you like anything about Baltimore at all, you will hate Charlotte.

The grass may be green down here, but life isn't as perfect as it seems. The schools are bad, the city/county government is bad (corrupt, dumb, or both? it's hard to pinpoint exactly what the problem is, just ask the people who are moving into the newer suburbs who don't have adequate roads or water because the government didn't feel like planning for it), crime is going up (not as bad as Baltimore though), and the people themselves are more superficial and parochial than the people in larger cities I've lived in (New York, DC).

And if you like city living, this is not the place to be. I was just in Uptown (the "city" part of Charlotte) in the middle of the day today (Saturday), and tried to buy a soda, and had to wander from storefront to storefront because nothing is open up there on the weekends. Dean and Deluca, Harpers, blah blah closed (finally found a soda at a bar).

If you're going to move to Charlotte, move for a real reason, not just because you're looking for a "better place". Charlotte doesn't really live up to its billing.

[vanyali]

Another thing to consider about Charlotte which is weird, but true, is that it is just about impossible to get anything down down here competently.

Now, I know no one reading this who hasn't tried living in Charlotte is going to believe me. That's fine, go ahead, move down and see for yourself. But here's a taste of what you'll find:

I got braces from a top orthodontist down here (teaches at a local university even), and now at least 8 of the teeth in the front of my mouth are cracked and need to be capped or veneered (am going to DC for this). Yes, the orthodontist's assistant broke all of my teeth, and now (of course) they're not talking to me. Refund? Yeah right.

I got a new A/C system installed by a reputable firm that's been in business down here for over 50 years, and they put in a system of mis-matched equipment that filled my crawlspace with a pool of water and didn't even cool the house. My husband and I talked to every other HVAC company we could find, and no one could figure out how to fix it, so my husband and I had to figure it out ourselves (works fine now). The original HVAC company had no idea how to fix their mess, so they abandoned the job and then sued us for payment anyway.

I ordered some new windows, and they came wrong 3 times. The final time, the windows were at least the right size, so they installed them hoping I wouldn't notice that everything else about them was wrong. Wouldn't notice? I wonder how often that works out for them.

I bought music lessons from the local arts org (Community School for the Arts) and the teacher stood us up at least 6 times in a row. School adminstrators didn't understand why I had a problem with that. Then they said they didn't want my kid in their summer camps because I complained at them. Apparently when you're treated like that you're NOT supposed to complain about it.

My daughter has a very typical Charlotte mold allergy, that manifests itself in her skin. This took YEARS for a practice of CHARLOTTE ALLERGISTS to figure out. The first one we went to couldn't immediately figure it out, so he insisted that our house must be flea infested and she was just covered head to toe in flea bites (though no one else in the whole house had a single flea bite? And it started with hives?). The guy wanted so badly to just get rid of my daughter, that he CALLED UP a dermatologist buddy of his and "got us an appointment" with the guy "as a favor". Meanwhile he told the guy to confirm the crackpot flea-bite diagnosis, which the guy did without even looking at my daughter. Another allergist, same practice, finally gave her an actual allergy test followed by allergy shots and she cleared right up, proving that the first guy was a complete joke. Of course, there were a whole host of other customer service issues with that practice (like the new doctor ducking me for months because I asked him a question he didn't know the answer to -- what a baby).

It seems that every day brings another jaw-droppingly stupid example of people in this city not having a clue. You expect to run into people who cheat you, people who don't know what they're doing, blah blah, anywhere. But everyone? All the time? Day in and day out? It's like I fell into a particularly annoying episode of the Twilight Zone.

[baltimore's best]

Originally Posted by vanyali

Charlotte is an empty shell of a city. If you like anything about Baltimore at all, you will hate Charlotte.

The grass may be green down here, but life isn't as perfect as it seems. The schools are bad, the city/county government is bad (corrupt, dumb, or both? it's hard to pinpoint exactly what the problem is, just ask the people who are moving into the newer suburbs who don't have adequate roads or water because the government didn't feel like planning for it), crime is going up (not as bad as Baltimore though), and the people themselves are more superficial and parochial than the people in larger cities I've lived in (New York, DC).

And if you like city living, this is not the place to be. I was just in Uptown (the "city" part of Charlotte) in the middle of the day today (Saturday), and tried to buy a soda, and had to wander from storefront to storefront because nothing is open up there on the weekends. Dean and Deluca, Harpers, blah blah closed (finally found a soda at a bar).

If you're going to move to Charlotte, move for a real reason, not just because you're looking for a "better place". Charlotte doesn't really live up to its billing.

Baltimore has, few if any, of those problems. The people here are gritty, quirky and real. And Baltimore has some of the finest attractions on the East coast. You can even get a replica of the Bromo tower online. How cool!

[mlmeloy]

Eat at "The Dish" while you're in Charlotte. Great food!

[helenejen]

Originally Posted by baltimore's best

Baltimore has, few if any, of those problems. The people here are gritty, quirky and real. And Baltimore has some of the finest attractions on the East coast. You can even get a replica of the Bromo tower online. How cool!

Bawlm....oops, I mean Baltimore's Best. Why must "you" now test us with your sarcasm. It really isn't fair to those who don't know that "you" are being sarcastic in your answers, by saying the exact opposite of what "you" use to say, but interestingly with the same tone. "You" can be honest about your feelings about Baltimore. It was never what "you" said, but how "you" said it, that many took issue with.

As to the Charlotte/Baltimore issue, and this is purely anecdotal, I have a friend who considered taking a job in Charlotte. But after listening to the Charlotte-related complaints of what would have been her future coworkers, she decided to stay in southern Illinois, which, for those of you that are familiar with southern Illinois, does not say much for Charlotte.