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Charlotte is my hometown. I actually considered moving back after 5 years in Seattle doing the FAANG thing, but it's not really comparable to other big cities i

Charlotte is my hometown. I actually considered moving back after 5 years in Seattle doing the FAANG thing, but it's not really comparable to other big cities in some ways. It's still a great place for the right type of person, but I wouldn't have been happy there. I ended up taking my remote job with a Seattle-salary to Raleigh instead, and am really digging it. The main issues I had with Charlotte are: - The banker culture downtown is too formal - The live music scene is in a bad spot (the gentrification of the southend area + NoDa killed off the best venues) - Calling any neighborhood "Walkable" is kind of a stretch. It would be hard to live in Charlotte without a car. Even downtown is littered with huge blocks of parking lots. It really kind of terrible to walk down those blocks in the summer due to the heat and lack of shade. But it's still a pretty solid place with lots of opportunity, even if it's not everyone's scene. Also, the light rail has been a great addition to the city and the walkability issue around rail stations is definitely improving.

BoorishBears 7y ago
I moved to Durham last year, which outsiders consider to be part of Raleigh-Durham (despite them being separated by almost 2hrs of traffic at peaks). I hate the Triangle and am already leaving. A particularly nasty type of sprawl here, out of control real-estate market, serious crime problems, no proper "downtown" where you can live and walk to everything you need, hours away from mountains or beaches. The crime is what really angers me, maybe Raleigh is better off, but both Durham and Charlotte manage to be less safe than the worst parts of most cities, which is incredible to me considering just how many people seem to be selling the area as great for families and "settling down". I actually considered Charlotte for having more of a "downtown", but decided to leave the South. The weather is marginally better than where I came the Northeast, the heat is worse and I feel more oppressive. And sure my tax burden is reduced... but so is my salary. There's tons of traffic in both places, but in CT a lot of my daily traffic was to one of the most incredible cities in the world, and here it's traffic between multiple clusters of suburban sprawl caused by underinvestment in infrastructure. The culture outside the triangle is lukewarm at best, I'm black and enjoy visiting the mountains, but the number of confederate flags seems to have a very strong correlation to the elevation I'm at... I don't know, maybe I'm just salty I fell for the hype, but I really see no redeeming value for coming to this part of the country.
- selimthegrim 7y ago
  Did you give NOLA a second look? You might be surprised these days...
  - non-entity 7y ago
    Doesnt NOLA have an insanely high crime rate itself?
    - selimthegrim 7y ago
      See his remarks about cultural richness.
- sudosteph 7y ago
  Durham is getting better in many ways, but it earned it's reputation for crime in some neighborhoods there. I never seriously considered living there for that reason alone. It's weird how it gets lumped in with Raleigh for everything. I live in downtown Raleigh, and it is seriously one of the safest places I've ever experienced. Even though Seattle was mostly safe on paper, there were so many homeless people who would yell death threats at random people, assault people, and engage in straight up harassing behavior in public places like buses, I soon became uncomfortable walking alone even in the day time hours. I don't feel that way about Raleigh or Charlotte. The crime in Charlotte really didn't seem that bad to me. I lived in a affordable part of north Charlotte, but the worst things we had in 18 years were 2 car break-ins and someone stealing a grill from the backyard. A neighbor got burglarized when they were out of town once. I never experienced or even witnessed physical violence or threats, never knew a person who has been attacked or robbed with a weapon, though it happened especially to people dealing drugs or doing other illicit stuff. If you like CT that's great, but I definitely think Charlotte and Raleigh are nice places to live and are good alternatives to west coast cities for the cost. Sorry that your experience didn't match up to your high expectations.
  - BoorishBears 7y ago
    Downtown Raleigh is also 1 square mile with barely anyone living in it... and the moment you leave it's just more suburban sprawl. I would never in a million years compare it to Seattle if I wanted "downtown living", they're not the same type of city. But I am glad to hear it at least has less crime. Charlotte on the other hand was one of the US's most deadly cities a couple of years back, and this year is one of the most violent in over a decade so it is really bad. - But yeah... I wouldn't say it's fair to write it off as a case of high expectations, every city is a balancing act. I've lived in cities that had comparable crime to Durham that did not leave me unhappy, the problem is enduring that crime should have some benefit, maybe there's great natural resources nearby, or salaries are very high and you can afford to live in a "good neighborhood" or some strong cultural richness. This area has none of that. If you're looking for a 1sq mile downtown, there are so many options, if you're looking for suburban sprawl as far as the eye can see, there's tons of options for that too. So I ask myself, why is this specific area of the country experiencing a massive influx of people along with matching insane real-estate hikes, and worsening traffic? What culture is there? What special entertainment? What natural attractions? And I come up empty. Durham especially just boggles the mind, it's growing like it has none of these glaring issues. At least other cities I lived in had "good" areas, this is like a warzone: https://i.imgur.com/dfEPqgi.png https://i.imgur.com/dfEPqgi.png Maybe you can argue Raleigh is inoffensive enough to get a pass, but it's not just Raleigh seeing all these people, Durham and Charlotte are too. My comment wasn't about how much I love CT, if I loved it so much I wouldn't have left. But its about what else is out there. Cities like Austin and Miami have a lot of the pains this area of the country has... but way more culture at least, more entertainment, more options for people who prefer living in a "real" downtown. Some actual justifications for the very real problems they have.
non-entity 7y ago
Honestly during my last job search, I had a lot of recruiters try an contact me about jobs in Charlotte (was living in SC at the time and Charlotte was the closest 1 million+ metro) but ultimately decided not to pursue anything there. Primarily, it just seems like one of the dullest, most sterile city even when compared to other southern cities like Atlanta, Nashville, etc. It seems like a fine place if you're getting older and looking to settle down / have a family / buy a house, etc., but not for a young single guy. Ironically I ended up taking a job in a tiny city / large town in Florida which is likely worse, but I just wanted a break from the South-proper scene. I'm kinda regretting it tbh, because at the least moving to Charlotte would have exposed me to the Finance industry which I could bounce off of to land myself in pretty high paying roles later in life, but I think my next job search I'm going to leave the south altogether.

BoorishBears 7y ago

I moved to Durham last year, which outsiders consider to be part of Raleigh-Durham (despite them being separated by almost 2hrs of traffic at peaks). I hate the Triangle and am already leaving. A particularly nasty type of sprawl here, out of control real-estate market, serious crime problems, no proper "downtown" where you can live and walk to everything you need, hours away from mountains or beaches. The crime is what really angers me, maybe Raleigh is better off, but both Durham and Charlotte manage to be less safe than the worst parts of most cities, which is incredible to me considering just how many people seem to be selling the area as great for families and "settling down". I actually considered Charlotte for having more of a "downtown", but decided to leave the South. The weather is marginally better than where I came the Northeast, the heat is worse and I feel more oppressive. And sure my tax burden is reduced... but so is my salary. There's tons of traffic in both places, but in CT a lot of my daily traffic was to one of the most incredible cities in the world, and here it's traffic between multiple clusters of suburban sprawl caused by underinvestment in infrastructure. The culture outside the triangle is lukewarm at best, I'm black and enjoy visiting the mountains, but the number of confederate flags seems to have a very strong correlation to the elevation I'm at... I don't know, maybe I'm just salty I fell for the hype, but I really see no redeeming value for coming to this part of the country.

selimthegrim 7y ago
Did you give NOLA a second look? You might be surprised these days...
- non-entity 7y ago
  Doesnt NOLA have an insanely high crime rate itself?
  - selimthegrim 7y ago
    See his remarks about cultural richness.
sudosteph 7y ago
Durham is getting better in many ways, but it earned it's reputation for crime in some neighborhoods there. I never seriously considered living there for that reason alone. It's weird how it gets lumped in with Raleigh for everything. I live in downtown Raleigh, and it is seriously one of the safest places I've ever experienced. Even though Seattle was mostly safe on paper, there were so many homeless people who would yell death threats at random people, assault people, and engage in straight up harassing behavior in public places like buses, I soon became uncomfortable walking alone even in the day time hours. I don't feel that way about Raleigh or Charlotte. The crime in Charlotte really didn't seem that bad to me. I lived in a affordable part of north Charlotte, but the worst things we had in 18 years were 2 car break-ins and someone stealing a grill from the backyard. A neighbor got burglarized when they were out of town once. I never experienced or even witnessed physical violence or threats, never knew a person who has been attacked or robbed with a weapon, though it happened especially to people dealing drugs or doing other illicit stuff. If you like CT that's great, but I definitely think Charlotte and Raleigh are nice places to live and are good alternatives to west coast cities for the cost. Sorry that your experience didn't match up to your high expectations.
- BoorishBears 7y ago
  Downtown Raleigh is also 1 square mile with barely anyone living in it... and the moment you leave it's just more suburban sprawl. I would never in a million years compare it to Seattle if I wanted "downtown living", they're not the same type of city. But I am glad to hear it at least has less crime. Charlotte on the other hand was one of the US's most deadly cities a couple of years back, and this year is one of the most violent in over a decade so it is really bad. - But yeah... I wouldn't say it's fair to write it off as a case of high expectations, every city is a balancing act. I've lived in cities that had comparable crime to Durham that did not leave me unhappy, the problem is enduring that crime should have some benefit, maybe there's great natural resources nearby, or salaries are very high and you can afford to live in a "good neighborhood" or some strong cultural richness. This area has none of that. If you're looking for a 1sq mile downtown, there are so many options, if you're looking for suburban sprawl as far as the eye can see, there's tons of options for that too. So I ask myself, why is this specific area of the country experiencing a massive influx of people along with matching insane real-estate hikes, and worsening traffic? What culture is there? What special entertainment? What natural attractions? And I come up empty. Durham especially just boggles the mind, it's growing like it has none of these glaring issues. At least other cities I lived in had "good" areas, this is like a warzone: https://i.imgur.com/dfEPqgi.png https://i.imgur.com/dfEPqgi.png Maybe you can argue Raleigh is inoffensive enough to get a pass, but it's not just Raleigh seeing all these people, Durham and Charlotte are too. My comment wasn't about how much I love CT, if I loved it so much I wouldn't have left. But its about what else is out there. Cities like Austin and Miami have a lot of the pains this area of the country has... but way more culture at least, more entertainment, more options for people who prefer living in a "real" downtown. Some actual justifications for the very real problems they have.

non-entity 7y ago

Honestly during my last job search, I had a lot of recruiters try an contact me about jobs in Charlotte (was living in SC at the time and Charlotte was the closest 1 million+ metro) but ultimately decided not to pursue anything there. Primarily, it just seems like one of the dullest, most sterile city even when compared to other southern cities like Atlanta, Nashville, etc. It seems like a fine place if you're getting older and looking to settle down / have a family / buy a house, etc., but not for a young single guy. Ironically I ended up taking a job in a tiny city / large town in Florida which is likely worse, but I just wanted a break from the South-proper scene. I'm kinda regretting it tbh, because at the least moving to Charlotte would have exposed me to the Finance industry which I could bounce off of to land myself in pretty high paying roles later in life, but I think my next job search I'm going to leave the south altogether.