Charlotte or Atlanta

[skilletnice]

i work in the financial services field as an analyst. i would hope i would be able to land something fairly descent out there.

any subdivisions to specifically look at? we want that nice community feel.....

[Sugacoles]

Originally Posted by pinkpocketbooks

I moved to Charlotte from Atlanta. In Atlanta I was single and had a blast. It just seems like a great place to be young and single. I moved to Charlotte and married shortly after. To me, Charlotte seems like a better fit for a more family lifestyle.

I have to ask, did you know the person prior to moving to Charlotte?

Thanks.

[Burgi]

One thing to consider before you move to Atlanta is how much you enjoy sitting in your car!

[compelled to reply]

Neither, but if I was forced, Charlotte. I'm much more partial to Raleigh and Houston (even with that ugliness due to the lack of zoning laws, FREEDOM!!!!) as far as southern boom towns go myself. Every time I ask a person who moves from some place else (I have known people from NY/NJ area, South FL, and Texas do it, some unsatisfied, most satisfied) to Atlanta or Charlotte and talks about how much better it was than point A., they can't really cite me any reasons.

I see nobody has brought up safety, so Ill send some statistics and personal experiences.

Charlotte ranks as one of the 25 most dangerous metropolitan areas in the country, but everyone tells me about how safe it is. So who knows. Atlanta didn't make that list though, but the city proper ranks 10th most dangerous for it's size. Charlotte ranks 8th.

City Crime Rankings by Population Group

I personally never feel far from a slum in Atlanta. There are little pockets of ghettos and illegal immigrants all over metro Atlanta. Charlotte never feels unsafe to me, but if you watch the news there it's pretty crazy.

As far as a family environment though, Charlotte still offers a lot in some areas, especially for the cost of living and the kind of pay you get over there, although median incomes up there are stagnant. Atlanta has some nice family oriented places too, like a lot of Gwwinett County.

[vanyali]

You should really look at Cary/Apex, outside of Raleigh, before looking at Charlotte.

Cary really has good schools. Charlotte has horrible schools that people try to pretend are good enough because they're already stuck sending their kids there. The school district made a big deal about a year ago of bringing in an outsider to fix the school board, but so far it's been just as dysfunctional as ever.

Crime in Cary is almost non-existent. My sister's boyfriend works at a shop in Cary, and a girl came in the other day and told him about her boyfriend who tried to rob someone and was now on his way to jail. A few days later, a policeman came in his shop and told him the same story from the other side. This is because absolutely no other crimes had gone on to talk about.

By contrast, just in the short time I've been living in an upscale neighborhood in South Charlotte, my car has been broken into more times than I can count, a meth-junkie clawed his way through the roof of a nearby store, and an old woman was raped in her house a few blocks away.


For jobs, Cary is near the Research Triangle Park, the state capital of Raleigh, and Duke and UNC Chapel Hill universities. There's a lot of work there in civil engineering and the building trades too, since the place is so new they're still adding infrastructure as far as I know.

There's still a lot of speculation going on in Charlotte housing (I can count half a dozen builder tear-downs in my neighborhood alone) so you should be careful buying a house in Charlotte anytime soon.

[vanyali]

As a financial analyst, you're really looking at two main employers, Wachovia and B of A. Charlotte is not like New York, where you can just step into a finance/banking job at any time, no problem. These banks are the big gorillas here, and they know it. Even if they are inclined to hire you, I've known people with Ivy League degrees who were put on the back burner, or left hanging in interview limbo, for months before one of the banks finally gave them their offer. Charlotte seems like a banking city, and ranks highly by total assets and other measures like that, but the job market in that field is still relatively small.

I agree that if you don't want to spend more than $375, you should look at the surrounding counties. A lot of people I've been running into live in Ft Mill or Monroe south of the city. These places have a real rural, small-town feel. Davidson is a town north of Charlotte that has a very cute college in it, surrounded by cute old bungalows, ringed by newer, lower-priced developments, and people say the schools are good (people always say that, don't they?) Commuting into the city from either location is probably going to take you at least an hour in rush hour, I would think, though I think davidson is closer in than the other places I mentioned.

Coming in from the south, there's one main road that everyone seems to take -- Providence -- and it's congested and full of stoplights. From the North, I don't know, but I hear traffic can be just as bad.

Why are you stuck on Charlotte or Atlanta? What about DC? That's still warm and fairly sunny. Or Miami -- they have banks and beaches.

[sweettea1]

Can anyone comment on the differences on walkability between the two cities? I don't really care that Atlanta is bigger...because in my opinion, the way the city is laid out is horrific for people in terms of getting out and doing things. I hear Charlotte is much better re walkability and I'd love to hear from anyone (especially those with young families) who do what they can to avoid being in their cars. Any cottage communities that are thriving?

[jeffm1984]

Not sure about Charlotte, but if you're in downtown or midtown Atlanta it's fairly walkable now. They've done a lot to improve the walkability in recent years. Other areas of the cities still have a ways to go...as you can imagine with suburbs.

Here is a link to an msn survey of the most walkable largest cities. Atlanta came in 14 out of 30. Quite a surprise, but I guess it shows things are getting better.

D.C. region named most 'walkable' - Life - MSNBC.com

1. Washington
2. Boston
3. San Francisco
4. Denver
5. Portland, Ore.
6. Seattle
7. Chicago
8. Miami
9. Pittsburgh
10. New York
11. San Diego
12. Los Angeles
13. Philadelphia
14. Atlanta
15. Baltimore
16. St. Louis
17. Minneapolis
18. Detroit
19. Columbus, Ohio
20. Las Vegas
21. Houston
22. San Antonio
23. Kansas City, Mo.
24. Orlando, Fla.
25. Dallas
26. Phoenix
27. Sacramento, Calif.
28. Cincinnati
29. Cleveland
30. Tampa, Fla.