early 20's NEED a CHange from Raleigh lifestyle (Charlotte, Davidson: rent, house) - City-Data Forum

smarbonds · 08-14-2008, 09:08 PM

hello, im quite new here in north carolina, my fiance and I are from New Jersey and we moved here after visiting with relatives in raleigh who were also pretty new to nc. Well, we are expecting our first child in september but aside from that, we are truly BORED with the lifestyle here in raleigh, there is absolutely no social lifestyle, nothing open kinda late, no real business district...we recently were told to look into charlotte and all it has to offer. Like I said, we are new and in our early 20's. We NEED to know exactly where is the business district, the social scene, and basically wherever there are some other young people like us. Also, we are extremely fond of public transit! I did notice there was a lite rail system and buses..is it possible to live some place where we can rent a 3br house for about 1400 a month in a nice area and be able to commute via public trans to and from work, ,that would be great! please help us out...as we are eager to get back to "life"..

Nuke64 · 08-14-2008, 09:23 PM

I'm 31. I spent my 20's in Raleigh, and visited Charlotte quite often. If you think "there is absolutely no social lifestyle, nothing open kinda late, no real business district" in Raleigh, you are not going to find something radically different in Charlotte. I'm not telling you it isn't better, it's just not an order of magnintude better.

smarbonds · 08-14-2008, 09:41 PM

I'm willing to at least see about it, any upgrade seems a bit better than what we're working with, but thanks a lot, I really appreciate the heads up.

Stewabby · 08-14-2008, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smarbonds

I did notice there was a lite rail system and buses..is it possible to live some place where we can rent a 3br house for about 1400 a month in a nice area and be able to commute via public trans to and from work, ,that would be great! please help us out...as we are eager to get back to "life"..

You can live along the lite rail system in Charlotte and easily commute downtown. However, if you are that unhappy with Raleigh I doubt Charlotte would be what you are looking for. Have you considered Atlanta? It is much larger and probably has more of what you are looking for.

smarbonds · 08-14-2008, 10:06 PM

No, we haven't given atlanta much thought at all because we figured since we just did an out of state relocation, we weren't looking for another so soon. I may have embellished a bit, we are not young , wild party animals but we just want a more enhanced social scene, and the same for employment. That's all, a better dining atmosphere, out for some drinks, etc.. just somethings to do around work and home schedule. and possibly a more busy work atmosphere, thats all,

Stewabby · 08-14-2008, 10:11 PM

I think you might want to give Raleigh more of a chance. Have you tried meetup.com to meet other people to hang out with?

What kind of jobs do you have? Charlotte is mostly a banking city.

the 7 oh 4 · 08-14-2008, 10:35 PM

Charlotte is quite a bit different from Raleigh and a bit larger.

Places for young people to hang out in Charlotte are...

Uptown
Plaza-Midwood
NODA (North Davidson Arts District) - Gallary Crawl twice a month
SouthEnd - Gallary Crawl once a month
Dilworth
NC Music Factory - fixing to open w/clubs, restaurants & retail

I would suggest a weekend visit to Charlotte. I would suggest staying Uptown at Either the Omni or Marriott City Center. They are both located very near "The Square"...the heart of the city. Both are located near the Gold Rush Trolley, The Charlotte Trolley & Light Rail.

Hope you enjoy Charlotte...

PS - Check out TrumpCharlotte.com (Donald Trump's project for Uptown Charlotte)

smarbonds · 08-14-2008, 10:58 PM

great! thanx, i was def planning to visit anyway but now i have a better picture of where to start. thanx again!

ultraviolet* · 08-15-2008, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nuke64

I'm 31. I spent my 20's in Raleigh, and visited Charlotte quite often. If you think "there is absolutely no social lifestyle, nothing open kinda late, no real business district" in Raleigh, you are not going to find something radically different in Charlotte. I'm not telling you it isn't better, it's just not an order of magnintude better.

I disagree. I moved to Raleigh from NJ in my early 20's, found Raleigh way too boring after less than 2 years, and left for Charlotte. I loved it here so much, I've been here >10 years now!

I think it's significantly better. For starters, it's a bigger city. Much more diversity and interesting people. Many more things to do. Later hours. The only things I've gone back to Raleigh for have been the Museum of Natural Sciences (which is beautiful) and the NC Museum of Art. Otherwise, the only interesting things to do are around the University, and once you're out of college, those quickly lose their luster. (Though this year I might go back for the State Fair. I haven't been to that since I first lived in Raleigh...)

So I think for this poster, who is entering a different stage of life, they might find Charlotte really accommodating to their needs.

But true, there may be better cities. However, since this person said they have family here, they may not want to leave NC.

travlingrlclt · 08-15-2008, 04:43 AM

To me, Charlotte is way different than Raleigh. To me Raleigh felt like a college town and Charlotte was a big urban city with a downtown that is very vibrant.
I think you def. would be much happier. Come for a weekend and try it out.