I moved to Charlotte from Pittsburgh 26 years ago. I have witnessed an unbelievable amount of change and growth.

There is a growing problem with illegals in the area. Violent crime, etc.

I feel that Charlotte has weathered the economy crisis fairly well. However I have my doubts that it will remain so.

Reply

So true. I grew up In Charlotte. This city is nothing more than a land whore. It is controlled by banks and developers who care only about how many people they can entice to move here...at the taxpayer expense, not theirs. Crime and the school system are horrid. The road system is 20 years behind where it needs to be and there is no resolve in sight. Every other peson you meet here hands you a glamour photoed real estate card. Yuck.
It has eveloved into a "sell out" southern city that has started to crack. Greed has ruined this once great city. Most natives have left because it has completely lost its southern charm and character.

Reply

I lived in Charlotte for eleven years with my husband and two children, we had a good life, great neighborhood and wonderful neighbors. Even though there is nothing bad I can say about the city , it was never my kind of town. Everything looks pretty,( too pretty) and people are very polite but...so does Disney World...When I moved there I thought it could be a good experience for a year, eleven years was too much apparent perfection for my taste...for me Charlotte is a beautiful face with no soul!!!!! I live somewhere else, a very imperfect city and to tell you the truth I DONT MISS CHARLOTTE!

Reply

I am glad to see that there are more positive posts than negative posts!!!
I think that any time that something is up and coming you get a number of people who are hesitant to warm up and can be very critical. This is very obvious that this is one person's opinion and not an actual investigation by a professional research group. The writer of this article, Brett W., obviously is one of those people who is skeptical on the idea that Charlotte is a growing city that brings with it a lot of positive potential.

Ok, first Forbes ranks Charlotte #9 in violence. Now my question is out of how many cities did they do this study on? Then what did they factor in to make it #9. I have seen many different kinds of lists of cities and their violence ratings and it is always different. Then the comment on "crime is up" which I agree it is and for a reason so is the population. There are more people moving to Charlotte every year and with more people you will get some more bad people which will make..... more crime!

Now next topic is about the major employers of Charlotte. Of course Charlotte is feeling the effects of the economy and so is every where else. What was the point of throwing that in? As a matter of fact Charlotte is feeling it less than most places across the US. Where are you from, Brett, a little town in Alaska?

In the summer time it does get hot in Charlotte however while Charlotte is experiencing hot weather if you look at the rest of the nation you will find that a lot of other states are feeling very similar temperatures. The humidity is nothing to complain about. I am from Florida and if you want to complain about humidity then talk about a more southern area. As a matter of fact you can experience all four seasons in Charlotte, NC minus any large amount of snow which Charlotte would be lucky to get one to two days worth of snow.

Also, the housing market in Charlotte is great! The same house up north going for around $350k you can get for around $200k or maybe even less. Charlotte for decades has not followed suite with the rest of the nation. While the nation goes on these wild roller coaster rides up and down Charlotte goes steady. That is why the effects aren't as noticable as it is in the rest of the nation. With most of the real estate being driven by out of state people Charlotte will experience what is going on because Charlotte has to wait for them to sell their house to get there.

Lastly, the restaurants aren't overpriced! Where did you get that peice of evidence? There are many restaurants in Charlotte some are catered for the more expensive atmosphere that offers valet parking etc... then you have the middle priced restaurants which still offer a nice atmosphere maybe for like a date? Then there are lower priced menus around.

Brett, Charlotte is growing and just because it hasn't hit all of the specific criterias that other cities have already established doesn't mean that it is over rated nor a city that you should navigate people away from living. The city is growing and very rapidly. There is already a lot to offer and only more to come. So please, don't hate player!!!

Reply

I can not believe these articles. Who writes them? They are completely inadequate and unrevealing, also false. Charlotte is wonderful always has been and always will be.

Reply

Charlotte is an amazing city. It is a lot cleaner than, say New York or Chigago. Who cares about Forbes? It's all crap(sorry for my language). It's mostly(not all) old people who think they are stuck up and snotty. I love Charlotte and it beauty.

Reply

As a 3 year resident, you are overblowing the weather element (ever spent a steamy summer in Manhattan or Philly?) and just plain snobbish on the food scene- lots of good eats here. You don't need to fly much, as great beaches are 3-4 hours away and the mountains 2.

However, you are dead-right on the crime here. It is horrendous, and doesn't look likely to ebb anytime soon. In part, some of the same people who have relocated here from the NE to avoid high-taxes and crime are implementing the same failed policies that made the NE corridor so edgy.

Overall, Charlotte is pretty nice except for the virulent liberalism slowly choking the city to death.

Reply

What a hater. Spoken like a true Northerer. Growing up in Ohio I felt that I could never appreciate the South. But then I came across Hampton Roads in Virginia, a place that a lot of locals have grown to hate. Yet I love the feel of it being more of a Metropolitain area than a single city. In the Midwest, about the only time you really get that feeling is in places like Chicago or Cleveland, older cities with suburbs spread out into never never land.

You have to give the South time. I don't know about Charlotte, and had never really considered it at all, but a lot of people leave here for that city. A lot of people also leave for Atlanta but that ship sailed over 20 years ago. Housing prices are still cheaper than here though.

It would be one thing if the only people in some of the up and coming metropolis in the South were locals with narrow prejudiced and limiting views, like a lot of cities in the MIdwest still are. But when you meet more New Yorkers than you ever have before, and get to hear some of the interesting stories of those in the military that just stayed there and mix with other "transients" the town gets interesting. It is what it is, no it isn't the Northeast, and quite honestly I don't think that the South should be. It has it's own direction and it's own dues to pay, if you don't like it you can always go back home ...

Reply

I moved here in 1998 after living in NYC, Philadelphia, South NJ,and NorthEast WV. Not only is the weather wonderful(average 30's to high 40's in the winter), but the housing and taxes are lower, which gives you breathing space.The surrounding areas are great places to raise chidren, and yes, it is becoming more ethinicly deversified. I even convinced my retired parents to relocate. It might take a minute to find a job, but it is definitely worth it. If you don't like the "New South", don't go away mad, just go away, and let people make a life. It is a mid-size city, and yes there is crime, the more people that come in, you will find that crime does increase. There is a slow-down in construction, and houses are in forclousure. Traffic is manageable( definitely not like NYC or Atlanta).But the positive outweighs the negative, and if you have a job or a marketable skill, you can't go wrong.There are parks,shopping, concerts, plays, museums and resturants for every taste. Check it out !

Reply

I'm from Charlotte, N.C. And believe me Charlotte isn't overrated, and I don't see how any one can think that it is. Now to me places like Hollywood and places up north, yeah those places are overrated to me. Because that's all you hear about, it's like been there done that you know? Any who, Charlotte is a beautiful place, and there are a lot of people that have moved from up north to live down here. I'm not talking junk about up north but if our crime rate is up it's because of people that aren't from here. They always talk junk about us, saying we are slow...but if we are soo freaking slow why do people from all around come here. Like I said in my opinion Charlotte is a very beautiful place and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. If people have such issues with Charlotte, then why are you still here? Go back to where you come from since we have no character, and are all around bad people. What's keeping you here? Oh let's see, maybe because the weather, it's cheaper to live here then where you are from...oh yeah your job brought you here. Well I have the solution for that, quit that job and get another one that will let you stay in the beautiful city and state that you are from. Like people say, don't mess with Texas, heck don't mess with Charlotte, NC. Go away we don't won't you, now if that seems discourteous or rude to you then by all means peace out! We are very nice people done here, and if you do run into some of us that aren't soo nice then chances are those people really don't come from here, or they have run into too many people such as your self that have for lack of a better word pissed them off. So they naturally re-act, what else do you expect? I just hate when people bad mouth something they really know nothing about. If you have experienced Charlotte and have issues, then like I asked before what's keeping you? Go away, wow this is crazy. Sure we have our share of issues like any other city, but what really makes us soo bad that you would talk junk about us? Living here, did it not take care of you and your family? I'm sorry just going on and on, you think what you think. You have the right to your own opinion as well as I do. And I gave mine, so I bid you a good night.
Smooches

Reply

My husband and I moved to Charlotte from the DC area, a little over 6 years ago. You wanna talk about crime...read the Washington Post. We took the opportunity to move to Charlotte for several reasons, one being the difference in cost of living. Had we not moved here, we would not have been able to afford our first home (which we just purchased a few months ago), nor been afforded many of the great opportunities this city has to offer. Sure there are drawbacks, but those same drawbacks are seen most everywhere across the country. Yes crime is growing, but due to the economic strife, I believe it's growing everywhere and it's certainly not nearly as bad as some areas. The city is growing, perhaps a little too fast, but I like that there is so much to do, within a short distance.
Moving to Charlotte was the best thing for us. It's a great city, great people, and great opportunity for everyone. I'm proud to call myself a "Charlottian." It's a GREAT city.

Reply

It seems that all cities go through a growth period, unless their small 100 citizens reject growth and change. With this process of GROWTH, new people come...some are bad, and some are good. I believe there are more morally wrong people in the world than morally right, now. Times have changed, and people are looking for doing the least amount of work, or paying the least amount for something, and get the best of everything in return. With this mentality, growth causes greed... Naturally, people FLOCK to growing areas where you can buy a house for $140K and sell it 5 years from now for $300K or more... Who wouldn't want to do that? Guess what, people...? You now have to take your $300K and buy another house...and unless you are moving to another small town, and waiting for it to grow, you are going to be buying the same-sized house, for $300K, it will just be new. What? You thought your house was the only house that was going up in property value? Reallllly.

While growth brings people--again, good and bad--it also brings diversity, new ideas, more and better-paying jobs, profiting companies, etc. GOOD and BAD. The article was focusing on the bad to prove a point...It's not all good, in Charlotte...and that's true.

I don't think this article was saying Charlotte is a horrible place. I think they were saying that crime is up and it is experiencing a large amount of growth that is causing changes. Crime is up in a lot of newly up-and-coming cities, it just seems that Charlotte is on it's cusp, much like Atlanta was a few years ago. They both have great climate, lots of things to do, inexpensive housing, within hours of beaches to vacation, as well as lots of good-paying jobs. So, before all you NC residents get all huffy and puffy, re-read the article. It's not saying don't move there, because it sucks. It's basing it's "infomercial" of an article on facts and statistics. With the Presidential Campaign among us, lets think about where that gets us?

I quote: "Is Charlotte the worst city in America? Of course not, but the "Queen City" seems to have taken on a near mythical status, particularly on the East Coast, where it is portrayed as a place where home prices always go up, the job market is strong and youl have all the amenities of a major city, with none of the negatives. Riiight."

Outweigh the PROS and CONS, before you back up, and if it sounds good or better than your current situation, move! It says don't pack up your house and move there, just because you heard it's roses and butterflies from a magazine article (much like this one). Get ALL the facts... The grass is ALWAYS greener, but EVERY city has good and bad.

And, I just want to end this with a note. I mentioned before that I live in Atlanta--not a suburb, and I don't just claim to live in the city, but really 40 miles out... . I moved to GA in 1988, and lived in a suburb, in Forsyth County. It was a beautiful place, and Atlanta was on it's way to being a little NY City with southern charm. I knew Atlanta, when it was being talked about, just like Charlotte, in all the magazines. It was great. I moved to VA Beach, in 2003... I missed GA so much, I moved back, in 2007. Since then, there has been an OBSCENE amount of growth, in crime. Not just any crime...Murder and violent crimes. My husband is a DeKalb Co. police officer (coming up on 10 years)--one of the worst crime-ridden areas of Atlanta, and beats it's record EVERY year (for a while now) for Murders...He came home, one day, and said..."I think I am going to start carrying my gun." That's a message to Charlotte. Maybe they can make changes, to their growing city, before it's too late. Atlanta didn't, and now they have a shortage of officers, all over--but, mainly in the worst crime areas, and it is going to take a lot of work and effort to drive the crime away, and get Atlanta back on-track to being a "safer" city...but, it will drive crime somewhere else...It never really goes away...

On another note, I work in Midtown, and I feel safe. Naturally, there are parts of the city that you shouldn't travel if you don't belong in that neighborhood--some people shoot you, rather than call their local neighborhood watch coordinator. I think this is with any major city. Everyone wants a piece of the good life. The good outweighs the bad, to me, here...and I'm going to stay.

Reply