30 y/0 single, active, woman - would Charlotte be a good fit? (Concord: neighborhood, living in)

[chicagocubs]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

John, you know I love ya, but I gotta disagree with you here. There are MANY walkable neighborhoods in Charlotte. Heck, from my house I walk to Walmart, Caribou Coffee, the movie theater, the drug store, grocery stores (2), restaurants, my bank - everything but the library - which is just a 2 mile bike ride for me There are lots of nice neighborhoods like mine all over Charlotte!

Loves, I don't know where you live, but, in my many years in Charlotte, I have never found a walkable neighbourhood; with the possible exception of Dilworth and even then, there is not access to all that you are talking about!!

Since I have been in the south (1974) have never even seen a neighbourhood like that.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by chicagocubs

Loves, I don't know where you live, but, in my many years in Charlotte, I have never found a walkable neighbourhood; with the possible exception of Dilworth and even then, there is not access to all that you are talking about!!

Since I have been in the south (1974) have never even seen a neighbourhood like that.

I can name 10 off the top of my head Chi - there are plenty, really.

[gladt]

Originally Posted by johne482

The "walking" part is the prob. in Clt. Really doesn't exist except for small pockets that I would not consider walking to the coffee shop, theatre, library etc.

I thought that Charlotte was not very walkable til i moved last year to Dallas area! In hindsight, relatively speaking, Charlotte has pretty good walkability.

[pink caddy]

I could be wrong. But, maybe my "walkable " could be a different standard living in where I live and CLT.

[NCgirl]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

John, you know I love ya, but I gotta disagree with you here. There are MANY walkable neighborhoods in Charlotte. Heck, from my house I walk to Walmart, Caribou Coffee, the movie theater, the drug store, grocery stores (2), restaurants, my bank - everything but the library - which is just a 2 mile bike ride for me There are lots of nice neighborhoods like mine all over Charlotte!

I agree. I can easily walk to many places where I live. There is a lot nearby and plenty of sidewalks. My walk score is 69. That ties with Long Beach 's overall score ranking it as the 8th Most Walkable Neighborhoods in America. Chicago, Lincoln Park's score is 76.

lablovr I am your age and describe myself similarly. I love Charlotte and enjoy the things you listed. However, like InformationPlease I am a NC native who moved here from another area so YMMV. I'm not very familiar with Charleston so I can't give you a fair comparison.

[BrianH1970]

Originally Posted by johne482

I could be wrong. But, maybe my "walkable " could be a different standard living in where I live and CLT.

I think so.

What I remember as walkable and what's walkable down here are two different things. My hometown of Kearny is almost completely walkable. Jersey City is almost completely walkable. Old Bridge, mostly walkable. Down here, not so walkable. A lot of spots in Concord, especially where I live, aren't walkable. A lot of places around Charlotte don't appear to be walkable, at least what I've seen. It's not like I've seen a ton so I won't say either way, but what I've seen and walkability...they don't mix well.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by johne482

I could be wrong. But, maybe my "walkable " could be a different standard living in where I live and CLT.

Well, the fact that I can, and do, walk to get groceries, go to the movies, visit my bank and shop at WalMart etc, means "walkable" to me John. Some of that is less than a mile away, some of it is just over a mile away - but even in NYC you'll still walk A LOT to get the things you need (and usually take a subway ride too!).

The whole city of Charlotte is not walkable like the big apple, but you can certainly live in many neighborhoods just like mine in Charlotte

[Whytewulf]

I am NOT a single 30 year old woman, but I can share my experience as a single 35 year old guy. I moved here about 3 years ago after a bit of a debate between a few cities. I had been moving from Dallas, but am originally from outside of Chicago (go Bears). You live in a unique area, heck Chicago is a unique city, like San Fran, NY and Boston, there is not much that compare. I looked at Atlanta, Richmond, Charlotte and a few other smaller cities.

Charleston is a beautiful city and I enjoy visiting. I don't think I could live there as a single person in my 30's. I love the old town feel, but I still prefer a little newness to where I live. Charlotte and the area have much newer burbs and amenities, it is also growing. You want walkability, well there are several areas, but each one is different and it still depends on what part of the city you live in. Uptown is quite walkable, but it's a city and it doesn't have everything. Myers Park, Dilworth and to some extent part parts of Mooresville, Huntersville, Southpark, have walking areas. Again, unlike the Chicago area and other cities similar, Charlotte is a big city still growing into it's own and working on transportation options. I mean in Boston who drives, it's walkable but not small town walkable. Charlestown is much more walkable.

If you want new malls, access to an urban center, corporate hubs, a younger more diverse group of people, closer to mountains, Charlotte would be my choice. If you want smaller town feel, history, less chains, closer to water, more southern charm, Charleston would be my choice. These are also two different states, so what happens in SC is different than NC, NC seems a bit more aggresive in being a player, while SC seems content to be what it is. If possible visit both.

As others have said, check out the job market, both have teaching issues. Layoffs, hiring, job cuts, salary reviews etc. Two very different cities, but both are great in their own way.

[vindaloo]

Originally Posted by chicagocubs

Loves, I don't know where you live, but, in my many years in Charlotte, I have never found a walkable neighbourhood; with the possible exception of Dilworth and even then, there is not access to all that you are talking about!!

Since I have been in the south (1974) have never even seen a neighbourhood like that.

Are you homebound? Some of the things you come up with make me think that you may not get out much or just like to see the "shock" effect. Just wondering why you spell neighborhood the English way? Maybe some day North Carolina schools will teach us how to spell as they do in England. LOL!
.

[vindaloo]

Originally Posted by Whytewulf

I am NOT a single 30 year old woman, but I can share my experience as a single 35 year old guy. I moved here about 3 years ago after a bit of a debate between a few cities. I had been moving from Dallas, but am originally from outside of Chicago (go Bears). You live in a unique area, heck Chicago is a unique city, like San Fran, NY and Boston, there is not much that compare. I looked at Atlanta, Richmond, Charlotte and a few other smaller cities.

Charleston is a beautiful city and I enjoy visiting. I don't think I could live there as a single person in my 30's. I love the old town feel, but I still prefer a little newness to where I live. Charlotte and the area have much newer burbs and amenities, it is also growing. You want walkability, well there are several areas, but each one is different and it still depends on what part of the city you live in. Uptown is quite walkable, but it's a city and it doesn't have everything. Myers Park, Dilworth and to some extent part parts of Mooresville, Huntersville, Southpark, have walking areas. Again, unlike the Chicago area and other cities similar, Charlotte is a big city still growing into it's own and working on transportation options. I mean in Boston who drives, it's walkable but not small town walkable. Charlestown is much more walkable.

If you want new malls, access to an urban center, corporate hubs, a younger more diverse group of people, closer to mountains, Charlotte would be my choice. If you want smaller town feel, history, less chains, closer to water, more southern charm, Charleston would be my choice. These are also two different states, so what happens in SC is different than NC, NC seems a bit more aggresive in being a player, while SC seems content to be what it is. If possible visit both.

As others have said, check out the job market, both have teaching issues. Layoffs, hiring, job cuts, salary reviews etc. Two very different cities, but both are great in their own way.

Very nicely put