Carolinas newcomers find friendly reception

LEIGH DYER
Ldyer@charlotteobserver.com
The majority of Carolinas newcomers say they're getting a friendly reception from the communities they're moving to.

That's according to this year's Charlotte Observer/WCNC News Carolinas Poll, which found that 1 in 5 of the Carolinians interviewed said they considered themselves newcomers.

Among those newcomers, 57 percent gave their communities high marks for being welcoming.

"Here, people definitely seem to have more manners. I'm finding it that way so far, anyway," said Heather Lazette, who moved to Rock Hill from Wilmington in June after living in New Jersey, Colorado, Texas and other states.

Unlike most of her previous homes, neighbors have been active about greeting her and making her feel welcome, she said. "Neighbors will drive by and wave. I just find that particularly friendly," she said.

Poll respondents said a better lifestyle was the most common reason for moving here, with 59 percent naming that as their motivation. The next-highest reason was a job or other economic factor. Being close to other family members came next, and a better climate was fourth.

Francois Brown, a newcomer to the Matthews area, lived in Charlotte for a few years following time in Fayetteville and his upbringing in New York. As he built his house on a private road in Matthews last year, neighbors stopped by during construction to ask how it was going.

"Considering I'm a black man moving into a lot of white neighborhoods, it's been pretty welcoming," he said.

The poll findings follow a recent Observer study of U.S. Census data that found 80,000 people a year move to Mecklenburg and surrounding counties from outside the Carolinas. But even though the poll painted a positive picture of the welcome that new residents receive, another sentiment has come forth in recent anonymous postings on the Observer's blog for newcomers, New Around Town.

"Some natives don't have an appreciation for those from different parts of the world," one poster wrote. "... It was not until I started meeting people from other states that I started to make real friends."

"Accept the fact that you will never have true friends while living in Charlotte. ... I have never seen such a pretty, empty, calculating place," wrote another.

Tom Hanchett is the historian at Levine Museum of the New South, which holds occasional events for newcomers. He has found that those who believe the Charlotte area is unfriendly are in the minority.

And Charlotte has shown a willingness to acknowledge problems and work on them, he added. "In a world that seems increasingly shrill and combative, that's a plus," he said.

Will the influx of newcomers dilute the native politeness and Southern hospitality? Hanchett thinks that's unlikely.

"Newcomers tend to get more like the host community everywhere around the world," he said.

In other words, Southern traditions will endure.

"What's more likely," he said, "is newcomers will start seeing banana pudding as a vegetable."


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Leigh Dyer: 704-358-5058 See the blog New Around Town at www.charlotte.com/living. Click on Living Here guide for extensive newcomer resources.