Jump to content

Charlotte Rated #98 in Best Cities to live?


atownrocks

Recommended Posts

This is an interesting ranking.

Says that Charlotte is one of the 30 most livable cities in the USA.

It also says this:

"In addition, the Charlotte area has an outstanding system of higher education. It is fortunate to have 35 colleges and universities that serve over 150,000 students. Charlotte is home to the state's largest community college, Central Piedmont Community College. In addition, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte is known to be one of the best education values available."

I realize there is a bit of a tendency by some to simply dismiss CPCC as not really being a Univeristy so it doesn't count, but I think that is being a little unfair to Charlotte. CPCC is a great school and hundreds of thousands of successful careers have been launched from there.

To be fair, Columbia has 12 colleges- there is much more than USC. I don't have any numbers though. I don't think that anyone is discrediting CPCC, but its not one of the big state supported schools (like UNC, NC State, etc) so it gets less notoriety. CPCC has an enrollment of around 15,000- not 50,000. You don't hear anything about Midlands Tech (Columbia's community college) but it serves around 11,000, and I have no doubt that it is equally as good as CPCC.

I am interested to know what these 35 colleges are. I didn't know that Charlotte had so many. It seems that the city would advertize it a little more since its such an impressive number.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 60
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I am interested to know what these 35 colleges are. I didn't know that Charlotte had so many. It seems that the city would advertize it a little more since its such an impressive number.

Notice that this figure is for the Charlotte area, so more than likely this includes all of the colleges and universities in the metro area, including Winthrop, York Tech, Clinton Jr. College, USC-Lancaster, Wingate, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Livingstone College, Catawba College, Belmont-Abbey College, etc. Thirty-five seems to be an accurate assessment given this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CPCC has an enrollment of around 15,000- not 50,000.

CPCC now has 56,000 students. You can check it at this source. People are often surprised, confounded, and taken back when they find out how many students actually attend North Carolina's largest 2 year University. For comparison purposes, this is 1/2 the total population of Columbia or any city in SC for that matter.

I get this total-

  • CPCC - 56,000

  • UNCC - 21,000

  • JC Smith - 1,500

  • Pfiffer (Charlotte Campus) - 1,000

  • Johnson & Wales - 2,800

  • Queens University - 1,700

  • Gardner-Webb University at Charlotte - 1005

  • Strayer University - 1,200

  • Wake Forest Charlotte campus - 650 (will expand to 7500 when downtown facility is completed)

  • The above schools are inside the Charlotte city limits and amount to 87,000 students

  • Davidson (Mecklenburg County) - 1,650

This is easily 90,000 students within Mecklenburg county and most within the city of Charlotte. It should also be noted that every year for the last 25 years, UNCC has had to turn away people due to limits of enrollment imposed by the NC Legislature. That is why there is a never ending, but slow, building program to continue to increase capacity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess we need to know their criteria to know if it was valid or not. I've seen other lists that put Charlotte at close to top of their rankings.

My opinion is that people vote with their feet. If this wasn't a great place to live, we would not have so many people moving here. And it is not just job related as many people find this a great place to retire.

I have seen Charlotte listed in the top 20...How can you go from there to 98 in a small amount of time?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well for what its worth I like Charlotte a lot. If you don't like don't move here. I am not a big fan of Columbia.

And I am sure its hard to for many Columbians to "comprehend" how many people don't like Columbia. Oh but I am not "trashing" Columbia :rolleyes:

That's crazy because we here the same thing about charlotte being boring. Personally I like charlotte it's a nice size city.But I can't believe all the negative comments about columbia. Hey were the same city to support the panthers with you all.Where is the love?? -_-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But I think the discussion had more to do with some noticable influence a college environment has on a city - not on the college population. As it is, CPCC's impact is split across the city, not concentrated as much in downtown - what is the enrollment in downtown?

Otherwise - not having a significant college population near downtown 24 hours doesn't appear to be a critical issue or a need in my view. Possibly over time CPCC, Wales & Johnson (?) & maybe a larger UNCC campus in downtown might develop a 24 hour college environment. But maybe it isn't neccessary...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because total college population has very little to do with 'orientation'. What is the ratio of college students to residential population? By 'oriented', that refers to the metro or city having a greater dependance on it's colleges & the economic impact they result in.

Any sizable urban center SHOULD have a large number that are in college, but there is a difference between a college serving primarily the community & a 'destination' college, which depends largely on out of city or state enrollment. Thus the majority of college residents residing in Charlotte are not likely from out of town or state, they are Charlotteans or have moved to be in Charlotte - not any specific college.

Granted - UNCC is a good college, I'm familiar with their Geography & particularly their GIS program. Also there are a number of small private colleges that are outstanding - but primarily the colleges in Charlotte serve the local residents. Just because Charlotte is such a large city whose economy dictates a large educated workforce.

Charlotte isn't a 'college town', & I think that is a good thing - for Charlotte at least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is true for many people; however, I'd hardly say that Nashville is just focused on its universities as that city has a few components to its identity, the most prominent being the music industry (particularly country music). The college feel in Nashville is integrated with other vibes in the city, probably sometimes overshadowed by them.

:D

Agree, samething with Raleigh. NCSU and the others are here but it is not noticeable or the main attraction by any means. Outside of football games on weekends, and even then, the average Raleigh-ite does not even notice the university. Probably more in Durham since Duke is such a large employer with the Hospital and Chapel Hill is a college town. But with Raleigh, NCSU hardly gets a look or feel in daily life unless it is your job or a student.

Go out downtown/GlenSouth and there are not noticeable college kids out (maybe some of them). Just professionals and others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I mean is it that bad really, is it really that inconcieveable to think that outside of this forum that Charlotte may not appeal to everyone? You know there are great things happening outside of the Charlotte metro all around the US all the time, and has been for quite some time. It's good to see that Clum finally got off that blow and got it's act together for a top 50 ranking!

Oh well its nice press for me to hear, sorry CLT didn't rank higher maybe next year. :thumbsup:

I feel the love coming! ;)

Like everyone else, I'd be curious to know who the book was being pitched to - retirees, 'creative class' professionals, young couples with kids...

Charlotte is, and always has been, very proactive on many fronts. It comes up short in academics and natural space, but that's about it.

I've said it elsewhere - RTP and Atlanta's university strength are enormous attractors, with vast economic, social, political and cultural effects, and somehow, someway, somewhere, someone in Charlotte ought to be working 90-hour weeks to try to generate that in the Charlotte area. Growing up there, I specifically avoided UNCC, and sought a place like the Triangle schools or UGA specifically because of the combination of academics, atmosphere, underground culture and liveliness - UNCC, adrift in deep suburbia, reminded me of a set from a Kubrick movie. Given the future growth in NC's population, another university will be needed as current schools do have limits to what they can accomodate. The thinking around Charlotte should begin now. Still - no med school in Charlotte. Is there a law school? What about post-grad and research facilities? The area needs that.

And Charlotte needs large open, natural preserves - McDowell and Reedy Creek don't cut it, and the Crowders Mtn SP is a bit anemic - and subject to development encroachment.

Other metros have these things, and this does get noticed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Davidals, I suggest that you read up more on Charlotte in this section of UrbanPlanet. You have gotten a few things incorrect. Charlotte has much much more open space than the three places you listed. In fact just in Mecklenburg there are over 16,500 acres of parks. And there are more in the surrounding counties.

For example, in Gaston, Crowders Mountain State Park 5100 acres with peaks that rise to 1700 ft. Are there any parks in RDU this large or with mountains? Are they anemic too?

As you mentioned, we also have McDowell Park which gives direct access to the Catawba River and Lake Wylie. In fact the 3 lakes in Mecklenburg county as well as the Catawba River offer thousands of acres of natural area and many many miles of undeveloped shoreline and islands where one can go to get away from it. No other major city in NC can offer this so close to the city.

There is Latta Plantation - 1800 acres

Cowans Ford Wildlife Refuge - 900 acres (across the river from these two parks Lincoln & Gaston Cntys have preserved several thousand acres.

We have the great urban park Freedom Park.

There is an extensive greenway system in Mecklenburg County that is over 180 miles long. It offers hiking, bike trails, nature walks, all in an urban setting.

Downtown Charlotte has several very interesting urban parks. I don't recall anything like them in the triangle. And there are more examples. These are the ones I can think of at the moment.

In regards to education, I think we have addressed that above, so you may want to go back and read it. Since you have already dismissed UNCC as nothing but a movie setting I assume you did not take the time to learn about all of the graduate programs offered there. I never understood the elitism in NC regarding UNCC vs NC State and UNC. And yes Charlotte has Law school. If you go do a search you will find a thread on it here. Does the Triangle offer an urban culinary school off the caliber of Johnson & Wales?

If people are going to list the faults of Charlotte, please at least do a little research. :blush:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.