carmar

My 23 year old daughter has talked about moving to Charlotte for the past 3 years and I finally told her to stop talking and do something about it.

Since she has never been there (!) we want to visit for a weekend to make sure everything she has heard about it is true. ie; young people, lots to do, good weather, etc.

We would like to stay in a centrally located place where we can walk around to get a feel for the area. Any help with names of hotels or B & B's would be helpful.

She has a Marketing Degree and is currently working for a computer company in the Detroit area. Any ideas of the job market and housing market?

twigsbuddy

Charlotte is growing quickly into quite a cosmopolitain southern city. Many fine facilites for the arts, and profession sports. Downtown is coming alive with many nice restaurants. Traffic is becoming a hassle. I live a hour from Charlotte. Expect to experience all four seasons..even some snow although our winters are reasonalby mild. Fun city with several colleges and univerities. There are many lovely apartment and condo rentals in the city. I'd say , overall, living in Charlotte is a little more expensive than most places in our general area. Best wishes

Gretchen

Okay, I'm in Charlotte. I have a lovely daughter who is grown and gone.
Now, about charlotte.
I would suggest that whichever of you ends up planning the trip, bid on Priceline for a downtown hotel. Keep the stars high. There is a little free trolley that runs around the downtown area if you want to go further afield than walking.
The downtown area has become RIFE with very nice condos to live in if that is what she decides on--very cool. Renting for a while would be a definite good investment however.
You will want to rent a car also. Charlotte is very much auto dependent.
When you decide on the date, come back. You might want to check the Panthers schedule. There are no hotel bargains when they are playing in town.
There are good air fare sales right now from some places. Detroit might be one because NW is discounting so heavily.

mrsd2fan

My hubby and I had an oportunity to relocate to Charlotte, however, we chose Athens, GA because the traffic in Charlotte will drive you to drink. Also, you get more house for the money here in Athens, if you want a newer home in Charlotte, you'd have to have one that is 5 inches from your neighbors home.

cd

Our daughter lived in Charlotte for 4-5 years. We enjoyed visiting as they lived in Matthews which I remember as a bedroom community. They purchased a small brick home in a middle class neighborhood and her husband and my husband put in a new kitchen. Her husband is in law enforcement and the crime at that time in downtown Charlotte was pretty bad. This was 10 years ago so don't know what it's like now but you might want to check it out. They liked the area and made good friends but wanted to move home so that the kids would grow up around their grandparents and extended family.

charlotteguy

Charlotte is a great place is your are married and have kids. If you are young and single...not so much.

Where did this daughter's love of charlotte start?

Charlotte is a nice place but traffic is getting horrible and the town becoming very expensive.

Brian_in_Charlotte

The Charlotte singles scene is quickly improving with all the young bankers and singles looking to meet young bankers. Uptown (downtown) is definitely the hotspot for this. Compared to 10 years ago, crime is a non-issue Uptown.

For an urban-loving 23-year old who doesn't detest yuppies, I'd recommend finding a place Uptown to rent and try to get a job Uptown. For a 23-year old who detests yuppies, I'd suggest looking for a place in the Elizabeth, Plaza-Midwood or NoDa neighborhoods. For a suburban, white bread 23-year old, I'd recommend the SouthPark or Ballyntine area.

Agree with the advice to use Priceline for an Uptown **** hotel, avoiding Panthers home game. On weekends though, the free "trolleys" don't run.

Gretchen

Charlotteguy--it's a pretty nice town for young people.
Ten years and a quote on crime is a bit outdated. But no doubt, we do have crime.
And San, there are some pretty nice condos downtown that might compare in price to the gentrification price of Plaza-Midwood. But this latter neighborhood and those like it are really neat for young folks starting out. Lots of confreres and neighborhood type community things. Our son lived in Chantilly--a close in to downtown gentrifying neighborhood. Their home investment doubled.
As for living 5 inches from your neighbor, you might need to look at older homes in settled neighborhoods, which Charlotte is rife with. Large lawns, winding roads, not cookie cutter lined up.
There is a great pride of home ownership/neighborhood in Charlotte in all levels of income/neighborhoods.
We are about to open our first light rail line next year and there are already positive effects on the neighborhoods that are near this.
No doubt about it, traffic is a problem--I know of no large cities that it isn't. And I know some that are a whole lot worse than Charlotte--Raleigh and Atlanta among them. I am glad for folks to find another city they are pleased with but Athens isn't Charlotte in size or scope or amenities, so it is sort of difficult to compare them.

GoTravel

I've had girlfriends migrate to Charlotte since the late 1980s because of the wonderful single life. My two stepdaughters are enjoying single life in Charlotte quite a bit right now.

Dilworth and Uptown seem to be the hip places.

ChrisMs

Charlotte is the worse city I ever lived in, crime is as high as in Chicago, the traffic is ridiculous, the people that work here have no customer skills what so ever, not a place in my opinion for a young single girl.I can't wait to move back to the midwest.This city has all the charm of a penitentiary

Gretchen

Oh, for pete's sake. With an attitude like that I can see why you would be unhappy--almost anywhere.
PLEASE tell us some specifics. Then you will be believable--or not. You often get exactly what you reflect from yourself.

SAnParis

To put some things in perspective being a yankee transplant & having lived in Charlotte for 11+ years. The traffic can be bad (mostly due to a lack of planning & infra structure) but nothing compared to the Midwest of northeast. It all becomes a function of where you want to live/work v. how much house you want v. how far/long you are willing to drive. It is a lovely city that is having growing pains (primarily) due to the lack of our politicians having a back bone. As far as crime & whatnot, those types of statistics can be obtained from a variety of places. Look them up. Charlotte is somewhat unique in that there are pockets of not so great areas immersed & surrounded by very high end properties (although that is become less & less w/all of the infill aroud Uptown). I'll also top some posts for you, this topic has been discussed a number of times. I agree w/Brian & Gretchen across the board on their comments.

SAnParis

Just type Charlotte in the search box, there are a ton of them.