Are there any good jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina?

NORTH CAROLINA: raleigh area vs charlotte? pros & cons?

• I am thinking about moving my family to either raleigh (or near by) or charlotte (or near by). I have read many places online the charlotte is a "redneck" place and many people refer to north carolina as "the redneck state". I also read that many of the people are racist and "stick to their own kind". I have never lived there, but my family and i have visited fayetteville, raleigh, wilmington and other places many times. we still are not sure that it is a good move. we want someplace with lost of things to see and do, many stores/malls/restaurants, good schools (and colleges), many jobs, mosques (we are a muslim family). and most importantly, we need a city that has alot of arabs in it, since in our current city (milton, fl), there are no arabs (moroccans) or muslims that we know in our city. we also want a city that is "safe" (not alot of crime) and with cheaper houses and cost of living. i am also retired military, so a base close by would be nice, but isn't necessary. so which is better, charlotte or raleigh, nc? what are some of the pros and cons of the cities? which do you reccomend moving to? are there any other good cities in north carolina that we should check out? thank you so much for your help and advice!

• Answer:

  Don't really see Charlotte as "Red Neck"so much as it is a little more of an urban environment. If you like a bigger city feel Charlotte is pretty nice. I prefer Raleigh of the two of them. Raleigh is a little cleaner and easier to navigate. It seems like since Charlotte is pressed all the way up against SC, that it didn't have the room it needed to grow properly. Raleigh is pretty sprawling, much more of a broad city than Charlotte, which leads to a little less congestion ( although Raleigh can get backed up just as easily sometimes ). Charlotte has the lure of a bit of a younger crowd these days, but only because it's probably more expensive to live in Raleigh. They have more of the corporate feel to them ( ie major sports teams, Fortune 500 companies, Bank HQs, etc...). Raleigh is more of a college type city. Smaller,local businesses without being too small. There is also more Government in Raleigh, being the capital. For Colleges you won't go wrong with Raleigh. All within reasonable driving range: NC State, Duke, UNC, and Wake Forest, plus many smaller lesser known schools. I'm not too sure about Muslim populace in either city, but google it, I'm sure there's a decent amount in each. Some places in the state can be very "Red Necky", but both places you are inquiring about are mostly filled with transplants now anyway. Steer clear of any city that doesn't have a major interstate highway running through it, and you should be fine. Good Luck. Feel free to email with any other questions!