Phoenix or Charlotte? Please be honest. (Glendale, Chandler: relocate, real estate, tornado)

[zenlife7]

Currently live in Southern California and looking to relocate, quality of life, affordable housing. I just got back from a weekend trip to Phoenix. Overall I thought it was pretty good. Seen alot of homes, and like what Surprise have to offer but not the traffic. Next week I will be visiting Charlotte NC and see what it has to offer. Anyone have any insight of the 2 cities and which you would prefer to live, please share it. Thank you.

[aj661]

Originally Posted by zenlife7

Currently live in Southern California and looking to relocate, quality of life, affordable housing. I just got back from a weekend trip to Phoenix. Overall I thought it was pretty good. Seen alot of homes, and like what Surprise have to offer but not the traffic. Next week I will be visiting Charlotte NC and see what it has to offer. Anyone have any insight of the 2 cities and which you would prefer to live, please share it. Thank you.

I'm biased towards the Phoenix area since I've spent most of my life here. I've lived in every east side community and I prefer Gilbert over the others. It doesn't have the most affordable housing, but it's family oriented and that was important at the time.

Phoenix has low humidity, except during the monsoon season when it gets uncomfortable for me. The rest of the year is great. It gets pretty warm here, but I love hot weather.

I've only driven through Charlotte so I really can't comment, except:
Charlotte has high humidity, which I hate. It's too far from Phoenix and way too far from Big Sur.

MSN had a link to "Top 100 Worst Cities For Spring Allergies" from Forbes.com. I have no idea as to the validity of their findings, but it puts Phoenix at number 21 and Charlotte at number 9.

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/200...thisSpeed=3000

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/200...hisSpeed=15000

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by zenlife7

Currently live in Southern California and looking to relocate, quality of life, affordable housing. I just got back from a weekend trip to Phoenix. Overall I thought it was pretty good. Seen alot of homes, and like what Surprise have to offer but not the traffic. Next week I will be visiting Charlotte NC and see what it has to offer. Anyone have any insight of the 2 cities and which you would prefer to live, please share it. Thank you.

I have visited Charlotte many times over the years. I went to grad school in North Carolina and was friends with a Charlotte native who showed me around the city. I also have a business trip there every year or so.

I like Charlotte a lot and would consider it an alternative to Phoenix if ever I wanted to relocate. Some of the advantages of Charlotte:

-- A great deal of civic pride. Less of an inferiority complex than Phoenix.
-- A growing economy with an emphasis on finance, services, and technology rather than smokestack industries
-- A strong downtown.
-- Several corporate headquarters, particularly in the banking industry.

Still, Phoenix has some advantages over Charlotte:

-- Phoenix seems more diverse. In Charlotte, I still find it hard sometimes to locate a decent Vietnamese or Indian restaurant, for example (although that seems to be less of a problem each time I visit). I never have that problem in Phoenix.
-- Phoenix has hiking trails and abundant outdoor recreation within city limits. Charlotte has those things nearby, but not quite as close.
-- Phoenix is larger and therefore may offer more job opportunities.
-- Phoenix has better air service. Both cities are US Airways hubs with numerous nonstop flights, but in Phoenix, Southwest is also a major player, keeping airfares low. Flying to and from Charlotte can be pricey since US Airways is so overwhelmingly dominant there.

I think either one could be an attractive choice. Good luck with your decision making.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by zenlife7

Currently live in Southern California and looking to relocate, quality of life, affordable housing. I just got back from a weekend trip to Phoenix. Overall I thought it was pretty good. Seen alot of homes, and like what Surprise have to offer but not the traffic. Next week I will be visiting Charlotte NC and see what it has to offer. Anyone have any insight of the 2 cities and which you would prefer to live, please share it. Thank you.

I've lived in Phoenix for years and just moved to Charlotte a few months ago.
I like both cities. They are different but alike in many ways.

Things I like about Phoenix
The Winter weather
Palm Trees
Close to California
Stucco, tile roof homes
Pretty city, clean, new

Things I hate
The massive amounts of illegals
The brown cloud
Plastic fake people
Monsoons
killer bees


Things I like about Charlotte
The scenery is strikingly beautiful, gives me goosebumps sometimes
Uptown Charlotte
The public transportion system
Housing prices
Friendly people
Close to beaches and mountains
The Lakes

Things I hate
Colder Winter weather
tornado watches
humidity
mosquitos
higher state income tax

My husbands allergies are horrible and so far he has been fine in Charlotte. I have had some bouts here and there but not the constant post nasal drip I had in Phoenix yet.

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by zenlife7

Currently live in Southern California and looking to relocate, quality of life, affordable housing. I just got back from a weekend trip to Phoenix. Overall I thought it was pretty good. Seen alot of homes, and like what Surprise have to offer but not the traffic. Next week I will be visiting Charlotte NC and see what it has to offer. Anyone have any insight of the 2 cities and which you would prefer to live, please share it. Thank you.

Zen, this thread caught my eye. I'm currently living in Raliegh-Durham after having spent the last two years living in Chandler, AZ. Raleigh-Durham isn't Charlotte, but talking with people whom I know that have lived in Charlotte, it's pretty damn close. You have to figure out what you're looking for a in city in order to determine which one to move to. Charlotte has a lot of good qualities and I was looking into a job there before I got the one I'm in now. The housing costs are lower than Phoenix and the traffic isn't too bad. The weather is okay, except for the winters.

Phoenix is still deep in my heart and if I didn't have to leave for a job, I would not have left. The Phoenix area has a lot of good qualities and is probably more similar to SoCal than Charlotte. The thing you have to know is what place are you at in your life and what type of people are you comfortable being around. If you're at the stage where you want to get away from the "SoCal life", then Charlotte probably is better for that than Phoenix. If you're looking for SoCal lite, Phoenix is a good choice.

Personally, I'm a big Phoenix fan b/c it's somewhat similar to the cities in my home state of Florida, but different enough so that it stood on it's own merits. For me, I'm having to make a major adjustment to living here b/c it is different. The question is are those differences small enough for you to make the move across country.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by he's so hott

Zen, this thread caught my eye. I'm currently living in Raliegh-Durham after having spent the last two years living in Chandler, AZ. Raleigh-Durham isn't Charlotte, but talking with people whom I know that have lived in Charlotte, it's pretty damn close. You have to figure out what you're looking for a in city in order to determine which one to move to. Charlotte has a lot of good qualities and I was looking into a job there before I got the one I'm in now. The housing costs are lower than Phoenix and the traffic isn't too bad. The weather is okay, except for the winters.

Phoenix is still deep in my heart and if I didn't have to leave for a job, I would not have left. The Phoenix area has a lot of good qualities and is probably more similar to SoCal than Charlotte. The thing you have to know is what place are you at in your life and what type of people are you comfortable being around. If you're at the stage where you want to get away from the "SoCal life", then Charlotte probably is better for that than Phoenix. If you're looking for SoCal lite, Phoenix is a good choice.

Personally, I'm a big Phoenix fan b/c it's somewhat similar to the cities in my home state of Florida, but different enough so that it stood on it's own merits. For me, I'm having to make a major adjustment to living here b/c it is different. The question is are those differences small enough for you to make the move across country.

I always say Raleigh reminds me of upstate NY, boring. Uptown Charlotte is growing. They are building the Epi-center and Trump has some projects in the works. Charlotte reminds me of Phoenix a few years back. It will remind me a lot of Phoenix in a few years to come.

[irwin]

Depends on your personal situation and likes and dislikes. I second the other posters comments regarding "SoCal." If you like the whole vibe and culture there and want more of that, Phoenix is closer to that whole BS (sorry, my personal feeling!). Charlotte is a mix of the South and a growing population of people coming from the North East to work in finance.

If you work in finance, career-wise Charlotte would be a much better move. The jobs in Phoenix, especially in that field are sorry.

[zenlife7]

Thanks for the replys. I was looking to maybe make Surprise or Glendale a place call home. I was really nervous about the cultural shock of NC, being that AZ is much closer to Cali makes it a more reasonably choice. What worries me is the real estate side, will it survive this drop or get back on its feet. NC seems to be more stable in terms of real estate. Other concerns are public schools, and just the quality of life. I'm not tos worry about the crime, I don't think it's worst than in Los Angeles area.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by zenlife7

Thanks for the replys. I was looking to maybe make Surprise or Glendale a place call home. I was really nervous about the cultural shock of NC, being that AZ is much closer to Cali makes it a more reasonably choice. What worries me is the real estate side, will it survive this drop or get back on its feet. NC seems to be more stable in terms of real estate. Other concerns are public schools, and just the quality of life. I'm not tos worry about the crime, I don't think it's worst than in Los Angeles area.

I lived in AZ for 19 years. I'm not experiencing any cultural shock in Charlotte. I have California friends here too and they are doing just fine also. Charlotte is a thriving city. I think I'm gonna make a nice piece of change on my house in the Lake Norman area. Az is heading lower before it stabilizes and goes back up. I sold before I took a bigger hit and I wanted to grab something in Lake Norman area before the land was raped liked Phoenix was.

I haven't lived in Surprise or Cali but I have lived in Glendale and it doesn't look like California to me except for a few obvious things like Palm trees and illegals.

Good luck in which ever place you decide on.

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by zenlife7

Thanks for the replys. I was looking to maybe make Surprise or Glendale a place call home. I was really nervous about the cultural shock of NC, being that AZ is much closer to Cali makes it a more reasonably choice. What worries me is the real estate side, will it survive this drop or get back on its feet. NC seems to be more stable in terms of real estate. Other concerns are public schools, and just the quality of life. I'm not tos worry about the crime, I don't think it's worst than in Los Angeles area.

It depends on what stage you're at in your life. Sure Charlotte is a "thriving" city, but culturally it's not like SoCal, AZ or Florida. To some that maybe a good thing and to some it maybe a bad thing. It wasn't a big cultural shock for me when I moved here to NC back in Jan b/c I adjust somewhat easily. And sure you have a number of west coaster moving here, but it does have a different feel and a different way about it. You have to be ready to leave that SoCal way of life and mindset behind if you're going to move here. I'll never forget what a lady whom moved here from NY 3 years ago told me in Jan. I was finding it hard to be here and she told me that I have to let go of that fast pace, wanting to do everything in a hurry and just settle down and go with the pace of the people here. That helped me.

As far as public schools go, I don't know b/c I don't have kids but there are multiple threads over there in the Charlotte forum about the school system. A lot of posters seem to think that the public schools their are bad.