Rock's Preferred City Series (PCS): Charlotte or Raleigh?

[JLova]

Been to Raleigh Durham a few times. Boring.

 

[murksiderock]

Haven't been to either city in 20+ years, but grew up in Durham and Chapel Hill. Charlotte was more interesting in the late 90s, from what I remember. They had that IMAX dome Discovery something or whatever. I don't remember much about Raleigh besides Crabtree mall, which sucked ass compared to shyt like Southsquare.

Crabtree probably a lot doper now than it was when you were here. Where do you live now?

Charlotte is still the more interesting city of the two but I'd doubt you'd recognize either since it's been 20+ on both. I first visited Rgh in 2005, first visited Clt in 2013 a few months before moving there, and both have grown tremendously from just the time that I first came...

Raleigh is safer, more educated, better schools, better family vibe, and has maintained more of it's traditional NC roots. Also Raleigh may have a SLIGHT edge on employment.

Charlotte wins in about every other category. Its really not that close if Raleigh is isolated. What makes Raleigh comparable is it's proximity to other cities and most look at the Raleigh-Durahm area as a region as opposed to the individual cities. Also, Raleigh is closer to the beach which is big plus.

I've also noticed Charlotte seems to be much more popular with black folks. Much bigger public profile. Black people from other regions seem much more familiar with Charlotte than Raleigh. Both cities are great places to live though and probably more similar than they are different. I can't imagine loving one and hating the other.

My oldest kids' mother hates Charlotte and loves Raleigh. I don't get it either, because they are alike in many ways. I think she just likes the slower pace...

Most people do enjoy Raleigh for the larger Triangle area but I never felt that way and still don't. I'm rarely on the Durm side, last time I was out there was my daughter's birthday party in October. Every so often I'm out in the RTP/airport area but I'm not impresses with the rest of the region, bruh. Durm is not like that and I've spent a lot of time there over the years, Southpoint and Bulls games are fire but anything else I can see in Durm I can see in Rgh, and the same way Clt's size advantage is a thing over Rgh, Rgh has the same thing over Durm...

For me if I'm talking to someone about Raleigh I'm telling them about The R specifically unless they ask about surrounding areas or unless I say "The Triangle", then I'm talking about the whole area. But Raleigh is Dallas to Durham's Fort Worth, Tampa to Durham's St Pete. Plenty of people prefer Durm and that side of the metro but I ain't one of them, and I personally think the surrounding region here is largely overrated...

It's the city of Raleigh that has all the juice here for me!

Charlotte does have a larger profile because of its size----->and people are more familiar with Clt sports and Bank Of America than any Rgh export; Clt just has better name recognition in general coast to coast. But in my experience black people equally appreciate both, ask about both, and many of the same black personalities are moving to both. The only tangible difference I've ever observed is people who prefer the slower pace and smaller city prefer Rgh, but if size isn't a factor I've found black folks are drawn to both pretty evenly...

Schools are better at every level here than Clt but it's not hard to find great schools in Clt, or middle class black areas. Or black art and creativity, again something I think is a little better here but definitely exists in Charlotte. It's less violent here than Clt but citywide poverty level and wealth is virtually equal, and there are plenty of safe areas for black people in Clt, Crown Town definitely is not one of these cities where it's a war zone and nikkas is dying every day...

The "hood" in both cities are less physically imposing than the hood in most of America. So besides the size factor any thing one could like about one could be found in the other, the biggest split I've seen is some of us are more comfortable in bigger cities, some of us aren't!

 

[DaMos Supreme]

I always hear nothing but good things about North Carolina, especially Raleigh and Charlotte



my only question is, does North Carolina have to deal with any frequent wraths of nature, I'm asking because I remember North Carolina got hit with a bad flood in like 2018

was the flood an anomaly ??

Severe weather for the most part is not a major factor for Raleigh and Charlotte and any surrounding cities around both. Weather plays more a factor for Eastern NC/Coastal-Outer Banks area (Hurricane Season). I was born and raised in a small town of Elizabeth City, NC (yeah, the same area where the murder of Andrew Brown gained attention. Roughly 45 mins from VA).

As for this thread. I’ve would probably go Charlotte, if you prefer a semblance of a big city vibe and night life. Raleigh has continual growth as far as career aspects and raising family, but is more laidback and has the college life vibe for younger folk.

 

[MJ Truth]

Been to Raleigh Durham a few times. Boring.

You just ain’t know the right people breh.

 

[murksiderock]

3 North Carolina Cities Rank Top in the Nation for Black Economic Success

Both cities (and throw in Durm if you're a Durm fan) are among the best places for black people in America, and I truly believe that having lived on both coasts and been many places stateside. Some people, especially white people, bring up Clt's crime while ignoring Clt crime is still lower than the majority of large cities, meaning while its more dangerous than Raleigh, its still among the safest cities for black people here period...

For me the fact that both cities have moderate to low crime rates is a huge point in their favor versus most places...

Black business, black homeownership, black wealth and income, black success in general, black people are THRIVING by the tens of thousands in both. There is no great differential to the black experience in either other than, again, Clt has more things going on in general so there are more specifically black events too...

But Raleigh has PLENTY of black-oriented events and things to do relative to the size of the city. Again, don't cone to Raleigh expecting Toronto or Seattle or Philly. Look at Raleigh relative to cities of similar size...

It's a wonderful place to live black, nowhere in America has that distinction to perfection. Rgh doesn't either but there are PLENTY worse areas to live black in the US, measured by a variety of things. Same thing for Clt, excellent place to be a Black American...

Charlotte is around ~33-34% black, Raleigh ~26-27% black. And in both cities plenty of representation across genres...

 

[Womb Raider]

Which city has better looking, thicker black women?

This

 

[GhettoTeK]

Both cities appeal to me for different reasons. I do personally prefer Charlotte: for me it's bigger with a more expansive range of opportunity and entertainment. But one of the things that are great about both are the large black presence, they do that equally well...

Raleigh is more of an intellectual's city. One of the smartest cities I've been in, there's a natural air of learning and creativeness here. It's pretty cool to see, and I think that has an effect on the low level of violence here too. There is a lower feeling of black people wanting to harm other black people here, only other city I've lived in like this was Virginia Beach and I love it. It's truly unique in America to live amongst black communities that aren't largely plagued with genocide...

Charlotte actually has this too but to a lesser degree. There's a lot of black folk with money in both, and I've met people from all over who come to both of these cities and point out they've never seen so many black families and well to do black folk...

Both cities are loud and proud of themselves. Charlotte completely embraces it's southern persona, and in some ways is a smaller Atlanta, larger Raleigh/Greensboro mashup. Highly entertaining city, materialistic. Raleigh has a complex about its southern nature, there is this consistent tying of itself to NY and DC particularly. I'd say Raleigh is the more fashionable city of the two in the sense it's fashion is less try hard, more inclusive of alternative styles, whereas Charlotte is trendy but rides along more generally "black" styles of fashion...

Great food in both great shopping in both, but Charlotte wins this by a landslide. Just way too many more eateries and shopping venues, and Charlotte crushes anything entertainment, period. Museums, parks, these things are not bad in Raleigh, they are just better in Charlotte. Music, arts, same thing. Traveling acts, venues for entertainment, sports events...

Raleigh can get boring if you are from a larger city (case in point, Charlotte). In actuality the scope of things to do here fits the size of the city, so there shouldn't be the expectation Raleigh has the entertainment of a larger city...

If you need a point of reference, Raleigh should be compared to cities like New Orleans, Memphis, Providence, Richmond, Jacksonville, Hartford, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City. These are peer cities of Raleigh, anything smaller than these cities is too small to be compared to Raleigh. Anything larger than these cities is too big....

Point of reference for Charlotte would be cities like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Newark, Portland, Austin, Tampa, St Louis, Baltimore, Oakland...

Charlotte and Raleigh are two different weight classes so you shouldn't have the expectation that they mirror each other. If you're more of a big city person you'd rather be in Charlotte though Raleigh has its dashes of big city-isms (namely in shopping options)...

Ultimately, I love them both differently. I'd rather live in Charlotte but Raleigh is beyond tolerable and plenty of people prefer Raleigh for its own merits...

First long post I read on the coli thanks for the intel. Great post..I’d rep but nikkas won’t let me

 

[Skooby]

Charlotte just for the sports...

 

[Theodoresolderbreh]

I lived in Charlotte for like 5 months years ago and only left because of relationship shyt. I completely miss that place. The music and club scene out there was crazy

 

[1thouwow]

Hell yeah. In a perfect world I'd love to settle and raise my children in The Beach, I miss it. There's a saying that goes, "find your there." I found my "there" in Virginia Beach, I love it that much. So many things about the city line up with my personality, interests, and comfortability...

But of course with children in play I had to make a decision and it's much more relevant at this stage to be where my kids are, than to just go do my thing where I'm comfortable, for so many reasons. And if it wasn't The Beach, there are a number of other places I'd choose to go back to before Raleigh (Sacramento, Richmond, Charlotte, I prefer all these places to Raleigh)...

But I don't hate it here, it actually has grown on me with time, and I look at it like this. I'll be 33 this year and I'm still building my foundation. My daughters are 5, 3, and 7 months. There is going to come a time in that 7-12 year window from now where I'll have optimal comfortability on where I am in life, where I'll be able to control my own movements and schedule better, and at that time my daughters will be older---->at 42 my daughters will be 15, 13, 10. While I'm establishing myself, I'm here with them thru all the critical points of adolescence as well. When the time comes I can freely choose where I want to go, they'll be older and I will probably have the option of bringing them with me, which is unavailable to me right now...

So I'm just grinding for tomorrow, I understand what I gotta do today. There's certainly worse places I could be stuck in than Raleigh, I ain't mad at it. 10 years from now I may not want to leave, though I doubt it, I have a transient spirit and grew up bouncing around, I get bored easily and need new challenges and experiences after awhile. But the possibility is there that maybe I'm a different outlook in a decade and I'd rather stay here...

As it is now I'm here until I'm at least in my 40s and I've accepted that. Lotta worse places to end up than Raleigh!



Lmao Gso is physically an attractive city. And it has women everywhere like all the other NC cities. I was frequenting Gso often in 2016-18 and nothing was popping outside Elm....



It's North Carolina, you find them in every large city. Rgh and Clt are pretty equal in regards to women and sisters in general...

Why won’t ya old lady move to the beach? Y’all got custody agreements? My bad this shyt triggers me, it’s always the nikka that gotta compromise some big shyt

 

[Piff Perkins]

Someone told me that Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville are some of the only areas that are good for black people in NC. Just about everywhere else having too many rednecks and racism. Is that true or are places like Cary and Cornelius fine?

 

[AVXL]

Hell yeah. In a perfect world I'd love to settle and raise my children in The Beach, I miss it. There's a saying that goes, "find your there." I found my "there" in Virginia Beach, I love it that much. So many things about the city line up with my personality, interests, and comfortability...

But of course with children in play I had to make a decision and it's much more relevant at this stage to be where my kids are, than to just go do my thing where I'm comfortable, for so many reasons. And if it wasn't The Beach, there are a number of other places I'd choose to go back to before Raleigh (Sacramento, Richmond, Charlotte, I prefer all these places to Raleigh)...

But I don't hate it here, it actually has grown on me with time, and I look at it like this. I'll be 33 this year and I'm still building my foundation. My daughters are 5, 3, and 7 months. There is going to come a time in that 7-12 year window from now where I'll have optimal comfortability on where I am in life, where I'll be able to control my own movements and schedule better, and at that time my daughters will be older---->at 42 my daughters will be 15, 13, 10. While I'm establishing myself, I'm here with them thru all the critical points of adolescence as well. When the time comes I can freely choose where I want to go, they'll be older and I will probably have the option of bringing them with me, which is unavailable to me right now...

So I'm just grinding for tomorrow, I understand what I gotta do today. There's certainly worse places I could be stuck in than Raleigh, I ain't mad at it. 10 years from now I may not want to leave, though I doubt it, I have a transient spirit and grew up bouncing around, I get bored easily and need new challenges and experiences after awhile. But the possibility is there that maybe I'm a different outlook in a decade and I'd rather stay here...

As it is now I'm here until I'm at least in my 40s and I've accepted that. Lotta worse places to end up than Raleigh!



Lmao Gso is physically an attractive city. And it has women everywhere like all the other NC cities. I was frequenting Gso often in 2016-18 and nothing was popping outside Elm....



It's North Carolina, you find them in every large city. Rgh and Clt are pretty equal in regards to women and sisters in general...

I went to school in Greensboro from 03-08 (Guilford College ) so I’m biased to the Triad over any other city/region in the state. As an Atlanta native I always got lil Atlanta vibes from Charlotte and I’ve only been to Raleigh a few times. I always felt like if Greensboro could attract the jobs in tech and healthcare it could be a higher ranked city in the state. I always felt like we were third/fourth best overall city in the state

 

[DropTopDoc]

Probably more opportunities in Charlotte, and more things to get into, but if you trying to settle down and what not Raleigh is the go to

 

[jmegamar]

Yea I’m looking at moving down to either one in a few years. Always loved North Carolina. Tired of this Virginia weather.

 

[murksiderock]

Why won’t ya old lady move to the beach? Y’all got custody agreements? My bad this shyt triggers me, it’s always the nikka that gotta compromise some big shyt

It is always the man who gotta compromise some big shyt, all the fukking time...

Well my current woman has only ever lived here and Brooklyn, where she was born. And she's been here since she was 12, she'll be 28 in September. Her baby daddy grew up in Charlottesville and Richmond, and she has family in Baltimore, and that's the extent of her travels. That's it, she's lived her entire life in two places, and has only visited those other places...

Her family is very insular and she is one of many people who is afraid of expanding her comfort zone. She never plans on leaving here, most of her family is here in NC in The Triangle and Fayetteville areas. I can't get her to go anywhere and to be honest I'm okay with that, we have an expiration date on our thing anyway. I'm cool with that...

I left The Beach in '19 to come here with my two oldest daughters' mother. She's also from here, and we went to The Beach from Richmond in '17, and she was homesick. Most of her family is here in NC too, I met her here, so coming back wasn't a big problem, but it wasn't planned on staying here long term. We broke up and there are custody issues with her and I, and I'm just not built for living hours away from my children who I have to fight to see right here. It's better for me, and more importantly it's better for them, that I'm here...

But for sure in many instances with both these women I've had to compromise things I didn't want to...

Someone told me that Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville are some of the only areas that are good for black people in NC. Just about everywhere else having too many rednecks and racism. Is that true or are places like Cary and Cornelius fine?

Asheville is not a city for black people lmao. Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston, Fayetteville are. To varying degree, they all aren't equally great but they are all comfortable spots for black people...

Asheville and Wilmington are not cities for us!

Cary and Cornelius are suburbs with muted black presence, black folk live there but I wouldnt suggest them to anybody...

Outside of the 5 cities I named most of NC is backwater or Klan-ville. Northeast/eastern NC has a tremendous black history and culture but is mostly rural and that ain't my speed but it is for some people...

I went to school in Greensboro from 03-08 (Guilford College ) so I’m biased to the Triad over any other city/region in the state. As an Atlanta native I always got lil Atlanta vibes from Charlotte and I’ve only been to Raleigh a few times. I always felt like if Greensboro could attract the jobs in tech and healthcare it could be a higher ranked city in the state. I always felt like we were third/fourth best overall city in the state

No doubt!