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I'm thinking about moving the family to Charlotte from Atlanta. We've tapped Atlanta out and its about the time to make a move.
I just wanted to get some opinions on living in charlotte in regards to cost of living, jobs, transit, day care costs and etc.
I've only been to charlotte a few times but only for short periods of time so I have not had the opportunity to really get an idea of how the area operates. My main moving objective is to continue to live down south but not in an area like Atlanta. This place is oppressive.
I'm probably gonna get nailed for this, but IMHO, find somewhere else....CLT is ATL 20 years ago and making the same mistakes. I lived in the ATL burbs from 1975 til 2002 and moved to CLT thinking it would be a change. In some aspects it has been, but the more I step back and look, very similar to ATL. Traffic, while not as horrendous as ATL, has similar issues. Issues with the roads, not planned very well, commute isn't as bad as ATL, but can be with a drop of rain or a full blown accident. I realize there are situations beyond anyone's control.
CLT has the same "if it's new it's wonderful" attitude about the whole visual picture. Tear down buildings with history to build more skyscrapers, that add to the abundance of empty offices. Real Estate prices are similar to ATL, and personally, I haven't found anything that makes me feel this is the place I want to stay.
Same lousy mass transit attitudes, rail system that goes nowhere, busses that have impossible routes to navigate. During the high gas prices last summer, I considered CATS. I would have had to go clear uptown and transfer and come back down on another route to go from my apt in Pineville to my office off 485 near Ayrsley. I spent well over 2 hours trying to work out an easier route....Just like MARTA.
Charlotte has some plusses but for me, it's not enough to make me stay. Again, my $ .02, but I would find another place to move. And yes, before I'm asked, I am looking, just biding my time til the estate is settled and I'm free to move.
Well, here's the thing and I get slammed every time I say it . . . but Charlotte can be a fine place to live to raise a family (and especially - if you like the burbs). But a lot of people are not enjoying living here so much right now b/c they are out of work. So if you can transfer here w/ a job . . . or if you land a job here . . . then the cost of living is about the same as for Atlanta.
Y'all have MARTA and we don't have a very robust transit system . . . there is a bus system and light rail w/ limited coverage area.
You would want to spend some real time considering the schools if you have children . . . and commute time to work. Charlotte is very spread out and altho I think ATL's traffic is worse, CLT also has traffic problems at certain spots during rush hour (but still - not as bad as ATL).
I really don't see that much difference b/n some of the burbs in CLT as compared to some of the burbs in ATL. However, ATL is overall more dense than CLT.
If I liked an urban feel to a city, I would stay in ATL. CLT has a small city core compared to Atlanta's.
#1 concern must be jobs...if you don't have one lined up, unless you have a good year's worth of savings to live off of, don't even consider here, b/c our unemployment rate is high, the few jbos out there have become very competitive and we haven't seen all of the layoffs at Wellschovia and B of A yet....someone else said we are Atlanta 20 yrs ago, and that is close to accurate, but I'd say it's more like Atlanta 25-30 yrs ago...but mostly this is just a smaller version of Atlanta...
Oh boy, I didn't want to hear that lol. Especially the road planning and transit parts. Then the mention of jobs, its almost like you guys were talking about Atlanta with a different name, lol. I'm still planning on coming out there in July to survey some things but I definitely don't want to move to a baby Atlanta.
A friend of the family lives in charlotte and would like me to get back into the mortgage loan officer game so that he could hook me up with a job. However based on experience, many loan officers are sold dreams before they get into their offices so I need some confidence in an areas job market because you never know.
I feel the job market will turn around but not for another year or two at minimum....Charlotte took a huge hit b/c of the big banks here...they had too many eggs in that basket and haven't diversified as well as Atlanta or even Raleigh...here's hoping that the lesson has been learned.
I'm probably gonna get nailed for this, but IMHO, find somewhere else....CLT is ATL 20 years ago and making the same mistakes. I lived in the ATL burbs from 1975 til 2002 and moved to CLT thinking it would be a change. In some aspects it has been, but the more I step back and look, very similar to ATL. Traffic, while not as horrendous as ATL, has similar issues. Issues with the roads, not planned very well, commute isn't as bad as ATL, but can be with a drop of rain or a full blown accident. I realize there are situations beyond anyone's control.
CLT has the same "if it's new it's wonderful" attitude about the whole visual picture. Tear down buildings with history to build more skyscrapers, that add to the abundance of empty offices. Real Estate prices are similar to ATL, and personally, I haven't found anything that makes me feel this is the place I want to stay.
Same lousy mass transit attitudes, rail system that goes nowhere, busses that have impossible routes to navigate. During the high gas prices last summer, I considered CATS. I would have had to go clear uptown and transfer and come back down on another route to go from my apt in Pineville to my office off 485 near Ayrsley. I spent well over 2 hours trying to work out an easier route....Just like MARTA.
Charlotte has some plusses but for me, it's not enough to make me stay. Again, my $ .02, but I would find another place to move. And yes, before I'm asked, I am looking, just biding my time til the estate is settled and I'm free to move.
Oh boy, I didn't want to hear that lol. Especially the road planning and transit parts. Then the mention of jobs, its almost like you guys were talking about Atlanta with a different name, lol. I'm still planning on coming out there in July to survey some things but I definitely don't want to move to a baby Atlanta.
A friend of the family lives in charlotte and would like me to get back into the mortgage loan officer game so that he could hook me up with a job. However based on experience, many loan officers are sold dreams before they get into their offices so I need some confidence in an areas job market because you never know.
To be very frank, if you have a job there and things seem stable, I would give it some time b/f coming to Charlotte. Don't know that I would be in any rush to come here to work as a mortgage broker, but a big part of that decision would be what company has the opening. Easy to lay off brokers, if you know what I mean. We have still not seen the bottom here w/ foreclosures. We still don't know what the full impact w/ job loss is - as it connects to home ownership. Many people are scraping by and able to pay their mortgages at this time by using savings and unemployment (and w/ one spouse employed). When the ESC checks stop coming . . . if folks have not found jobs . . . I dunno. There will HAVE to be people moving out of the area to locate jobs elsewhere.
If your job is secure in ATL . . . I dunno. Totally talking about life from my own perspective and everyone's situation is different, of course.
ani hit the nail on the head. Charlotte has a smaller core than Atlanta so you are in the burbs quicker. Same ole', same ole' after that!
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CLT vs ATL
We have still not seen the bottom here w/ foreclosures. We still don't know what the full impact w/ job loss is - as it connects to home ownership. Many people are scraping by and able to pay their mortgages at this time by using savings and unemployment (and w/ one spouse employed). When the ESC checks stop coming . . . if folks have not found jobs . . . I dunno. There will HAVE to be people moving out of the area to locate jobs elsewhere.
