Charlotte, NC or Atlanta, GA? (Columbus, Toledo: real estate, houses, unemployment rate)

[Kemp10]

I'm a DC Power Technician for Verizon and am constantly traveling the east coast (usually). My company has warehouses in Chicago IL, Charlotte NC, Atlanta GA, and Columbus OH.

I'm not interested in Chicago but love Charlotte and Atlanta, GA. Which one would be a better area to live? Charlotte is so nice, and is where my company is based out of. But GA is so warm and pretty too.


Kemp10 is from Ohio and would like Ohioan opinions, please and thank you.

[ouldfaye]

Charlotte!!! of course, lot less trafic.

[andrew0816]

Neither, they are both overrated, filled with sprawl, and have horrible commutes (and not to mention, culturally dead). Also, why are you even posting here? Last time I checked, neither of these cities are in Ohio. Why don't you go to those state/cities specific threads and ask the residents what they think?

[Kemp10]

I guess I could have mentioned I am from Ohio, and I guess I was looking for perspectives from those also residing in this area. Sorry I ruined your day.

[MaryBeth2]

Kemp10, you dont need to apologize. Most people here are very willing to help as you can see. I hope you find what you are looking for.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by Kemp10

I guess I could have mentioned I am from Ohio, and I guess I was looking for perspectives from those also residing in this area. Sorry I ruined your day.

Having a job already in line is huge if you decide on Charlotte, the city has really taken a beating the past year w/the demise of the financial industry as Bank of America has had lots of lay-offs and had to merge w/Morgan Stanley and Wachovia was bought out by Wells Fargo. I think the unemployment rate has more than doubled inside the metro over the last year.

Having relocated ourselves to the south 2 years ago, Charlotte was the 'trendy hot spot' seemingly suggested by others, and we have multiple friends who have moved there over the past few years. We chose Columbia over it as well as Charleston, and the Raleigh-Research Triangle area for a couple reasons. Charlotte especially has bad rush hour traffic, at least to us. I realize it is not that bad for a city it's size, for instance I hear that Atlanta's is far worse, but coming from a smaller area like Canton where traffic problems were virtually non-existant, Columbia seemed to be a better fit as it a little bigger than say Toledo yet a bit smaller than Dayton (MSA wise) and has a solidhighway infrastructure in place for a city it's size as I-20, I-26 & I-77 form an outer beltway around the city and really only has one bad interchange - malfunction junction where I-20, I-26 & I-126 meet - we've virtually had zero traffic issues since we've lived here. Charlotte's crazy growth the past few decades has produced lots of urban sprawl, which is a major culprit to it's traffic problems. The outer beltway (I-485) is still not 100% complete and it appears the final section won't be completed for at least 5 more years, I-77 is only 6 lanes through uptown Charlotte, and can be a mess as you go north of the city to the Lake Norman/Davidson areas, and US-74 (Independence Blvd.) is way over-burdened for those who live on the east/southeast sides as a few examples. It also kind of scared me b/c when areas are red hot for a while, they are bound to have a slow down, and Charlotte is seeing their's now. Columbia meanwhile has had slow-steady growth, I tell most people back home that it's like a mini-Columbus, has a fairly stable economy w/lots of state/government type jobs as well as a large military base (Ft. Jackson), and also has the flagship university of the state (although Clemson fans might argue that!). The cost of living, real estate - especially for us being a younger couple - was far more reasonable here than any of the other locations mentioned. That said, Charlotte's not like New York or LA or anything like that, but it is more expensive there than here. I will say, Charlotte's size is more comparable to Columbus, so if you like that size for a city, maybe you'll like it more, plus if you're into pro sports, they do have NBA & NFL, however, no major college sports to speak of unless you consider UNC-Charlotte or Davidson 'major' programs.

I can't speak on Atlanta too much as we have yet to travel there (it's 3 1/2 hours from us while Charlotte is about an hour & 15 minutes).

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by Kemp10

I guess I could have mentioned I am from Ohio, and I guess I was looking for perspectives from those also residing in this area. Sorry I ruined your day.

If that is the general attitude, I can understand why you would want to leave.
It really boils down to what you want. Atlanta is a much larger city, but honestly if you live far enough into the suburbs of either you couldn't tell which you were in...both cities are in the Piedmont (Appalaichian foothills) area of the SE, which is lovely. Charlotte has less of the big-city hassles, but the COL would appear to be about the same in both. I live in Atlanta, but am visiting my sister in Charlotte right now. I have lived in other cities (DC, NYC, Ft Lauderdale), as has she...we would both tell you that either one can afford you a pretty good QOL relative to where we have lived before.
Might also mention that there are already a lot of Ohioans here...you wouldn't be lonely.

[costello_musicman]

I agree with Andrew...you should have put that you were from Ohio in your original post, and that you wanted Oho perspective for some reason.

I would say Atlanta has more extremes of good and bad. So depends what you're looking for. You give vague and subjective descriptions of why you are looking to move there "nice" and "warm and pretty too"

I've lived in the south before...it can getting a little hotter than "warm" just so you know!! Especailly when thay humidity hits.

I would say post this in the General US thread.

[aquila]

Originally Posted by andrew0816

Neither, they are both overrated, filled with sprawl, and have horrible commutes (and not to mention, culturally dead). Also, why are you even posting here? Last time I checked, neither of these cities are in Ohio. Why don't you go to those state/cities specific threads and ask the residents what they think?

A. You may find both cities to be "overrated", but no doubt many will disagree with you.

B. What criteria do you use to determine if a city is "culturally dead"? Again, many will disagree with you, and not everyone is particularly concerned about whether a city is culturally alive or dead anyway. Some places are simply nice because they are nice. Atlanta and Charlotte have obviously done something right, or they wouldn't have become the powerhouse cities that they are.

C. While I agree the OP would get a better perspective if he/she posted this in the General U.S. forum, and respective Georgia and North Carolina forums, that's no reason to cop an attitude and have your first words to them be of such a nature as to make him/her feel unwelcome here at C-D.

[Clevelander17]

Originally Posted by aquila

B. What criteria do you use to determine if a city is "culturally dead"? Again, many will disagree with you, and not everyone is particularly concerned about whether a city is culturally alive or dead anyway. Some places are simply nice because they are nice. Atlanta and Charlotte have obviously done something right, or they wouldn't have become the powerhouse cities that they are.

"Powerhouse"? LOL! New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Franciso, and Boston are powerhouses. Charlotte and Atlanta are the flavor of the month.

They've lowered taxes, scrimped on infrastructural spending, engaged in extreme corporate welfare, and done everything else they can to race China to the bottom.

Anyways, forgive us Ohioans for getting defensive about this touchy subject.