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Bumping my post from 2014. (LOL) go Charlotte go!!

Close! Edmonds. Love the weather out here and the views (well not now because the Big Dark has arrived). And yeah, cost of living balances out. My wife is an RN, literally doubled her income. Also agree comparing the two isn’t fair, Seattle has the benefit of being bigger and more established for longer. Also it’s the pseudo capital of the PNW. Charlotte will get there in its own unique way. Go QC. Anyways, sorry to derail. I need to go back through here and see how my population projections from 2012 held up.

The city can’t expand outward so it would have to grow up. It’s completely bound by water to the East and west and fairly large cities to the north and south; Shoreline, Lynnwood, Kent, Burien, etc. I don’t anticipate Seattle catching Charlotte, solely due to the housing prices. The job market is exceptional though. My experience isn’t quite as drastic as @cltheel.sdl in terms of cost, but certainly similar. We bought a home last year about 15 miles north of downtown because we wanted a home. Almost anything inside city proper that doesn’t share a wall will start at $700k. But, you get what you pay for and I wouldn’t trade it. The amount of outdoor options and variety is unmatched in the US, at least in my opinion. I’m willing to pay the premium for that. Plus I love to fly fish so I’m in heaven. Charlotte is still awesome though, don’t let anyone tell you different. Go Panthers.

The city looks so damn good on TNT tonight! Really excited to see it shine this weekend. Wooooo!!

Looks like we are well on our way to my projected win total: 19

Stay safe out there folks. Don't assume you're in the clear until this thing is long gone.

It’s a bit of a shock. People just have no clue. I’ll be like “yeah, Charlotte! You know, the Hornets? The Panthers? Franklin Graham?!?” And they’ll be like “ohhh, I’ve always wanted to go to Charleston, it’s so pretty on the ocean”. what. The. Hell.

To be fair, it says leadership is unknown. I doubt they are referring to Charlotte as some geographic oddity like Bielefeld (which doesn’t exist). But more so from a cultural and economic sense. Like, what is Charlotte known for nationally? We know what Charlotte is known for, but what sticks out to people in say, Minneapolis or Colorado Springs when you say Charlotte? Nice place to live? NASCAR? Banking? Can Newton?! I don’t know. Everyone where I am lumps Charlotte in as flyover, which really surprised me a bit.

Right, but 9th busiest by traffic means most of those gurus only see Charlotte from through the window at Charlotte Douglas. Aren't we like 23rd in O&D? I think how Charlotte is perceived isn't necessarily fair, but that the perception absolutely matters and needs to be addressed by city leaders. There is also a lot of truth to it, which hurts. From an education standpoint, I always felt I landed somewhere in the "maybe slightly above average" category in Charlotte. I feel like an ignorant troglodyte out here in Seattle. That said, criticism is a good thing and needs to be accepted and developed. Reacting by telling these consultant groups they are wrong and their report is "garbage" is probably not the best approach. Need to prove em wrong with action.

Oh yeah the prices are definitely going to cool. The spike has been nuts. I don’t foresee a 2007 level bubble burst though, moreso a slight dip then plateau. It’s a lot harder to buy a house now than in the mid-2000’s. So you don’t have people with minimal incomes buying ARM’s that skyrocket and force them to foreclose. At least not to the degree of 2006. Speculative condo building is usually a bad sign. I do think Seattle is in for a small pop in the condo/townhome market. I have no evidence to back that up, just purely my observation. But much like Seattle, if people keep coming to Charlotte and good jobs are present, housing prices will continue to stay strong. Price growth will just slow as interest rates keep creeping up.

That’s fair. Time heals all. But I think it will be challenging for Charlotte to promote itself as both a “progressive city of the new south” while also hosting Trump’s 2020 party. None of you are fools. Politics are as contentious as ever. It’s “us or them” to the highest order. We can argue all day about who is at fault for that. However at surface level, hosting the 2020 RNC just further cements Charlotte as a conservative southern city. On a national level.

So I’m a little biased here, but I’d argue the opposite. SF and Seattle are very dense and also bound by a number of geographic features that limit new construction. Exceptionally high demand coupled with high wages and low inventory of SFH leads to bonkers prices. I also don’t believe Charlotte is in a “bubble” as purchasing isn’t currently driven by speculation. That said, I’d argue it’s more susceptible to market fluctuations because it can continue to grow outwards through new construction , like Houston or Atlanta. Unless you know something I don’t, haha.

Nationally it’s a real bad look for the city. I get that some won’t agree with that and I respect your feelings. I also understand the significant positive economic impact. Not to be discounted. However if we’re talking purely national perception, it’s a bad look.

Tons of people doing that in Seattle right now. Houses they bought for $300k in the late 2000's and selling them now for $850k. Jumping ship to Arizona, Oregon and Spokane/Idaho. I think there are many who would go.

I actually think Raleigh has got a really damn good shot at it. Initially I had them way down the list but it's surged into my top five with Metro DC, Toronto, Boston and Atlanta.