Tell me why someone would want to move to Charlotte, NC.

[kelbro]

I know there's good people there and NASCAR.

We are outdoors people.

Good fishing?

Good hunting?

2nd amendment friendly?

Long-range shooting ranges? (I shoot 1000yd competition)

Places to ride our Polaris Ranger Crew?

Good eating?

What else should we know about?

 

[FarmerTan]

It's not Michigan. Has to be more polite, in general.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

See Areavibes...and Sperling Best Places. Both sites will give you many data points.

Good luck, y'all.

 

[Boris Badenov]

I live in the Charlotte region just across the SC line. Prices Chicken Coop has the best fried chicken. The National Whitewater Center has rafting, mountain biking, climbing walls, and other obstacle courses. Lakes Norman and Wylie are open for fishing. Carowinds has Fury 325 one of the largest coasters in the US.

 

[Acmemfg]

Charlotte is an urban locale. I guess the answer to many of your questions depends on where exactly in the Charlotte area you look at. I live about 3 miles west of the NC/TN line. Here we have an abundance of fishing, hunting, kayaking, hiking, golf, and most other outdoor activities. TN is a very pro-2nd Amendment state. Not hard to find shooting facilities. The Cherokee and Nantahala National forests are right here. And....TN has no state income tax. Local taxes vary by county. I am told taxes in western NC are more than a tad steep, but I don’t live there and can’t say for certain.

 

[sfeile]

When I was there, granted almost 18 years ago, Kannapolis and Concord were growing right into Charlotte. I worked on building some parts on the speedway and the big mall across the highway from it. Still a lot of open ground right outside of the city. I stopped back in that area about 8 years ago and all of that open area that was left wasn't left anymore. Only grass to be found was in the planters in parking lots.

NC has some beautiful areas, but if you want rural, you don't want Charlotte unless you are willing to drive for it. Jobs out the ying yang though. Shouldn't be any reason to be unemployed no matter what your profession is.

 

[Try em all]

One of my friends moved from Boston to the Charlotte area a few years ago.
To this day, he still cant stop bitching about it.
To hear him tell it, its the deadest place in CONUS.

 

[sfeile]

Well, it has been a long time since I lived there, and I was in construction. Pretty big boom going on then. Even being an ironworker, I could have walked off a job at 8 and been working again by 9.

May have changed a bit, but as big as it was last time I was there, being a shipping hub, and lots of things like the speedway, Phillip Morris, Bank of America Corporate center, and a slew of others I can't imagine it being dead.

Growing up in a county in PA that had more deer than people, it was one heck of a culture shock haha.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Relatively close to the best beaches on CONUS.

 

[kelbro]

Thanks for the feedback. My work home-base will very soon be in Charlotte. Quite a change from our desert life.

 

[Tokyospike]

You could still smoke in the bars last time I was there.

Also, nice library.

 

[sfeile]

To actually answer some of your questions that I neglected to earlier.

Fairly second amendment friendly. When I was there open carry was legal, but could get you a hassle. They passed the carry permit and started to issue them just before I moved back to PA.
Unless it has changed, you need to apply for a "permit to purchase" to actually buy handguns. You could get 5 at a time for $5 each. That was where your background check was.
For your carry permit, you needed to do a special course just for the permit. Where you could carry could be tricky.
You can carry in Outback, but not in Applebys. Applebys serves drinks, and you can't carry in places that have "liquor by the drink" which covers bars, but also some restaurants.

Kannapolis was tricky to carry in because half the town was in Rowan county, and the other half was in Cabarrus county. Cabarrus county was a dry county (at the time, not sure if that has changed), but Rowan wasn't. Every place that could served drinks in half the town, so you really had to pay attention.
They do honor my PA carry permit though, so they are friendly enough to do that.

Shooting ranges. There were a couple indoor ranges in Charlotte/Matthews area, but no where near 1000 yds. One outdoor range in concord I helped the guy build, but not sure if he's still there or got "developed" out. Again, nowhere near 1000 yds. You may have to travel for that one. There were a couple of "ranges" in gamelands, but that was an iffy situation. No rangemasters so you definitely need a buddy to watch the line if you go change targets. and still, only about 100 yds.

Fishing. Lots of little ponds around. Bass in almost all of them. Lots of pan fish. Baden Lake was a good place to fish. Big reservoir with just about everything in it. I thought I got a snag one time crappie fishing and ended up pulling in a 3 foot blue channel cat.
Some of the little ponds early morning or early evening a neon green 1/4oz. rooster tail on an ultralight set-up is a lot of fun. Every cast you are pulling in something. Bluegill, small bass, crappie.... No big keepers, but a lot of fast paced fun.

There were a ton of good places to eat in the city. I'm sure there still are.
Race days were miserable for travel. Not so much if you are already in the city, but I lived outside and had to go past the speedway to get into the city for work. Not a fun time. Also game days after they built the stadium downtown. But those are sort of a given. If you like NASCAR, there are a lot of shops around there. I worked in a couple. (Construction, not for the teams.)

Like most places, it's a trade-off. You can find anything, but have to go elsewhere to "do" anything. I live in the sticks again and can do whatever I want, however I have to drive 2 hours to "find" anything. NC has some beautiful country, you just need to get outside the city to find it. Makes nice weekend trips though.

 

[malocchio]

Is it possible to get a small house in a safe part of the city, or 15 minute walk to the city for under 250K ??

 

[sfeile]

There were a lot of nice development areas, but all kind of outside the "city". You still have to drive to most things. You could find some shopping and restaurants close enough to walk, but couldn't get "downtown". Quick look there are a few condos and a few 3 bedroom size hoses for sale under 250K, but still driving distance from the city center.

Believe it or not, it's actually about twice the size of Miami. It's pushing San Fransisco size.

 

[Seraphim]

One of my friends moved from Boston to the Charlotte area a few years ago.
To this day, he still cant stop bitching about it.
To hear him tell it, its the deadest place in CONUS.

Why would anyone want to move from Boston? The HUB of the universe!

 

[Try em all]

Why would anyone want to move from Boston? The HUB of the universe!

Yea, he feels the same way. But his workplace shifted.

 

[Badgerstate36]

I know there's good people there and NASCAR.

We are outdoors people.

Good fishing?

Good hunting?

2nd amendment friendly?

Long-range shooting ranges? (I shoot 1000yd competition)

Places to ride our Polaris Ranger Crew?

Good eating?

What else should we know about?

It seems like it would check all the boxes to me. Depending upon where you live in Michigan, its really got nothing on Michigan other than the climate.

It's not Michigan. Has to be more polite, in general.

I dont know about that. I grew up in Wisconsin and have been on vacation all over the south and its a different world. People in the upper midwest are polite but theres a difference between midwest nice and southern polite.

 

[oc_in_fw]

I dont know about that. I grew up in Wisconsin and have been on vacation all over the south and its a different world. People in the upper midwest are polite but theres a difference between midwest nice and southern polite.

“Bless your heart” has its own meaning in the south

 

[FarmerTan]

Yes, there is something to be said for "southern hospitality".... My dear mother is from Kentucky, and she'll tell you there are good and bad folks everywhere, but..... some of the nicest folks around are the transplants to Michigan, and their descendants that were raised with a Bible in one hand and a switch in the other, lol. All them folks that came up here for factory work are now seeing their grandkids go south for work. The times they are a changin'.

 

[StillShaving]

@sfeile enjoyed to reading about your experiences in NC. The economy in that region is still going strong, though the Phillip Morris plant north of the speedway closed down some years ago. It is a nice piece of real estate that is still searching for a new purpose (I think). Cabarrus county (Concord) is not dry now and has at least a few local microbrewies. House prices have not gotten out of control but as you noted there are less and less undeveloped spaces each passing year.