Thinking of moving to Charlotte or Raleigh from CA

[Sean_CLT]

Yes, they are. I've lived in both.

[tomme12]

Both locations seem to have its pros/cons. Being in consulting, id imagine I would jump between the two cities quite often, but call home with either depending on schools, housing and convenience. Sean basically hit it. narrowing down to a neighborhood.
Anyone know what the top schools are in Charlotte? I assume its where the more expensive neighborhoods are correct?

[GSP101]

Originally Posted by Sean_CLT

Yes, they are. I've lived in both.

First, both areas are nice places to live, just depends on what you want. But, it depends on how liberal your definition is of "similar" as to how close in size the areas are. I know the argument is to combine Raleigh and Durham and then compare that CSA with Charlotte's MSA, not exactly a "like" comparison. I am not sure what the exact numbers are but, CSA to CSA is about a 400k difference (maybe 500k), Charlotte being roughly 25% larger.

In any case, most folks would be happy in either area. If you are coming from the bay area, neither city will seem large.

[AmandaEve011]

I think you'll like Charlotte better. It's may not be a larger city compared to what you are used to, but it will be larger when comparing it to Raleigh. It has more to do as far as sporting events, larger uptown feel, and a larger city in itself. Also - the pricing for housing is not cheaper than Raleigh...clearly they have no idea what they are talking about...I always find it funny because when people make an overall assumption of Charlotte they are basing it off their opinion of one area of Charlotte that they may have visited, what you don't know is that Charlotte is a very large city (the size) with a lot of different areas to live. I have lived here over 3 years now and I still don't feel like I know all the different areas of Charlotte and what each one has to offer. It's one thing I love about Charlotte is the variety of areas.

Most of South Charlotte is not "cheap" and you can most definitely find a nice home for 600-800k but trust me there are a lot more homes that cost a lot more than that. I would say you need to definitely look at the Marvin/Waxhaw area & Ballantyne and Blakeney area which have great school district and still a stones throw from everything you need and would want.

I was dead set on moving to Raleigh when I was looking to move to NC from NY and thank God we looked at Charlotte at the last minute because we ended up choosing Charlotte and I am so happy that we did. Raleigh is a nice city with plenty to do and love, but Charlotte has a much better "overall" package....

Good luck!