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I've narrowed it down to charlotte and raleigh areas. Tell me why I should moved to your town! Jobs aren't an issue but schools are a huge one! Area needs to be family friendly and accepts transplants! Looking for suburb type neighborhood 4+ brdm home. Sports, and kids activities a must! Why should we pick your city?
Okay, again, Charlotte isn't a TOWN it's a city. Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine when I hear that! :-)
Charlotte and Raleigh are both filled with transplants so both will not be a problem. In fact both places you'll have a better chance of meeting a transplant than a born and bred southerner. They both will have tons of options for sports, many neighborhoods to choose from, and kids activities will be plentiful in both areas. Both are great places to live (or so I hear...although I personally I think Raleigh is overrated).
Charlotte is a bigger city with a bigger city feel (uptown). Although Charlotte's uptown skyscrapper feel is small it's a lot better than Raleigh's which is pretty much non-existent.
Some will sell you on Raleigh because it is "known" for the better school system but I wouldn't let that be my deciding factor because overall Raleigh may have MORE schools that have a better reputation but Charlotte does have some really great schools that are ranked among the highest in the state (Marvin & Cutherbertson, Ardrey Kell, Providence, Myers Park, ect) so if you just look in areas that are zoned for those schools you will be more than fine!
Raleigh has more of a college town vibe. There are more colleges and universities there so you will see more college aged kids downtown and I hear the nightlife is pretty cool. Charlotte's uptown area at night is pretty cool too though; Epicenter is great and uptown still has a lot of growing to do! Charlotte has more "areas" and a much bigger feel than Raleigh with more to offer. Charlotte is known for being more "family oriented" but Raleigh has Cary and other nice areas that are just as family oriented as Charlotte. And vice versa, Charlotte does have some great areas with a family oriented vibe and yet if you head uptown you won't get that "family" feel.
Both have great potential of future growth. With Charlotte winning the democratic convention it will bring a lot to this city and will always be bigger (and better in my opinion) But I am biased!
I love that Charlotte is close to the mountains and close to the beach. (About 3 hours from each) Raleigh is closer to a beach but since I prefer Charleston's beach anyway it doesn't matter much to me since Charleston is further away from Raleigh than Charlotte so Raleigh doesn't win my vote on the proximity of being closer to a beach anyway. Charlotte's location is just awesome in my opinion because it's centrally located. I love Charlotte's diversity in areas where you can be in NODA for the artsy feel, uptown to get the city feel, Ballantyne to be in the family oriented "Wisteria Lane" feel, Myers Park for the ritzy feel, South Park for the posh feel, and Dilworth for the older and yet beautiful feel, and so on and so forth. I just love LOVE love the diversity of the areas and I absolutely love the fact that I live in a city that still is growing! It's exciting when you hear of a new company moving here or future plans of developmental changes, ect.
I also feel that Charlotte's scenery, meticulousness, and overall beauty is second to none. I have been here a little over 2 years now and still amazed when I drive the streets. (I'm talking about south Charlotte area) I do realize more people appreciate it than others and I just love scenery and outdoors so I probably hype it up more than I even realize. Raleigh's also very pretty but personally I think Charlotte kicks its butt in this category; hands down!
Overall Charlotte is known to be more conservative and Raleigh to be more liberal. But I have to say that I find that I find more and more people with liberal points of view here, but being a growing city that tends to even out when more and more people move here.
From the information you provided of your needs list you will be more than happy with both areas.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beck6
I've narrowed it down to charlotte and raleigh areas. Tell me why I should moved to your town! Jobs aren't an issue but schools are a huge one! Area needs to be family friendly and accepts transplants! Looking for suburb type neighborhood 4+ brdm home. Sports, and kids activities a must! Why should we pick your city?
It's not a contest. It's where you & your family feel comfortable.
In your other thread, I suggested that Kings Mountain would give you what you're looking for & lovesMountains concurred. I suggested in that thread that you use the search this forum function to search on Kings Mountain. If you have specific questions, I'll be more than happy to try to answer them.
In the 60s & 70s furniture workers from Michigan & mill workers from Philadelphia came into this area & stayed. There is an acceptance of Midwesterners & those from the MidAtlantic here because of those people.
Look at the real estate site that works for you. I used realtor.com & yahoo real estate. There are 3 lovely homes for sale on Mountain St. One definitely fits what you want & is under your budget. There are homes available that are newer construction as well.
I'm not here to sell you on my town, but I will answer questions. I do suggest that you read what's archived first.
The Charlotte airport was a deciding factor for me. It's bigger and you can find more direct flights, including International. But again just like what the other two posters said, it's not what I say or they say, it's what you think and need. Both areas are nice and both have lots of good people from every where "I moved from CA two years ago". Good luck with your move.
Last edited by SunnyKayak; 06-12-2011 at 05:20 PM..
Reason: no realtor site recommendations
....Sports, and kids activities a must! Why should we pick your city?
OK so your only requirement is that it accommodates your kids. There is no difference between Raleigh & Charlotte in this regard. Find a cul-de-sac subdivision around some strip malls on an interstate exit and you are set in minivan bliss. Charlotte and Raleigh are endlessly ringed by them. All you have to do is pick your price point.
If you have more discriminating tastes let us know.
Last edited by yantosh22; 06-12-2011 at 11:13 AM..
Amanda-I will never refer to charlotte as a town again! LOL. Thanks for the info!
South- I did look into kings mountain but we would like to rent for a year and it doesn't seem to have much in the way of rentals.
I was really just looking to see what people love about their city to gain perspective of what different viewpoints of the areas are. I will look at the other posts re: comparing thetwo. Thanks!
We have lived in Charlotte twice over the years. We lived and worked in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). We lived and worked in Washington DC. Our choice was Charlotte. I actually commuted to Raleigh for 17 years from Charlotte because we did not want to move to the area again.
Remember that Raleigh is a government town, with much focus on State government, the Research Triangle, and universities, both large (NC State, Duke, UNC) and small (Shaw, NC Central, Meredith). If you are a pro hockey fan, you have the Hurricanes there. Or, you can opt for a great farm team here in Charlotte (Checkers). Schools? It depends on the area where you buy a home. Both cities have good schools (see comments above about schools in Charlotte). We buying a home, shop very carefully because traffic in both cities can be a commuters nightmare. When I stayed in Raleigh when I commuted, I opted for a place in the downtown area a few blocks from the government core because there so I did not have to fight traffic inbound from the burbs. My standing line is that after government workers go home at 5:00, Raleigh rolls up the streets with a few exceptions and I find it a boring city (town).
Good luck in making your choice. It's smart to do some drilling down into both areas. No city is perfect.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,813 posts, read 34,657,307 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by beck6
Amanda-I will never refer to charlotte as a town again! LOL. Thanks for the info!
South- I did look into kings mountain but we would like to rent for a year and it doesn't seem to have much in the way of rentals.
I was really just looking to see what people love about their city to gain perspective of what different viewpoints of the areas are. I will look at the other posts re: comparing thetwo. Thanks!
I can DM you who to contact to get help with rentals. You might be able to rent the house on Mountain for a year. It would be perfect for what you want.
I would ignore the comment chastizing you for using town. NYers are the only people who I've ever run into who have that hangup.
I can't give you a first hand comparison between Charlotte & Raleigh, but my best friend from grade school has lived her whole life in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She & her husband are looking at Kings Mountain to retire. Her husband has a son in the suburbs of Raleigh. They like to visit, but don't want to live there. They like Kings Mountain much better. I hope that that helps you.
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