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My husband is a pilot with American Airlines who can be based in US Airways Cities. We currently live in Ohio but want to move to where he is based. Currently that's Philadelphia, but we are considering Charlotte. I am not very familiar with the city, but am doing some research. We're fairly liberal politically and socially and I'm a bit worried about moving to a southern city - that I may have a harder time finding "my people".
Are there any neighborhoods in Charlotte that have a more liberal leaning population? It's hard to figure that information out from neighborhood stats.
My advice is to worry less about the political leanings of your neighbors and focus more on the type of neighborhood you want to live in. Virtually no one is going to be in your face about politics.
I'll chime in here. Speaking from experience the more Liberal areas, especially social are going to be hoods such as Plaza Midwood, NoDA, Southend, Dilworth, Elizabeth and Commonwealth Park. These areas are more inner city. As a Charlotte Native though I can tell you people will not be too much in your face about politics or social.
Also, Charlotte is not much of a southern city, drones of people from the North have been moving here for decades. With the influx of people from the northeast and west coast I doubt you will have trouble finding liberals. Not all of us voted for Bush down here.
As someone who's relatively left of center in politics and very left of center in religious views I can tell you that it really doesn't matter much here.
We attend a UU Church and most of the congregants live in the Cotswold and surrounding areas but there are those of us from other areas such as Fort Mill. Most people I've met I have no idea what their political beliefs are, and as far as religious beliefs, people aren't pushy about them. The few that are very far to the right and vocal about it are few and far between.
Last edited by SCCoqui; 10-08-2015 at 10:06 AM..
Reason: grammar
My husband is a pilot with American Airlines who can be based in US Airways Cities. We currently live in Ohio but want to move to where he is based. Currently that's Philadelphia, but we are considering Charlotte. I am not very familiar with the city, but am doing some research. We're fairly liberal politically and socially and I'm a bit worried about moving to a southern city - that I may have a harder time finding "my people".
Are there any neighborhoods in Charlotte that have a more liberal leaning population? It's hard to figure that information out from neighborhood stats.
As someone else mentioned, inner ring neighborhoods like Plaza or NoDa and plenty others are liberal. In the cities, and in southern cities, they are always havens for liberals. Go outside of Charlotte, the fortunes reverse and it's the opposite where Republicans heavily outweigh Libs.
You'll fit in perfectly as a liberal in Charlotte. And most republicans in Charlotte are fairly socially liberal. The republican mayor who ran for Charlotte supported gay marriage before it was legal. A Republican heads the league of cities and the local transportation board to fund rail projects, etc.
You'd actually think it was Ohio here with the constant Ohio State Buckeyes clothes I see. I honestly see more Buckeyes gear than I do any university from the Carolina's (but outside of Meck, you'll see tons of UNC/Duke gear, flags, window stickers, etc)
Last edited by Charlotte485; 10-08-2015 at 10:19 AM..
Pilot's Wife - you and your husband would do fine in Charlotte. As a NYC transplant, I find most people here very welcoming and accepting of other people's beliefs. I agree with the assessment that "closer in neighborhoods" are generally more liberal, but I would not let that be the sole criteria for where you choose to live. I live in Myers Park, and spend time socially in Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood and South Park - I generally feel at home all over town.
Thanks everyone for the advice! I wasn't sure what to expect.
Also didn't mean to imply it was my "only" criteria for choosing a neighborhood - it's just one thing I'm considering.
I don't mind opposing viewpoints and I do appreciate diversity of opinion I was just worried about being an outcast. It's such a hard thing to figure out without spending some time, which I don't really have the luxury of doing. Sounds like it shouldn't be too much of a problem as we aren't really considering the burbs.
Plaza Midwood is the ideal mix of liberal and affluent. The neighbirhood is more outspoken in their counter cultural tendencies while also very capitalist friendly, etc.
My husband and I are pretty liberal, and we live in Union County. At first, I found it hard as I felt surrounded by people unlike me in this way. It felt as if all the conservative people from the Northeast, where I'm from, moved down here. And it was weird for the first time in my life to not be surrounded by people who thought the same thing as me. But I did find that it wasn't important to my friendships down here, and over time I found people who are like me. There are plenty of us out there, but many of us don't publicize it. As long as you can not talk about politics, I wouldn't let it stop you from considering Charlotte.
Southerners are more like northerners than northerners give credit and vice versa. You will be fine.
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