Relocating South - Charlotte or Austin

I'd go with Charlotte. It'll be much less of a culture shock compared to Austin.

Charlotte is a lot of displaced yankees - definitely less of a culture shock; although, it is definitely still in the South.

Texas is its own beast in a lot of ways. Austin was an interesting city, but they have that whole "keep Austin weird" thing which kind of permeates the culture. I have only visited briefly so I can't share a lot of insight into living there. I thought it was fun for a short trip, but not sure about long term.

Charlotte is wonderful :) I'm from Boston (around BU) so its nothing compared to that or NYC, but we have pretty good (although sometimes bipolar) weather. The "cold" here is a joke. Lots of things to do near here as far as outdoorsy stuff - mountains, beach, and lakes (Lake Norman is where I commute from). Great restaurants, sports, and uptown can be a lot of fun. Many yankees like bank-on-this mentioned. I recommend using Tripadvisor if you don't already! Don't know much about Austin expect that it has a better live music scene and more artsy culture.

Austin for sure

The CLT is better for non-hipsters. Also, why not ATL?

I'm currently a Texas transplant from the Midwest, though I don't live in Austin.

Texas in general is a pretty decent place to live and the tax situation doesn't hurt in the least. There are a lot of transplants from all over so I don't think the culture shock would be as severe as one might think. Plus, you'll be able to live like a king down here on a finance salary so inconveniences shouldn't really worry you that much.

I can't speak to the Austin night life, but there are a lot of young professionals and the women down here are pretty nice too. And most people are pretty ignorant of finance down here (in my experience), either they don't care what you do for a living or don't know what it is you actually do, which I always thought was great.

texas and don't look back

These are the same two towns I was looking at moving to. I might also consider Houston and Dallas even though I hear they aren't as nice as Charlotte and Austin. Right now my fiancée and I are living in Traverse City MI and while beautiful the pay/opportunities are less than desirable. We are both leaning towards Charlotte because it very pretty and we've heard such good things from long term residents.

Austin. 6th street

I spent a little under 2 years in CLT. Very family focused area, and suburban dream for a lot. At the same time you do have a good young professional crowed as others have said. Metro growth has outpaced the current infrastructure so getting around can be tough, but I heard Austin has got that problem a lot worse. CLT is very aggressive with luring white collar jobs to the area. Obviously BoA is HQ and WFS just relocated their HQ to the Duke Energy Building. SunTrust RH is also building its corporate banking pretty aggressively in the area as of late along with US Bank doing the same.

I've lived in Austin for a couple years now, and I've visited cousins in Charlotte a few times.

Both are roughly the same size metro areas with very strong growth. However, that's really where the similarities end. Austin is much more liberal and eclectic and Charlotte has more of a quaint and conservative vibe. Austin has a muuuuch better nightlife, and is also a noticeably younger city. If you're still looking to have fun, Austin will be better. Charlotte has a more mature population it seems like. I would imagine Charlotte would have more northern transplants while Austin has more from the West (Cali), but I'm not sure on this.

Also, winters in Austin are almost non-existent. It's typically in the 40's - 50's and then a cold front will come like every two weeks and drop temperatures to the 30's where it will stay for a couple days before going back up. Charlotte is much colder in the winter.

I'd recommend Austin. Stay close to downtown while young, move to the Hill Country to start a family.

Between the two, I would choose Charlotte. If you want to live in TX you should consider Plano.

Depends on your age. If your young, Austin takes the cake, its a way more fun city. If your old, Charlotte would be good.

The South is the hidden gem of the United States. Low cost of living. Great weather. Less taxes. Nice people.

Just stay away from Mississippi

Thanks for the feedback, sounds like there are positives to both places.

I like to think that late 20's is still young, but for those who mentioned a good "young professional" crowd, were you referring to recent college grads or more my age range? I have a few extended friends in Austin but don't know a single person in Charlotte. How easy is it to meet new people and build up a network in the late 20s/early 30s there? Is there a drop-off between the 22 y.o. singles living downtown and then most everyone else is married?

Not trying to overly stereotype, just want to get a sense.

A lot of the people living in DT Austin are mid-twenties to mid-thirties, you won't be out of place. The real estate market is booming and thus rent (or sales prices) downtown is a little high for most recent graduates. In addition to high prices, there is currently an imbalance between the amount of talented workers that want to work in Austin and the available jobs. Companies are able to take advantage of this and often pay less than similar positions in Houston & Dallas despite the higher cost of living in Austin.

I have never been to Charlotte, but hear great things. I'll speak to what I know, which is Austin.. and my personal favorite part of Austin is that it's an outdoor city. For example, Town Lake runs through downtown and just about any day of year, you'll find people in kayaks or stand-up paddle boards on the water, and runners, walkers, and bikers on the ~8 miles of trails that surround the lake. Adjacent to the lake is Barton Springs, a natural spring that surfaces and serves as a year-round pool. Next to that is Zilker park, home of ACL music festival. Outdoor patios galore, and due to Texas's relative lack of seasons (take that as a positive or negative), its never a bad time for a beer or marg on a patio. Some of my other favorites include hiking the greenbelt, Reimer's Ranch, Hamilton Pool, Lake Travis, and golfing in the hill country (anything west of downtown). As you can tell, I like to be active outside anytime I'm not in the office, and Austin has no shortage of those opportunities.

Perhaps Charlotte's proximity to Appalachia trumps everything I just discussed.. maybe the real deciding factor should be Hillbillies vs. Rednecks turned Hipster

Best of luck, let us know of the outcome

Why not Jacksonville, South Florida or Tampa? Both Jacksonville and Tampa have a good, albeit not outstanding finance scene, low COL and good quality of life. South Florida is a bit more cosmopolitan, but you can find your niche, whether you want the burbs or the city it's there, great cultural amenities like the Arscht Center, Wolfsonian and New World Symphony. South Florida is the cross roads of Latin America, strong PWM sector and good, but not outstanding commercial banking.

Austin for sure, no doubt.

If you move to Austin, make sure you tune in to the Alex Jones Show so you can join the resistance and fight the globalists.