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Charlotte definitely seems Southern to me but then again I am a Yankee Carpetbagger so what do I know? I moved here from Arlington, VA last year.
If you are only used to living in DC, you will definitely find Charlotte to be a big difference as far as crowds, traffic, etc. Depending on where you live traffic can be bad but still not as bad as DC. One of the biggest differences is that rush hour only lasts a couple of hours.
I live 13 miles from work in Matthews and my commute time is usually around 30 minutes. There are a lot of nice places to live, eat, shop, etc. in Ballantyne but the commute is longer from there. Cotswold and Dilworth are close to city but more expensive.
If you do decide to move here, I would also check out this site Community Crime Information System. You can plug in addresses and get all the reported incidents and crimes that happened in that area.
Lets put it this way,, thousands of people from every where move to NY city and its still a northern city. people will come and go many will have kids and they will get the southern draw and will consider them selves southern and as the transplants influx slow and most generations blend in they will in time be considered southern. yes it will be a different southern but southern just the same.
More people in the metro Charlotte are from other places than locals. I read somewhere one time that about 65% of the people in Charlotte are from other places.
I don't really hear alot of Southern accents in Charlotte. Some YES...but not many in my neighborhood.
I guess it depends if you live "in" Charlotte or 20 miles outside of Charlotte. That is a totally different scenario & not Charlotte.
Nothing wrong with the South or Southern accents though!
There are -2- very different things...talking SOUTHERN or talking COUNTRY.
Last edited by the 7 oh 4; 06-04-2008 at 11:50 AM..
Yikes! I see this is a sensitive subject... certainly Virginia itself is below the Mason-Dixon line and therefore is technically 'the south'. I prefer to live in areas that have a lot to offer (sports, outdoor activities, parks/lakes, etc.), with people who are open-minded, diversity is accepted, etc. Now, mind you, I'm not looking for an East-Coast San Franscisco...
I am also not looking to escape the big city - the traffic in DC doesnt bother me and I support growth; lots of people in an area doesnt bother me.
We definitely need to do more research into the area - thoughts from folks who may have made similar jumps (NY-to-NC, DC-to-NC, etc.) are very insightful.
Make no mistake about it . . . Charlotte is the New South. We are changing rapidly and w/ the newcomers from the NE, some areas of the CLT metro area might as well be the Sixth Burrough, wh/ I personally do not find to be a bad thing. I like the energy that the newcomers have brought to this area.
We are doing a balancing act here . . . trying to figure out how to keep the charm of the South in the midst of burgeoning growth. Some things I won't miss . . . some things I will . . . w/ progress comes change . . . and change can be both positive and negative. We don't really know what the "face" of CLT will look like in five years, much less a decade.
This is a great area, but we are dealing w/ infrastructure challenges, for example. Our citizenry is only becoming more sophisticated and more demanding in their expectations for quality of life. With those demands come strain on existing systems . . .but also - an increased tax revenue base.
Charlotte has an identity problem, IMHO. I have chosen to think of us as the New South, and perhaps the only city that can truly be called the New South, as ATL has lost so much of its Southern appeal . . . most of what remains is Faux South.
So . . . if you want to be part of an evolving experiment in growth . . . come to CLT. We have always been known as a friendly city . . . and even w/ the newcomers - we are still a welcoming region. The newcomers have found our Southern custom of slowing down a bit and getting to know one another appealing. I think we are blending that vitality and excitement from the larger metropolitan areas of the NE w/ our more laid back, less intense Southern personalities very well here . . . NC is a beautiful state and altho we are part of an eroding Southern regional identity . . . there are still plenty of us here who are natives . . . and we are coming together to make CLT one of the best metropolitan areas in the country.
More people in the metro Charlotte are from other places than locals. I read somewhere one time that about 65% of the people in Charlotte are from other places.
I don't really hear alot of Southern accents in Charlotte. Some YES...but not many in my neighborhood.
I guess it depends if you live "in" Charlotte or 20 miles outside of Charlotte. That is a totally different scenario & not Charlotte.
That was in toe Observer recently...there are more NY Pizza places than bbq restaurants it said. Even Fort Mill has its share of transplants but is still "southern" I would say. The article said that York County is 55% transplants, most in Fort Mill/Tega Cay. I love my n'hood actually, natives, black people white people, people from up north, etc...it's pretty cool
That was in toe Observer recently...there are more NY Pizza places than bbq restaurants it said. Even Fort Mill has its share of transplants but is still "southern" I would say. The article said that York County is 55% transplants, most in Fort Mill/Tega Cay. I love my n'hood actually, natives, black people white people, people from up north, etc...it's pretty cool
55% transplants. but how many of the 55% are from florida GA SC TN VA, MS which are southern so that would reduce the northern % quite a bit maybe less then 20% right. The large metros are seeing people from all over the country here, its not a northern city in the south as some would wish for.why I can not fathom.
Bottom line: My husband and I are trying to find a place to move... we are in DC now (I grew up here) and he is from LA and we want a change from the fast-paced life in DC. For several months we have considered several major cities (Seattle, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale) trying to find one that fits our criteria. We are very outdoorsy, active people and want our children to be in an area where that kind of lifestyle is practiced - we want safe/good schools, stable job market (we are in IT) and a lower cost of living so that I wouldn't have to work FT. He wants to return to the "west" where the attitudes are more laid-back and life doesnt revolve around work but I don't want to remove myself too far from my family (who are all in DC).
With that, I have been proposing Charlotte as a good alternative because it appears to be a growing IT hub, I like its proximity to DC (within driving distance, doesnt require a flight across the nation) and its not a land-locked state. And I've also had a few friends move down there and they rave about it but most of them were raised in NC.
If we were to visit the area - what areas would you suggest we go to get a good feel for the city and outlying neighborhoods? Would you consider Charlotte 'the south'?
Thanks for any info or viewpoints you can provide...
To answer the last part of your post, check out Union Co. The Weddington/Marvin/Waxhaw areas are great places to raise kids
This area is loaded with transplants, I'm sad to say the only southern accent I hear is our new friend from Tennessee.
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Can o worms
