Life in Charlotte in 2021

Hi everyone,

Quick background, I'll be a first year analyst at one of the two larger banks in Charlotte with a significant presence there ie) BAML or WF.

I've heard that the city has become more fun over the past 5-10 years in comparison to its relatively sleepy past. Does anyone have any general thoughts about the city, and or any advice for someone who is going to move there? There have been a few threads from like 2014 about this topic, but I wanted to see if there have been any changes. I understand I won't be getting the ideal Chicago or NYC experience, but I want to really try to make the best out of it


Thanks!  

 

I’d recommend trying to switch offices. This place is a joke

source: been living here for 2 years 

 
Most Helpful

Great team and bank. Just wish I got placed in New York coming out of college. 

I often shit on Charlotte more than it deserves but the reality is that Charlotte's just a really big suburb and there isn't much to do here other than go out to eat / drink. Don't ever tell this to somewhere who lives here though: We're ONLY 2.5 HouRs aWaY FRom the mOUntaInS and the bEACh!! At the end of the day, the whole place is really vanilla... as someone else said on WSO, the only thing novel about Charlotte is how plain it is. There is no diversity (anyone who argues otherwise is out of touch with reality) and the people here generally aren't as educated, cultured and witty as they are in NYC / LA / SF. 

On the bright side, I've been able to save >2.0x as much as my colleagues in NY given COL is cheap down here. Rent for a brand new 900 sq ft apartment is $1,300/month, food is generally cheaper, and drinks are cheap. Also, in theory you could lease a BMW for the same amount of money you'd spend on subway / Uber in NY or LA. It's also a plus that people down here in finance are usually way chiller than you'd ever find in New York. Ultimately, there are pros and cons to living anywhere and I enjoyed being here during COVID since things were chill and I had my space. If I could do it all over again, I'd forfeit saving an extra 15K a year as an analyst to be somewhere more cultured and enjoyable like NY, LA, or even Chicago. 

 

vanative

Great team and bank. Just wish I got placed in New York coming out of college. 

I often shit on Charlotte more than it deserves but the reality is that Charlotte's just a really big suburb and there isn't much to do here other than go out to eat / drink. Don't ever tell this to somewhere who lives here though: We're ONLY 2.5 HouRs aWaY FRom the mOUntaInS and the bEACh!! At the end of the day, the whole place is really vanilla... as someone else said on WSO, the only thing novel about Charlotte is how plain it is. There is no diversity (anyone who argues otherwise is out of touch with reality) and the people here generally aren't as educated, cultured and witty as they are in NYC / LA / SF. 

On the bright side, I've been able to save >2.0x as much as my colleagues in NY given COL is cheap down here. Rent for a brand new 900 sq ft apartment is $1,300/month, food is generally cheaper, and drinks are cheap. Also, in theory you could lease a BMW for the same amount of money you'd spend on subway / Uber in NY or LA. It's also a plus that people down here in finance are usually way chiller than you'd ever find in New York. Ultimately, there are pros and cons to living anywhere and I enjoyed being here during COVID since things were chill and I had my space. If I could do it all over again, I'd forfeit saving an extra 15K a year as an analyst to be somewhere more cultured and enjoyable like NY, LA, or even Chicago. 

The lack of diversity is one of the major selling points. If you want to get drunk on weekends with fratbro types and creep on attractive white women, Charlotte is great. 

If you want to feel like you’re in a foreign country at all times and have homeless people scream at you, there are other cities for that.

 

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