Thinking about moving to Charlotte or Raleigh area (Greensboro, Durham: appointed, transplants)
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Family of four moving from Syracuse to Charlotte, seeking information on family friendly areas, job outlook for management, retail, call center employment
My family and I are thinking about moving to Charlotte but as a northerner, I have no idea if that is good place to raise our family.
Right now, we live in Syracuse NY but my husband grew up in Souther NJ and I grew up in Phila, PA and Southern NJ. For me, I need to be close to(if not within) a decent size city. Honestly, Syracuse is too small for my taste and there is almost nothing to do here unless you want to go downtown and hang out at a bar - not my style anymore. I have two kids that would be moving with us - a teenager (13) and a 2 year old and again, almost nothing for them to do here.
My husband has many years management experience but it currently working in retail. I have almost 15 years experience in customer service (mostly call centers) experience. I was told that since I need to be near a city, that Charlotte/Raleigh-Durham/Greensboro would be best for me.
If anyone can share any information that would help me find out which area might be best for us, would be greatly appreciated. I can't take the cold winters and the tons of snow much longer.
Such a lovely question. I grew up in NY State and am now in the Charlotte, NC, area. It's a beautiful place, not much snow. People are generally friendly and helpful, and some of the surrounding areas (like Union County) have very nice neighborhoods with good school systems and lower taxes.
The weather will be a shock because it really gets warm in the summer. Winter seems cold probably because of a little higher humidity than you are used to. Snow is nearly a no-show the 4+ years I have been here. Spring is like a wonderland. I think someone passed a law that every street has to have some trees and flowers blooming their hears out then. Just beautiful!
O you might get teased for being a yankee but I haven't really found that to be a problem. When I first moved South 25 years ago, I couldn't get over the culture shock. For example, I thought I could walk into a store and buy something and leave. NUPE! You have to chat first with the sales people and the cashier. Maybe that won't be your experience, but it was a surprise to me. Life does seem slower in the south, but if you are in business, probably not. There are lots of things to do around here. Symphony, museums, theatres, sports all over the place. Restaurants are good and plentiful. Your children will have plenty to do also. There is a "Discovery" science place "uptown" for the little ones that is very good.
Well, that's all I can think of right now. Good luck. Any more questions, I can try to help, but posters here are very helpful.
Thank you for the information. I will be honest, I'm counting the days until I can get out of Syracuse.
No snow - wonderful. The humidity might bother me a bit but as long as I have AC, I don't see a big problem.
I hope you don't mind me asking but do you regret moving down there? I've read so many threads about how much people hate it down there because they are too laid back, don't want change or are racist.
We are friendly people and would welcome the change, chatting with a cashier or sales person - too many negative people up here sometimes. Can you suggest a specific website to help us make an educated decision. Also, how is the economy? I know I won't make "city" money but it is really that different? I make less in Syracuse then I ever did in NJ, close but still so different.
Any websites that you might be able to offer or specific neighborhoods to look for would be great. We will need to rent for a while - preferrably a small 3 bedroom house or nice apartment (not in a complex) if possible. What is the rent like? Right now we have a 3 bedroom flat with fireplace & office for $775 - is Charlotte comparable?
I have only been to Syracuse once but I've lived in Philly so I will try to compare Charlotte to Philly.
The summers down here are like the ones in Philly, hot and humid! The weather in Philly is very similar to the weather in Charlotte except it may be a few degrees warmer here and we don't get much snow. Just about every place has central AC and heat which is great! In Philly every place where I lived had a wall unit for the AC. I love central air!
Racism isn't any worse down here people are just more vocal about it. I've lived all over the country and world and racism is everywhere and one place isn't any worse than the other so don't think we are all racist here. I think it is just a bad stereotype. It's not any worse here than anywhere else although racism is always a horrible thing.
I never really noticed whether people are chatty here but I guess they are. I have been to the mall before and had total strangers sit down on the same bench next to me and basically tell me their whole life story LOL! BTW, not every cashier will chat with you or expect you to have a conversation but most are very polite and will speak to you in a warm and friendly tone. People are really friendly down here, moreso in small towns than in Charlotte IMHO but they are still friendly in CLT too.
Everything is green here it seems. After spending the winter in PHL I came down to CLT to visit still during the winter and even in the winter everything looked green in CLT. It's not so dreary. In the Spring it is absolutely gorgeous here!
You should look for a house to rent since we don't really have small apartment buildings in Charlotte, mostly big apartment complexes. The few apartment buildings I have seen aren't very desirable places to live. It's totally different from PHL. A 3 BR house or apartment in a nice, safe area will be more than $775 though.
You should seriously come down here to visit to get a feel for the area.
BTW, I had a hard time adjusting to Charlotte and it took me moving away back to Philly before I began to truly appreciate and love Charlotte. Most adapt much sooner though I'm sure. I hope I never have to return to Philly except to visit!
I can't say I regret moving to the south, but only because now that I have lived in nearly a half dozen states, I appreciate the perspective it gives me. I suppose it really depends on what you are looking for. I have been homesick for all the years I have been down here, but have made some wonderful friends, too.
If you don't like snow, you may wonder why you waited so long. Really, nothing is forever, anyway. If you change your mind, there are other options.
I can't tell you about wages or cost of living, but if you want to live someplace in a nice area, $775 doesn't sound like it's going to do it.
Hopefully someone can give you a better idea of costs in certain areas. You'll spend most of your money for AC in the summer, though! That depends on the space you have and the insulation, etc.
You will see some racism. It's hard to take, but IMHO it's better ignored unless someone is in danger because people like that aren't going to change their minds. You can choose who you associate with, mostly.
Sorry, I don't know any websites that would help you, but sooner or later someone will post with more info for you!!
As far as I know, the economy is pretty good here, and the housing market is one of the best in the country for holding value. I expect to sell my home in a few months and will probably lose some, but not drastically.
Keep checking back for more posters. If I can chime in again, I will.
Gee. This post has been read 75 times and I am the only one to reply? I'm surprised!
Well, I've been following it - but not responding because I thought the op wanted info from fellow "yankees", not necessarily from the resident southerners
Since you asked for input I guess I'll jump in...
My thoughts are that since the op is coming from a city the size of about 150,000 and wants a bigger city with more to do she would find what she wants in either Charlotte or Raleigh - which are both much larger. The key would be to research each to see where the jobs in her field are most likely to be found right now. She needs to understand that our job market is very tight at the moment, so she should chose a city based on availability of jobs. Our weather here in Charlotte is only slightly less snowy and icy in the winter than Raleigh, but either city would be a huge improvement over Syracruse - maybe 8 inches of snow a year in Raleigh and 3-6 inches a year in Charlotte. Both cities have much to offer and neither is a better choice than the other in my book
We were at the same crossroads about two years ago.
We lived in NoNew Jersey and knew we wanted out and fast, since our oldest child was already in middle school.
Like you, we were interested in Raleigh, since we had many friends that live there and love living there. We started to do research and visited Raleigh several times.
I did not take to Raleigh very well. It just felt like there was something missing there, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.
A relative suggested that we look into Charlotte instead. Frankly, we didn't even have Charlotte on our "move-to radar". But since we were midly disappointed in the city of Raleigh, we decided to give Charlotte a look.
We flew down, spent a few days in and around Charlotte and LOVED the place, it's people, the incredibly beautiful surroundings, etc.
Now we had to start our research anew.
We figured out quickly which area around Charlotte (there are many options) we were more drawn to, found ourselves a reputable realtor, found a home and moved.
We love living in Charlotte and our children never looked back.
One more tip...(or rant)...
Although our story sounds simple and easy....it wasn't.
The move and decision about where to move to was easy, but the job searches were NOT!
Please, anyone who is contemplating this type of move, know that finding a "decent" job here (and in Raleigh for that matter) is not easy right now.
Although the unemployment rates may seem a little lower in these two cities, there are many, many people currently registered as unemployed in other states, now living in Charlotte and Raleigh, desperately looking for jobs. I am constantly hearing stories of transplants looking for jobs.
Please don't be fools (like we were) and move w/o jobs. Luckily, we had a sizeable nest-egg that we were able to draw from, until jobs became available. (We also moved before the economy started to tank.)
There are plenty of people around here, that aren't so lucky.
Do your research, come and visit, FIND A JOB FIRST and then move.
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Just beautiful!
