Ping: Charlotte, NC posters

[BishopMVP]

My sister just graduated college and is moving to Charlotte in a couple months. What can you locals tell an outsider moving there? She's planning to rent on a month by month or 6-month lease on the outskirts near a light rail stop, and then move into the city center in the winter when rents are cheaper because you're not fighting against all the college students and she has a better idea of the city.

I've already made sure she's looked at the public transportation situation (light rail seems decent, there is that tram or whatever you call it, free bikes to rent from place to place, and she will have a car). Are there any particular parts of the city that have a good nightlife scene, and parts that are more dangerous than others? What else is there that's obvious to you guys, and will be obvious to her once she lives there, but doesn't know going in?

[Wolfpack]

I'm not intimately familiar with Charlotte, but I go there often enough since family is in the area. There is only one light rail link and it runs from downtown south to I-485 near Pineville (there are plans for expansion, but they're a long ways off). So if she's looking to ride the rail line, her choices are going to be limited to just that corridor of the city. There really aren't many colleges on that side of town. UNC-Charlotte is in the northeast of the city and then there are some small urban colleges like Johnson C. Smith scattered around town, but UNCC's student population is the largest far and away and they'll be on the other side of the city for the most part.

Charlotte's like any major city in the South. It's not very dense and car travel will be a necessity to get just about anywhere. I would not count on public transit aside from the rail line. Also like any city, the good and bad are somewhat intermingled, but the signs are pretty obvious. Sketchier areas are more around the southeast side and westward towards the airport, but as with any sprawled area, it's basically the same pattern: business district, somewhat blighted core area near it, old money inner suburban area (Myers Park), hipster urban re-settlers rebuilding some spots (Dilworth, e.g.), aging suburban area sliding from middle to lower class, new far suburban/exurban areas (Ballantyne or Union County, e.g.).

[CU Tiger]

I'm not in a place to type a book, but I Charlotte is " home" and where my usiness was located for ten years.

Feel free to ping me specific questions or I'll be more than glad to shoot you a number and she can call...be glad to help anyway I can.

[britrock88]

Grew up within an hour of Charlotte, worked there briefly. I know more about specifics than general characterizations. I will echo a couple of things that Wolfpack said -- the part of the city west and north of uptown gets rough, and the light rail is an uptown-and-parts-south proposition.

[JPhillips]

[Julio Riddols]

I live a few hours from Charlotte.. The only thing I can say is EAT AT COW FISH. Best restaurant I have ever been to. Ridiculously good food. Something for everyone.

[lighthousekeeper]