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Perception of Charlotte Nationwide


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1 hour ago, Scribe said:

The only forms of segregation I find in the city is self imposed and that of the mind.

You're forgetting about another form of segregation that is predominent in Charlotte, one that has been discussed on various outlets, and that is economic segregation. You know, where the have-nots are held down while the haves are the cream that rises to the top. And while this isn't racism by name, you'd be a fool to think that economic oppression/segregration doesn't predominately affect minorities and people of color.

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6 minutes ago, Scribe said:

Cute, lets change the subject to class warfare while we're at it.

 

Youre going nuts of a positive article about a candidate who won an election based on his conviction of doing what he thinks is best. 

You would complain if he rallied, complain if he kneels during an anthem & complaining he ran for a city council on an issue he finds important...

People disagree on issues. Accept it and stop being so prissy. I disagreed with Edwin Peacock on issues and I think Charlotte Observer endorsed him. I thought he was nice and a good person despite disagreeing with him. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

Youre going nuts of a positive article about a candidate who won an election based on his conviction of doing what he thinks is best.

LOL, sure whatever helps you sleep at night. I simply pointed out a timeline of events and how ignorance and "passion" leads to death and destruction. Of which our new "hero" became a star and now is a council member of a city with ~ a million ppl.

What does Peacock have to do with this? Or is that your way of trying to lump me in the repub box? Sorry, try again.

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35 minutes ago, Scribe said:

LOL, sure whatever helps you sleep at night. I simply pointed out a timeline of events and how ignorance and "passion" leads to death and destruction. Of which our new "hero" became a star and now is a council member of a city with ~ a million ppl.

What does Peacock have to do with this? Or is that your way of trying to lump me in the repub box? Sorry, try again.

I would never lump you with peacock. I like him & think he is a wonderful man.  I mentioned peacock because I was using an example of disagreeing on policy issues but still thinking the other person has integrity and is doing what he thinks is best for the city 

& FYI. No one needs you to point out time lines of if ignorance.  

 

..... death & destruction.... lolz.

Edited by AirNostrumMAD
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33 minutes ago, JoshuaDrown said:

I’ll bring this back around to perception of Charlotte, and relate it to perception of segregation, diversity, and equality... which is to say that I feel relatively qualified to talk about perception, but not necessarily qualified to talk about social and economic actualities. 

I am a real estate agent and do a fair amount of relocation work, which means I often play tour guide for candidates interviewing in the metro. I experience their first impressions of the city as I drive them through various neighborhoods, and I listen carefully as they talk about their experiences in our restaurants, hotels, the airport, and the businesses in which they are interviewing. 

The feedback and verbal queues are absolutely fascinating, and generally very positive, but personal experience and preference shape everything so intensely. 

I was touring a young African American couple, both were doctors from a rust-belt metro, and based on the requirements for type and size of property they desired, as well as  proximity to their potential place of business, we ended up in South Charlotte and Union County. After being with them for a weekend and seeing 15 or so homes, they politely asked me where the people of color lived... as they weren't seeing what they felt was diverse representation.

This conversation repeated itself almost exactly with a Caucasian and Asian interracial couple relocating to CLT from overseas. After working together for weeks, they asked specifically about diversity in our Charlotte neighborhoods, and enquired about parts of town that weren’t as segregated. They communicated that the only place they experienced  diversity was in Uptown, but the type of home they desired led us elsewhere.

A couple from Detroit remarked about how safe and clean Charlotte was, but asked if the “city was so segregated because we were in the South”. I worked with a couple from the Northeast that turned down a position in Charlotte because of HB2, they felt that North Carolina was hostile and discriminatory toward the LGBTQ community. 

As a real estate agent, I do everything I can to present all our neighborhoods equally, and be an advocate for the entire city. As those of us that live here know, there are many diverse and vibrant neighborhoods all around the city, but Charlotte still feels segregated to many people, and some of our neighborhoods seem to give the impression that there is an economic mobility problem. 

We should all celebrate the diversity we have, but also strive for something better. As long as members of our community feel left behind, or as long as visitors to our beautiful city feel unrepresented, unwelcome, or unequal... then our work is not done. Equality is the greatest measuring stick for civilization and for the quality of a community.

Great post, nice hearing first (or second?) hand accounts from various regions.


I've met northerners who become annoyed that there realtor only takes them to Ballantyne/South Charlotte. Different strokes.


JD, on a tangential note, I had a neighbor tell me that the Hyde Park neighborhood (off Beatties Ford Road, near Sunset Rd) was considered by many in the community as Charlotte's "Black Myers Park." Have you heard that? I too have met many northern/rust belt Afro-American couples who are accustomed to more solidly middle class/diverse neighborhoods that find they need to venture beneath the surface to find what they're looking for, as surface appearances make it seem very polarized.

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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44 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Great post, nice hearing first (or second?) hand accounts from various regions.


I've met northerners who become annoyed that there realtor only takes them to Ballantyne/South Charlotte. Different strokes.


JD, on a tangential note, I had a neighbor tell me that the Hyde Park neighborhood (off Beatties Ford Road, near Sunset Rd) was considered by many in the community as Charlotte's "Black Myers Park." Have you heard that? I too have met many northern/rust belt Afro-American couples who are accustomed to more solidly middle class/diverse neighborhoods that find they need to venture beneath the surface to find what they're looking for, as surface appearances make it seem very polarized.

As a licensed real estate agent, I cannot legally and would not "steer" buyers toward any particular neighborhood based on racial or ethnic makeup, even if I know the buyers might desire that neighborhood based on comments they have made. That said, any good real estate agent will present all properties that meet a buyer's criteria to the buyer, and let them make the decision based on what they see and feel. We are supposed to deal with the "bricks and mortar" of the properties and the specific neighborhood amenities, and stay out of the rest. The complexities occur when the "brick and mortar", location, or pricing requirements only present properties in a limited number of neighborhoods... and when those neighborhoods give the perception of segregation to a potential buyer.

As for the Hyde Park area, that is a great neighborhood and there many terrific homes there on large lots... I sold a vacant lot there earlier this year. I can confirm that I have also heard the same reference that you have, but the neighborhood seems quite diverse to me.

Edited by JoshuaDrown
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Just about all cities in the US are "segregated", mostly by socio-economic status but, often times, that correlates with racial clustering.  Even in Seattle, a city that prides itself as an open, mixed society, is segregated in that the south side of town has historically been home to a large African American community and the rest of the city has generally been home to a mix of white and Asian inhabitants.  With gentrification, the city is becoming less diverse, but the change is a result of $$ rather than racial issues.  Now, we could go back and point to socio-economic disparities being partially the result of historical racial inequality, but that is a discussion for another time.  In Seattle, gentrification has been accelerated by the "Amazon effect".

 

All of this is to say that Charlotte, in my view, doesn't stand out as abnormally or uniquely segregated.  

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^^^I agree I don't think Charlotte is as segregated as some northeastern cities check out Philadelphia for example.  Think of ethnic neighborhoods in the northeast and many are still very much that.  Some have changed but many have not.  I know plenty of people who have moved here from all over US and not one has ever said to me this is a very  segregated city. Not one. 

Edited by KJHburg
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I work at a Grocery Store in South Charlotte. All different walks of life in that area. African American , Caucasian, French, Asian, American, Indian, Native American are all types of people I see on a daily basis. I don’t think Charlotte is segregated but it could be a little more diverse but same with all cities. 

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16 hours ago, cltheel.sdl said:

Just about all cities in the US are "segregated", mostly by socio-economic status but, often times, that correlates with racial clustering.  Even in Seattle, a city that prides itself as an open, mixed society, is segregated in that the south side of town has historically been home to a large African American community and the rest of the city has generally been home to a mix of white and Asian inhabitants.  With gentrification, the city is becoming less diverse, but the change is a result of $$ rather than racial issues.  Now, we could go back and point to socio-economic disparities being partially the result of historical racial inequality, but that is a discussion for another time.  In Seattle, gentrification has been accelerated by the "Amazon effect".

 

All of this is to say that Charlotte, in my view, doesn't stand out as abnormally or uniquely segregated.  

THANK YOU, finally. When I moved to Philly I was just shocked at the racial hostility and  economic disparity. And then the drugs,,,,all over the place. Crack on the westside , herion in North Philly, Cocaine everywhere and meth in the Gay areas. It was like the powers that be were experamenting on their own city,. SO I moved 30 minutes from the city limits. Living in Philadelphia was truly depressing and had a pervasive hopeless feeling. 

Charlotte imo is MUCH farther along regarding race relations and neighborhood integration. University City is really the only TRUE diverse area of the city, Having diverse neighborhoods is the norm in UC and everyone gets along fine. In fact we kind of laugh at the rest of the city because of how fearful the idea of diversity is to so many Charlotteans. 

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1 hour ago, Skyybutter said:

THANK YOU, finally. When I moved to Philly I was just shocked at the racial hostility and  economic disparity. And then the drugs,,,,all over the place. Crack on the westside , herion in North Philly, Cocaine everywhere and meth in the Gay areas. It was like the powers that be were experamenting on their own city,. SO I moved 30 minutes from the city limits. Living in Philadelphia was truly depressing and had a pervasive hopeless feeling. 

Charlotte imo is MUCH farther along regarding race relations and neighborhood integration. University City is really the only TRUE diverse area of the city, Having diverse neighborhoods is the norm in UC and everyone gets along fine. In fact we kind of laugh at the rest of the city because of how fearful the idea of diversity is to so many Charlotteans. 

I don’t know, East Charlotte is pretty diverse too. Actually way more diverse than University City. Just drive down Central Ave. and Sharon Amity and you’ll see. 

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4 hours ago, Skyybutter said:

THANK YOU, finally. When I moved to Philly I was just shocked at the racial hostility and  economic disparity. And then the drugs,,,,all over the place. Crack on the westside , herion in North Philly, Cocaine everywhere and meth in the Gay areas. It was like the powers that be were experamenting on their own city,. SO I moved 30 minutes from the city limits. Living in Philadelphia was truly depressing and had a pervasive hopeless feeling. 

Charlotte imo is MUCH farther along regarding race relations and neighborhood integration. University City is really the only TRUE diverse area of the city, Having diverse neighborhoods is the norm in UC and everyone gets along fine. In fact we kind of laugh at the rest of the city because of how fearful the idea of diversity is to so many Charlotteans. 

So "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" is more of a documentary than I thought!

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The data are a bit stale (although I don't think the numbers have changed significantly) but here are US metro Black-White segregation scores. Metros are ranked with Milwaukee being the most segregated US metro, New York was second. Asthasr was exactly right in his post, in general rust-belt metros are the most segregated and Southern metros (other than Birmingham) are relatively less segregated (which is not saying that  to say they are not segregated at all). Charlotte falls right in the middle, the 56th most segregated metro.

The index measures how much the black-white composition of each census block group deviates from the overall metro composition. Its a pretty standard measure for social scientists. There are other tables available for other racial combinations. Segregation by income is a completely different animal, in general everyplace is strongly segregated by income although dense places have a more heterogeneous mixture of class.

http://www.censusscope.org/2010Census/FREY2010BLK100MetroSeg.xls

Edited by kermit
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There are statistical facts on how "segregated" a city is and cities in the north/midwest are FAR more segregated than any in the south. Milwaukee and Baltimore were the worst I think from the data I saw and most rust belt cities met the criteria of highly segregated. People who still have these negative racial/segregation views of the south haven't lived here. The most racist cities I've been to were Philadelphia and Boston (just talking from personal experience with locals).

Of course there will be racial issues anywhere but a city like CLT which is the epitome of the "new south" moniker is a city with very not many real race issues. However, it is obvious and sad that many from up north still view the south as it was in the 1950's or before. The worst part is that the people who think so negatively of the south as far as racial relations are people coming from extremely predominantly white areas like suburbs of Pittsburgh, Baltimore, or Philly so they really have no reference point to base it off of. This is just my personal experience and two cents though.

Much of NC is quite integrated and people of all races get along. You'll only find race issues if you look really hard or make these issues yourself.

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There are statistical facts on how "segregated" a city is and cities in the north/midwest are FAR more segregated than any in the south. Milwaukee and Baltimore were the worst I think from the data I saw and most rust belt cities met the criteria of highly segregated. People who still have these negative racial/segregation views of the south haven't lived here. The most racist cities I've been to were Philadelphia and Boston (just talking from personal experience with locals).
Of course there will be racial issues anywhere but a city like CLT which is the epitome of the "new south" moniker is a city with very not many real race issues. However, it is obvious and sad that many from up north still view the south as it was in the 1950's or before. The worst part is that the people who think so negatively of the south as far as racial relations are people coming from extremely predominantly white areas like suburbs of Pittsburgh, Baltimore, or Philly so they really have no reference point to base it off of. This is just my personal experience and two cents though.
Much of NC is quite integrated and people of all races get along. You'll only find race issues if you look really hard or make these issues yourself.

Racism in the south is just more systematic, not so much on the surface. That said I’ve experienced no less than a dozen people, some of whom I’ve worked with use the N word with an er at the end in my ten years in NYC. Heard it maybe twice in my 23 years living in various parts of the south.


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6 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:


Racism in the south is just more systematic, not so much on the surface. That said I’ve experienced no less than a dozen people, some of whom I’ve worked with use the N word with an er at the end in my ten years in NYC. Heard it maybe twice in my 23 years living in various parts of the south.


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Good point. There is racism beneath the surface around here that's almost ingrained in some people. But black people and white people are more likely to consistently interact down here at the grocery store, gas station, bars, etc. without any issues. Aside from the hyped-up nonsense that's been going on in the last few years, racial relations have improved consistently and I don't see any stop to it.

Edited by Nick2
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