Perception of Charlotte Nationwide

[nakers2]

Went to the Thirsty Beaver (the Beav) the other night and I didn't meet anyone from Charlotte. Met someone from St Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. Two had recently moved here, and one was considering the move. All of them expressed how much they love Charlotte, including Mr Pittsburgh, which well all know how proud those Steelers fans are. 

I think Charlotte has a lot of "surprising charm" as we are often a city that flies below the radar. 

[DMann]

totally agree

[kermit]

My fav college football tweeter-er on Charlotte:

Lots of reply's attempted to defend our fair city but...

Edited October 17, 2022 by kermit

[LKN704]

15 hours ago, kermit said:

My fav college football tweeter-er on Charlotte:

Lots of reply's attempted to defend our fair city but...

Reminds me of these two things I've seen recently:

 

The apartment names on this one killed me:

T

Edited October 18, 2022 by LKN704

[kermit]

a) NC

b) TX!

c) lol

[sclark]

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-01-03/why-millennials-are-following-boomers-to-the-south#xj4y7vzkg

Quote

 "The suburbs of Atlanta and Charlotte are great for 30- and 40-somethings with kids who value having a lot of living space over nightlife."

 

[KJHburg]

From the San Fran Biz Chronicle about U-Haul in 2022

""The top five preferred places for those leaving California in a U-Haul truck were Texas, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Texas was U-Haul’s top growth state for the second consecutive year and fifth time topping the list since 2016. Florida has been a top-three growth state for the past seven consecutive years.""

I would have thought some other western states would be higher than NC but Texas of course does not surprise me. 

 

[Crucial_Infra]

On 1/10/2023 at 7:04 PM, KJHburg said:

From the San Fran Biz Chronicle about U-Haul in 2022

""The top five preferred places for those leaving California in a U-Haul truck were Texas, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Texas was U-Haul’s top growth state for the second consecutive year and fifth time topping the list since 2016. Florida has been a top-three growth state for the past seven consecutive years.""

I would have thought some other western states would be higher than NC but Texas of course does not surprise me. 

 

South Carolina continues to explode. It’s on pretty much every list I see these days. With North Carolina too. Carolinas are a juggernaut of growth. 

[15895]

I didn’t realize Mecklenburg County was losing more people than it was taking in (by change-of-address cards) these days. I don’t ever remember seeing it or reading about it unless I just forgot. It was from last July so it’ll be interesting to see new data for all cities and metropolitan areas (besides DC given it’s population is sorted with the states and we already got state wide information in December form the Census) 
 

https://charlotteledger.substack.com/p/surprise-more-people-leaving-mecklenburg

 

[kayman]

2 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I didn’t realize Mecklenburg County was losing more people than it was taking in (by change-of-address cards) these days. I don’t ever remember seeing it or reading about it unless I just forgot. It was from last July so it’ll be interesting to see new data for all cities and metropolitan areas (besides DC given it’s population is sorted with the states and we already got state wide information in December form the Census) 
 

https://charlotteledger.substack.com/p/surprise-more-people-leaving-mecklenburg

 

As someone who once upon a time worked in development permits and property address assignments, looks and numbers can be extremely deceiving. There was a broad assumption based on certificates of occupancy numbers issued that the City of Atlanta was 520,000, but it turns out that approximately 100,000 fewer citizens existed within the Atlanta city limits.  It is very wise not base that in assumptions without context and thorough research. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by kayman

[kayman]

Language barriers in North Carolina leave Latino families vulnerable

https://www.wbtv.com/2023/01/23/language-barriers-north-carolina-leave-latino-families-vulnerable/

This is a huge problem across North Carolina. This could potentially hurt Charlotte's perception as a diverse place that is welcoming to non-English language speakers. Spanish is second most spoken language in Charlotte and Mecklenburg, yet in 2023  little to no access to public government websites fully translated into Spanish language.  

Edited January 25, 2023 by kayman

[davidclt]

Debated putting this in "Bad News Report" and it's full of breathtakingly bad takes (Insider is full of half-baked takes - I quit routinely reading it years ago but this got amplified today):

Chick-Fil-a Forced to Tear Down and Rebuild Busy Drive-Thru Restaurant (businessinsider.com)

Some of the bad takes:

Quote

Chick-fil-A's snaking drive-thru lines, which frequently spill into city streets, are notorious throughout the US. 

In one North Carolina city, the problem is so vexing – and potentially dangerous to pedestrians – local officials ordered the chain to demo the restaurant and start over.

Quote

Won't more lanes welcome more cars? 

But city planners say the restaurant's new design prevents cars from backing up onto the main road. The two drive-thru lanes wrap the restaurant, according to the proposal approved by the Charlotte City Council last month.  

New walkways linking public sidewalks to the drive-thru-only restaurant are also expected to keep pedestrians safe and prevent cars from blocking the sidewalk, city documents show. 

I thought Chick-fil-A wanted to do this. Our (useless?) City Council wouldn't make any business do anything that might cost them one more cent than is necessary . . .

[KJHburg]

Eh the Canadians don't know the difference between the Carolinas.  Just saw a live press conference from the Canadian Defence (their spelling)  Minister who repeated not once but twice that the US had shot down the first of 3 spy balloons or devices "off the coast of NORTH Carolina"   Now come on Canada Myrtle Beach puts on the Can-Am Festival every year and you know good and well it is in South Carolina.  https://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/events-calendar/can-am-days

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/norad-monitoring-airborne-object-north-1.6745575

my photos from my high rise hotel in Myrtle Beach last week with a Navy ship off in the distance at the sight of the remains of the Chinese spy balloon and a last photo a Coast Guard vessel looking for something very near the shoreline.  

Edited February 12, 2023 by KJHburg

[SouthEndCLT811]

Take it FWIW but I found this on another blog.  Interesting to see us ranked 13 in foot traffic.

https://smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Foot-Traffic-Ahead-2023.pdf

[CLT2014]

8 minutes ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

Take it FWIW but I found this on another blog.  Interesting to see us ranked 13 in foot traffic.

https://smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Foot-Traffic-Ahead-2023.pdf

With their methodology, our high concentration of office square footage in walkable areas like Uptown makes up for the fact that our residential areas are largely not walkable to give us a decent "average" ranking. When you look at the for-sale housing ranking though.... only 2.2% of housing is walkable which is among the very worst in the country.... which reflects what we all know about Charlotte: Lots of sprawling single family neighborhoods surrounding a relatively concentrated office market in the Uptown area. People drive from those suburban areas into the core to do their job, but most do not actually live in walkable areas. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by CLT2014

[SouthEndCLT811]

1 hour ago, CLT2014 said:

With their methodology, our high concentration of office square footage in walkable areas like Uptown makes up for the fact that our residential areas are largely not walkable to give us a decent "average" ranking. When you look at the for-sale housing ranking though.... only 2.2% of housing is walkable which is among the very worst in the country.... which reflects what we all know about Charlotte: Lots of sprawling single family neighborhoods surrounding a relatively concentrated office market in the Uptown area. People drive from those suburban areas into the core to do their job, but most do not actually live in walkable areas. 

Good catch, admittedly I missed that detail and read more on the brief blurb of the Sunbelt cities that made the middle tier.

[JRCLT]

With their methodology, our high concentration of office square footage in walkable areas like Uptown makes up for the fact that our residential areas are largely not walkable to give us a decent "average" ranking. When you look at the for-sale housing ranking though.... only 2.2% of housing is walkable which is among the very worst in the country.... which reflects what we all know about Charlotte: Lots of sprawling single family neighborhoods surrounding a relatively concentrated office market in the Uptown area. People drive from those suburban areas into the core to do their job, but most do not actually live in walkable areas. 

We have a lot of the work side down. We need more walkable living for sure.

[KJHburg]

5 hours ago, JeanClt said:

We have a lot of the work side down. We need more walkable living for sure.

The problem is land cost.  Everything for sale going up near the LYNX line for example or within 5-6 blocks is very expensive.  That is why so many apartments and higher density is going up.  When townhomes in lower Southend are in the $600s that is not an entry level product for the majority of people.  Stacked condos would help but again with land costs and construction costs they would be very expensive too.  This study would not consider a suburban area walkable but many are in this area.  Like Berewick where you can walk to shopping and groceries from SF homes and apartments.  Dittos for Waverly.  The Southpark area is getting more walkable.  Most of the suburbs of a NY City for example are not much different than the suburbs of Charlotte.  And there is far more people living in the greater NYC area than in the city itself.  

[15895]

The problem with comparing to NYC is Charlotte doesn’t even have a Portland level of an urban area. Let alone say Brooklyn. 

The NY suburbs (excluding the biggest cores) even dwarf charlottes density and urbanity. 

NY’s ‘burbs can compete with most major cities in urbanity. Completely different than Charlotte metropolitan areas composition. 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by AirNostrumMAD

[Durhamite]

4 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

The problem with comparing to NYC is Charlotte doesn’t even have a Portland level of an urban area. Let alone say Brooklyn. 

The NY suburbs (excluding the biggest cores) even dwarf charlottes density and urbanity. 

NY’s ‘burbs can compete with most major cities in urbanity. Completely different than Charlotte metropolitan areas composition. 

 

 

What are you talking about? Is this news to who? Is this a troll post to make sure folks know the hierarchy? I guarantee most people on this forum are familiar large urban cities, and probably have lived in a few.  

[15895]

59 minutes ago, Durhamite said:

What are you talking about? Is this news to who? Is this a troll post to make sure folks know the hierarchy? I guarantee most people on this forum are familiar large urban cities, and probably have lived in a few.  

I assume any post from you is miserable. I never thought of anything as the word “miserable” until I’ve come to known your post. It’s never pleasant. I really am shocked you don’t post more about things that you enjoy or engage in discussion. It’s “I’m a miserable person, here’s an insult, sit down & stfu.” I mean. That’s just how it always comes across to me. 

“Most of the suburbs of a NY City for example are not much different than the suburbs of Charlotte.  And there is far more people living in the greater NYC area than in the city itself.  ”

That’s what my post was directly referencing, Squidward. 

 

- “We (Charlotte) have good office density but we need to work on more residential density  in town”

- “But New York City suburbs are not much different than Charlotte’s, most people in greater NYC live in the greater area than the actual city” 

I particularly think yea, Charlotte should foster more in town  growth, continue more inner city density and continue to invest in the urban core to make it a more complete urban area (basically the urban core becoming more like SouthEnd which is a good mix of residential & office density) Vs. Uptown which skews office density. To sit there and say “well NYC is that way too” is quite frankly, unrelated to Charlotte. 

I think my post was a respectful way of disagreeing. Which I try to be. 

Edited March 1, 2023 by AirNostrumMAD

[Durhamite]

On 3/1/2023 at 6:28 PM, AirNostrumMAD said:

I assume any post from you is miserable. I never thought of anything as the word “miserable” until I’ve come to known your post. It’s never pleasant. I really am shocked you don’t post more about things that you enjoy or engage in discussion. It’s “I’m a miserable person, here’s an insult, sit down & stfu.” I mean. That’s just how it always comes across to me. 

“Most of the suburbs of a NY City for example are not much different than the suburbs of Charlotte.  And there is far more people living in the greater NYC area than in the city itself.  ”

That’s what my post was directly referencing, Squidward. 

 

- “We (Charlotte) have good office density but we need to work on more residential density  in town”

- “But New York City suburbs are not much different than Charlotte’s, most people in greater NYC live in the greater area than the actual city” 

I particularly think yea, Charlotte should foster more in town  growth, continue more inner city density and continue to invest in the urban core to make it a more complete urban area (basically the urban core becoming more like SouthEnd which is a good mix of residential & office density) Vs. Uptown which skews office density. To sit there and say “well NYC is that way too” is quite frankly, unrelated to Charlotte. 

I think my post was a respectful way of disagreeing. Which I try to be. 

Please tell us something we don’t already know…   That previous poster has a point. Major city suburbs are reflective of what you’ll see anywhere, even down south.  Of course there are more urban enclaves (pockets) of urbanism in perimeter cities in the north.  It’s simply a different scale of that urban environment..,You don’t need to cherry-pick examples of pics of  instances to prove anything , we already know…,chill.
 

 

[15895]

46 minutes ago, Durhamite said:

Please tell us something we don’t already know…   That previous poster has a point. Major city suburbs are reflective of what you’ll see anywhere, even down south.  Of course there are more urban enclaves (pockets) of urbanism in perimeter cities in the north.  It’s simply a different scale of that urban environment..,You don’t need to cherry-pick examples of pics of  instances to prove anything , we already know…,chill.
 

 

I, respectfully, disagree. I think the overall composition of some cities & areas are growing differently which I attribute to right wing legislators & their war on urban policy. Though I can appreciate your point of view on my post (of which I too have been posting regularly since 2005.). I get your perception of everything I post must somehow be laced with an air of superiority because I live in DC & that you lived there and Baltimore and you know it’s not that great blah blah blah. It’s not lost on me. So. Noted. I try to avoid coming across that way to certain individuals but. It is what it is. 

I don’t think it’s a different scale. I think it’s just different - period. Atlanta & Philadelphia are the same scale but different. If we could scale Charlotte up to a 6 million area, I imagine it would resemble Atlanta more than say San Francisco. I don’t know why a couple of you all don’t use Dallas, Houston or Atlanta more as what Charlotte could be in like 30 years (actually, I do know why some of you dont and it’s extremely ironic.) 

I think Charlotte is what it is no matter what anyone says. When I post what I’d like to see different or continue or on my wish list, etc. I’m not thinking “but that might paint Charlotte negatively!” I’m not the ambassador for Charlotte. I just want better clads for parking decks, more bike lanes, more parks, more rail and better ground level activation. I’ll let others take it upon themselves to be the gatekeepers of making sure Charlotte is only made out to be perfect with no room for being better and have zero interest in progress. I’ll voice my opinion on wanting an accurate real time tracking for CATS & such & streetcar getting signal priority 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by AirNostrumMAD

[Durhamite]

8 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I, respectfully, disagree. I think the overall composition of some cities & areas are growing differently which I attribute to right wing legislators & their war on urban policy. Though I can appreciate your point of view on my post (of which I too have been posting regularly since 2005.). I get your perception of everything I post must somehow be laced with an air of superiority because I live in DC & that you lived there and Baltimore and you know it’s not that great blah blah blah. It’s not lost on me. So. Noted. I try to avoid coming across that way to certain individuals but. It is what it is. 

I don’t think it’s a different scale. I think it’s just different - period. Atlanta & Philadelphia are the same scale but different. If we could scale Charlotte up to a 6 million area, I imagine it would resemble Atlanta more than say San Francisco. I don’t know why a couple of you all don’t use Dallas, Houston or Atlanta more as what Charlotte could be in like 30 years (actually, I do know why some of you dont and it’s extremely ironic.) 

I think Charlotte is what it is no matter what anyone says. When I post what I’d like to see different or continue or on my wish list, etc. I’m not thinking “but that might paint Charlotte negatively!” I’m not the ambassador for Charlotte. I just want better clads for parking decks, more bike lanes, more parks, more rail and better ground level activation. I’ll let others take it upon themselves to be the gatekeepers of making sure Charlotte is only made out to be perfect with no room for being better and have zero interest in progress. I’ll voice my opinion on wanting an accurate real time tracking for CATS & such & streetcar getting signal priority 

 

It is scale, and most  of the large NE cities scale growth  happened during a different era.  The suburbs in DC aren’t any different than Atlanta, Dallas, Houston etc and soon to be Charlotte as it grows.  Go ahead and write another weak long winded dissertation and slap up a few pictures…lol

Edited March 3, 2023 by Durhamite

[15895]

5 hours ago, Durhamite said:

It is scale, and most  of the large NE cities scale growth  happened during a different era.  The suburbs in DC aren’t any different than Atlanta, Dallas, Houston etc and soon to be Charlotte as it grows.  Go ahead and write another weak long winded dissertation and slap up a few pictures…lol

 As I said.… typical insults, yawn. 

But You got me. Charlotte & Raleigh are just a smaller scale version of the NYC area.  You win. Congrats. 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by AirNostrumMAD