The Charolotte airport is bad news. Dominated by USAir, it has been reported as having the highest fares of all the major airports. Just do a little research to confirm. From New York, I can fly just about anywhere in the US to visit friends cheaper than I can fly to Charlotte to visit family.

For example, recently I flew LGA to a midwest destination, direct USAir, for $220. Direct to Charlotte from LGA, plenty in advance, I can't beat $320.

Good luck with your decision.

OOOh, I had to post. We moved to Charlotte in 1999, then to Durham and are now on our way back to Providence. Maybe I would have hated any new city when I had to relocate in 1999 and Charlotte does have some good points but I can't agree with the really pro-Charlotte boosters. I did find it homogonized and sterile. I recall articles in the newspaper about people being afraid to go "uptown" and when we went for dinner most Sat nights it did seem less than lively. I know they've built more condos etc so it might be more active now. My hubby and I are both professionals with good salaries but we could not afford to live in Dilworth, South Park or Queens BLvd area.... that leaves the developments... some nicer than others but yes, suburbia. Found some decent resturants but I did feel very isolated and like a heathen because I was not "church-goin".. And I agree about airport... it is nice and not bad to get to but expensive to fly from because USAIr keeps away the low cost carriers. And unless things have changed dramatically in 4 years.. traffic was bad and they do bulldoze alot... I saw no evidence of smart growth.

Now with that said, you might love it.. you will get more house for the money and it is definitly less stressful down in NC than the north. Yet, I also find it overall boring... My theory is that they have less access to cultural things, good resturants, festivals, historic houses etc... so what they think is wonderful or fantastic, those of us from other areas may only find to be"nice" or ok... if that makes sense.

I guess this move will depend on if you are fed up with NY and want a real change... if so, give it a try. Let us know.

"My theory is that they have less access to cultural things, good resturants, festivals, historic houses etc... so what they think is wonderful or fantastic..."

Not to be rude, but I have never heard a less accurate depiction of North Carolina, especially when I live in a city of only 70,000 people that hosts festivals nearly every month of the year, including one that draws more than 350,000 people to downtown. Plus my city of only 70,000 is home to three ballets, an opera, a sympony, half a dozen theatre companies and numerous museums including an art museum, an African-American art and history museum, a health and science museum and a gem and mineral museum. Also my small city is home to a 255-room palace whose 8,000 acre grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park. And also, my small city is home to numerous four- and five-star hotels and restaurants...

So that covers access to culture, good restaurants, festivals, and historic homes, and we didn't even touch on the "etc." such as the botanical gardens, national and state parks and forests, and more. And that's only in one city of 70,000 people. I realize that my city, Asheville, is very unique -- it wouldn't attract more than 6.5 million tourists a year if it wasn't, but when you also consider the offerings of Winston-Salem, which is another definite American capital of art and history, along with the state museums in Raleigh and the offerings of the universities in Raleigh and the other cities of the Triangle, plus Charlotte, plus Greensboro, plus other area cities like Wilmington and Charleston -- to say that the South is deprived in any respect is completely wrong.

I doubt that you spent enough time here to discover all there is to offer in the South and in North Carolina especially. We're not a backwater by any stretch of the imagination and it's a shame you didn't have time enough to find that out for yourself. North Carolina is a special state full of special places that easily have as much to offer as any place else in the nation. Do we compare to New York City? As a state, I'd say yes, but any one city wouldn't, but then again no other single city does either.

But to say we're rubes here in NC who don't have access to "cultural things, good resturants, festivals, historic houses etc..." and thus are easily amused by what we do have is, frankly, insulting as well as just plain wrong.

It's all relative. What impresses someone who's never lived elsewhere may not impress someone who has lived different places.

Hauntedheadnc, please tell us where else you have lived so we can weigh your perspective of NC's myriad cultural and culinary opportunities. (And please don't regale us with your travels -- visiting ain't the same as living.)

Oh, and by the way, the Vanderbilts were New Yorkers!

Gekko, Perhaps you'd like to do the same to support your contention that all financial and legal shops outside of NYC of cesspools of mediocrity.

haunted, while I usually agree with you, this time you have to give it up. I'm married to a man who can trace his lineage back to the begining of Asheville, I do know the town. Nice and quirky it is, world class, not. Exceptionally pretty with a lot going on? You betcha. Asheville is one of my favorite places anywhere. Period. I had my wedding reception at the Grove Park Inn (late Ian Netherway) and spent my wedding night there. I got married at The Cove.

Charlotte cannot, even remotely, compare or live up to the expectations of NYC. I spend a lot of time in NYC (all boroughs)every month. I have family in the suburbs. Charlotte has to the miniscule degree what NYC has wide open.

Charlotte has good museums, art, theater, shopping, dining, parks, business. NYC has the best in the world.

While I can appreciate your sentiments with the OP, your view is a little crowded.

Not trying to tick you off as I love NC and I think you give the best advice I've ever read about Asheville.

GoTravel, I can't speak for haunted but I don't think he was attempting to say that Charlotte or Asheville is the cultural equal of NYC. I believe he was responding to ColletteRI who characterized the area as homoginized & sterile and theorized the locals to be church goin' rubes who wouldn't know culture if it fell on them.

GoTravel, I wasn't attempting to say that either Asheville nor Charlotte compare to NYC. Read my whole post instead of just skimming, and you'd see it. I know I write a lot whenever I post but that's because there's a lot to say.

If you'd rather I save you the trouble though, here's a direct quote.

"Do we compare to New York City? As a state, I'd say yes, but any one city wouldn't, but then again no other single city does either."

Chew on that for a bit. What am I saying? I'm saying that in the entire state of NC you'd find everything you could find in New York City alone. I'm not saying that any one city in North Carolina or any one city anywhere, for that matter, is an equal to New York. But I am saying that the South is not dark side of the moon, utterly lacking in culture and probably indoor plumbing as well, as was opined by our dear forummer from Rhode Island.

I may sound peeved but that's because I am. I'll accept a healthy argument any day, but not if the person who disagrees with me didn't read what I wrote first before firing off a response. Also, it REALLY drives a spike under my nails to see the old "Beverly Hillbillies" stereotype trotted out on this forum or anywhere else. You aren't guilty of that, GoTravel, but you disagreed with a post of mine that was responding to someone who is, so pardon my testiness.

Yes, the Vanderbilts were New Yorkers, Gekko. And the Wright Brothers were Ohioans, Abraham Lincoln was from Illinois, and California's new governor is Austrian. How about that?

Unrelated, you say? Why, yes! But so was your statement that the Vanderbilts were from New York.

That was interesting. Wanting to flee the conjestion, high gas prices and high cost of living of So. Cal. Now where does a young family go to raise kids where the kids can play outside and ride bikes without getting shot at, run over or kidnapped? Where did the Waltons come from?

The Walton's Mountain Museum ins in Schuyler, VA, near where the author "Earl Hammer" grew up. Better check it out, it might have changed in the past 70 years.

I've read part of the thread but just can't do it all. Charlotte is a truly nice town and the quality of life is excellent. Traffic is bad--consider that when you are choosing your housing. Our son is a bit older than you, works at BofA. He grew up in Charlotte but the town is booming with young folks who work downtown. Atlanta it ain't THANK GOD. I met my husband in NYC and we moved to Charlotte a long time ago. There is diverse housing, as someone pointed out. And a lot of it is downtown, for your first home, perhaps. We have a symphony (unfortunately now on strike), excellent museums (two downtown--Craft+Design and Museum of the New South), antique shops, South End for designer shopping, really good restaurants. There is a mix politically--the City Council has just gone republican, County Commission has been democratic for a while until they raised the property tax 15% in one year.
The neighborhoods of Charlotte are beautiful--I live 10 minutes from downtown on arguably the most beautiful street in the city. Come down and spend some time. The ocean is 3 hours away and the mountains 2 hours.

Haunted and OBX girl... I think you are projecting some of your own issues onto my reply. First of all , it was my impression of Charlotte, right or wrong. You will notice that I also advised the poster to give it a try.. But sorry, what you think is great does largely depend on your prespective of what you've experienced before. Yes, Charlotte has nice stuff and I never ever said it was a backwater but there is a big adjustment for Northerners in so many ways. And I am not lying when I say that even state and county government workers say "have a blessed day" on their phone messages. That is not BAD but it is very different from up north where your spirituality is much more private.

Hey, to each his own. NC is a nice state with nice people but I prefer the look and amenities of the North and will be looking forward to returning.

Best of luck to Kiki from NYC with whatever they chose to do.

Let's see . . . where to begin?

First, the Vanderbilt family is responsible for the Biltmore, hauntedheadnc's Asheville palace. Since we're "comparing" New York to NC, I thought it relevant to mention that the Vanderbilts were New Yorkers and it was their fortune made in NY that paid for the Biltmore.

(As an aside, the Vanderbilt's amazing summer home can be visited in Newport, Rhode Island.)

Regarding my previous comment about an experienced Wall Streeter floundering in a sad cesspool of mediocrity, I have more than ample experience and anecdotes to support the comment. I lived and worked in the South for many many years; I have family in Charlotte. I continue to work with both legal & financial shops in several states south of the Mason-Dixon line. My comment was more a reflection of priorities & personality types than a value judgment. Take it or leave it (but you've been warned).

Hauntedheadnc, I'm still waiting for your response. And Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, not Illinois -- the National Historic Site is worth a visit.

ColletteRI,

"Homogenized" and "sterile" were your words, not mine.

Your theory that NCer's have had less access to culture and are prone to overrate what they do have is consdescending. Your denial of it is disingenuous at best.

For the record, I've also lived in Providence RI, Monterey CA, Naples Italy, and Washington DC so I have some basis for my opinion. I'm not church goin' either.

Well said Gekko and thanks for understanding what I was trying to express . Haunted and OBXgirl were putting words in my mouth- I never said the people were Beverly Hillbillies or it is a complete backwater but sorry, imo NC does not have as much to offer to me personally as does New England.

It is funny that we always get into these heated discussions when it really all comes down to personal choice and preference..

OBX ...you are right... I will stand by my opinion that Charlotte seemed sterile and homoginized to me, compared to what I was used to. That is all we are saying.. that people do experience things differently based on their previous enviornments and itneractions. I did not say NC folks are all hillbillies but it was at Efram's Furniture in Charlotte, NC that I was told the store was closed on Sundays because "Mr. Efram's a church goin man".

I am commenting on things that are just very different culturally. I did not imply that NC folks are hillbillies... those are your projections.

I'm sure when you lived in Providence some things about the place and the people were not to your liking and that you compared it to places you lived previously. Sometimes these comparisons are favorable and sometimes not. Let's not make a federal case of it.

Ok, I responded to kikihacks duplicate message but I'll respond to this one as well. Kikihack, your just gonna have to come down here for a few days and see what its like. Go to charlotte.com and find their Living Here guide. It will give you a good idea of what to expect.
The pace of living here is alot slower and sometimes I'm bored out of mind here. I do miss being close to Philly, NY, Baltimore and DC if I want that big city experience.
And traffic is horrible and the city really doesn't seem to be doing too much about it. There are some neat neighborhoods but in my honest opinion the majority is very typical cookie cutter suburbia.
I stay because I like my job and I like the weather. But if I could take my job and the weather with me - I'd go back up North in a heartbeat. I'm not from a big town but I do miss being able to get to those towns if I want to. And my family is from there. So those are the 2 big issues for me.
People are for the most part friendly and yes, religion does play a big role.
I personally find it to be very generic but you can say that about alot of places. NYC it isn't. That can be good or bad depending on your own point of view.

Hi Kikihack,

I can only speak from my experience. I have lived in Philadelphia and spent many summers in NYC growing up.

It is hard to compare the 2 because they are very different. I absolutely love Charlotte. In my opinion it is enough of a city in that it has many art galleries, the ballet, symphony, theatre, excellent restaurants, etc. But it does not take an hour to get everywhere to do all of these things.

My friends who live outside large major cities never venture downtown on the weekends because it is not worth the traffic hassle. So in my opinion they might as well be living elsewhere since most folks tend to stay around their suburban areas.

In Charlotte that is not so. It is very easy to take the 10-15 minute drive downtown to see a play or go to an exhibit. Things are also more spread out so not everything is downtown anyway.

But please do not think it is anything like NY. Charlotte does not have near as many options but it is a clean, beautiful city with friendly people.

Most people who live here are not from here so they are open to making new friends,etc. I am in my early thirties and think this is the best place to raise a family as well. Plus you are so close to the beach (I love Charleston) and the mountains. I love it!

Does this remind anyone else of the recent Joe Queenan article in the NYT? To summarize, no matter how much boosters of culture in the hinterlands claim they can compete with the center of the universe, New York City is the only place that has eight Vermeers.