^Yep, as this native who moved for a higher-paying job knows well, there are trade-offs. Having grown up in St. Louis, I know full well that its biggest asset is its amazing and affordable architecture, which I sorely miss. But while St. Louis leaders are hyping suburban strip malls, Charlotte leaders are showing off more and more urban redevelopment, including an abundant amount of transit-oriented development. Plus, the daytrips to the mountains, weekend getaways to the beach, and milder weather help ease my home-sickness.
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Jeff707 wrote:lukethedrifter wrote:Well, Charlotte has a brand new light rail, designed by some of the same folks who brought you Metrolink. Bro-in-law was shocked at the housing prices, apparently due to the large number of SF and NY/Boston transplants working in the banking industry.
The banks and law firms all pay very well, at about DC rates because they are competing for the best students from Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, Virginia, etc and with frims from DC and Atlanta. I was shocked to see that the top law firms in Charlotte pay 125-130k for first year law students (a good 15-20 more than St. Louis)
And some of the Charlotte law firms have even gone up to 160K (i.e., Cadwalder). This is due to the large banking presence in the city that are often serviced by NY law firms w/ branch offices in Charlotte. But because they are paid so much, lawyers are expected to work NY hours as well (which are much higher than St. Louis firms). And because of the recent subprime mess, some of the firms have reduced the size of certain practice groups through layoffs.