Help, please! Charlotte or Jacksonville (Newton: live in, airport, move to)

[jp03]

Originally Posted by GoPhils

If they hated heat I don't think they'd be considering moving to Florida...

You'd be surprised..alot of people take a vacation to a warm spot or look at the numbers to a potential move destination and think they can handle it. What they dont factor in is the day to day living... Hopefully they did.

[GoPhils]

That's true, but you said something about "her husband hating the heat" already. If he already hated heat I'm sure he wouldn't be considering moving to Florida. Yes there are some people that realize they can't handle the heat and move back, but that's usually something you have to find out on your own and not just take some guy from the internet's word for it.

[sbeach99]

We live in Charlotte but I travel often to Jacksonville for work.

Pros for Charlotte:
-Growing, dynamic city "built for business"
-Major airport hub
-Access to mountains and coast (1.5 and 3 hrs respectively)
-Large city amenities (Football, Basketball, Hockey, Baseball, Concerts, Theater, Music, etc) on a next level up above Jacksonville
-Spring and Fall are amazing!
-Good boating options (Wylie and Norman)

Cons for Charlotte:
-Fast-paced corporate town can be grinding and tiring if you're looking to back off the gas a bit
-Generally worse traffic than Jax due to the added size/population
-Summer gets hot

Pros for Jacksonville
-Great beaches and year-round golf
-More laid back pace
-Smaller town living

Cons for Jacksonville
-Planning for the future of JAX seems weak compared to Charlotte
-Fewer large companies and job prospects (depending upon industry)
-A bit out of the way transportation-wise
-Summers down here make Charlotte seem really really pleasant. (For the record, I can deal with heat and lived in Arizona and NC. The humidity of Jacksonville in July/August is incredible)
-Far from the mountains
-Sprawl without as good of access to things (vs Charlotte)
-Florida is still a real mess and carries hurricane insurance (even though JAX hasn't seen one in 50 years)

I hope this helps. I tried to present the facts without too much drama or opinion. They're both good towns with good housing options. It comes down to career/industry and what type of experience you're looking for.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by GoPhils

That's true, but you said something about "her husband hating the heat" already. If he already hated heat I'm sure he wouldn't be considering moving to Florida. Yes there are some people that realize they can't handle the heat and move back, but that's usually something you have to find out on your own and not just take some guy from the internet's word for it.

Fair enough.

[JViello]

Lived in FL for 5 years, Charlotte for 2. Spent a decent amount of time in JAX and actually had this debate on my own as well deciding if I want to head back South.

I noticed you commented on a pic from South Florida. Let me just inform you right off that JAX is really more like Coastal GA than what you typically see in FL for landscape and plants etc. When grass is still green in Winter in Orlando and flowers are still blooming, JAX is dead and brown. Not that it's a problem, just realize that's what it is.

Personally I prefer Charlotte to JAX and this after I almost made the decision to head to JAX. After a visit in Feb to JAX I was reminded of why I left FL, cut the trip short and headed up to NC.

Temps are more extreme in NC than FL but there is much more relief from said extremes. IOW you might have some days over 100 in Charlotte, and then it's in the 80's. In FL you just get pounded with 90-93* weather day after day after day after day, and the sun and angle is a bit stronger.

Coming from upstate NY, I think you will find NC much more familiar in terrain and seasons etc VS FL. IF you are looking for a drastic change and want the "tropical" deal, go further South in FL like the Tampa area etc.

As for cities, JAX is nice, but not at the same level as Charlotte IMHO. I find it a little more like Charlotte was say maybe 15 years ago. Charlotte is a much more clean, vibrant, modern and larger city now. It has outpaced JAX quite a bit.

I also think JAX beach is very overrated. At least compared to other places in FL. I found the area much more run down and trashy when I returned in 2009 compared to my last visit in 2003.

I can't live near this:



Knowing that THIS is an option in the same state.

[Mz.UpstateNY]

Thanks a lot everyone! I really love the heat (call me crazy), but I do. I need sunlight and heat. Here, we have three months of decent weather, and winter lasts forever. It's cold with grey skies here from September-April. Two years ago on Mother's Day, it actually snowed (yes, in May). I'm not one to complain about the heat. I've spent many summers in North Carolina as a child, my mother is from there; but I'm not very familiar with Charlotte. I've visited Jacksonville, and enjoyed it- but I would have a stronger support system in Charlotte.

[Happytobeme!]

Mz.UpstateNY,

Good luck on making your decision, it's a tough one!!

Here's my 2 cents for what it's worth...I've lived in Charlotte for 9 years now, and have lived in all parts of Charlotte (I moved about once a year when I first came down), I now live just over the border in SC, but still work uptown. I've visited Jacksonville, but can't offer many comparison's as I don't feel that I've spent enough time there to know the city. However, I'm also from upstate, and also LOVE the heat. So being that we are the same in those areas, I'll give you my perspective from that angle. Personally, I can't get far enough south! I can't get it hot enough, or tropical enough. Winter in Charlotte is like night vs day compared to Upstate NY, your first couple of years you'll love the change, but for me, after a couple years (and really anytime it got too cold) I honestly feel like it's still too cold. I moved down south to get away from the cold (one of the reasons anyway) and here I still have to endure winter. The plus side is that there's only about 3 months of cold and it's not AS cold as NY, but it's still cold.

Someone else mentioned how you'll feel at home here in Charlotte because the area looks similar to NY, I agree with that. Except for the Kudzo vine (that I personally love but most locals hate) the foliage and landscape are pretty similar in both areas. There are of course some plants/flowers that will winter here but won't in NY, and while you can plant palm trees in your yard (we have 8 currently) and winter them with a lot of tender care, they don't grow here naturally and you'll travel over an hour in to SC before you find them regularly. For ME, I want to be more tropical, I want to live some where that looks and feels different from what I'm used to. I wish that when we moved down here we kept going south! It's just so much work and expense to move and re-settle in a new city, that's it's hard to think of doing it AGAIN...but both my husband and I want a more tropical climate, so we're starting our search for a new area, preferrably the gulf coast.

Charlotte is a wonderful city, great place to raise a family, has some great school districts, cost of living isn't too bad, you can buy a beautiful, nice size home on a moderate income. I have NO complaints about this area, have loved every moment being here and would NEVER go back north. I have nothing negative at all to say about Charlotte, yeah traffic sucks but that along with anything else negative are things you'll find anywhere. I'm just not far enough south, I want tropics and an even milder winter, and you don't get that here.

And yes, this is 2011, but old habits die hard, once you get down here you'll be called a "yankee" at LEAST once a week! Some people like us, some people just don't! Good luck to you!

Melissa

[Stella Artois]

Originally Posted by JViello

Lived in FL for 5 years, Charlotte for 2. Spent a decent amount of time in JAX and actually had this debate on my own as well deciding if I want to head back South.

I noticed you commented on a pic from South Florida. Let me just inform you right off that JAX is really more like Coastal GA than what you typically see in FL for landscape and plants etc. When grass is still green in Winter in Orlando and flowers are still blooming, JAX is dead and brown. Not that it's a problem, just realize that's what it is.

Personally I prefer Charlotte to JAX and this after I almost made the decision to head to JAX. After a visit in Feb to JAX I was reminded of why I left FL, cut the trip short and headed up to NC.

Temps are more extreme in NC than FL but there is much more relief from said extremes. IOW you might have some days over 100 in Charlotte, and then it's in the 80's. In FL you just get pounded with 90-93* weather day after day after day after day, and the sun and angle is a bit stronger.

Coming from upstate NY, I think you will find NC much more familiar in terrain and seasons etc VS FL. IF you are looking for a drastic change and want the "tropical" deal, go further South in FL like the Tampa area etc.

As for cities, JAX is nice, but not at the same level as Charlotte IMHO. I find it a little more like Charlotte was say maybe 15 years ago. Charlotte is a much more clean, vibrant, modern and larger city now. It has outpaced JAX quite a bit.

I also think JAX beach is very overrated. At least compared to other places in FL. I found the area much more run down and trashy when I returned in 2009 compared to my last visit in 2003.

I can't live near this:



Knowing that THIS is an option in the same state.

Nice pictures, but they were taken on the other side of Florida. You won't see that beautiful white sand on the Atlantic side.

[Stella Artois]

Originally Posted by Mz.UpstateNY

And by the way Native_Son, it's 2011!!! You still use the term "Yankee?" Funny...

The term "Yankee" is very much still alive in the south as it is in Europe and other places outside of Yankeedom. But, you must understand that it is not meant to be derrogatory unless preceeded by the "F" word or the "GD" term. Many of my relatives are yankees, but the term is in no way meant as an insult. It simply informs that they are not native to this area and are from the northeast.

Most yankees are really nice, assimilate and accept and respect their new chosen homeland. We welcome these nice people. They become our good friends. On the other hand, we also see those that come here and complain as I have for decades. It gets tiring and meaningless. These indidviduals have difficult times assimilating or making friends with locals and likely have no northern friends either. These people are affectionately known as "damn yankees" or more commonly refered to as "F-ing yankees" or even "GD Yankees". I am sure Mz.UpstateNY are not in that category as most of your fellow upstaters are nice/descent folks.

Be proud to be a yankee and remember that it is not meant as an insult if you hear it from us. We southerners are proud and you can actually call us whatever you wish. Yankees have been doing that for 170 years. Why stop now?

[Stella Artois]

[quote=bagdtaco;21403413]

Originally Posted by car421

Just be aware that NC unemployment is over 10%[/QU
OTE]

Florida's unemployment is not any better, probably worse. For the most part this is a service state example doctors, bodyshops/mechanics, restaurant workers. I currently reside in SWFL

People in Jacksonville prefer to be considered as part of south Georgia than Florida. It is more of a non-tourist city comared to cities further south. Insurance, trucking, and manufacturing are the major industries there and not so much tourism.