Would you consider Cincinnati and Charlotte, NC to be very similar? (Columbus: best cities, homes)

[jstn]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

It IS being done. You've got 3CDC hitting up south OTR and Jim Moll attacking north of Liberty ... soon enough these rehabbed areas will come together. Will it take years, probably so ... decades, I don't see that happening as both have an interest in the area by way of civic pride and their pocket books!


I respect your opinion and don't care to argue about it any longer and I apologize if I offended you in regards to Charlotte.


No one wants to see their choice on where to settle and grow and raise a family trashed by someone else ... it's a personal attack and can be offensive because it points to making poor choices on the homeowner's end. People never look at it like that on City-Data ... and most people haven't been in these areas that their putting down in years.

I also agree with you. I think we all get defensive when our homes are attacked - and we both became defensive, which often leads to offensive. I look forward to enjoying the changes you have metioned the next time I visit what I still consider the real "Queen City". Bottom line, we are two people that have an extreme amount of pride in our community. That's a good thing.

[cincyUK]

Originally Posted by goyguy

The climate in Charlotte is a good deal milder. Cincy has real winter, every winter, and really got clobbered by snowstorms this year. So much as a "dusting" hits Charlotte, and like every city down South unaccustomed to snow and ice the city goes into turmoil. During the spring and summer, the OKI region gets treated to frequent tornado watches and the occasional live twister, while Charlotte is largely but not entirely (witness Hugo) immune to hurricanes.

Outside of the southwestern US, it's easy to find "wooded" areas. Either metro region has a good park system, with scenic remnant forests not too far away in both cases: Daniel Boone National Forest and the Hocking Hills for Cincy, and the Smokies for Charlotte.

Cincinnati and Charlotte are both in growth patterns where commerce and industry are concerned. Financial service firms, in particular, seem to be flocking to Charlotte. Neither place is especially booming in terms of IT and high-tech, however; I'd look towards New England or Silicon Valley or Austin first in that category.

"Affordable housing" is a relative term, but from where I sit in MA both cities offer a lot of bang for the buck. When friends moved from Boston to Charlotte, they traded up from a 2-BR condo to a 3-BR house on an acre of land near five country clubs! Sprawl has "developed" (pun intended) into a major issue for either city, but Cincinnati itself has withstood a major population decline while Charlotte is growing.

Elaborate on your criteria, and I (and plenty of others) will be happy to respond in kind.

This comment is inaccurate on weather... yeah that nati got hit by snow this winter... a freak snow storm that huge areas across the southeast and midwest. This is not a good proxy. I'm no saying it doesn't snow sometimes, but being from Boston, if you have ever experienced a winter here you would admit that it's nothing. The average temp for the coldest month (jan.) is still above 30 degrees and some years it doesn't even snow but for dustings.

Charlotte does have better weather, but its not bad here at all.

[indoorspaces]

Originally Posted by Iraqvet

I am in the process of relocating to Cincy from Charlotte. In my opinion, Charlotte and Cincy have very few similarities. While Cincy is smaller than Charlotte, Cincy has more of an urban and real city feel.

Not that it matters a whole lot, Iraqvet, but Cincinnati is quite a bit larger than Charlotte (2.1 million metropolitan statistical area VS 1.5 million msa). I agree with everything else you said though. Welcome to Cincinnati.

[Traveler87]

People take perceptions from OTR from what they hear on the news and a few drive throughs of the area. Yet, they do not look at the development going on there, the positive things going on there. That is like one of the other posters saying that I have only been to Charlotte for a few weeks, how long have you been in OTR total, what a few hours?

Downtown Charlotte is no more lively than Downtown Cincinnati. I have been to both cities many times. It doesn't matter if I was in Charlotte for a few weeks, it was long enough to get a good idea of what it was about. Cincinnati is not some, lets go see a game and then leave for the suburbs. The Downtown population is growing, the development dollars there are in the billions. Cincinnati is on the move whether you like it or not.

BTW, Huntersville, NC is not in the sticks. Charlotte's terrible sprawl has come to meet Huntersville and is now on its way up to Statesville.

[brri]

Downtown Charlotte is no more lively than Downtown Cincinnati. I have been to both cities many times. It doesn't matter if I was in Charlotte for a few weeks, it was long enough to get a good idea of what it was about. Cincinnati is not some, lets go see a game and then leave for the suburbs. The Downtown population is growing, the development dollars there are in the billions. Cincinnati is on the move whether you like it or not.

Don't know much about Cincy's downtown activity level but Charlotte does very much come to life Thursday nights through the weekend. A friend of mine visiting from Atlanta last year was astonished that people actually were out walking, eating and socializing downtown in large numbers on a typical weekend night. Families are always strolling about with children and/or pushing baby carriages day and night. I think downtown (uptown) Charlotte-it's walkability and perceived sense of safety is probably the city's strongest drawing point.

What happens on a typical weekend night in Cincy? Just curious for I do intend to visit as soon as I am able!

[QCP]

[quote=brri;3485129]

Don't know much about Cincy's downtown activity level but Charlotte does very much come to life Thursday nights through the weekend. A friend of mine visiting from Atlanta last year was astonished that people actually were out walking, eating and socializing downtown in large numbers on a typical weekend night. Families are always strolling about with children and/or pushing baby carriages day and night. I think downtown (uptown) Charlotte-it's walkability and perceived sense of safety is probably the city's strongest drawing point.[quote]

I agree, downtown Charlotte is very busy, especially on weekend nights. There are tons of bars, upscale restaurants and activites. It's a very clean, safe, walkable city - with most attractions in one central area. Center city alone has 12,000 residents. In today's Charlotte observer they projected the population to grow to 27,000 by 2012. There are cranes everywhere, most are condo towers going up. The growth really has been nothing short of amazing. All I know is when my visitors from Cincinnati are in town, they are nothing but complimentary about how nice charlotte is (I'm not saying Cincy is not).

I must admit the last time I was in downtown Cincy, on a Saturday night, I found very little to do on a Saturday night - at least within walking distance from my hotel. Granted, that was about 15 months ago, so things could have changed since then?

[Cincy-Rise]

^ Sure ... when you are out of town what do you usually like to do at night? Maybe I can help you out a little?

[jstn]

Thought this would be an interesting addition to the previously posted information: Charlotte was just named as the best place to live in America by Relocate-America.com. Cincinnati did not make the top 100.

[unusualfire]

What the hell is Relocate-America.com? I bet they are not even a fortune 1000 company.

[jstn]

Originally Posted by unusualfire

What the hell is Relocate-America.com? I bet they are not even a fortune 1000 company.

Your point? The original article was published by Market Watch, which is ran by the Wall Street Journal.