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Alright, I just received a very frank PM from someone telling me they do not like the Charlotte area after moving from the DC area (same place I am from). I want to hear from those who moved to the Charlotte area and didn't find what they were looking for. What is that you are dissatisfied with? What are the cons to moving to Charlotte from other areas? Is the cost of living rising? Are they getting Northerners with higher housing prices? Let me know how you feel. Compare Charlotte to the area that you came from.
Lived in Charlotte for 33 years. Raised in SC, lived in Atlanta & Dallas for several years.
Positives for Charlotte outweigh the negatives. If I were relocating to the area today, I would move to Lancaster county, SC, near Fort Mill (US521). Great schools, low taxes, cheap housing(vs. Charlotte) and the commute from downtown isn't onerous. You can find employment in SC and eliminate the commute. Close enough to enjoy the amenities, but eliminate the only real negatives.
Charlotte schools get a bad rap, but the magnet programs available will blow most other area's schools away. For example, Myers Park High has an IB magnet, resulting in major scholarship monies to the graduates. Our son was in the 1st 9th grade IB class there (92-96), he got an excellent education.
There are some schools which have high ratios of ESL students and some with low income students and typically they will underperform any other school, no matter what city or state.
I along with a few of my friends (who do not belong to this forum) do not like Charlotte and most of us will be moving away soon (though I wouldn't say I don't like it, it is just not for my family). We moved here from CT (originally from Rochester NY) We were seeking a cheaper lifestyle since in CT we could only afford a 1000 sq ft house, taxes were fine there though for that house. Well we know know that a bigger house isn't everything and that we would take back our old house in a second. It really depends on where you are from and what you like to do.
I hate being surrounded by strip malls, housing developments, and chain restaurings . Within 5 miles of my house there are 4 harris teeters, 2 food lions, 1 lowesfoods (those are grocery stores) 4 CVS's, 1 Eckerts (another being built), 1 Walgreens and maybe more pharmacy's that I don't even pay attention to anymore plus the ones that are in the grocery stores and Target. That is just ridiculous!!! I dislike the newness of everything. I miss having culture, diversity, history and lots of options for quick day trips and things to do with the kids. In CT within 40 minutes (many were 15 minutes from our house) we had 2 aquariums, a zoo and multiple museums for kids and many other kid type things..here we have 2 museums..one in Charlotte and one in Gastonia, no close zoo, no close aquarium etc.... I miss real neighborhoods and non overcrowded schools. The school up here is okay, not great not horrible but we desire better for our children for their schooling..again it depends on where you come from. We miss snow! I can't get into the holiday mood when temps are in the 60's and 70's.
And basically for us the only things cheaper here than in CT are housing and taxes! Everything else seems to cost a lot more..groceries, health insurance are the biggies for us.
For my family the area is just Blah..or as one of my friend's calls it "very vanilla" It is not a bad place for sure but a lot of people come here thinking it is like a paradise and leave after a short time to go back home.
the only thing I don't like about Charlotte is the poor city planning. There are so many roads and intersections that are outright dangerous because of this. For example the Pineville-Matthews exit going towards Matthews off of 485. Sometimes it gets so bad, traffic gets backed up under the bridge, and people have nowhere to go coming off the ramp. Coming the other way you end up in a turn only lane which is what causes the the traffic to get backed up under the bridge.
CRIME: We were suprised by the amount of crime in charlotte. Where I came from (outside of dallas, tx) home invasions were unheard of... here you hear about them and property theft (robberies, cars etc) quite a bit.
SCHOOLS: CMS is got some serious issues. There are some good and some bad schools and it seems a bit hit or miss. Seems that the school systems are much better in areas just outside of the CMS district.
TAXES: Property taxes aren't too bad but I don't get the highway use tax at all. Especially not when there is state income tax, its hard to swallow when you come from somewhere that didn't have either of these.
All that said, its still nice to be able to get a beautiful, large home at a reasonable cost. Other expenses seem to be inline with national avg's imo. In general, my family is happy here and we look forward to getting out on the lakes.
I agree with charlotte epro about Charlotte's intersections. They're horrible! Charlotte REALLY needs to look at saving more of the trees in the area from developement. I love the tree canopy we have and don't want to loose it. Something needs to be done about the huge size of Charlotte's school system. 130,000+ kids is way too big to manage properly.
Having said that, all in all, Charlotte is a great area to live and +'s, to me, outweigh the -'s. I think some people have unreasonable expectations sometimes when they move to an area. There is NO such thing as a perfect place ANYWHERE! But not all places are a good fit for all people. That's understandable.
Like one poster said about 7-8 weeks ago, "If someone says there's nothing to do in the Charlotte area, their not looking". There's plenty to do here for kids. We never run out of thing to do/places to go. There's a safri-type zoo just outside of Mooresville that's a blast. It's not the Bronx Zoo, but we really enjoy it. And Charlotte isn't NYC, but there are plenty of activities here. If you want a list, just pm me.
trying to make a budget, please help with numbers.
We are tring to figure out the cost of things. Being in NY everything is expensive as we all know. Can anybody give me an idea of the cost of these items. We are looking at getting a home with about 2000 SQFt if that helps in your factoring. We would like to know the cost of :
Electricity in the summer time and winter
Water in the summer time and winter
Gas in the summer time and winter
Lawn care
It can either be monthly cost or yearly, what ever is easiest. Anything I am missing, please feel free to include it.
I along with a few of my friends (who do not belong to this forum) do not like Charlotte and most of us will be moving away soon (though I wouldn't say I don't like it, it is just not for my family).
I think you live near me.I believe I read your children go to J.V. Washam as well. I know everyone has a different tastes. I am not sure how long you have lived here but you can be in the mountains in 2.5 hours you can be in Charleston in 3.5 which can all be done is a day.
You are correct there is a ton of new. You have to remember up to about 10-15 years ago there was no Birkdale or even better Exit 25. That was where we would all go and go cow tippin' and race dirt bikes. I agree some stores of the same kind every 2 miles it seems can be a little excessive. There are plenty of new things coming to town as well. Discovery Place for Kidz for example in Huntersville etc etc.... If you have the patience this is (even though to me it is now) a real fun,exiting place to be. Go Whitewate rafting hiking,boating etc etc.....
Should you guys get serious let me know if I can help.
Coming from D.C., I doubt you will like it in Charlotte. You are further away from both the beach and the mountains. D.C. is so close to huge population centers. In 2 hours you can be in Philly, 4 hours to NYC. Ski resorts within an hour and a half's drive. The largest collection of free museums, parks, and zoos in the world. Professional sports - NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL.... Georgetown, GW, George Mason, American U, Univ of MD... concert venues - almost every artist makes a tour stop in D.C., the Kennedy Center, you have the Chesapeake Bay for boating an hour east of the city, you have the Shenandoah mountains for hiking, an hour west of the city... you have the largest variety of ethnic restaurants probably in the entire country, you have the #2 most utilized public transportation system in the country, you have a booming job market with extremely low unemployment...
With all that, you also have horrendous traffic (Charlotte's Friday rush hours are equivalent to a Sunday afternoon in D.C.), humid summers and cold winters (Charlotte has even more humid summers, but milder winters), less friendly people (in a larger city, you run into more idiots so you tend to become less friendly), and extremely expensive housing.
You really should check the city out with an open mind. Charlotte is a nice city, but D.C. definitely has a lot more going on.
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trying to make a budget, please help with numbers.
