Orlando or Charlotte? (Wellington, Palm Beach, Manalapan: oceanfront, budget, work)

[bdpop]

Why are you resticting yourself to these two cities. why not also look at other mid size southern cites such as Tampa/St. Pete, FL; Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; Jacksonville, FL; Ashville, SC and Columbia, SC.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by blueoktober

Orlando's downtown is "meh"? Yet another person that only knows of Downtown what they see when they drive by it on I-4.
.

Actually I had a decent slice of pizza there one time, and Lake Eola is nice, but Charlotte just did a better job with their downtown. You don't see a lot of pedestrian traffic in the center of downtown. Walking around downtown Orlando tends to be a lonesome experience, with some exceptions (you will see people on Central Ave or Orange Ave). It's nice looking but needs more life. It's mainly a 9-5 downtown with some rowdy nightlife.

[mg83]

I'd probably say the economic outlook for Charlotte fares better than Orlando's.

Charlotte doesn't seem as trashy to me... for what that's worth.

[BornFloridian]

go look at the charlotte forum. the folks living there are by far pro-charlotte over orlando. it isnt even close, and imo, charlotte is def. better. a far better quality of life from all angles. perhaps crime may be close, but easier to get away from in charlotte. i honestly cant think of one characteristic of orlando that is better than charlotte, nc

[ponchoblanco]

Orlando gets knocked like L.A or San Fran gets knocked ..midwestern cities get praised out the zing zang(Why??) but who would actuallly want to live in St louis ,Oklahoma city, Memphis and(cough) even Pittsburgh? come on now. There is a reason people praise Charlotte.. Because insecurities breeds self praise.. ie ;you know your city sucks.;. hehe.

[32828]

Here's a top 10 cities review that was on the msn.com webpage yesterday.


Below are the top 10 cities on Relocate-America.com's 2008 list:
Charlotte, N.C., San Antonio, Chattanooga, Tenn.;Greenville, S.C.; Tulsa, Okla., Stevens Point, Wis., Asheville, N.C., Albuquerque, N.M., Huntsville, Ala., Seattle

Cities like Orlando, Tampa, and Ft Lauderdale were nowhere in sight.

[compelled to reply]

In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Cities - Forbes.com

Which do we believe? I say neither.

[dbansal]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Cities - Forbes.com

Which do we believe? I say neither.

This person started the same thread in the Charlotte forum a while back, I replied there, might as well reply here as well. I've been living in Charlotte for the past year, but my main home is in Lake Mary, and been going back every once in a while. I think the main problem with the comparison is treating Charlotte & Orlando as if the entire city is the same throughout. There are good & bad areas in both cities. I personally prefer Lake Mary/Heathrow to the area of Charlotte I'm living in. Charlotte is cold in the winter, feels pretty much the same in the summer (I know someone will produce statistics that it's slightly less warm/humid than Orlando, but trust me you won't really feel the difference), plus you get to pay income tax & higher sales tax. On the plus side for Charlotte property tax rates are a little lower (but there are no SOH caps) and property values are lower (but rising steadily). Plus Charlotte is growing very rapidly, which is sure to bring new problems to the area.

And yeah these rankings are BS, based on subjective criteria that you may or may not care about. Lake Mary/Heathrow was ranked #4 by Money Magazine, for what it's worth lol.

[A2Mich]

BTW, for those who say that Orlando is not hot and humid...it is. Not all days are near-100, but there are plenty of late-spring, summer, early-fall days in the mid-to-high 90's, with July and August frequently having near 100% humidity. I lived and worked for many years in Orlando, working outdoors year round for two of them....trust me, June, July, and August can be miserable outdoors, April, May, September, and October tend to be pretty nice, with the other months being fairly comfortable. "Cold" weather really doesn't exist in Central Florida, though you may get an occasional day in the 30's, sometimes dropping into the teens or 20's at night, but that is not very often. If the Orlando natives ever experienced winter, they would have no idea what to do....snow? What's that? But, most people in Orlando are from somewhere else, many of them being snowbirds....

[right-here-i-say]

If you are from Wisconsin, you will probably feel more at home in Charlotte. Problem with Orlando is you will miss the seasons. It just doesn't feel right.