Decision - to move or not to move? (Charlotte, Jacksonville: transfer, schools)

[g8rnjax]

Hi! My husband has been offered a good job in Charlotte which he will start next Monday. It is a 3-month contract-to-perm position which allows us a little time to ensure that we want to make the move from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte. What should we do/see/experience during this time to make our decision easier? What are the biggest "selling points"? I will mainly be able to visit on the weekends but I may be able to get up there for some weekdays as well. We appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions!

[Keith "Baby-Face" Lutz]

That's broad and subjective.

I would think you would love it, though. You may miss the ocean.

[the 7 oh 4]

Originally Posted by g8rnjax

Hi! My husband has been offered a good job in Charlotte which he will start next Monday. It is a 3-month contract-to-perm position which allows us a little time to ensure that we want to make the move from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte. What should we do/see/experience during this time to make our decision easier? What are the biggest "selling points"? I will mainly be able to visit on the weekends but I may be able to get up there for some weekdays as well. We appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions!

While Jacksonville is a very nice city, it is not as large as Charlotte or culturally diverse as Charlotte. There is alot to do here. Only thing is we are a 3 1/2 drive to the beach but only a short 2hr drive to the beautiful NC mountians. It is alot colder in Charlotte than Jacksonville but other than that I think you would like Charlotte. Traffic sucks here! At least Charlotte has started and opened their 1st line of Light Rail. Metro Charlotte has about 2.2 million people. A very transient city. 65-70% or more of the population is from somewhere else.

I say give it a shot! GOOD LUCK!

[nkjaws]

Originally Posted by g8rnjax

Hi! My husband has been offered a good job in Charlotte which he will start next Monday. It is a 3-month contract-to-perm position which allows us a little time to ensure that we want to make the move from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte. What should we do/see/experience during this time to make our decision easier? What are the biggest "selling points"? I will mainly be able to visit on the weekends but I may be able to get up there for some weekdays as well. We appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions!

I guess you have to ask yourself, Do you want to leave Jacksonville?" We've been to Jacksonville, we loved it, we even have considered from time to time seeing if we could be transferred there. Ofcourse, this is just a thought of ours. Some things to consider, even though your husband was offered a good job here, I'm assuming that means the pay is better, you will have to pay state income tax which can put a strain on your budget if you aren't expecting it. If you decide that you want to move away from Jacksonville, there are some nice areas to live around here, Huntersville, Cornelius, Matthews, Ballantyne, Fort Mill, SC. It is hard to give selling points as NC and FL share a bunch, the weather is great, you are not too far away from the beach,e tc. FL schools and NC schools from what I've heard are about the same, give and take. We were in FL 7 months ago so as memory serves, groceries were about the same as well. Good luck.

[vindaloo]

Lived in Neptune Beach. Know the area intimately. Personally, I like Charlotte better. Charlotte does offer more and has a safer feeling about it in my opinion. In Jacksonville you sometimes have to drive for 45 minutes to get to another part of town when there is no traffic. In Charlotte, you can get anywhere in town in 45 minutes during rush hour. It is easy to get around in Charlotte. Charlotte has the mountains close by. I do miss the ocean being one mile from my Neptune Beach place. Charlotte will grow on you.

[pgilbert]

We moved here from the coast of CT and the thing we miss most is the beach (followed by good pizza). However, we do get out boating fix on Lake Norman and try to take vacations to different beaches each year. Last year we were down your way at Amelia Island. This year Hatteras. It makes you enjoy the beaches even more when they are not available every day.

[Tober138]

Originally Posted by g8rnjax

Hi! My husband has been offered a good job in Charlotte which he will start next Monday. It is a 3-month contract-to-perm position which allows us a little time to ensure that we want to make the move from Jacksonville, FL to Charlotte. What should we do/see/experience during this time to make our decision easier? What are the biggest "selling points"? I will mainly be able to visit on the weekends but I may be able to get up there for some weekdays as well. We appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions!

That's very subjective. I think a good starting point is to just spend some of those weekends driving around and touring the area. We had settled on CLT, but not an area...we spent a few weekends driving around parts of the city and happened upon an area that we really liked and knew it was a place where we could see ourselves living.