Thinking of making a move.

[Neylus]

Pay particular attention to those whose have lived in both and not the biased majority. Both areas have experienced major quality of life improvements over the last 10-20 years. As mentioned earlier both Raleigh and Charlotte are all over national best cities list so there's a wealth of info out there. 

[RealBitsOfPanther]

I went to college in Raleigh and absolutely LOVE the city and the surrounding area, so I'm a bit biased. Don't get me wrong, I love Charlotte and have a blast every time im there, but there's just something about Raleigh. I'm from Wilmington and go to Charlotte quite a bit for Panther games and other shenanigans. I can't wait to eventually move back to the triangle once I save enough money to get out of the shithole that is Jacksonville. 

 

Have you been to either one in person? 

[Towelboy]

I grew up in Matthews, a suburb of Charlotte, moved to Mooresville north of Charlotte near Lake Norman, attended college in Asheville, then moved to the Ballantyne area in SE Charlotte, then to Steel Creek area of SW Charlotte, and currently reside in Rock Hill, SC - south of the city. All places have their perks.

Matthews has good schools and is a family community. However, the Mecklenburg County taxes and traffic are not great. Mooresville is a nice place to visit if you like boating, however the traffic is ATROCIOUS. Asheville is a wonderful place to visit, but the jobs are scarce and the cost of living is OUTRAGEOUS. Ballantyne has some high end real estate, good schools and restaurants, but some of the snottiest people I've met in the South and terrible traffic. Steel Creek area is close to the city and airport and is relatively cheap. We left because of the Charlotte and Mecklenburg County taxes. My wife is from Fort Mill, SC - right over the border. This area is growing exponentially. The schools are great, but as the town continues to grow, the infrastructure will not be able to keep up. Finally, Rock Hill. RH is the largest town in York County. As mentioned before, the taxes are lower, and you are only 30 minutes from uptown Charlotte. The commute is bad if there is an accident or if you leave later than 7:00 or in the evening after 5:00. The schools aren't great and the jobs in town are blue collar, however, with the short commute to Charlotte and the cheaper cost of living, we are happy here.

My vote would be the Charlotte area, out of Mecklenburg County. You are 2 hours from the mountains and 3 hours from the beach. The job market is good and the cost of living is reasonable. Plus, you have the Panthers, Hornets, and minor league baseball (Knights)/hockey (Checkers) in town as well.

[MGH1989]

From Charlotte (Cornelius/Huntersville), but currently in Cary/Raleigh area while I'm in law school. I like both and it depends on what you are looking for. Both are great places to raise a family and both have a lot of things to do. From a very uneducated point of view I think Raleigh might be better for jobs with RTP, which seems to fit more with what you do. I personally like Charlotte better and plan to move back after I'm done with school. For someone in their 20's I think there is a lot more of a downtown (or uptwon) scene in Charlotte compared to Raleigh and I like having the ability to go to a Hornets or Panthers game whenever  I want, although the Hurricanes are cool. Charlotte also has Lake Norman and Lake Wylie, but Raleigh is only a short 2 hour trip on I40 to Willmy, which is awesome if you wanna take a weekend trip to the beach. Traffic is a bitch for both if you plan on commuting to downtown Raleigh or uptown Charlotte. TBH you won't go wrong either way, it really a matter of preference and you should visit both before you make a decision.  

[Montsta]

Are Mountain Island Lake or Lake Norman nice places to live? And how long would it take to get to Downtown Charlotte from there?

[TheMaulClaw]

15 hours ago, EgoDogg said:

Two votes for  fortmill / tega cay means I'll be taking a look! Thanks! Any idea how job opportunities are in that area? Never heard of it.

It's pretty much Charlotte South Carolina.  Growing very quickly.  Lot of businesses like to skip across that state line.  

[Darth Biscuit]

13 hours ago, facelessman07 said:

WILMINGTON!

Why? 

Cuz it's by the beach

 

No

 

12 hours ago, cookinbrak said:

Stay away from Wilmington. We got enough transplants telling us how great it is up North.

What he said.  Move to Charlotte, cheer for the Panthers, come down here once a year and leave us your money.

[Montsta]

23 minutes ago, Darth Biscuit said:

No

 

What he said.  Move to Charlotte, cheer for the Panthers, come down here once a year and leave us your money.

My brother lived in Wilmington. Then Wake Forest, now he lives in Zebulon. 

[thefuzz]

Of the towns in NC that I would live in, you have mentioned 2 of them.

 

Wilmington

Raleigh

Charlotte

Asheville

 

I like each of them, but prefer them in the order above.  Going to 8ish home games per year isn't all that interesting to me, but I get why people love it.

Personally, I prefer the boating, fishing, beach scene in ILM.  From April through October I'm on my boat 4 days a week after work, and making runs to Beaufort, Bald Head, and Downtown is kinda my thing right now.  Charlotte seems too "clean" for me, all new buildings, all trendy restaurants, etc....I like a little more history in my life.  Raleigh has the best job market, and is the only "college town" in NC.

Asheville is awesome, but the tourism, and lack of job market would make it tough on me.

[Ivan The Awesome]

If you're looking for a house, let me know. I have buddies in the Mortage business that can help you out. 

 

If you're looking for Tacos, I have buddies in the food truck business that can help you out as well. 

 

 

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

I have lived a number of places in NC but Wilmington was by far my favorite.  Plan on moving back there one day.

[PhillyB]

5 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

I live in the Greensboro area, but growth is tepid here at the moment.

what? no way dude we're blowing up right now. the gate city blvd reinvestment corridor is just gonna keep bring big events in town and infusing the local economy with big chunks of cash and ppl will keep coming to the area for school and sticking around. marty kotis keeps dumping massive amounts of money into investments here for a reason.

winston and high point have stagnated but greensboro... not so.

[Khyber53]

23 minutes ago, PhillyB said:

what? no way dude we're blowing up right now. the gate city blvd reinvestment corridor is just gonna keep bring big events in town and infusing the local economy with big chunks of cash and ppl will keep coming to the area for school and sticking around. marty kotis keeps dumping massive amounts of money into investments here for a reason.

winston and high point have stagnated but greensboro... not so.

You know, you're right, there is a lot of hope and happening here at the moment. I'm going to hold my opinion on the Kotis development, but there are some things that I feel good about. HondaJet is going to be huge over the next decade and we're really just seeing the tip of the iceberg on it. The development in the 2nd District, Revolution Mills area is spot on, I believe, too. I also feel that the city needs to make a bigger push to play up the FedEx and UPS hubs here, especially for recruiting internet retail/catalog based companies. 

All the parts are here, if we can just put them carefully together... And it sure can be a pretty town.

[PhillyB]

7 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

You know, you're right, there is a lot of hope and happening here at the moment. I'm going to hold my opinion on the Kotis development, but there are some things that I feel good about. HondaJet is going to be huge over the next decade and we're really just seeing the tip of the iceberg on it. The development in the 2nd District, Revolution Mills area is spot on, I believe, too. I also feel that the city needs to make a bigger push to play up the FedEx and UPS hubs here, especially for recruiting internet retail/catalog based companies. 

All the parts are here, if we can just put them carefully together... And it sure can be a pretty town.

yeah i'm no fan of kotis lol