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This message board has become somewhat of a sounding board for people that have optimistic views of the city of Charlotte and those that are pessimistic or have a grudge where sour grapes can often be detected. Through my travels, I have learned that people are complainers by nature and are generally not happy with a place unless it is just like the place for which their childhood was spent or where momma resides. The reality is that Charlotte is a nice city that is going through economic hard times like every other American city. Our banking status is in a precarious status at the time as we don't really know what the near future holds. Nevertheless, there are cities will suit the needs of people more than Charlotte and visa versa. Charlotte is not NYC, Chicago, or L.A. But, it is more on line with Columbus, Indianapolis, and Cincinatti. It has some advantages over some cities and some disadvantages to others, so everyone won't be satisfied and that is to be expected. Many of the comments on this board can be taken with a grain of salt as they don't really reflect facts but tend to express anger from job loss, family breakup, intimacy problems, etc. Based on what I have read on the boards and with speaking to pople in the community, I would say that you have a good 80 percent chance of being extremely happy here. I will give you a general synopsis of what is offered:
- Traffic- Charlotte's population (metro) is approximately 2 million. The highway system is relatively good and rush hours are not bad unless there is an accident. Traffic, in that case, can be backed up for miles. A person can generally get anywhere in the county from the center of town withing 30 minutes during heavy traffic.
- Taxes- The cost of living is cheaper than most northeastern states and Florida. My utilities went down significantly as did my property taxes.
- Schools- Schools are like schools in any other larger city. They vary from very bad to excellent. There are several colleges in the area ranging from a large Community College to a full fledged state University offering several Phd programs.
- Medical- There are outstand medical facilities abound. The two major ones are Carolina's Medical and Presbyterian. They have major hospitals strategically located in areas of Mecklenburg.
- Religion- There are centers for most religious dominations where assistance in relocating can be found. The Chamber of Commerce can provide phone numbers.
- Crime- Crime is typical of other cities the size of Charlotte. There are safe areas and unsafe areas. Drugs and gangs are plentiful, but again, they are in the neighborhoods mostly. One should feel no more threatened in Charlotte than in any other city. I can't think of anyone in recent years that has been a victim.
- Restaurants-There are people from 123 countries living in Charlotte. Naturally, there are plenty of ethnic restaurants. But, this is not NYC and there are some countries that are not represented at this time, but your typical Asian, South American, Central American, and European restaurants are here and some excellent. Seems like even the picky New Yorkers can get their NY pizzas and NY bagels without hassle.
- Employment- Jobs are on a major slowdown at the present time as in other places. Unless you have a skill that is in demand, hold off on relocating without a job. But, banking is not the only business here. Although Charlotte is a white collar city, manufacturing of high tech. equipment is huge in Charlotte as well as you normal professions. It is highly suggested that one secure a job before coming.
-Communities- There are many wonderful communities in Mecklenburg County that have all the amenities, ie. shopping, retail, dining, parks, pubs, schools, libraries, and grocery stores. Some of these communities are Mooresville, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Pineville, Matthews, Indian trail, Waxau, Denver, and Concord (Cabarrus County). They have good schools and are safe places to live. By the way, the Charlotte area is know as a wonderful place to raise children.
I am happy to see that communities are really looking out for bikers and walkers and making it possible to transit towns on bikes safely and to ensure that sidewalks are in place. Again, there are some great parks to enjoy.
- In town living-If you like city living, there are places very close in. The up and coming places for the mostly young and 30 somethings are Southend, Elizabeth, uptown, and Plaza/Midwood. Dilworth is close in and is more family oriented than the others. All these areas are walkable to uptown and cater to the cool crowd. For the more Bohemian type, NoDa is the in place. It is about two miles from uptown.
- Entertainment- Entertainment is very good in the area. Downtown is thrieving. There are several performing arts venues, dozens of pubs and restaurants, museums (three are in the final stages of construction) and sports arenas. Downtown (Uptown) becomes very busy late in the evenings. It is pretty nice to see such a huge crowd of nationalities, races, and gay and straight people uptown at night enjoying the entertainment and getting alone so wonderfully.The major entertainment center is called the Epicentre. It has restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and a bowling alley. The North Carolina Music Factory is the latest huge venue uptown. It consists of several clubs and an outdoor band performance facitlity that sits a couple of thousand. It is in an obscure part of uptown.
- Suburbs- Suburban neighborhoods are going up everywhere. Prices are at a premium at this time and vary depending on your price limitations, etc. The most desired part of the city is east and least is west (and I am a former westsider).
- Transportation- Bus service is good and reaches to the extreme parts of the county. Express service is offered in many areas and light rail service is offered in the southern part of the city. It runs from near Pineville to downtown. There are tentative plans to start rail service to other parts of the city in the near future. The International airport is excellent. It is the eighth busiest passenger airport in the U.S. surpassing Boston, Washington and other major points. The U.S. Air major hub is in Charlotte. Overseas destinations are -Canadian airports, Mexico City, most major Carribean cities, Rio, Sao Paulo (near future), Honolulu, London, Paris, Munich, Frankfort with several more planned in the near future. Charlotte offers Amtrac as well.
Lake Norman/Lake Wylie- These are our two lake communities that compose of very nice towns that I have mentioned before. I didn't mention Ft. Mill, S.C. previously. It is a great little place just 20 minutes from center Charlotte. It is a Lake Wylie community. Taxes in S.C. are better than N.C.s In Ft. Mill is the community of Tega Quay, a place worth visiting and the home to the late famous Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker. But not everyone out there is weird. I live in the town of Cornelius on Lake Norman. It is a great place where I can walk to the lake, parks, bars, restaurants, doctors, grocery stores, my health spa or anything else I want. It is typical of the other towns that I mentioned (Mooresville, Davidson, parts of Huntersville) that are lake communities as well.
NASCAR- NASCAR does not run our lives around Charlotte. It is big, but it seems like most of the big supporters are from other cities and other states like Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, Florida, and others. It is not a bad thing and we are not eaten up with NASCAR like many anti-southern people like to think. We are glad to have it as it is a Fortune 500 company and Charlotte is a big place for Fortune 500 companies.
Drivers- Local drivers drive like they do any other place in the U.S., poorly. It is likely that drivers may be a bit more courteous here as being courteous is a southern trait, generally speaking. But tailgating, driving too slow in the fast lane, going all over the place while text messaging or EMailing, and not signaling is status quo like everywhere else.
- The People- Charlotte is a city composed of people from other places mostly. Unfortunately, only 40 of the people here are from the state. That being said, it is sometimes found that it is not as friendly as expected. That is because of the influx of differing cultures and personalities. One in eight families are from another country. Nevertheless, it is almost a concensus that it is a friendly city. If someone invites you to their church, don't get mad or take it as an insult. They are being friendly and trying to be hospitable. If you politely say no, the topic will never again be discussed. This only happened to me once. A very old lady walking her dog invited my wife and me to her church and I politely told her that I wasn't interested and she changed the subject. You'll probably never experience that, but it isn't a bad thing. Suburbs are mostly black, white, Hispanic or Asian. The most mixed area is University City which is close to the UNCC campus. Race relations in the city seem to be pretty good.
Good luck in any choice to move. Welcome to Charlotte if you decide to come here. Just check out everything you can before. We love to have you but please believe me when I tell you how annoying it is to listen to people complain and start talking about the way things are done up north. We like the way we do things. If that is your personality, I beg you to stay where your are. Take care.
Just skimming through this and there is some good information there, but the excerpt about crime is way off base. Our crime is here is escalating as is gang activity, by leaps and bounds. To say that it is *neighborhood select* only is very mis-leading at best. One of the things that is well known is this city is that the gangs love that they can be transient in this city and it is harder to get caught.
It is so sad to me to write these words as I am a native of this city and to see where it is today, it is so saddening.
Just skimming through this and there is some good information there, but the excerpt about crime is way off base. Our crime is here is escalating as is gang activity, by leaps and bounds. To say that it is *neighborhood select* only is very mis-leading at best. One of the things that is well known is this city is that the gangs love that they can be transient in this city and it is harder to get caught.
It is so sad to me to write these words as I am a native of this city and to see where it is today, it is so saddening.
Your are scaring me now I know it is true, but generally speaking, most areas aren't bothered.
Just skimming through this and there is some good information there, but the excerpt about crime is way off base. Our crime is here is escalating as is gang activity, by leaps and bounds. To say that it is *neighborhood select* only is very mis-leading at best. One of the things that is well known is this city is that the gangs love that they can be transient in this city and it is harder to get caught.
It is so sad to me to write these words as I am a native of this city and to see where it is today, it is so saddening.
Crime is actually going down. I think under the old chief we saw where things were moving in the wrong direction, but under the new chief crime has improved considerably. And the trends are very favorable. And I do think alot of the crime here is "neighborhood select". I think some people, particularly on this board (not you), try to make Charlotte seem like a city where people are afraid to leave their houses and everyone lives in fear constantly. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Crime is actually going down. I think under the old chief we saw where things were moving in the wrong direction, but under the new chief crime has improved considerably. And the trends are very favorable. And I do think alot of the crime here is "neighborhood select". I think some people, particularly on this board (not you), try to make Charlotte seem like a city where people are afraid to leave their houses and everyone lives in fear constantly. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Crime isn't going down, the types of crimes we are seeing is what is shifting. Breaking into cars things like that, stealing a bicycle are considered neighborhood select but gang activity is not. They are very mobile. They are even creeping out into the areas just outside of Charlotte. Charlotte is a major thorough fare for drug activity with our highways laid out as they are. Not to mention the distance between Miami and NYC.
There are those who are afraid to go out of their homes, I don't want to diminish that and when we have our very own LEO's telling us to stay at home in the evenings, that does carry some weight. But there was a time when NONE of this type of activity was even thought about, much less feared. Charlotte is a good town but has seen much better days, at one time someone posted a thread what do you love most about Charlotte, I didn't reply there, but my reply would have been, my memories of what a great city this once was.
- Taxes- The cost of living is cheaper than most northeastern states and Florida. My utilities went down significantly as did my property taxes.
Cost of living and taxes are two totally different things. My cost of living was cheaper living in NJ, however I paid a ton more in property taxes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vindaloo
We love to have you but please believe me when I tell you how annoying it is to listen to people complain and start talking about the way things are done up north. We like the way we do things. If that is your personality, I beg you to stay where your are. Take care.
If I'm going to complain, I offer a solution to try to make things better. Its not perfect here, but where is it perfect? However, on another note, if I want to talk about good pizza and where to find it, I'm going to talk about it!
Cost of living and taxes are two totally different things. My cost of living was cheaper living in NJ, however I paid a ton more in property taxes.
If I'm going to complain, I offer a solution to try to make things better. Its not perfect here, but where is it perfect? However, on another note, if I want to talk about good pizza and where to find it, I'm going to talk about it!
CouponJack - The "cost of living" to most people's minds include property taxes too, unfortunately! I think you might be referring to the lack of taxes on clothing and food in NJ. No one can convince me that if ShopRite and Pathmark had stores in NC, that Harris Teeter and Food Lion wouldn't be in "dire financial straits" tho'. The savings on property tax and car insurance far outweigh for me, any niggling taxes I pay, on all the things NC taxes, that NJ doesn't! Plus my non-taxable pension is "extra icing" on the NC cake!
As for the Pizza, I think that most people from the Northeast had a "favorite local pizza place" and would "decry" with as much vigor, having to eat a pizza made two blocks away from their favorite place as much as all the ones found in Charlotte. My only complaint is that the Charlotte area prices of decent pizzas remind me of NJ taxes!
Crime isn't going down, the types of crimes we are seeing is what is shifting. Breaking into cars things like that, stealing a bicycle are considered neighborhood select but gang activity is not. They are very mobile. They are even creeping out into the areas just outside of Charlotte. Charlotte is a major thorough fare for drug activity with our highways laid out as they are. Not to mention the distance between Miami and NYC.
There are those who are afraid to go out of their homes, I don't want to diminish that and when we have our very own LEO's telling us to stay at home in the evenings, that does carry some weight. But there was a time when NONE of this type of activity was even thought about, much less feared. Charlotte is a good town but has seen much better days, at one time someone posted a thread what do you love most about Charlotte, I didn't reply there, but my reply would have been, my memories of what a great city this once was.
I do remember some of the good ole days. But, I also remember in the late 60s and early 70s when the murder rate was almost twice the number today and the population was one fourth. But, it was confined to those bad neighborhoods. We didn't need to lock doors or worry about things where I lived and it was on the westside.
Crime isn't going down, the types of crimes we are seeing is what is shifting. Breaking into cars things like that, stealing a bicycle are considered neighborhood select but gang activity is not. They are very mobile. They are even creeping out into the areas just outside of Charlotte. Charlotte is a major thorough fare for drug activity with our highways laid out as they are. Not to mention the distance between Miami and NYC.
There are those who are afraid to go out of their homes, I don't want to diminish that and when we have our very own LEO's telling us to stay at home in the evenings, that does carry some weight. But there was a time when NONE of this type of activity was even thought about, much less feared. Charlotte is a good town but has seen much better days, at one time someone posted a thread what do you love most about Charlotte, I didn't reply there, but my reply would have been, my memories of what a great city this once was.
I'm sorry but you're wrong. Crime is going down. It has gone down significantly since Chief Monroe took office. What's he's done has been very impressive, particullary when you look at the murder rate, the one stat that truly valadates the fact that crime has declined.
Link 1: News-Talk 1110 WBT | News Story: Police in Charlotte report big crime drop since January (http://www.wbt.com/news/details.cfm?article_id=48210 - broken link)
Link 2: Charlotte-Mecklenburg police get high marks in new poll - CharlotteObserver.com (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/topstories/story/965772.html - broken link)
Link 3: Stats show Charlotte's crime on the decline (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/836/story/910087.html - broken link)
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Take care.
