The State of the City in North Carolina

[Urbanity 307]

I just posted this in teh city-data forums but would love input/discussion here as well.

 

I Live in Charlotte and have noticed that the city has rebounded nicely since the Financial Crisis of 2008-2011/2012.

Downtown minor league ballpark, new downtown Romare Bearden park, mass transit moving forward, construction cranes returning (several news buildings planned or under constructions - mid to high rise), new major employers moving in, etc.

It made me think that Charlotte is regaining its momentum (lost for a period of almost 5 years) and I think it's on good foundation again. It also made me wonder about other cities in North Carolina - Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Asheville in particular (though this is not meant to be exclusive).

Residents of those cities - do you feel the State of your City is strong? Do you feel it lost ground during the recession and is now back? Or is it still facing a stagnation issue? What do you envision or see going on over the next year or so for your city?

I know there are city forums here - but I think in the sense of looking at North Carolina as a whole - and for the benefit of many looking at us from outside the state - it might be interesting to have a discussion of the strength or state of our cities in 2013 going towards 2014 and beyond.

 

BTW - I hope (and ask all humbly) to not make this a picture thread and/or announcements of developments in your respective city.  This is also has nothing to do with competition comparisons of cities within North Carolina - what I am interested in is your take on perceptions of major municipalities and their existence within the state (e.g. adversarial relationship with rural areas or gaining sure foothold in leading the state).

[Miesian Corners 787]

I also think our cities are back on track, but I am VERY concerned at the anti-urban measures the General Assembly has taken up and run with (Asheville's water system, Charlotte's airport, threats to withhold money for transit projects, etc.).  The rural vs urban fight is getting ugly.  

[Urbanity 307]

^I hear you.   One of my friends in New York just wrote me the other day and mentioned a similar perception.   

[Jones_ 250]

Downtown Raleigh looks strong on paper and feels strong when traversing it on foot. New retail (yes actual places you can buy shirts and stuff!) seem to be holding on, and apartments that look high priced at a glance appear to be getting renters as soon as leasing starts up. With leading edge tech taking over blue chip companies here, I think even as the middle ring of the city struggles (that area of 40 year old strip malls outside of I-440), the center of the City's strength can supply the coffers the revenue needed to keep the quality of life up everywhere. 

Edited August 5, 2013 by Jones133

[Urbanity 307]

Looking back at 2013 I think most of our major cities had momentum.  

 

Charlotte landed a number of Center City Apartment projects, A new park and the baseball stadium, job growth continues to be strong

 

Raleigh continues to add residents to its downtown  and has a level of buzz to be admired and along with Charlotte is the twin economic

engine of the State

 

Greensboro is getting a downtown Performance Center and has some promising apartment hotel proposals for its downtown

 

Winston Salem's Wake Forest Innovation Park is bringing high tech workers and buzz to its downtown and smartly uses what was just empty space while preserving historical and architectural pleasing buildings.

 

I'm not as familiar with Wilmington and Asheville developments to be frank.

 

Obviously this is only touching on some notable changes in each city and I hope no one thinks this is my attempt at an accounting of what has happened in the last year in each.   Actually now that I said that it would be nice each city had a review of what they done (not in competition or one upping the other - but in review of things actually achieved).

 

If only the State Government realized the lightning in the bottle that they keep hammering the cap on when it comes to the cities of North Carolina.   For a state our size we really have a lot of strong cities that are amazing in diversity and offerings.  I guess my wish for 2014 is that the State take advantage of that and help build them up even more than keep trying to run things as if we were back in the 1960's.

[ah59396 3222]

We are well on our way to a future NC megalopolis running I85 from Metrolina all the way to Raleigh-Durham. Hopefully the NC government plans appropriately for a future where each city in that core functions not as individuals, but as pieces of an economic giant.

*cough*TRANSIT*cough*

[Urbanity 307]

Been thinking of this thread/topic a lot with all the developments going on in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem of late.

I think we are a very lucky state to have so many strong and growing cities.

[Urbanity 307]

The State of the NC City is Strong:

 

Charlotte and Raleigh Top 10 America's fastest growing cities in 2015: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2015/01/27/americas-fastest-growing-cities-2015/

 

Triad:  (Hoping>) http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/01/22/4495385/report-nc-volvo-in-talks-on-auto.html

 

Asheville:  http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2015/02/06/n-c-brewery-listed-among-worlds-best.html

 

Wilmington: http://www.wwaytv3.com/2015/01/27/public-sounds-off-improving-downtown

Edited February 12, 2015 by Urbanity

[RiverwoodCLT 487]

the General Assembly has does not think that the largest cities in North Carolina need any help.  When they could not take sales tax money away from these cities, they took the Light Rail Funds out so no city could develop any Light rail.  $500,00 they offer for each project fund  is a slap in the face.  

As all our cities grow, we need  alternative way of moving people.  If Charlotte keeps growing like it is now, it will hit 1 million people around 2024-2025.

Our road system is so far behind now from not getting funds to even to keep the street lights on major US/State freeways. East US74 is a parking lot.during rush hour and I do not see any relief any time soon.  I77 North  is a traffic jam every day of the week.  Charlotte population growth is like adding the city of Lexington, NC every year..

We can add all the breweries, Apartments, condos, housing developments and office buildings and so on,  but  if we don't get busy and update our roads and city services, we are going to be in a mess..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RaleighHeelsfan 82]

I understand the importance of the large city too...but what about the rural areas? Have any of you ever really lived there? Eastern NC is the pits...it is Mississippi. I know this because I am from eastern NC.

But I am 100% in on mass transit...I want to see a transit line from Greeville NC, through Wilson...to Raleigh and around to Charlotte. One from Raleigh and Charlotte to Fayettville...and from Charlotte and Winston Salem to Asheville. (I don't ask for a lot):)

We need to find a way to fund mass transit, increase tax incentives, and help out the rural areas of eastern and western NC.

[rancenc 394]

I-295 slowly starts to be complete around Fayetteville

http://www.fayobserver.com/outer-loop-schedule/pdf_177dfb78-49fc-11e6-ad74-87dfbefafb7a.html

 

[RiverwoodCLT 487]

The February 10, Charlotte Business Journal cover story  is A BIG CITY WITH LITTLE INFLUENCE

These 5 largest counties make up more than 30%  of the population of NC's 100 counties.

Mecklenburg  County - 1,034,070 

Wake County  1,024,198

Guilford County  517,600

Forsyth  County  369,919

Cumberland County  323,838

 

NC's Economic Power

The Raleigh and Charlotte MSA's generate more than 40% of NC's annual GDP - The dollars of value of all goods and services produced.

Raleigh - MSA   $78,8 Billion

Charlotte MSA  152.4 Billion 

A lot was was written about the urban-rural counties divide.

We have counties that are losing people and jobs.   The big big question is how do we fix them with out hurting the urban areas.

[asthasr 305]

There is no reason to "fix" sparsely populated counties. If there is no reason for people to live in a place, subsidizing people who choose to live there makes little sense. Instead, policy needs to be aimed at making sure that people aren't trapped in places they don't want to be: relocation assistance for the rural poor, for example.

Farming and agriculture is a different thing; rural farmers and food production are a good investment. Most of the rural poor are not involved in those industries, though.