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Old 11-13-2010, 10:08 AM
 
9 posts, read 9,764 times
Reputation: 23

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@pbcookie, you asked about the comments on the "rateitall" forum with mixed reviews of Charlotte NC. Since the comments were written over a number of years spanning the boom years and the times after the crash, they should give you a feel for the city. There is some truth in all of them, depending on your point of view.
The bad:
"Vanilla tastes":
There is the soccer mom mold for women, and there is a lot of sports (football, NASCAR) that overshadows a lot of things. Think sports bars. Uptown joints mainly for professional networking amongst the center city business crowd. But there are other places open on Sundays for brunch and quaint little eateries. Generic but nondescript upscale: South Park (the name for both a neighborhood as well as a mall) are both upscale but generic. High-end shopping in Charlotte is seen in the spirit of "we have arrived". All this can seem rather shallow. Commute: The traffic is absolutely horrendous. There are a number of charming small towns in driving distance of Charlotte, and many people work in Charlotte. There is no train system or viable regional transportation other than driving. With all these outlying areas feeding workers into Charlotte by car, there is too way much traffic for the size of the interstate. Drivers cut you off and don't seem to be paying enough attention. Some of it is rudeness, but some of may be because people are behind the wheel but not awake yet. Airport: some people have joked about the rocking chairs, but I like the rocking chairs -- it's a nice homey touch for an international airport. It also has a serene fountain. What other international airport has a fountain? Jobs: Some people (both here and in the other forum you posted) talk about job opportunities being bad and the school system not being that great. Charlotte grew in large part because of the growth of the banking industry. With the financial crash, banks have shed many jobs. Many of the best-paying professional jobs have been in banking / financials. If you're not in that field, the money isn't as good. But Charlotte is diverse and there are jobs in just about every field. You just need to do some research (try salary.com) and look into jobs to get a feel for what to expect.
The good:
Quaint neighborhoods: There are some charming and WALKABLE neighborhoods (Fourth Ward, Dilworth, Myers Park). Fourth Ward is adjacent to Uptown and it full of restored Victorian houses in the spirit of San Francisco's Painted Ladies. Dilworth is near Uptown (you could walk uptown from there) and another old neighborhood. Myers Parks is another old neighborhood with wonderful old trees, and it is more suburban driving-oriented. Uptown has come more alive with residential buildings. Uptown: If you work uptown, you can walk to work and just drive somewhere for fun when you're off duty. This eliminates the commuting headache. The main campus of Charlotte Piedmont Community College is uptown, so if you live and work uptown and also go to school there, you can avoid the crazy commuter traffic. Jobs: It is true that Charlotte is hurting because banking has been such a dominant industry and Charlotte lost many jobs in the financial fields. But Charlotte has a forward-thinking mayor who is working to diversify the city's economic base. He's working to bring in more energy companies (Siemens Energy is building a site now). As the economy heals, higher-paying work spread across more industries will spawn more entrepreneurship, and Charlotte's economy will become less dependent on banking. There are also museums, colleges, hotels, NASCAR, and all these places need to fill different kinds of jobs. I do think it is best to have a job lined up before making a big move. Church / civics / people: People are polite but reserved. Don't expect instant friendship. People do tend to center lives around church and civic activities. It may seem lockstep if you don't come from that, but if you consider Christian life and civic service important, it won't be hard finding people you can relate to. Friendships will grow out of that over time. Give it time. I suspect that with all the transplants coming in with unknown values, "the natives" just want to see what you're about before getting too close. Some people have always had their network and don't think about including new people because newness has never occurred them. That's human nature, not just Charlotte. Culture: People rail against the Mint Museum. True, it's not the Met or what you'd find in the major European cities, but the Mint Museum has good exhibits and they put a lot of thought into their exhibits. There's a Mint Museum uptown and the main one is in Myers Park. There's also the Levine Museum of the New South uptown, Discovery Place (something of a children's science and learning palace). There are also all kinds of ethnic festivals sprinkled all over town (for example a big Latin American cultural festival on the main Mint Museum grounds with foods, arts & crafts, and music). There is another museum (name escapes me, sorry) that showcases the era of the first settlers. And the neighboring South Carolina counties (York and Cherokee especially) are Revolutionary War country, with lots of historical sites to visit that offer walking trails, visitors' centers, and driving trails. Airport: Ok, you've seen the complaints about the airport. I think it is a good airport. Not too confusing, and convenient direct flights to many destinations of choice. (My favorite airport is Miami, everything in one building and super-easy to figure out). Transportation: Charlotte really needs a train system. There is a bus system but is less efficient that what it could be. But Charlotte has vision in beefing up the light rail system. There aren't many routes now, but if the current path continues, Charlotte can become less dependent on cars. Schools: The school system is a mess and the budget shortages are causing some serious shockwaves as we speak. Read the newspaper ([url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com]Charlotte news, Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Bobcats, weather, traffic, sports, banking, North Carolina, real estate, jobs, cars | CharlotteObserver.com[/url]) to get a local sense of what is happening.
On balance:
It depends on what you're looking for. People in the South (and around Charlotte) are polite and friendly on the surface, but people are reserved and do not get close easily. Give it time; relationships warm up over time. My biggest piece of advice is to pin down what is most important to you. If sounds like allergies are a major problem for your child, and you want to go to college. What about Indiana University? It has an excellent reputation and the plants there are similar to what you're used to know. About Phoenix, AZ: STAY AWAY!!!!! Phoenix was hit very, very hard by the foreclosure meltdown. Many neighborhoods are unstable, the foreclosure paperwork is a mess (sometimes wrong), and the job market is suffering there. It is even more car-dependent than Charlotte. Other places to consider could be Pasadena CA, you can take the train to LA for work, and there are various jobs in different fields (Cal-Tech is there, for example) and large and small colleges you could attend. Houston TX has a great reputation for friendly people and relatively stable economy, but your drawback would be the subtropical climate with lots of flower pollen most of the year. There are good schools as well. Bottom line: If you want to live in a city, find a city with a vibrant downtown / uptown / center-city (whatever it is called in each city) and live inside the inner loop rather than the car-dependent suburbs. Pick a place with different industries to work in and a broad range of college choices. Make sure you have a job lined up and do your research about cost of living and your income.

Good luck with choosing your next home!
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Old 11-13-2010, 10:53 AM
 
1,666 posts, read 2,831,085 times
Reputation: 493
Paradise for some disaster for others
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Old 12-08-2010, 11:21 AM
 
9 posts, read 20,469 times
Reputation: 19
Default Old Post Of Yours But Figured You Might Still Need A Response

Quote:
Originally Posted by pbcookie View Post
Thank you so much. I have been talking to people over the phone that live in Charlotte and from what I can tell already, I LOVE the people there. Everyone is so friendly and it's genuine. Whereas here and other places I've lived, people are friendly, but the majority of it is fake friendliness just to get along. I am really looking forward to living there.

North Carolina has lots of friendly people. They are much more courteous when traveling down the interstates. They will let you merge in etc.

And that's great to hear about UNCC. I planned to do just that, Central Piedmont first then transfer in to UNCC. So I guess what I was reading was just general complaining.

Crime everywhere you just need to talk to seasoned students and find out where not to go.

I looked into that area (SW), but the move would be far and I didn't really find what I was looking for. I'm going to have my son allergy tested today and then see if that's the same kind of pollen found in Charlotte. If realistically, it would be a major problem with his allergies, I guess the SW would be my only choice - or moving further up north and settling for a little more cold. Speaking of which - does anyone know of any places that are very sunny year-round (or close) even though it snows? Usually snow goes hand in hand with many gray days, and S.A.D/Winter Blues are very bad for me.

Oh yes. Colorado is the answer. Especially Colorado Springs. They have over 300 days of pure sunshine... just like Florida. Voted Top Ten Places To Relocate, Best City For Families, U.S. Top Spot For Young, Talented Workers, Friendliest Bike City in America!! I lived there in the mid 80s. Wish I could go back. City of Colorado Springs - HOME

Thank you everyone for your time and input. It is greatly appreciated.
I currently live near Raleigh in a small town and just love it here. We are close to Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington, the beaches and the mountains. And the schools here are good.
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Old 06-14-2012, 08:56 PM
 
2 posts, read 2,369 times
Reputation: 11
[quote=chance2jump;13565687]Actually, Denver, CO has snow with sun, and is technically a desert atmosphere. Ever been out that way? Denver is a very cool town, at least that was my opinion when I visited.

I agree about Denver. I've lived here almost 20 years and the weather is great, if you ask me. We get more sunny days than Florida, believe it or not. A lot of people move here because of their allergies and you have a terrific hospital (National Jewish Hospital) for respiratory ailments.
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Old 06-14-2012, 11:54 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC (in my mind)
7,943 posts, read 17,204,777 times
Reputation: 4680
Charlotte is an economic disaster through and through. It appears as a paradise though on the surface in my opinion.
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Old 06-15-2012, 07:01 PM
 
Location: Carrboro and Concord, NC
963 posts, read 2,402,825 times
Reputation: 1255
Pollen is pollen, but Charlotte is something like the 17th largest city in the country. Not 'country.' It ain't San Fran, but it's also a far cry from Fort Wayne.
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