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Uptown Charlotte vs. Downtown Atlanta


Rwarky

Which urban district is your favorite?  

76 members have voted

  1. 1. Which urban district is your favorite?

    • Uptown Charlotte
      29
    • Downtown Atlanta
      47


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I personally like Charlotte's uptown better than Atlanta's downtown, but if Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead were to be considered one, my vote could be swayed.

Charlotte's advantages:

- Fewer homeless

- Better, though not perfect in any sense of the word, walkability

- It's not as spread out.

- Sports arenas are close at hand and very easy to access by foot.

Atlanta's Advantages:

- Aquarium and the other projects going up at Centennial Park

- MARTA (the best advantage of imo, is to get from Buckhead to the Aquarium and related attractions).

- Farlie Poplar is pretty neat though the last time I saw it it was rainy and full of homeless people.

Personally, I wouldn't visit downtown Atlanta in any case if not for the attractions. Buckhead is where I've mainly spent my time when I've visited.

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^^ The Phillips Arena and the Georgia Dome are like right next door.

layout ......... Charlotte. Atlanta wasn't "planned" so it doesnt have the best layout in the world.

entertainment,.......Atlanta.

eateries.......Tie

sporting events...... Atlanta

architecture....... Atlanta

pedestrian friendliness, Charlotte

density....... Atlanta

activity........ Atlanta

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Uptown Charlotte, from what I hear and from my limited experience there, is more walkable than downtown Atlanta. Uptown is probably better laid out than Atlanta as well.

However, Atlanta wins in most other categories with all sports venues for its professional teams in the downtown area (only city in the US to do so), recent attractions (GA Aquarium for one) mixed in with the older ones (Underground and Five Points) give it an edge in the "Attractions" category, established transit in MARTA trains, and activity overall (I'm assuming).

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If we are comparing Uptown CLT to JUST Downtown ATL, then Charlotte wins in a Landslide. It is MUCH safer at night plus the "walkability factor" is much greater since it is basically a one mile stretch of uninterupted retail,restraunt, office, museums, sports, and nightlife. Atlanta can be a bit more of an involved walk with the way the Downtown distrcit is segmented.

HOWEVER, if we include ALL of what is technically ATL (ie Midtown, Buckhead, on down Peachtree into Downtown)

then ATL wins with TOTAL domination. There is really NO contest when you start throwing in Phipps and places of the like.

***sidenote: I have lived in BOTH cities for equal amounts of time so I have no boisterism for either.

A2

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If we are comparing Uptown CLT to JUST Downtown ATL, then Charlotte wins in a Landslide. It is MUCH safer at night plus the "walkability factor" is much greater since it is basically a one mile stretch of uninterupted retail,restraunt, office, museums, sports, and nightlife. Atlanta can be a bit more of an involved walk with the way the Downtown distrcit is segmented.

HOWEVER, if we include ALL of what is technically ATL (ie Midtown, Buckhead, on down Peachtree into Downtown)

then ATL wins with TOTAL domination. There is really NO contest when you start throwing in Phipps and places of the like. I love Blue Pointe and the Tavern aint too shaby either. :)

sidenote: I have lived in BOTH cities for equal amounts of time so I have no boisterism for either.

A2

Seconded.

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How good is Charlottes walkability?

I think of Charlotte's walkability as a smaller version of Michigan avenue in Chicago. Please note the word smaller. :P

I am not going to tell you that we are on par with cities such as Chicago, NYC, or San Fran. I will say that the development patterns of Uptown favor those of more dense cities though.

Atlanta is much like a Houston, or Dallas. Awesome amentieis, with excelent shopping and nightlife, but all with the certain hurdles of being segmented and sprwaled out. However, I want to stress that those amentities trump what Charlotte currently has.

I am not going to proclaim Charlotte has arrived, but it is certainly making great strides in becoming a dense, urban, city.

I have a Love :wub: /Hate :angry: relationship with Atlanta. I used to live there and still have family in Atlanta. (not to mention it is the territory I support from one of the Banks here in CLT. So all of my business comes from ATL)

I love ATL in that it is has grown into the Mega city of the New South with business, nightlife, shopping and sports all wrapped into one package.

I hate the way it was all developed and laid out.

I have the same problem with Charlotte:

I love the way the city is developing with High density, Urban Housing, and eventually a Great Transit system.

I hate the fact that it is still a city that is 10-20 years away from what I want NOW :P

A2

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Downton Atlanta is bigger that uptown Charlotte surrounded by concrete barrier. Until Charlotte can cover these roads and extend the uptown to the out side of these barriers, Charlotte uptown will never be as big as Atlanta downtown.

I understand this, but which downtown do you like the most?

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^^ The Phillips Arena and the Georgia Dome are like right next door.

layout ......... Charlotte. Atlanta wasn't "planned" so it doesnt have the best layout in the world.

entertainment,.......Atlanta.

eateries.......Tie

sporting events...... Atlanta

architecture....... Atlanta

pedestrian friendliness, Charlotte

density....... Atlanta

activity........ Atlanta

I'm not gonna vote. I think Charlotte wins hands down on post modern architecture though. The skyline is so classy and clean looking. Charlotte's Hearst Tower and BoA Headquarters are very high in ranking on the skyscraper lists for beauty. Atlanta has more 'scrapers, but they are generally not as attractive as Charlotte's. :rolleyes:

I think Atlanta wins in most categories though.

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I love Charlotte, but Atlanta does take the cake on entertainment & sports, but not layout. If I wasn't already tied to Charlotte, and I was from say, South Carolina (say midway between on 85,) I would have to stick with Atlanta.

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Another thing is that DT Atlanta is somewhat perceived as declining; look at the difficulties of retail (e.g., Macy's closing, Underground Atlanta losing chain stores, etc.) and blue-chip office tenants (e.g., losing large law firms) there. Conversely, uptown Charlotte is generally perceived as on the upswing (e.g., gaining new sports and entertainment facilities, new corporate HQ buildings, etc.

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