Charlotte or Raleigh?
it is similar to Atlanta, and it and Raleigh are also alot alike too, Charlotte is Raleigh times two. Coming from Houston, Raleigh may be too small for you, but it also isn't really a "small" city, after Charlotte it is still the biggest city between DC and Atlanta. So there's still a decent amount of stuff going on...
Yeah I’m coming with a wife and 2 kids so definitely looking for somewhere I can lay some roots down. This was one of the areas my wife was actually interested in since I’ve been talking about moving outta state. I told her we should take a trip and check it out so that’ll definitely be on the list before the year is up.Charlotte or Raleigh?
Both are waaaayyyyy safer than Houston, that would be a plus off rip from almost anywhere. I know you'd miss your local culture, but then you'd get to learn the culture in those cities, where there's still a ton of black culture...
The food is good in both but homegrown Carolina food is nowhere near as unique or tasteful as other regions and cities, but the tradeoff is you'll have plenty of options on the restaurant scene to choose from...
Charlotte is way smaller than Houston, but it's still a big city. So if you still want to feel like you're in a big city of some sort, go to Charlotte. My experience has been that people from bigger cities can get bored easily in Charlotte, which to Bryan's point, there is a lot to do there, but it is a drop off if you're coming from Chicago or NY or Atlanta or LA, or in your case, Houston. Alot of people from bigger cities miss the 24-hour nature of those bigger cities, some of them enjoy the slower pace in Clt though..
Most people who move to Charlotte are coming from somewhere smaller so Charlotte is the perfect big city for them..
There's a similar dynamic in Raleigh, which is basically just Charlotte cut in half. Don't listen to these nikkas who tell you Charlotte ain't like nowhere else
I prefer Charlotte in a vacuum but my kids are here in Raleigh and having lived in both, the similarities jump off the page. Raleigh is fun and more easygoing and laid back than Charlotte, Raleigh people also dress better, have cleaner style and are more about the bag, but otherwise there aren't many differences between Charlotte and Raleigh...
Charlotte is more diverse, but you aren't gonna find Houston-level diversity anywhere here. Raleigh has more white people, Charlotte has more of everyone else, but there are plenty of whites in Charlotte and they are more rednecky-white in Charlotte, the whites in Raleigh are more passive-aggressive liberal. Take from that what you will...
Raleigh isn't as diverse as Charlotte but it does have some notable diversity, it isn't just bland here. Both are more corporate and white collar than blue collar, so I'm not sure how that compares to Houston specifically. The blue collar element is in both but smaller than in some cities. Raleigh's white collar skews tech, government, eds and meds, Charlotte's white collar skews corporate and big business, but each have elements of this in both...
Both have a large black middle class, low black poverty, a decent sized amount of wealthy blacks. They are pretty much exactly the same in this regard. Charlotte is a little rougher in its hoods but this ain't Memphis and it's not even Houston which also ain't Memphis, Charlotte (like Raleigh), it's easy to stay away from bullshyt because it's not filled with slums, violence, and impoverishment...
Anyone involved in "fukkery" as a transplant or outsider in Charlotte, is involved because they want to be. It's very easy to live a fun and chill life away from wild shyt in Charlotte, I'm always gonna push back on the images to present Charlotte as this wild hood place because what benefit does that serve us as a people? And it's mostly untrue anyway, Charlotte is beautiful and safe. It's a little more dangerous than Raleigh, which is one of the safest large cities around. You can find hot shyt in Raleigh too, but like Charlotte it's pretty easy to dodge it and stay away from. These are safe cities with numerous advantages for black people...
Charlotte receives more tours and big events because its the bigger city. Raleigh receives a decent amount of this though because it's on the other side of the state and has the market as the biggest city on that side!
I can answer any other questions you have because I've lived in both!
Bruh you live off Old Statesville and Sunset, that's not the most chill area. That Denny's on Sunset used to be the club (Club Denny's), I'm going back over a decade now, always was hot in that area
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Which city are yall interested in, both, or just Charlotte?
Yeah right nikka
these Carolina cities shyt on Louisiana, if Clt and Rgh are mid then them Louisiana cities are lower than that 
Bruh you live off Old Statesville and Sunset, that's not the most chill area. That Denny's on Sunset used to be the club (Club Denny's), I'm going back over a decade now, always was hot in that area
But yes, anywhere you go it depends on where you live. Believe it or not, there are nicer areas in Memphis and Baltimore too, that if one can afford it, they could choose those areas. The difference in Carolina cities that is truly unique in my opinion, and this goes beyond just Charlotte or Raleigh because Greensboro, Winston, Fayetteville, Durham, are like this too;
But in Carolina there's a deeply rooted black middle class in nearly all the sizable cities, and it's quite large. There are multiple black middle class areas in all these cities, and a good sized wealthy black area, too. Poverty never reached as deeply in Carolina cities as other places nationally, and because poverty is often correlated to violence, Carolina cities have never been as violent as many other places, either. How this happened, I really don't know, but it's something that jumps out to you if you come from a city that is just more dangerous...
Example, you could never mistake anywhere in Carolina for Memphis. It's just not close, the worst hoods in Charlotte and Raleigh would be considered safe in Memphis. Physically the bad areas in Memphis are just so much more broken down, you can see it, and there's a culture of murder and violence in Memphis that goes well before the Civil Rights era, well before desegregation. So when you come from somewhere like that, you can easily spot the contrasts when juxtaposed to Carolina cities...
You don't live in a great area of Charlotte but it isn't the worst. Little Rock is worse, Sugar Creek is worse, etc. So it is about where you live but your frame of reference could be different from mine, what feels like "shootings all the time" to you may not feel so frequent to other people and you aren't wrong for that, it's just based on your own experiences!
Where did you come from prior to Charlotte?
We're 53 days into a new year and Charlotte has 18 murders so far. Could be better, but it's not a "shooting all the time" place. Charlotte so far for the 2020s, averages 108 murders/year, Charlotte averaged 65 in the 10s, 68 in the 00s, and 89 in the 90s. But, Charlotte is also a much larger city than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. The 10s was the best era in Charlotte in recent memory but was historically low, 2020s Charlotte is way safer than it was in the 90s and about on par with what 00s Charlotte was; Charlotte today has more murders and shootings than either era but there's just more people in Charlotte today, Charlotte isn't actually worse...
(By the way this same thing applies for Raleigh. Raleigh is at 7 murders so far this year, and for the 20s to-date is averaging 35. Raleigh averaged 19 in the 10s, a historically low era, 20 in the 00s, and 23 in the 90s. Today's Raleigh is a little safer but close to what Raleigh's violent crime levels were in the 90s. Raleigh has way more people living here today than it did 25-30 years ago, though)...
That shyt sucks
Memphis has the best BBQ in history...I do agree with this. I would say Charlotte is a borderline Top 20 city in America...
Fayetteville isn't great but I prefer it to Durham or Winston...
That shyt sucks
I do agree with this. I would say Charlotte is a borderline Top 20 city in America...
Top 5 being NY, LA, Chi, DC, SF...
6-10 being The Bean, Philly, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas...
11-17 being Seattle, Miami, Detroit, MSP, Phx, SD, Denver...
Then the next group of cities is where Charlotte lands, somewhere in the group that includes Bmore, Pdx, StL, Atx, Orlando, Tampa. So if Clt isn't yet a Top 20 city it's damn close and you could make the argument it's over all the cities in this group...
Fayetteville isn't great but I prefer it to Durham or Winston...
