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I am moving to Charlotte area next month from Southern California. I've read of a lot of people from NY and Florida moving out there but not so much from CA until recently a thread had several people from the town I am in now move out there but the posts were from 2007.
Anyone who has moved there recently, how are you liking it? What was most surprising to you? Favorite/least favorite things?
I can't wait to get out of California. I know I will miss some things but I am looking forward to seasons, lots of green and trees, summer storms, Lake Norman, and not paying $1800 a month for a one bedroom apartment.
Be prepared to suffer through allergy season. I never had allergies when I lived in So Cal. They popped up once I moved to the East Coast. I live on allergy medicine for 2-3 months a year.
The humidity is also something that you will have to contend with. It will take a season to get used to it if you can really get used to it.
Traffic, its getting bad but nothing compared to L.A. traffic.
Food, we do not have the variety like LA but its getting better.
Overall, I prefer Charlotte over LA. I would rather move back to the DC area than back to LA.
We've been living bi-coastly (is that a word?) for quite awhile and our family will all be living permanently in NC this summer. We live in South Orange County. As the previous posted stated allergies and humidity are both something to get used to in NC. It's definitely a slower pace and not as much to do. NC is growing on me though. I like the lake and a little bit less traffic. It is very nice to see green instead of brown and I love driving the country roads. Aside from housing, I find the prices are similar, some things are a little higher (groceries), some lower (gas). But along with the lower housing cost is the lower wages, generally. If you've transferred in with your previous salary then you're probably ahead of the game. Fall is beautiful in NC. You never see those kind of colors in CA. And it is nice to be cold sometimes and not be able to wear flip flops year round. I can't say I prefer NC over CA but I can live happily in either place.
I am moving to Charlotte area next month from Southern California. I've read of a lot of people from NY and Florida moving out there but not so much from CA until recently a thread had several people from the town I am in now move out there but the posts were from 2007.
Anyone who has moved there recently, how are you liking it? What was most surprising to you? Favorite/least favorite things?
I can't wait to get out of California. I know I will miss some things but I am looking forward to seasons, lots of green and trees, summer storms, Lake Norman, and not paying $1800 a month for a one bedroom apartment.
Native Californian here! The only things I miss is great Mexican food and In N Out. Other than that I love it. I have been here 20 years now but go back all the time to visit family. COL and the weather here never allow me to miss CA!
Ditto on the allergies...this place goes nuts in March-May and September-November. I just spent 6 months and probably over $3,500 on allergy shot immunotherapy...and now I am cured! Not even a sniffle. (Used to live in Salinas, CA)
Just moved from San Diego to Morganton 3 weeks ago. Now, even though I was in SD for 20 years, it was by way of Pittsburgh, Erie, DC and Newport News.
The food scene in Morganton is awesome.
The air is clean
Traffic on 85 between Gastonia and 77 IS as bad as LA, and I have yet to drive any other part of the freeway system.
Rent on my 1400 sq ft rancher on acreage is $450/mo, so yes, you will get alot of home here.
Took me 3 weeks to get a job, and I only started seriously last Monday and got a good job last night, so starting Monday I will be at 0.6x of CA's Cost of living but making 1.2x of CA's pay scale.
Expect lots of overtime, every job I was offered this week was 45-50 hours with paid overtime and health insurance.
I went to Freedom Park last Sunday, once I got south of 277 on Kenilworth, I got stress related flashbacks to the Bay Area: Biff and Buffy walking right down the middle of major streets when sidewalks were available restricting traffic and acting all entitled to do so. There was actually a real yuppie type pushing a stroller down the middle dashed line of Kenilworth approaching East with traffic all backed up and she was yelling at the honking horns about it being their fault for owning cars. Just like San Francisco. Got to Freedom Park which needs alot more parking. Good thing I was in a small rental still, my caddy would never fit in any of those spots.
I am glad to be gone, I fully expect at least San Diego to fall into major economic decline starting in about 90 days. There was one major high tech employer with a good 12000 jobs that did not pay with a sun tax in mind, and they are going. My bosses wife was an exec who lost here job of 13 years there. She made $330K, as of my moving away, her best San Diego offer was $80K, yet she had a $500K offer in Seattle and a $3.3 Million offer in Portland, nobody would stick around under those metrics.
I see Morganton, especially the areas south of 40 become commuter territory for Gastoinia, already got a number of neighbors working in Lincolnton, I see the 18 corridor getting crowded in 20 years.
Thanks for all the replies. I haven't mastered replying individually yet so I just will reply to everyone. I had heard of the allergy issues from other threads.. I lived in the "bluegrass region" for a few years which is supposed to be one of the worst places in the country for allergies and it didn't bother me so hopefully my luck presses on. My husband on the other hand has allergies so I am a little nervous for him.. I did notice the traffic on the 77 when I was visiting. My husband commutes 2 hours a day now and will be working from home out there and It takes me 50 minutes to go 10 miles with my current commute. It is a bummer its bad out there also but our working situations will be a lot better there so hopefully it wont phase us as much as it does here. Ohhh how I remember missing Mexican and In and Out when I was living out of California before! And as for the humidity.. moving in the middle of summer will probably be a rough adjustment. I have lived in humidity before and I wasn't bothered so much by it but again, it worries my husband. But we honestly HATE California weather which may seem crazy to some but I hate having 85-90 degree days around Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love the rain and it probably rained 3 times here total this winter even with the "big El Nino" they talked about all last year. I can take humidity if it means 3 other seasons. Thanks again everyone.
We moved from Pasadena about 10 years ago, so not recent.
I hate the bugs and the humidity, but love the green.
I miss the mountains and the ocean all right there.
I miss that there is always something to do in SoCal. Disney, Universal, beach, hiking, Griffith Park, large museums, etc....
I like that for the most part people are nicer and friendlier here.
Housing is def. much, much, much less expensive here. Our house is about 2/3 the cost of our CA home and almost 3 times larger. Not to mention we have acreage. That can't even compare.
But most of all, my kids love it here and have no desire to move back to LA and feel that this is home for them.
We moved from San Diego in 2007 and 9yrs later I am still adjusting. Mainly because we desperately miss our families. It is true about the allergies and humidity. You get more for your $$ out here but it's honestly not the southern hospitality that I expected. Apparently you have to go further down South for that. Most people that live here are not from here and I do find that it has high racial tensions. Everything seems to be about race out here. To me, it's also a much slower pace of life but I do feel there is a greater sense of work ethic out here and not so much of a laid back approach which is fine with me. Charlotte has been very good to us but we would move back in a heartbeat if we could mainly because we miss our families so much.
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