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My boyfriend and I are considering moving to Charlotte NC. We’re from Pittsburgh PA so don’t know much about the area and aren’t sure where to live. We don’t want to be directly in the city, although we would like to be nearby, as my boyfriend will likely get a job in the city. We have a dog so we’d like to live somewhere where we can find a nice house with a nice sized yard for a decent price (we want to buy, not rent).
I’m a speech therapist and am interested in finding a job in one of the schools around Charlotte. So far I have applied to Charlotte-Mech schools, Gaston County schools, and Cabarrus (spelling?) county schools (I think that’s it? I feel like there was one more but I can’t remember off the top of my head)..which school districts should I look into? I did hear that CMS pays well but I’d like some input from people who know the area.
I can't offer you any specific help, but I will offer some general guidance:
1. Charlotte is not "city" like Pittsburg is...it has a relatively tiny urban core surround by suburban development. Its really more a of a giant suburb than a city. I'm assuming you haven't ever visited, and I would urge you to do so if at all possible.
2. School are operated at the county level here, so they are huge...CMS has 176 schools and 150,000 students. CMS, Gaston County and Cabarrus County schools are almost all the school systems that are commutable from Charlotte. I guess Union County and Ft. Mill. SC might be too.
My best advice is to try to live near where you work.
Offering a recommendation on a specific place to live in nearly impossible without knowing your specific school assignment since we have relatively large counties and the school system is county wide. For Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for example, the distance between William Amos Hough High in Cornelius to Ardrey Kell High in Ballantyne is a 40 mile drive that takes 42 minutes without traffic. With rush hour this could approach 1.5 hours.
I'd hate to say "I totally recommend you live in X location", only to find out the specific school you land a job at is an hour and 20 minutes of miserable commuting away.
Also, could you define "decent price" as that is highly subjective. In a nice area of Charlotte right now, $300,000 is a good deal on a 3 bedroom 2 bath SFH.
I can't offer you any specific help, but I will offer some general guidance:
1. Charlotte is not "city" like Pittsburg is...it has a relatively tiny urban core surround by suburban development. Its really more a of a giant suburb than a city. I'm assuming you haven't ever visited, and I would urge you to do so if at all possible.
2. School are operated at the county level here, so they are huge...CMS has 176 schools and 150,000 students. CMS, Gaston County and Cabarrus County schools are almost all the school systems that are commutable from Charlotte. I guess Union County and Ft. Mill. SC might be too.
My best advice is to try to live near where you work.
Thank you for your help! We visited once (my boyfriends brother recently moved there and loves it) but we didn’t go into “uptown” or anything as I guess it’s called there?! lol. He didn’t mention that it wasn’t super city like..I am not worried to find a job, but should I be worried about my boyfriend? He’s a financial analyst and was banking on finding a job with some sort of company or corporation in the city, that’s what he does now in Pittsburgh.
Thank you for your help! We visited once (my boyfriends brother recently moved there and loves it) but we didn’t go into “uptown” or anything as I guess it’s called there?! lol. He didn’t mention that it wasn’t super city like..I am not worried to find a job, but should I be worried about my boyfriend? He’s a financial analyst and was banking on finding a job with some sort of company or corporation in the city, that’s what he does now in Pittsburgh.
Charlotte is a great city for a financial analyst given the size of our financial services sector (one of the largest in the country and headquarters to 2 of the Top 10 banks). We also have a relatively large amount of Fortune 500 headquarters for a city of our size and they would need corporate financial analysts.
The only caution is the US economy overall is slowing dramatically due to the coronavirus. A few months ago, the economy was booming and I'd say he could have easily found a job within 6 months if he was qualified. Now with the virus, most companies have purged hiring and are trying to save money due to the economic recession we are entering worldwide. With near 15% unemployment now and many people getting let go, there will be more competition for job postings.
Offering a recommendation on a specific place to live in nearly impossible without knowing your specific school assignment since we have relatively large counties and the school system is county wide. For Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for example, the distance between William Amos Hough High in Cornelius to Ardrey Kell High in Ballantyne is a 40 mile drive that takes 42 minutes without traffic.
I'd hate to say "I totally recommend you live in X location", only to find out the specific school is an hour and 20 minutes away.
Also, could you define "decent price" as that is highly subjective. In a nice area of Charlotte right now, $300,000 is a good deal on a 3 bedroom 2 bath SFH.
Wow! I am not used to school districts being so large here! But I understand that. I am applying to a bunch of different schools in the area and wherever I am offered a position, that’s where I will consider living. I heard union county was a very nice place to live, but unfortunately I do not see any SLP openings in that district yet. Are there any very nice areas to live in in Gaston, Cabarrus, or Mech counties? I know the counties are huge, but location is going to be a huge decision on what job I take (I currently live in Pittsburgh but commute to a school district in WV so I have an hour commute now..so I’m familiar with having a long commute but would love to be done with it!! lol)
We definitely want to stay under $300,000. Would like to ideally stay in the 200-250 range (but believe me, I understand houses being pricy..houses in NC are cheap compared to Pittsburgh!! It’s insane)
^ Yes, Gaston, Mecklenburg, and Cabarrus all have nice areas within their county and you'll be able to find something relatively close to your school likely. For example if you landed a job at a school in East Charlotte, you might like looking at homes in Matthews, Indian Trail, Mint Hill, Cotswold, et... However if you land a job at a school in Gastonia, you may want to look at Denver, Belmont, Cramerton, Clover, SC, nice parts of Gastonia, et..
Your housing budget will also impact any specific location as well.
Charlotte is a great city for a financial analyst given the size of our financial services sector (one of the largest in the country and headquarters to 2 of the Top 10 banks). We also have a relatively large amount of Fortune 500 headquarters for a city of our size and they would need corporate financial analysts.
The only caution is the US economy overall is slowing dramatically due to the coronavirus. A few months ago, the economy was booming and I'd say he could have easily found a job within 6 months if he was qualified. Now with the virus, most companies have purged hiring and are trying to save money due to the economic recession we are entering worldwide. With near 15% unemployment now and many people getting let go, there will be more competition for job postings.
Understandable. Something we are definitely going to have to keep in mind.
Charlotte is a great city for a financial analyst given the size of our financial services sector (one of the largest in the country and headquarters to 2 of the Top 10 banks). We also have a relatively large amount of Fortune 500 headquarters for a city of our size and they would need corporate financial analysts.
The only caution is the US economy overall is slowing dramatically due to the coronavirus. A few months ago, the economy was booming and I'd say he could have easily found a job within 6 months if he was qualified. Now with the virus, most companies have purged hiring and are trying to save money due to the economic recession we are entering worldwide. With near 15% unemployment now and many people getting let go, there will be more competition for job postings.
Are layoffs expected in the financial sector in the near future?
Are layoffs expected in the financial sector in the near future?
The major banks have committed to not laying people off in the near future, but they have cut positions posted and will slow hiring. For example, Bank of America went from over 650 open positions in Charlotte alone to less than 600 positions open nationwide. Many of those job postings won't return for a while as companies try to manage costs in this recession.
Smaller financial services firms, it will depend. Nobody really knows exactly what the world will look like in the next couple months. 5 months ago did any of us imagine a complete shut down? Not really. This could all repeat itself again in the fall, it could be fully resolved over summer, the economy could take 3 years to recover, or it could bounce back by next year. It is all guessing. The one thing that is pretty certain is the booming economy from a couple months ago is gone right now.
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