I feel like I have committed a mortal sin, and my sentence is to be served out in Charlotte, North Carolina. As someone who travels around the world (and writes about it) it is ironic that I have ended up in a place that has so little to offer. Many people have chosen to flee the people’s republic of New York (among other northern cities) in search of new horizons. I am one of those northerners. They are being sold a story of a better life in the new world; where things are cheap, communities are safe, and milk, honey, and BBQ sauce flows from the streams. Charlotte looks great on paper, but when you peel the layers the truth comes out..
Let me first address the obvious question many will ask. With all these bad things in Charlotte, NC why are you still there? My simple answer to this is “We are working on leaving”. I am not just a disgruntled northerner that just wants to bash the south. It is I see the worst aspects of the north permeating the area, while the good things never made it down. The list below mentions the “top ten things I hate about Charlotte” but I can probably go on for at least 30.
Traffic in Charlotte, NC is awful
The city is growing by leaps and bounds, yet somehow very little is being done to alleviate the traffic problem. I used to think the Long Island Expressway was terrible, now I am on 77 and at times I feel like I can walk to work faster. The side streets are even worse, with countless cheap condos being slapped up the roads rarely grow in size. Somehow the roads simultaneously stay the same and yet they are always under construction. By construction I of course mean 5 miles of cones, followed by two fat guys staring at a hole while eating a sandwich. By the time anything actually gets completed, our population has doubled and we need to start over.
Crime in Charlotte is spinning out of control
Who knew that Charlotte was more dangerous than New York on a per capita basis? Our murder rate is 49 so far this year, double that of last year. In terms of population that is higher than many cities in the country. I had the pleasure of being a victim of crime twice last year (car break ins). It is funny that people leave for safer havens only to be confronted with a worse situation.
If you must visit Charlotte I recommend you stay at the Westin Charlotte. It is close to Uptown, so there are bars to drown your troubles. Check out the reviews and prices on TripAdvisor on the attached link!
The Food in Charlotte is Atrocious
Probably the number one thing I hate about Charlotte, NC is the food. I run another site, Eatitcharlotte.com, which is a food blog reviewing local restaurants. Charlotte is not known for anything food wise. We are a southern city, yet our BBQ is terrible. We don’t have seafood like Seattle or pizza like New York. What you do get are ton of chains. Any half way decent place clones themselves until their fifth franchise is just a muddled down version of the first. Our ethnic food is also a joke, there are no decent Chinese or Indian restaurants to speak of and that goes double for Italian restaurants. When something new opens it is a fusion restaurant that copies the latest gimmick that is running around the country. I am counting the days before we get our first Croughnut. Food wise the city has no identity.One positive thing I can say is that the food is better than Myrtle Beach and that is not saying much.
The Weather
This is ironic because one of the reasons I left New York was due to the terrible weather. I never thought I would miss snow until I spent a July in Charlotte. The heat is terrible and it gets incredibly expensive due an enormous A/C bill. I also feel like the winter should be cold. Nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit more than a brisk 80 degree December day. Well at least we don’t have tornadoes or hurricanes…oh wait! Charlotte was hit with a major hurricane some years ago which did extensive damage, so it does happen. As for Tornadoes, take a look at my home below. I lived through one, meaning I was inside my home when a tornado ripped the roof off. That was about as much fun as playing dodge ball with hand grenades.
Charlotte’s City Government is a Joke
So, we have terrible traffic, high crime what do we need to spend money on? Let’s send a couple of hundred million dollars to the billionaire owner of the Panthers. Who needs new school books when we can have a shiny new soccer stadium? The things the city government spends OUR money on borders on lunacy. A trolley that goes literally 2 miles which has done nothing to revitalize. The Charlotte government builds little trains while people spend their lives in traffic. I guess you don’t need a car to get to the rock that the city government lives under. What is even funnier is that our former mayor was arrested for bribery. Nice to know there is good mix of corruption and incompetence . The city government is one of the major things I hate about Charlotte NC, because it affects so many other areas.
Charlotte is a Cultural Wasteland
I have seen first grade walls with finger paintings thrown across them that have better art work then what is in Charlotte museums. One day my wife and I literally visited all the museums Uptown in an afternoon. The experience was atrocious. Very few well-known artists or historic pieces. It is like they held an open call to furnish the museum and only two people showed up. At least we were spending our money wisely when they decided to build the Nascar Hall of Fame. Who needs a Van Gogh when you could see a wrecked car?
Charlotte’s Local News Is Awful
One of the main things I hate about Charlotte, NC is the local news. I get the fact that most local news is bad, but we take the cake. I have been on the news twice and can honestly say that these reporters need some training. Charlotte news is like the mother of a fat kid who always gets picked last for sports, posting on Facebook. No matter how bad it is they are cheerleaders for the town. Everything in the city needs recognition, no matter how small or mundane. They feel the need to talk things up to avoid the truth coming out. Someone needs to tell the local news that if Charlotte wants to be a world class city it should act like one. Instead it depends on the news to boost its self esteem.
Prices are increasing in Charlotte, NC
I have listed seven things I hate about Charlotte, NC and I feel like I have just gotten started. One thing that surprises me is just how expensive it is getting here. I was promised a cheaper standard of living; compared to New York and San Francisco it is cheaper ….in some areas. It is hardly as cheap as it used to be, people realized that droves of Northerners brought their check books and started charging accordingly. Drink prices in particular have gotten out of control. I have paid $20 a drink at a sub-par establishment because I wanted to taste alcohol in my cocktail. Home prices are slowly creeping to become on par with New York as well. Our taxes are still cheaper (although we paid $500+ for a car tax). Unfortunately, given the generosity of the Charlotte city government it won’t be long until we are on par with New York here also.
Charlotte is not Walkable
One thing I like about a bigger city is you can walk from one neighborhood to another. I easily walk several miles in other places and hardly realize I have switched neighborhoods. Charlotte on the other hand, is broken up into sections. Each area is so spread out that you need a car (and to find parking) in each. Even if you did want to walk from one section to another, it wouldn’t be recommended due to crime or a road system set up to stop pedestrians. The result is I either need to go to the same two bars/restaurants or I need get in my car to find someplace decent (and fight for parking).
Charlotte is Boring
Finally, I hate that Charlotte lacks Energy. Every city I go to has a “feel” or “energy” of its own. My relationship with Charlotte is like that couple who got married at 18 and realize they never had anything in common. The city is boring, there are very few interesting to do or see. It is a city that is just going through the motions. Every event or festival (I’m looking at you Greek Festival) is all hat and no saddle,. Meaning it is over-hyped and it under delivers. I am sleeping just writing about this.
I am not sure if this list is a vent or a warning. If you have never been to Charlotte, put it last on you list, behind Aleppo. If you are planning on moving here…come on down! I will always need someone to rent out my condos when I leave.
Read My Follow Up Post 5 More Reasons I Hate Charlotte
If you re looking for a new city to visit or just want to know what Charlotte is all about, this list will help.
Sweet, yet another Northern asshole who thought a Southern Winter was going to cure the chip on his shoulder. Charlotte used to be a nice place, but now it’s overcrowded with pretentious dicks such as yourself. As long as you’re still here and renting your condos, you’ll be part of the reason why Charlotte sucks. That I don’t argue with!
First, Welcome to Maninflight, glad you found me. I need to correct your first point, I didn’t like Southern Winters, I liked the cost.
New York, as mentioned in my other posts is too expensive to live. In addition I don’t like their politics. Although Charlotte is now very similar.
My problem with Charlotte is A) it is becoming over crowded with a bad local government (thanks to “pretentious dicks” such as myself). B) The city has no soul. I like the south, I love Charleston, New Orleans and even the smaller towns. Charlotte is not the south. It is bland, overhyped with no culture. Tell me what was I wrong about?
It had plenty of (Southern) culture before you and the rest of the snobby, yankee dickheads came down and started turning it into some disaster like you find up north! Why is that difficult for you to understand??
Snobby, Yankee dickhead? Why because your food is terrible, you are arguably the worst Southern City, and you lack culture? I am sorry your city isn’t (really) southern, but a melting pot of mediocrity.
I don’t think natives are responsible for how terrible this city is, but I can’t tell, there are so few of you. Charleston is great, New Orleans is great, Raleigh is even pretty good (maybe you can take some lessons from them). Meanwhile I will would rather watch paint dry then go out in Charlotte on a Saturday night….oh enjoy waiting on a 2 hour line for a New York Chain (Shake Shack). Guess that’s the best you’ll get!
Truth
I agree, Charlotte should build a city not a bland suburb.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Stupid, arrogant yankees. Too bad he couldn’t have experienced the city 30 years ago, when we weren’t yet outnumbered.
This started way before the northerners came down. Back in the 60s Charlotte leaders made a decision to tear down anything of cultural value and replace it with a parking lot. Then they built independence blvd which was the final nail in the coffin. After the civil war charlotte was still standing and became known as a place of business where you could sell your cotton.
And that is what it remained.
The banks grew, and the only culture Charlotte grew was bland vanilla finance culture. This was intentional and you did it to yourselves.
Add in the home grown religious fanatics who made it difficult to buy a mixed drink into the 1980s , and sprinkle with some NASCAR.
After which you made it difficult for anyone moving down to try and make Charlotte weird – give it the bit of grit and cleverness that would birth a grassroots artsy culture. Generations of Charlotte folk wanted it this way. Kept it this is way.
And now blame northerners.
Everything the writer wrote is true. I have been here 10 years and I hate it. The only thing that has kept me here is my daughter graduating high school with the kids she started out in school with in elementary. Now that she graduates in spring 2018 I will be selling my house, and relocating out of Charlotte, NC. The cost of living is rising. Traffic going anywhere in the mornings is stressful. Job opportunities are not that great. Taxes are high. The food is bland at most restaurants. And the city is very boring. Not much to offer. I will say the only thing positive about the city is that it is a clean and well maintained city.
I’m glad I came across this article because everything you said in this post is true to the max. I’ve been here for several years and it was hyped up to be this great place. The longer I’ve been living here, I realize how Charlotte is not that great of a place to live. It’s expensive as hell, they building all these damn apartments everywhere but not expanding roads to accommodate the traffic, the transportation sucks, no cultural arts or “culture” in general, and it is boring. There is nothing to do here. All people do here is either go to the Epic Center or the Music Factory, or go to the bars. The concerts here are the only fun things to do, but overall this place is not what it’s hyped up to be. I would rather be in a bigger city with better transportation, culture, and better food. There is no nightlife here either. The Lynx Rail ain’t shit. Right now, I’m saving up my money so I can move out of state within the next couple of years. I’m from South Carolina too so it really pisses me off that they don’t have any good home cooked food restaurants here. I have to go back home just to go to a good soulfood restaurant.
The city wears on you, yes, it is cheap compared to some Northern cities, but it is like watching paint dry.
Some might feel I am saying this because I am Northerner, I am glad someone from South Carolina feels the same way. I actually really like the South. There are some amazing cities (Charleston, New Orleans etc…). Charlotte might be located south of the Mason Dixon line, but it isn’t Southern.
I’m from Greenville, SC and thoroughly regret coming to Charlotte. In my industry of design and technology jobs are extremely stagnant anywhere in the South. Even more so in South Carolina than North Carolina. This reality is what forced me to come to Charlotte. If I had a choice, I would have never moved out of Greenville. However, here I am three months in this new city and I don’t like what I’m looking at.
I really like the job I have in Charlotte, but I don’t like my quality of living. What’s important for me is not so much entertainment and nightlife, or how “fun” it is to live in-town, but a sense of safety and security in a family friendly environment. That is exactly what I love about Greenville. I’m the kind of person that can live in a very boring place as long as my property is safe. Greenville provided that along with accessibility to the city’s primary shopping areas and some form of entertainment value, even if the entertainment is not much. And I prefer it that way. The higher the entertainment value of a city, the faster it attracts the wrong kind of people. It’s only a shame jobs are not where the best housing markets are.
Charlotte, in contrast, in it’s superficial ditch to attract major businesses and their employees, has lured the worst of its kind. All of these yuppie apartments with names like “The Loft,” or “The Mill” with stratospherically high rents in the $1,500’s and above, cropping up all over the commutable area are ruining potentially great communities.
Instead of investing in what the educated working class really aspires to (affordable home ownership in tidy neighborhoods for starting families), the city would rather give up available land to privatized builders making disposable units for temporary occupancy to accommodate the growing demand. For the asking price of $1,500 a month on a rental that’s not mine, I could put that towards a mortgage that’ll really get me some house. Rather, all you get is frat graduates and traveling sales pimps on extended business trips rotating on 3 – 6mo leases in a closet studio that serves no purpose, but continue to fester this pretentious and gentrified “luxury” living and raising the expected asking price. Or, in its complete opposite, you get the dark side of Charlotte with extremely impoverished neighborhoods and high crime waves.
There’s never any grey areas with this city. You’re either very rich with good disposable income to throw away in rent or so poor, you have to be placed in a 3 year waiting list to get out of the hood for affordable housing. Either that, or commute 30 minutes or more down a dangerous highway to find some semblance of normalcy. With godawful drivers, good luck making it back home everyday.
Worst part is there was potential. It was always boring, but at least housing was cheap. It has become a cookie cutter city, with like you mentioned yuppie sounding apartments.
I HATE CHARLOTTE, NC SO MUCH. I am so ready to leave. I have lived all over the country including Chicago (city), Los Angeles and New Hampshire and this is the most miserable place I have ever seen. I am sitting here in my home with a 3 day old broken foot and am unable to find anyone to set it. I have been in emergency hospital (6 hours) and Urgent care and have not been able to find a doctor to set it.
I too had the pleasure of dealing with the hospital system in Charlotte not too long ago. Emergency room visits shouldn’t take 8 hours.
There are lots of fun things to do in Charlotte, depending upon your definition of fun. I enjoy visiting bars to listen to live musicians, such as live metal bands. That’s fun. I love the beauty and adventure of outdoor recreation, so I enjoy rafting, kayaking, zip lining, and other fun outdoorsy activities. Thus, I enjoy visiting the U.S. Whitewater Center in Charlotte, the McDowell Nature Preserve, and similar places for fun. I enjoy art museums; Charlotte has those. I enjoy some rave parties and techno clubs and Charlotte has those. Laser tag is fun; UNC Charlotte had a laser tag club when I was an undergrad student there. My idea of fun is not drinking and clubbing every weekend; I think drinking is boring so getting drunk or high is boring to me; I don’t enjoy dancing so there’s that. Maybe Charlotte is boring compared to NYC. But I hate all of the rude, abrasive, pretentious people in both Charlotte and NYC. I personally prefer Asheville, NC over the other two places mentioned. Compared to the boring hellhole of Shelby, NC I was born and raised in, Charlotte has a ton of fun things to do.
Agreed that it may be good compared to Shelby (I have not been, I can imagine), compared to most cities it has no soul or personality. Yes there are a couple of OK bars, but they are usually incredibly expensive. Asheville is better, of course (I wrote a couple of posts on it as well). When you have traveled the world you realize that something is missing in this city. Everything feels manufactured. It all just seems a bit worse than most places.
I think the rude pretentious people here are actually from NYC, at least some of them.
BBQ in Charlotte!? Hahaha!! Your kidding right? For any of the rest that are southern that are prob laughing too. Man you go more east or west for the BBQ. East Vinegar based and West Red based. What’s gonna be ur sides u want? Let me guess Sicilian pizza and linguine. Let me help you out. Fries, hush puppys, Fried okra,Cole slaw, Brunswick stew, fried catfish, fried chicken, Collard greens pintos, corn bread. Dessert peach cobbler or Black berry. Sweat tea. Need to try Liver mush, Eggs, Grit’s, Biscuits and Gravy, oh man I could go on! Good luck trying to fit in.
I think you kind of missed the point. I am agreeing with you, there is no BBQ in Charlotte. Although a slice of Sicilian would be a nice side to some fried chicken. This is why I am so hard on the city, its southern with no food identity. I have been to some of the better places, Lexington being one of them. I just don’t know why a Southern chef can’t wander into this city!
You may add that the job market im Charlotte is crap!
Yes, that can be number 11.
I’m from the Charlotte area originally and I have to agree with everything you said. The one thing I did like about it , (the small southern town feel it had before everyone moved here), is long gone. I’d like to add to your list that everyone here seems to be a religious fanatic (and they aren’t even from the Bible Belt! they aren’t even southern! And secondly, the private and public schools in the affluent areas are full of new money arrogant entitled A-hole families who compete through their kids grades and sports, their neighborhoods, clubs, and churches. The only activities I see people do during free time is going to church functions or to their kids sports events (where they scream and thrown tantrums if their kids aren’t the winners)
I grew up in North Carolina, moved to Charlotte just a few years ago. I agree wholeheartedly with this article!
Charlotte is boring. Atlanta is better. North Carolina people are rude as hell.
I have only been to Atlanta once, plan to go again sometime this year. It has some problems (traffic), but at least it is Southern. I don’t know if it is because there are so many Northerners, but I agree a lot of people here are rude.
The “rude” people in Charlotte are most likely not originally from here. I’m native to NC but not Charlotte. The reason Charlotte sucks is because it’s been overrun and reinvented by Yankees. Yes, local government allowed it to happen because it’s all about money! But to generalize NC natives as rude is wrong. You don’t even see many of us in Charlotte anymore so who knows where the rude people you’re talking about are even from?
Anyone who uses the word “Yankee” is an ignorant anachronism. I just roll my eyes at that point.
So, the baseball team New York “Yankees” are ignorant anachronism ? How about the TV show called The New Yankee Workshop ?
Fact
Amazing backstabbing people up in charlotte. Man I never see such a bunch of non- working crybabies. I don’t think many of these people are from charlotte . I would be out of here in a heardbeat if it weren’t for being divorced and having a child. I won’t leave my son but my God charlotte is terrible. No culture, food sucks, everything over priced. Depending on what you do the pay sucks the traffic sucks. Cmon people tell me what is there to do in charlotte. I will then tell you the 1,000’s of things to do on Long Island Ny which I would go back to if my son weren’t here. Hey at least our people aren’t fake. I love Ny!!
Pretty spot on.
This is so accurate, it’s scary, and I’ve only been to Charlotte once, which happened to be last week for my brother’s wedding. We’re all originally from New York (big surprise), but I have lived in California for years now. My brother always complains to me about living there and now I know why. I think what bothered me the most aside from the bad roads, traffic and construction was the disgusting food. We went to some pretty nice restaurants too and I couldn’t believe the low quality fare. Everything is slathered in sauce or cheese or gravy and tastes like it was marinated in nothing but salt. No wonder there is an obesity problem there. I’ve never seen so many people being wheeled around in wheelchairs at the airport who seemed to have no other disabilities aside from obesity.
I feel bad saying this because my brother lives there and my father and his wife are planning to move there when they retire, but I really hated it. The whole place just felt backwards. I’m so happy to be back in overpriced, overegulated California. Don’t get me wrong, we have our problems here, and I know a lot of people (especially in the South) hate us, but it is overall a fantastic place to live with more natural beauty than the eye can handle and some pretty awesome, cultured people. Oh, and we have veggies free of salt, gravy, and sauce 🙂 Anyway, I hope you get out soon and find a place that feels like home! Good luck!
What is crazy is that most of the people here aren’t from the south, they should know better. This isn’t really a Southern City, it is like it took the worst parts of both the North and the South. Everything that opens up is just more of the same in terms of quality.
It feels like there is a monopoly on the food supply, because everything is one step away from a chain.
Yes, you said it. The worst parts of the North and South equals Charlotte.
I agree 100 percent! I grew up in Charlotte, and recently moved back from the north to be near family, but I’m getting the hell out of Charlotte already because it’s absolutely horrible! Traffic, bad food, religious fanatics, impossible to walk anywhere, and actually a lot more expensive than the city I’m returning to in New England. Also, most people are rude and uncultured. Additionally, the groceries at their local Harris teeter are way more expensive than even Whole Foods! Horrible city, wish I had never returned, and happy to leave. I do like other southern places though, like charleston, New Orleans, Asheville, but Charlotte is a boring parking lot with no soul.
I like that line, “Charlotte is a boring parking lot with no soul…it sums it up!”
I agree. Harris Teeter is the worst. In the very least, I prefer Publix although it is somewhat pricey. At least they’ve got better customer service.
Oh man, it feels so nice to read the same thoughts going through my head . I’ve been here for 5 years, and am from the north, so I guess I’m considered a northern dick. I’ve been to many places and this takes the cake for complete boredom and lack of culture. Actually there is another city up north but I won’t mention it cuz we are discussing Charlotte. A hint tho is that it is in Ohio.
I love how you point out too that it’s in the South but isn’t actually southern! I love southern too, and it ain’t here in Charlotte. I’m at a loss of what to do here, and I’m a city boy too. Unfortunately, the ppl here do not help. I’m not a fan of the ppl here, which is odd, because most residents aren’t even from Charlotte!
It is funny how people consider us Northern dicks because we hate Charlotte, yet most people aren’t from the south here, and this is barely a southern city.
To be fair us locals who think that you are northern jerks is it’s Charlotte changed when it went from a local town to a bigger town due to the banking industry and transplants. The fact that you are complaining about something you help create is sad. You say it yourself. There are few natives. All of NC is becoming this way. We are having our countryside plowed up to make room for transplants. The reason there are so many chains is because the chains came in and that is where people went. They stopped going to the mom and pops and the mom and pops went out of business. Traffic and cost of living is going up because there is increased demand. This is what happens. It is the future for all of America unless you can find local government willing to sacrifice and not go for the almighty dollar. But how does town B do that when town A,C, and D are building fanatically? But please publicize everywhere you can that Charlotte and even NC sucks. Please do no talk about the places that are still good. The places are still good are only that way because they haven’t gotten on the map.
“Sad” might be a little bit of an overstatement, but lets stay on point. I am not bashing Natives of Charlotte when bashing the city. I am bashing the city itself. The people that come down here are only one small aspect of what makes this city terrible. The overhype from the our local media (see Charlotte Agenda), the food laws that make it so only chains can survive, and the city government that is stuffed with people who would rather build trollies than improve our roads. Yes, the people who overhype everything are also to blame.
I’m a Southerner, I have lived many places around the world. When I came back to the south and decided to come back to Charlotte. If people would get out and live in other places the defenders of Charlotte would probable see how uncultured this suburban city is. I drove today in the University area for work. Sure they sent the light rail up that way, but there was no one using it. Most people can’t use it because it’s not connected to anything else to use it. It was bumper to bumper traffic of everyone trying to get in the shopping centers that have over saturated that area. I couldn’t wait to get out of that area. That is what Charlotte is.
So true about the light rail, if I have to take an Uber to use it, what is the point. Lets not forget the street car to nowhere, it was like they saw something cool in another city and they slapped a cheap version on to Charlotte.
I lived in Charlotte in 2014-2015. That was the worst year of my life. The people are not southern, there are so many racists, my car got broken into twice, the traffic was horrendous, it’s super hard to find a decent job, my husband and I didn’t make 1 friend when we lived there, we felt so alone and you’re right! Almost everyone there is in denial about it sucking and has this weird “southern pride” for the city or something. I’m from the south too (Texas) and thought this was odd. Thank God we moved. Life has been sunshine ever since we left!
It is like people have been brainwashed here. They don’t want to admit how bad it is. I posted this on the Reddit Charlotte board, it was funny watching the reaction.
I visited Charlotte in ’97. It was most boring place I had ever been. That said, you might counter your boredom by learning how punctuate. This blog needs some serious editing.
I don’t think punctuation will help alleviate my boredom.
1000% accurate especially the lack of culture and sophistication, horrible. It’s like living in the most boring homogenized mall ever built, with medium educated people at best, nothing exciting to offer your soul. Only second worse to Orlando in my travels. Awful city.
At least Orlando has Disney (which I haven’t been to since I was a kid). Charlotte has the second rate Carowinds!
I’ve been here for a little over 6 months and whenever I breakdown and cry ( which is at least once a week) about being here, I come to this blog for comfort in knowing I’m not the only one. I moved here from Southern California but have also lived Chicago. I have been trying to have a good attitude but it’s hard. Hoping for a way out. Thanks for sharing your experience.
We have to lean on each other until we find our way out!
Jcardone, I’m so with you. Everything you have said has been 1,000,000% dead on. This city is lame as hell. I’m a long islander. I know about night life and culture. Hell I worked In it for 10 years back home bartending in all the best clubs and bars NYC has to offer. I have seen things and experienced things no one will ever in their lifetime. NYC is an amazing city filled with culture. I have been here for 13 years and the only thing that keeps me here is my son. I’m divorced and I won’t leave him. No one absolutely no one can be trusted here. It’s a cut throat environment. They smile in your face and machete you in the back. I don’t have a single friend here. Like I said it’s been 13 years. I don’t know how I’ll ever get out of here but man I think the day I do will be the most amazing day of my life. This is a very boring life. There was a point in time, for about 10 years, where I was making a six figure salary here in charlotte. I must say things were a little more fun but I had to throw money at everything in order to have fun. I also had to work 15 hour days with no 1 week vacation a year no benefits no retirement and no sick time. Slavery still exists here in the south. This place is way over priced I’d say most jobs don’t pay its getting hard to live.
Then go back to NY you filthy dirt Yankee! I’m tired of you whiny stupid Northerns who move down here trash everything in your path and then whine like mules about the mess you’ve created. GO HOME TO NEW YORK and don’t let the door hit you on the way back up North. Sheesh.
Someone else missing the point. Or are you just one of the rare Southerners who actually live here, jealous of the fact that Charlotte isn’t a real Southern city? Go to Charleston or New Orleans if you want to see one.
As mentioned, we have the worst of both worlds in this city. As long as there are Charlotte apologizers like yourself, you will never be even a 2nd class city.
You’re right and it was humorous
All very true. I have to note that irony is when you misspell “incompetence”. Humor is when nobody else catches this. Must be that great education standard in Charlotte! 😉
Having lived in numerous other states, many of them “Southern” (not to mention that I’ve also traveled to roughly 90% of the US and many overseas countries) I’d like to think that I have a pretty good idea of what is and is not a “good” city. Charlotte isn’t the worst place I’ve been or lived, but it’s among the most boring. The “culture” here is bland, the status quo is depressingly low, what passes for a “good” restaurant is quantity over quality, and nobody here seems to give a crap, the government is incompetent, the infrastructure is 20 years behind, surrounding counties have the lowest high school graduation rate IN THE STATE, and “If you don’t like it, leave” seems to be the solution. How about Charlotte take some lessons from nearby Raleigh, Atlanta and Asheville? How about building an identity that goes deeper than the GOP, finance and golf?
Ha, thanks for the edit…the post has been up a year and no one caught that. I think people are told things are good, so the rave about them. Buy into the mediocre.
The radio stations are the worst I have ever heard. I guess no one told stations do not do a “morning zoo” format anymore it has been gone for 15+ years everywhere else. I soon as I hear “big show on radio” I switch.
Wow! Couldn’t say it much better myself. I moved here in 1998 from New Jersey, so I guess I’m one of those “pretentious Yankee dicks” too. Except when I moved here, I actually wanted to get away from the “north”, and. Charlotte at that time had a lot to offer.
However, I got a better job offer in the Triangle in mid 1999 and moved up there. Raleigh then was great if you were married or had a significant other. Was not a great place to be single. There is a lot to do, not really boring at all, just not a lot to do by yourself. That said, I did meet my wife in 2004, got married in 2006, but had to move back to Charlotte, just when we would have been able to enjoy Raleigh.
Moving back here was not a good move. As others have said, the job market is terrible, especially if you are in your late 40s with 20+ years in your field. I make the same today as I did in 2010. My wife, a nurse, makes the same today as she did in 2006. Any offers she gets are for less. Me, it’s “you want six month contract?”
Everything costs a ton. It’s actually cheaper to eat lunch in midtown Manhattan than uptown Charlotte. Parking uptown, while not NYC, makes working up here counterproductive, when the bus system is garbage, and the toy trains weren’t built for people who like a house and a small yard.
We are somewhat “religious”, and our daughter goes to a private Christian school, but I’ll tell you, the families we know there are our only friends and the only non-obnoxious people we know here.
Did I say my wife is a North Carolina native and despises Charlotte too?
Thanks for this. Comforting to know others feel the same way.
So true, especially by what you said about Raleigh. I enjoy visiting that city, further proof that it isn’t that we are Northern snobs…just that we hate Charlotte.
Being here almost 22 years from upstate NY…I would have to tell you…go home, maybe NYC is best for you….no place is perfect, hell- I am still waiting for good Italian in Lake Norman besides 1 little place off x36…but to say this isn’t an open, welcome, easy transitioning city to move to is ridiculous- to say we have crime on par w/NYC is laughable, to say our City Government is terrible is a tad overplayed & that culture and nightlife are non-existant…makes me think you don’t ever leave a 5 mile radius of your home…I say- if you want a renewed idea of what this city means to alot of transplants; look me up- lets go see the city as I do, from my eyes….little upstate NY birdseye view…I lived in LA, and so I see some of your points…but it is overly harsh & it totally belittles a city I absolutely LOVE. …and yes, traffic…that does suck 🙂
First, there are a slew of reasons why I can’t move to NY…money being the main factor. As for crime, the stats per resident don’t support your claim. I lived upstate for 4 years as well, comparatively Charlotte has the edge, but that isn’t saying much. Lastly on your nightlife point Charlotte has a generic night life…like the entire town is going through the motions.
Love a new jersey jackoff complaining about a Southern town…please take your winey, girly , uneducated flat ass back to the ghetto shithole you were hatched in…pos
1) I am not from New Jersey
2) I am not uneducated
3) MOST IMPORTANLY…Charlotte isn’t a Southern Town, it is a bad mix of upstate New Yorkers and people from Ohio. If you want a real southern town go to Charleston, New Orleans or even Raleigh.
4) My arse is round, but THANKS FOR WRITING!!!
Ahhh, just what I’ve come to expect from a southern gentleman.
Yeah and you are what we expect when dealing with Yankee women. Foul mouthed, constant whining, Woe is me. GO HOME!
Thank you jcardone33 for posting this! I’m laughing and relieved as my husband and I are in the car making the 500+ mile trek to drive back home to Long Island, NY. You cleared up alot for us as we’ve been in Charlotte since Fri and couldn’t figure the city out in terms of what the city is really like. (This is our 1st time to North Carolina). We visited many new home developments and the homes that we liked and are the most affordable are out in the “sticks” pushing close into South Carolina. We were trying to find out where everyone assembles for nightlife and stumbled upon Center City since we were headed to the only soul food spot in the city, and the food wasn’t properly seasoned or prepared. It’s a nice city, but not for us. (I’m a school teacher and everyone talked about the problems within the schools). Like you and the other people who commented stated, the city is really boring and lacks “soul” and a great culinary experience. Some ppl who moved there from NY are hyping the city up since they lived there but they’re not being honest like you are. So, thank you again for your honesty and personal opinion which I realized in 2 days visiting, is spot on!
Right on the money! I could not have written this better! I am a native Southerner, though I have not lived in the south for about 25 years. There is truly NOTHING Southern about Charlotte. I’ve lived in 8 different cities across the US, and I have to say this is the worst one yet. I find the city has no character or personality. People are rude-not a Southern attribute. NO culture at all. So dull…..I’ve lived in a lot of cities larger than Charlotte, and the traffic really beats all. I have gotten to the point I would rather just stay at home rather than deal with the frustration of traffic. And the HEAT. UGH. I lived in Houston for a while, and this seems very similar. I don’t like eating out, so I cannot add to that. However, I am truly appalled at the quality of fresh produce here. Horrible grocery stores. I could go on and on, but, finally, I find it very cliquish and unwelcoming. Again, not a Southern attribute. Oh, and I wish you would add your other 20 or so things you don’t like. Very pithy.
Agreed, I don’t bash the South when I bash Charlotte, its just the city on a whole. It has no identity and you are correct, no culture.
Right on the money! I could not have written this better! I am a native Southerner, though I have not lived in the south for about 25 years. There is truly NOTHING Southern about Charlotte. I’ve lived in 8 different cities across the US, and I have to say this is the worst one yet. I find the city has no character or personality. People are rude-not a Southern attribute. NO culture at all. So dull…..I’ve lived in a lot of cities larger than Charlotte, and the traffic really beats all. I have gotten to the point I would rather just stay at home rather than deal with the frustration of traffic. And the HEAT. UGH. I lived in Houston for a while, and this seems very similar. I don’t like eating out, so I cannot add to that. However, I am truly appalled at the quality of fresh produce here. Horrible grocery stores. I could go on and on, but, finally, I find it very cliquish and unwelcoming. Again, not a Southern attribute. Oh, and I wish you would add your other 20 or so things you don’t like. Very pithy.
I may add a follow up since I am stuck here!
I could never really pinpoint what I didn’t like about Charlotte, and you articulated most of what I have felt (in secret) for soooo long! I moved here from NYC area and was so excited for some southern charm ! Unfortunately , when people (yankee friends) ask how I like Charlotte…I got nothing! I’m embarrassed to have anyone visit since there’s nothing to do here…I always say “let’s go to Asheville or Charleston” or anywhere else but here. I hate to say that, and I too am stuck here(for now) I crave a culture, a place with some true soul…and it’s just not here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I feel better knowing I’m not alone…a couple good things on Charlotte, I found the love of my life here (he’s from the North West) and he needs to stay a while longer, and I do love the weather!
Well at least Charlotte is good for something. I found my wife here, so i don’t regret coming…just staying.
So, I just moved here from Louisville and have been here less than a month. Happen to pond your article after googling “Charlotte is boring” to see if it was just my first impression or if it is actually as bland and lacking in culture as it seems to be. Truly it seems to me to just be one giant suburban shopping mall. In Louisville we had all kinds of plaus and art and festivals in Shakespeare in the Park, WorldFest, Humana Festival, The Bourbon Trail, the Kentucky Derby …… even a zoo! ( As a parent of three young children I am shocked that a major metropolitan city does not even have a zoo). I have been bored to tears since I arrived and we had friends come to visit last weekend and had difficulty even thinking of things to do. I had no idea that moving from Louisville a smaller city to Charlotte arguably a much bigger one would be such a difficult transition. I have been bored to tears since I arrived and we had friends come to visit last weekend and had difficulty even thinking of things to do. I had no idea that moving from Louisville to Charlotte, which is arguably a much bigger metro area would be such a difficult transition. Already plotting an exit route.
You get tricked into thinking it is good due to its popularity, but that wears off quickly. I recommend taking a weekend trip to Asheville or Charleston, their proximity is the one of the few good things about the city.
Wow, lots of typos on my part with the voice dictation, but you got my drift. Yes, think your exactly right. That’s what I’ve experienced here so far – I ask what to do for fun, and people suggest I leave to go visit another city a couple of hours away. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Charlotte!
I totally understand this. Spent time in both Louisville and Lexington and I can only say this city is mildly better than Lexington. We get a few more concerts here and that is about it. We moved from CA a year ago and I am so bored! My husband doesn’t want to admit it and I really think at some point he will grow bored of it too! Just waiting for him to realize it 🙁
I don’t like the Cookie Cutter Developments and the Big Box Shopping Centers everywhere in Charlotte. They are the reason for the non character of this place. It’s called and City, but it’s just a large Suburb. I would rather have Urban Sprawl than Suburban Sprawl. Even the small, “could be cool”, areas in Charlotte get over taking by large parking lots and Big Box Store Fronts, which makes for a very boring city. I would rather see Side Walks built than Wider Roads. Charlotte Planning Board has no idea how to build character unless that character is Wal-Mart.
I so agree with all the posts I have read and it breaks my heart how disappointing this place is. I have been in Charlotte for 5 years now and each year it doesn’t get any better. It has been so miserable and depressing. I wanted to move somewhere else after the first year. Through the years my hope for it to get better has decreased a little more each day and I ask myself, “Why did I move here? I thought it would be a great place to raise a family but watching the news and learning a little more about Charlotte I realize that is not the case. I thought I had done my research prior to moving here but I missed a lot of important key points that Charlotte lacks in so many areas. I am also planning my “great escape” and taking the first train smoking out of here to provide my children a better life than Charlotte has to offer. I SO REGRET BRINGING MY FAMILY HERE.
I’ve been thoroughly entertained reading this blog and the responses. As a Charlotte native, I can give an added perspective since I spent a chunk of my formative years here. As a child and preteen, Charlotte wasn’t that bad because it WAS like a courteous Southern town. Although hampered and repressed by an overwhelming suffocating conservatism, life in Charlotte was bearable as a child mostly due to residing at my grandmother’s Providence Rd. homestead covering three acres of vegetable and flower gardens. Life was simple and serene, as I learned about plants and birds and witnessed true Southern gentility as I spied on my Nana’s book club and bridge parties she hosted in the Victorian-furnished living room with other proper but congenial elder housewives in attendance.
As I reached the rebellious latter teen years, my brother introduced me to a surprisingly cool underground nightlife scene in the city. Yes, believe it or not, Charlotte boasted two incredibly authentic and exciting alternative dance clubs in the late 80s, the Pterodactyl Club and the Park Elevator. Along with the possible inclusion of Mythos in the mid 90s, these venues represented the last semblance of an original local scene in Charlotte before the onslaught of the banking and sports industries and the vapid, soulless cookie-cutter atmosphere that came with it.
In my 20s I finally started traveling and ended up living in Mexico City for a few years. I’ll never forget how shell-shocked I was to discover such a vastly different and culturally vibrant place after being relatively sheltered in the Carolinas. It was truly a rebirth.
Fast forward a chunk of years and I’m back in Charlotte, itching to get out again. So many times I’ve grappled with the notion that it’s not such a bad place, and that I’m too subjective about it because of childhood baggage, etc. Reading these comments only bolsters my view that Charlotte only cares about sacrificing any character or charm it once had for the sake of corporate homogeneity and greed. How many new apartment and condo buildings can you cram into the city limits? It gets pretty bad when all you do is watch movies and price getaways on Expedia and Hotels.com to pass the time when you’re not working, along with maybe a few too many visits to the ABC store to try to forget where you live for a bit! Yep, life is too short. Time for an escape plan.
HA! I think that is how Maninflight.com was started, by pricing getaways on Expedia. I think that is what people don’t understand about me, they think I am some disgruntled Yankee. I don’t hate the south, I hate that Charlotte has no characteristics of the south.
I think a support group should be started:)! I have been here 1.5 MISERABLE years. I’m trying very hard to find a reason to like it, but I cannot find one! I really WANT to like it ! But, it’s a miserable rat race on steroids. My husband and 3 kids also hate it! I’m stuck here for now, though. I am wondering how everyone copes because it seriously affects quality of life when you HATE where you live. I hated living in Detroit and Houston, but somehow coped just fine. I’ve never lived in such a deplorable place! ILike I previously said, I have lived in A LOT of cities, and I truly feel as though I am in an alternate universe. This place is unlike anything I have experienced. I cannot put it in words – and words normally do not fail me! I really think you should write something on how to deal with living here-if you can find any. Sounds like a lot of people could use some suggestions. I know I could. So glad I am not alone……
We would need a stadium to handle a support group. The words I would use to describe Charlotte are “lack of culture” and “contrived fun” oh and possibly, “desperately trying to clone good parts of other cities (and failing).
I’ve been in Charlotte since 2010. Have lived all over the country prior to. Originally yes, a ‘northern dick’. Immediately I caught on to what people do not like about Charlotte as it related to some of my own experiences. I agree with a lot of what people have said about clt in previous posts, and disagree with others. Just IMO
1) Charlotte is a rapidly transforming city. One of the fastest growing in the country. It is trying to play catch to all the others in gaining recognition as a heavy hitter amongst American cities. It cannot decide if it wants to be another fast paced Southern city like big brother Atlanta down the street, or model itself after an older traditional city from the NE for ex (Boston, NY, Philly, DC, etc). So it feels it constantly has to strut it’s stuff. Either way, it will become that heavy hitter one of these days. But it until then, accept the fact that is undergoing growing pains which take several different shapes and forms. Good, bad, ugly. Is it a southern city? In roots yes, everything else, no. A northern city? In makeup, maybe yes. In roots, no.
2) The people – Lot of posts about the arrogance and annoyance of the current population. They’re spot on right. That’s one of the first observations I made my first year here. The phoniness and insincerity of a lot of the peeps here. Are they northern? Yes. Are they southern? Yes. Elsewhere? Yes. So what’s going on? Look at #1 above…since Charlotte doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up, neither do some of the residents. PEOPLE ARE A PRODUCT OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT. Charlotte is plagued with the wanna-be culture. Big time! So many people obsessed with doing everything they can to try and prove they are something they are not. The dudes are all wanna be ghetto, wanna be bad ass, wanna be VIP’s. The women are all wanna-be hoity toity stepford wives. Everyone here thinks they have to jump on some kind of a bandwagon to be accepted somewhere. Instead of being themselves. And in the process, you can barely tolerate being in their presence (unless this is you:)). So if the city is busy trying to find itself, so are its peeps. Perhaps one day it will mature. And yes I realize this is a common trait of people wherever you go, it is easy to be exposed to it in Charlotte very quickly. My experience with people here is they have a tendency to promise way more than they can deliver. They talk and talk and talk about what they wanna do, or what they can do for you…..but…it’s just that. Talk. Jump on the bandwagon. Also the herd following culture which is a by-product of bandwagons, is very prevalent. None of these big talking hot shots will dare venture out and do something on their own w/o their perceptive approval from the herd!
3) Would I like living here? Depends. If you are from a larger more established city somewhere, you have to accept that Charlotte is what it is right now. There are things to do. Albeit it may not compare to NY or LA, but you can find entertainment most times. It’s not dead. Certainly not the most lively metro out there, but it ain’t ‘dead’. One thing I like about being in clt is its geographic location in the country. You are near a lot. I like the outdoors so the great smoky mountains/Appalachian are off to the west. Take a day trip and do some hiking and escape the drama of Charlotte. Who cares if the herd hasn’t done that before, do it yourself. It’s great. Off to the east, the great NC coast (outer banks, Wilmington), SC Coast (Myrtle, Charleston, Hilton Head). Great sport fishing and scuba diving if that is your thing. Some of the best in country. There is a lot to take advantage of in the region if you look for it. The weather. Get a little bit of 4 seasons. Not as hot as Florida and Texas, but winters not as harsh as the Northeast and New England.
4) Food and culture – Historically ethnic foods have not been rooted in clt, but they are slowly arriving as things grow. It’ll get here, but it won’t compare to more established metros quite yet. Accept it. Same with culture, the mixes are arriving. I was away on a job assignment in Dallas. While Big D has more in these regards, that’s pretty much all it had, more places to eat and drink. Srsly is that all you wanna do with yourself? Look at Point #3, Charlotte has places like Dallas and others beat in that regard if you take in the entire region’s opportunities.
5) Economics and Business – It’s still dominated by the banking industry. Banks don’t pay well. More industry diversification warranted. That’ll happen one day as the city is being targeted as a place to relocate.
Ok, phew, all I have for now!
You said a mouthful, but you made some great points. I especially like your take on #2…the people. There are some nice people here, but you are correct about many peoples demeanor. The problem with Charlotte and culture it tries to bring feels forced. I will wait patiently for now, for the food to improve.
Thanks. Charlotte can really be an interesting sociology experiment. There really are some nasty ass cliques here. High school all over again. I’m glad I’m fairly independent and not reliant on people acceptance for my daily M.O.
Totally accurate and well-phrased. I grew up in Indianapolis – INDIANAPOLIS – and have found Charlotte sterile, poorly-planned, uneducated, corrupt and devoid of character or soul. I won’t even start on the cesspool of semi-educated, rude, self-centered (but not self-aware!) wannabees who migrated here with their unduly entitled brats to the southern suburbs to get a leg up from the (presumably even worse and especially more expense?) places they left. Over the last 27 years our family has lived in Pittsburgh, Dallas, Atlanta, Indianapolis (twice) and San Francisco for several years at a stretch and we’ll be leaving this hole just as soon as our eldest graduates high school. No meaningful zoning, no housing code enforcement, no forethought by our elected morons into ANYTHING. It’s as if adults with kindergartner personalities and intelligence all along the East coast were given an invitation to a free-for-all of unbelievably hot, humid weather, third world infrastructure, shoddy residential construction, school cafeteria cuisine, and the manners of soccer hooligans to come to a cultural and natural wasteland – and they accepted. At least we’re not far from the mountains or the coast … oh wait – the coast is obliterated with a hurricane every other year. Why did I move here: my wife hated SF!
One of the reasons I love the comments is people speak with such passion. You have inspired me to write a follow up to this article, keep an eye out!
Lack of self-awareness in realizing their character traits! lol that is spot on!
Hey There,
I just moved down to Charlotte from NYC about a year and a half ago and completely regret it. What is worse is that I am working a job I hate 12 hour shifts only on weekends and there is absolutely nothing to do during the week. My neighborhood has no sidewalks so walking my dog is a hazard. All I can think of is how everytime I felt I needed to find something to do in New York, there was a museum, a show, a community event, here…on a Monday, nothing. We are working on leaving as well.
Not every city can be New York, but Charlotte is like watching paint dry. It is truly a hard move.
I love you for writing this. Absolutely hated the year I lived in NC. Back in the south many years later. Still hate it so much. Southerners are so proud of their bland white bread nothingness.
I think my problem is more with Charlotte then Southerners. Charlotte doesn’t even feel like a Southern city, just mismatch of unauthentic/overhyped establishments. I like Charleston and New Orleans, they have personality.
Yes, yes yes… My husband wanted to move here. We visited first and I wasn’t impressed. Well, we still moved here from Northern Va and I am still not impressed. I wanted to buy a house in VA but the prices are ridiculous. This is one reason why we moved and because there is a lie being told to everyone in the North that Charlotte is all that and a piece of cake. The housing market is high now ( we missed the wave) because of the demand but the communities aren’t neighborhoods just cookie-cutter subdivisions with no personality, reminds me of a Wrinkle in Time neighborhood scene.
My husband is in finance and just knew he would get a job. We have been here for several months and nothing yet for him. I am in education and got a job but I absolutely hate CMS… The pay is so stupidly low, the system is broken and the school I work for… well let’s just say I work with professionals that should go back to school for grammar lessons. I understand Southern vernacular, I have family from the south but as an educator teaching students the words used incorrectly, or using made-up words to teach is unprofessional.
The traffic is just as bad as DMV traffic and everything is so far. They need more street lights, sidewalks and, stop lights. I get so nervous trying to get across so many busy intersections it’s like playing frogger. We can’t find a church we like. Most churches are like going to a concert with a light show and the Pastor used to be some kind of sports professional turned pastor.
I am also an artist, the art scene here is non-existent, which hurts my business. I have no idea where to move to after this. I have lived in many cities and know after a couple of months if I like a place or not and this city is a big no for me.
The last part about the church really made me laugh. I once was brought to a church like that, it was like a weird concert. You are also so right about the art scene…or lack of it. It will only get worse.
THANK YOU. This finally made me feel like I wasn’t crazy. So many people talked Charlotte up before I moved here and though I knew it wouldn’t be an answer to our every problem, I really hoped for more. It was a great place to get married without spending a ton of money, but my husband and I jumped at the first opportunity to move. We were only here for a year, but it was enough to have my fill of the city. I’m multi ethnic and culture/art are hugely important to me. I know the artists are here, but I think we are all hidden away because trying to interact with the homogeneous suburban monolith that is Charlotte is just too intimidating. The women in this town absolutely baffle me. It’s like they are running their own reality show where no one is filming, they just compete over material possessions and popularity and lead their bland, underdeveloped golf-bro husbands around on leashes. It has been so hurtful trying to be open and genuine in this city, and I never want to come back.
Lol I think I know what you mean but describe ‘bland, underdeveloped golf-bro husbands ‘!
Ok it’s 2018.
Let’s build a major metropolitan city from scratch. Complete with all the bells and whistles.
Standard downtown area with skyline and all, light rail, sports centers (both indoor and out), bars , restaurants, airport, & monolithic suburbs. Get the latest and greatest in style, technology, etc etc ……this will be our new city.
Historic centers? Nah….we don’t need that.
Charlotte, NC!
I sooo completely 100% agree. I hate Charlotte and sadly I live and was born here. There is no winter,there is no fun, no attraction. It’s dead and if I could leave to live up north I would if only I could. I’m miserable here.
You and me both, it is just too expensive up there. The worst part is people from the North have come to Charlotte and voted in the same problems.
YOU are correct sir!
Just like you I am a native. I have had the privilege to travel to many cities and countries. NC is nicer when it’s warm. I really don’t like Charlotte even though it is my home.
Haha! For years I’ve toyed with the idea of moving back to Charlotte. When I visited in February of last year I felt like it was still the cool, calm, collected Charlotte that I Had known as an undergraduate. I just can’t shake the feeling that there are no jobs here and if there are, the pay really isn’t that great. I like the idea of the light rail but it still seems like the type of place you will need to have a car.
Raleigh is a lot worse. I knew I wouldn’t want to live there unless I got a car by the end of the year. They’re planning on building a bus station – in 2025 – even though about 65 people move to Raleigh each day!
You definitely need a car. How else are you going to sit on 77 for an hour every morning! The light rail isn’t really that convenient and traffic is still terrible. They refuse to build better roads.
No offense, but this article seems like the view point of someone on the outside looking in. Just because you live in a city, doesn’t mean you made an effort to be part of it.
You are correct that traffic sucks (just like all cities) and we don’t have amazing museums like DC or NY. Who doesn’t complain about their elected city officials these days and uptown is generic, but that is not where the action is.
I’ve lived in multiple locations but I’ve been in CLT for 4 years now. Here are some good things you might have missed in your time here:
Neighborhoods: Each section of Charlotte is completely different. You want good food, cheap drinks, art, and small music go to NoDa. You want dancing and cocktails go to uptown. If you want big bars and rooftops go to Plaza. Breweries and hipster spots Southend. Etc…
Weather: Perfect weather for outdoor enthusists. Golf (almost year round), hiking, camping, rafting, lake days, black top bball, disc golf, etc are able to be enjoyed a majority of the year. If you want snow, drive to the mountains right down the road. I enjoy not shoveling my driveway every week like I use to.
White Water Center: One of the coolest things I’ve seen in any city anywhere, and it’s in Charlotte’s back yard.
Music: Unique venues of all sizes all over the city. You can usually find a good band playing somewhere every night. Good local music scene too, Charlotte has some talent.
Food: Everything is a chain? Hardly true. I’ll stick to southern food suggestions. Throw on a T Shirt and walk in the door of Prices Chicken, Brooke’s Sandwich shop, Mr C’s, Haberdish, Merts, and plenty of other non chains. Plenty of upscale restaurants and unqiue ones like Seoul Food as well.
Cocktails and Beers: The city is full of world class cocktail artists, awesome whiskey clubs and bars, and you can find fun breweries everywhere. If you like to drink without the club scene bangin in the background, Charlotte is definitely a good city for you.
City Location: You can easily do day trips or weekends to a real mountain range or a real beach.
Sports scene: Pro sports are fun to watch but the adult sports leagues is where the real fun is. Every sport is available but my favorite is the sand vball league at the beer garden VBGB.
Could continue but just like anything in life, situations are are as good as you make it. Remember this is the south, you might have to get off the internet and ask your neighbors where the good food and fun is at.
I have lived in this city for 15 years now, in 4 different neighborhoods. I am not an outsider by any means. Lets start with food…I have been to all of the ones you mentioned, except Haberdish. We have no good Southern food, not like real southern cities. Prices is ok, but highly overrated. Brookes is also ok, not worth an hour wait at lunch (I actually waited). I never had a good meal at Merts. Most of the decent places turned into Chains…Sabor, Macs, they were good but grew too big.
Our museums are terrible, we were ranked dead last in parks and our cocktails are ok, but over priced.
I won’t comment on everything you said, but I will touch on the last point. Charlotte may be located in the southern portion of the country, but it is not the south.
Thanks for writing, be sure to join my mailing list.
I agree with this 100%. Charlotte city council keeps approving ugly box vinyl apartments that’s making the city look like a soviet waste land. But no worries throw a whole foods under it and you can charge 1,500 a month. The best way to describe Charlotte is that over a movie set. The skyline is really nice to look at but lacks substance when you start walking around. You have a bunch of under achieving back office workers in the banks paying 9 dollars for a beer and not realizing that they will never live in the wedge of prosperity (South Charlotte). Outside of south Charlotte and huntersville, Charlotte area is extremely unsafe and run down. There’s literally nothing to do here unless you want to drink all day, go to a man made rafting center where you’re on the raft for 30 seconds before you have to wait in line to go again, or go to the South Park mall or one of the 20 outdoor shopping centers.
Thank you for this. I just recently moved from NYC about 2 yrs ago and thought I was alone in this.
One big difference about an experience and observation I find that you and most would not notice is that I find the people here ignorant and prejudiced. I’m assuming that you’re a WASP? I’m brown: latino-looking non-latino. Regardless, my experience in living and going out in Charlotte is that people, esp. those of people in power and authority, authority that they may not have — the police and security guards, TSA — is that they abuse that power and authority : they follow me around or scrutinize my presence in this simulacrum of a city. Anywhere from buying groceries — Whole Foods, Harris Teeter… — to attending events at Spectrum Center, to bars and restaurants, to simply just walking around, I am treated with haughtiness and disdain.
I used to work in the publishing industry and was running elbows with the likes of Jay McInerney, Will Self, Candace Bushnell, Caleb Carr. When living in NYC, I went on a regular basis to museums and theater and plays and art galleries, the many good affordable restaurants with no problem: am treated like a human being. Am only saying that not to say that I’m a snob. I’m not wealthy, far from it. Am just fortunate to have been exposed and been part of the literary and cultural life in NYC. Here in Charlotte, walking around uptown, having a harmless lunch outside or inside the Bank of America plaza, security guards come out of nowhere and stare at you and breathe down your neck. Cops sidle up on you while I am waiting for the bus or LYNX or outside Spectrum center. These are places that are supposed to be open to the public yet treat it very exclusive the khaki- and Patagonia wearing finance and tech bros. Unless you don’t conform to that lifestyle and dress style, you’re marginalized. The people that I have encountered in Charlotte do a double take or star at me from head-to-toe whenever I am in their establishment. Often times, I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.
As I had previously mentioned, Charlotte is a Baudrillard-esque city. It’s a manufactured city, like a real life Sim City. Often times, I feel like I am in a Hollywood set of what a city is supposed to be. Everything is contrived — from the design of the city, to how the people act. Nothing is sincere or unique; almost everything is just an act. Almost all the restaurants and bars are copy of each other, serving the same food and drinks to the same clones. One is treated a person, with respect and dignity only if one is hyper-consuming. Otherwise, one is marginalized and treated like a third-rate citizen, if being treated at all.
A city has to grow organically and not by design. Charlotte is built by design; designed by the real estate developers for the affluent and the petit bourgeois/bourgees, esp. the millenials, and the banking industry. A city cannot prosper long when it favors only the wealthy and/or elites. Soon, Charlotte and its people will eat itself and each other.
QU, first to answer your question I am not a WASP, (I will let you guess which part I am not). My wife is a minority, and hasn’t had the same experiences, I have no doubts that it happens. We haven’t experienced it.
I like what said about Charlotte being a manufactured city. Contrived is the perfect word for Charlotte. It is so true, every restaurant seems to serve the same food. Charlotte from the beginning was designed; this is why it has no culture.
Wow! Let me assign a race and religion on you based solely on your views of a failing city…..QU, racist much?
Hey Doc, do you also punish the victims of a muggings? You keep using that word racist, I do not think it means what you think it means. Ignorant much? Oh, right, you’re a southerner. Keep being ignorant and stay in your beloved Charlotte. You can have her all for yourself.
I always thought it was me, but your article was a breath of fresh air. This city lacks so much, but i always felt like I was “supposed” to like it, because why else would so many people be moving here, right? Well I’ve been here way too long , and have seriously thought about moving north or west. Charlotte sells the dream well, but falls short. Cities that I feel have culture are diverse, with many types of industry, people and opportunities. Cities with either strong tourism (vegas, miami, seattle), Major colleges ( think Ohio state in columbus, vandy in Nashville), or government hubs/military (DC, San Antonio, San diego) ….these type of places have culture. Charlotte lacks all, the university here is kinda off by itself and not centrally located to bring energy to a buttoned up city. In addition, please charlotte put lights on the highways, this is the worst city to drive in at night, very dark and dangerous and there no views of cities or nothing to excite passerbys. Also, of note, why does the largest city in the state not have a real zoo or aquarium, why must we drive an hour and half to go to these things, it’s because NC in general is backwards.
Charlotte is also unfortunately, still very segregated by class and race..one of its worst traits. I always find it funny when locals get offended when their city is called out and they say go back home, as if they own the city and this isn’t america. I’ve had some good experiences here and met good people, but it just seems charlotte might not be the end game. I was always hopeful it would grow into the cosmopolitan type city we yearn for, but I am discouraged.
I think we are past the point of this city growing into a cosmopolitan. There is too many things that are stolen from other cities that are forced upon us, such as the Trolley system. It is being micro managed, you can’t develop a city to have any kind of personality when everything seems to be done by committee. The city council spends its time and our money on things that don’t benefit us. Instead of lights on the highways they would rather give millions to billionaire football owners or spend it on “affordable housing”….nothing for the people who actual get up, go to work and earn the money.
Growing up near Charlotte, and seeing it as the “big city” to go to back in the 80s and to see it now is heartbreaking. Seeing the rush of people from failed cities moving in and changing it to the exact same broken communities is sad. I don’t mind people coming into the area. Just don’t come and change things to reflect the same issues you ran from. Local government is worse than a joke.
100 % correct. It is like they broke where they were from, and are now doing the same things that messed up their original location. Except Charlotte doesn’t have the history that these other places have, so all you are left with is garbage.
Please post this on a billboard on the LIE, and on all of your NY/NJ social media friend groups. So ignorant to think you are not the problem. ALL YA’LL moving here is creating the traffic problem, increase in cost of living and crime rate, and sadly our culture. As someone born and raised here, it is frustrating to see the change, but I’ll accept it. What I can’t accept is someone moving here with your pretentious, elitist attitude. Charlottes culture was one of hardworking, unpretentious, family-oriented people. Please move as quickly as possible.
You are exactly right, no one is denying that Charlotte is a mix of the worst people from all areas. Somehow the most boring people are attracted to this city.
I like southern cities, this is a Southern city in name only.
Its funny, my attitude is elitist (according to you), yet you list all the same problems with Charlotte as I do! Don’t forget to subscribe to my site!
It’s called progress. The city opted to do what ever it had to do to grow. Incentivize big business and industry growth and the rest follows. With that comes the good, the bad, and the ugly. Industry, jobs, population, traffic and congestion, stupid annoying phony people. No turning back the clock on that one.
It isn’t progress, it is what happens when I government tries to micro manage a city, it loses its soul.
My family and I moved to Charlotte NC from LI NY last year. We are running out of here. We are taking g a job transfer to OH. Southern hospitality what a joke. BLESS YOUR HEART us northerners do realize you are insulting us. We prefer to be honest not passive aggressive. I have an example of southern hospitality, we had a gas leak in the winter and not one neighbor made sure we were ok. Northerners get a bad rap, but I see more compassion from them than the so called bible belt. Adios Charlotte!!
I’m from Long Island also…as you said people are honest there. They may come off as hard, but they act like they care.
I’m southern born/bred and lived in NC 30 years. I went to Charlotte over last 3 days for huge job opportunity – and then couldn’t turn it down (and get the hell outta there) fast enough, after they made me an offer. What a POS shithole. I realized the perfect description of the city is “a nasty hot mess”, and I actually felt pity for all those who have to live in that toilet. Another great city ruined by overcrowding. Yeah Democrats, let’s bring in another 50 million immigrants – that’ll fix everything.
I’m a southerner …… from the Deep South …. this guy is spot on ….. plus he’s a humorous writer ….. as a southern born and bred woman , I’m now in NYC and loving it . Charlotte is trying really hard to have a soul ….. a heart …. some charm …. BUT … it’s discombobulated….. lies about its crime , has no great restaurants , and is full of peope that think they are charming ……. But …..
You did the opposite approach I did, from NYC to Charlotte. I actually just moved to the outskirts, Matthews, funny how there is a bit of personality out here.
Charlotte was a city without soul 20 years ago when I moved there from another southern state ….. no restaurants that were decent ….no culture …. just NASCAR ….. so — the northerners didn’t “ ruin “ Charlotte- thete was nothing to ruin !!!
We didn’t help, there is something to be said about a southern city…now Charlotte isn’t even that.
The problem with the culture of Charlotte is that it’s a rapidly growing city (#15 in the country now pop wise?) and will continue to grow rapidly. Culturally it’s trying to find itself. A lot of the influx of transplants moving here are these younger PIAs that hale from these dying rust belt towns in the north and Midwest. They come down to this young blossoming city in the south and they think it’s the shit. Then they think they’re the shit because they’re here. Very annoying
Moved to Charlotte 1 year ago from Miami and it was probably the worse mistake of my life. I bought a house here which i now regret. I’m BORED out of my mind! Everything ends at 2:30 to 3pm and every place charges a cover because they know you’ll be too bored to stay long. I need to get TF out of here soon.
Coming from a real city this place is like diet entertainment. It pretends, it is all the same
I think it’s amusing that local folks blame newcomers for the lack of southern culture, but the fact is, Charlotte has ALWAYS been a place to do business, culture was NEVER on the radar. Starting in the 1960s the city mowed down anything of value in the name of profit – which is why there are so many signs that say ” this parking lot used to be ..”
Some faux culture was forced in by the big corporations in order to appear like a first class city, often against the will of the evangelicals who see anything that smacks of culture as being from the devil, but it’s all superficial.
If you have lived in a small town, you may think Charlotte’s a great city, everyone else will know better.
It’s just a giant suburb that’s known for how close it is to more interesting places – only two hours to the mountains, only three hours to the beach, only four hours from Atlanta.
And even if the city itself is progressive compared the rest of the state, the state is gerrymandered so the podunks are in charge .
Plus the chamber of commerce lists the billy graham center as a top spot and locals will point out the mall. We do have a Whitewater center and a nascar museum.
And lots of churches.
It’s a low bar for a city as large as Charlotte – over 800,000 people with less culture than a city a quarter the size.
Also although the majority want it, we are one of the few states that has not legalized even medical marijuana. Gerrymandering at its finest.
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