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...I am concerned that the culture shock and lifestyle will be very difficult to live on a daily basis.
Culture shock, yes. Very difficult to live on a daily basis? Not at all.
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Originally Posted by ParadiseUSA
I would like to hear from Northeast transplants from the New York/New Jersey area who are living in Charlotte. How do you like living in this city?
I like it. Some things to get used to, then it becomes home.
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Originally Posted by ParadiseUSA
What are the things that you have trouble living with?
1) Driving habits. This is an ongoing debate so I won't go into details, but 7 years after my move I still haven't adjusted, and don't think I ever will.
2) Some native southerners are actually offended when they hear curse words. As a jersey boy, cursing is just second nature, like eating and breathing:
"hey, pass the fargin ketchup"
"what, you mean this fargin ketchup"
"yeah that fargin ketchup, for my fargin burger"
"fargin-A, why didn't you say so"
"fargin thanks"
"fuhgedaboudit"
so this has been troubling for me. I've actually had people say to me "excuse me, I'm a southerner, please don't use that language". Culture shock.
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Originally Posted by ParadiseUSA
How are northerners received?
Honestly, there are so many northerners here, you'll just blend right in. However, I often run into people that just don't like northerners and I get attitude. But fargin-A, who cares.
Culture shock? Now? Twenty-five years ago, one might have experienced culture shock, but much of the Charlotte population is comprised of yahoo northerners and Californians who sold their 1200 square foot bungalows for a half a million dollars and moved here in search of high-paying jobs and cheap housing.
Alas, the cheap housing, high-paying jobs (outside of the banking industry), and native Charlotteans are no more.
Come on down! Have a bagel and a smoothie and witness a one-car accident on your way to work!
I'm not so sure about the friendliness quotient that NJCoqui mentioned. Twenty-five to thirty years ago? Certainly. That's when the preponderance of the population was North Carolinian. It took me awhile to adjust to being asked How have you been doing? because someone wanted to know how I was doing. Where I come from, you put your head down and keep walking. If someone speaks to you on the street or as you entered a store, they are either crazy or selling tickets to get into the Empire State building or some such thing. When i first moved here, people were actually friendly. I mean really wanting to talk to you and not trying to squeeze five bucks out of you or convert you to some exotic Christian sect.
By the early nineties, the change in the feel of the city was palpable, especially in the workplace. My friends and I noticed how local coworkers exhibited a fortress mentality toward "outsiders". People within the company that I worked for and the companies my friends worked for weren't so friendly as their own companies expanded and hired people from other states. It was this attitude that caused me to strike out on my own and start my own business (one of the smartest things I've done since I married my wife).
Today, I don't even think about how friendly my neighborhood-- or the city for that matter--- is as a whole. I'm just another penguin in this ever-expanding suburban clutter called Charlotte. About the only thing I wonder about people is where they're from. Sometimes, I actually ask where they were born. Otherwise, if someone talks to me as I pass him in a parking lot or on the street, I put my head down and keep walking.
Charlotte doesn't thrill me anymore. I'm not repulsed by it either. I've managed to negotiate the pitfalls of starting, maintaining, and growing a business in a place that's not my home. Charlotte has been very good to me financially. I have no complaints, nor do I have plaudits for the city.
Someone once told me that "Charlotte grows on you." It hasn't grown on me. I hardly know it's there except for when I see an accident in which one car ends up in a tree. That's when I know I'm in Charlotte, the City of Stunt Drivers.
I'm not so sure about the friendliness quotient that NJCoqui mentioned. Twenty-five to thirty years ago? Certainly. That's when the preponderance of the population was North Carolinian. It took me awhile to adjust to being asked How have you been doing? because someone wanted to know how I was doing. Where I come from, you put your head down and keep walking. If someone speaks to you on the street or as you entered a store, they are either crazy or selling tickets to get into the Empire State building or some such thing. When i first moved here, people were actually friendly. I mean really wanting to talk to you and not trying to squeeze five bucks out of you or convert you to some exotic Christian sect.
By the early nineties, the change in the feel of the city was palpable, especially in the workplace. My friends and I noticed how local coworkers exhibited a fortress mentality toward "outsiders". People within the company that I worked for and the companies my friends worked for weren't so friendly as their own companies expanded and hired people from other states. It was this attitude that caused me to strike out on my own and start my own business (one of the smartest things I've done since I married my wife).
Today, I don't even think about how friendly my neighborhood-- or the city for that matter--- is as a whole. I'm just another penguin in this ever-expanding suburban clutter called Charlotte. About the only thing I wonder about people is where they're from. Sometimes, I actually ask where they were born. Otherwise, if someone talks to me as I pass him in a parking lot or on the street, I put my head down and keep walking.
Charlotte doesn't thrill me anymore. I'm not repulsed by it either. I've managed to negotiate the pitfalls of starting, maintaining, and growing a business in a place that's not my home. Charlotte has been very good to me financially. I have no complaints, nor do I have plaudits for the city.
Someone once told me that "Charlotte grows on you." It hasn't grown on me. I hardly know it's there except for when I see an accident in which one car ends up in a tree. That's when I know I'm in Charlotte, the City of Stunt Drivers.
It's a shame you've lived some where for over 2 decades that is seemingly "lukewarm" to you. I couldn't imagine living in a place that long and feeling the same way you describe your home. Really, really bizarre stuff.
OP, charlotte isn't New York. It never will be and you know that. But you won't be accosted or bothered by anyone. Hell, I'm a Canadian atheist and I feel perfectly comfy living in my neighborhood in south Charlotte. Like anything, it is what you make of it.
Don't move here expecting mini-NYC. Especially if you plan to buy a home out in Marvin or Ballantyne. The most hilarious commentary I see on here is someone who buys a home 20 miles from the city center in a neighborhood thrown up last week, who then complains about how "suburban" everything is. What did you honestly expect??
If you want some semblance of city life, live in an inner ring neighborhood. It will be nowhere comparable to NYC. Far less dense (a lot more space) but at least youll have some better food options, a little more diversity if that's your thing and better transit and walkability.
If you are looking to get away from it all, move out to Monroe or some outer suburb. Just don't expect there to be anything else out there besides a Hibachi restaurant, lousy traffic and high school football. You'll get great schools and a lot of bang for your buck on housing. It depends on your preference and there is nothing wrong with either choice. Just don't expect a suburb to be a city, especially in the sunbelt.
We're not a third world country. We speak english. We have families, jobs and hobbies just like folks from New Jersey.
If your parents had to pick you up early from summer school because you got too "homesick", or if you had to drop out of college and attend community college in your hometown because you were too far from your parents, then you may have a hard time living *anywhere* away from your habits.
Otherwise, it's still life... you just have to plan your meals a little further in advance.
"...It's a shame you've lived some where for over 2 decades that is seemingly "lukewarm" to you. I couldn't imagine living in a place that long and feeling the same way you describe your home. Really, really bizarre stuff..."
"...It's a shame you've lived some where for over 2 decades that is seemingly "lukewarm" to you. I couldn't imagine living in a place that long and feeling the same way you describe your home. Really, really bizarre stuff..."
Los Hogan,
You need to get out more.
I guess a better question would be and I mean this with all sincerity, why stay? I left certain places for many of the reasons you stated.
After 18 years in Manhattan, I live in the Myers Park area of Charlotte - different for sure, but moving here was a choice for me.
The "always on" convenience of Manhattan is notably absent here, but that is to be expected. The ease of moving around, the great airport, well priced real estate, better weather and the genuine hospitality of Charlotte people more than make up for it.
I've been here on and off for about 3 years and now I live here permanently. Life here is fine - once you get outside the self reinforcing bubble of metro NY, you'll see and probably enjoy life here...
I guess a better question would be and I mean this with all sincerity, why stay? I left certain places for many of the reasons you stated.
I have a thriving company and thirty-three (and counting) employees and a family to support. (I guess you didn't pick up on that. Pay attention).
I'm not unhappy here. I'm just not oh-so-thrilled to live here.
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