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Perception of Charlotte Nationwide


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I thought we have only done the black/black once?

I think atlrvr is including the preseason game we wore it in earlier this year.  I would like them to break out the sharp-looking black on black uniforms.  I'd like to think this Panther team is different from the team before.

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Wow, NC's two largest cities were characterized as "mini-Atlantas", and Raleigh doubly insulted by the author not even understanding it's municipal distinctions.  And I *think* this is one of Yahoo's better writers, or at least there weren't numerous grammatical errors made within the first paragraph as is common there. 

 

Article

 

No desperation at being compared to Atlanta, IMO it's a bit lazy and unprofessional to characterize one place as another like this.  Dallas and Atlanta would be mini-LA's at that high level of vague classification.  Superficial (and vague) similarities aside, Charlotte is not Atlanta, for good or bad, liking or not liking ATL not really relevant.  And if Raleigh is to be likened to Charlotte in being a "mini-Atlanta" then CLT and RAL must be similar, which they very much are not.  The referenced article is not about sprawl and traffic, if it were, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta would all be lumped together and we'd all be "mini-New South Cities" or something similar.
 
As to Raleigh being dubbed "Raleigh-Durham", this is either a misunderstanding of MSA/CSA classifications or unfamiliarity with the place as a whole.  Call it Raleigh or call it the Triangle if one absolutely must.
 
This is a perception of Charlotte thread, not a perception of "mini-Atlanta" thread.  But in fairness, if we're polling for other cities we'd like to be "minis" of, the ATL is not my first choice.
 
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EDIT - And I realize the flaw in the above, if we're perceived as a mini-Atlanta then a relevant point regardless of anything else.  I should read more and post less.  
Edited by nowensone
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^ I think that lumping Charlotte and Raleigh together the way the author did is indicative of a lack of familiarity with one or both, but whether it was a well-informed statement or not, the CLT-ATL comparison is appropriate in my opinion. I thought it was valid to debate in this thread, since as a CLT resident of 6 years now I've made the exact same statement a number of times to people who had not been here yet, and even had Atlanta residents later agree after they'd visited.

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Yeah, don't know much about Nashville other than driving through it and stopping for gas and food, but I have either lived in or heavily visited/summer resided in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Austin and a few other places (not relevant here), so privately I have thoughts like Dallas and Atlanta are very similar, Houston somewhat, but, I would never actually publicly argue/state that, really more opinion and feeling than fact.  Along those lines I could just as easily liken Raleigh to Austin, but certainly not Atlanta, but it's all eye beholder stuff and really, RAL and Austin not that similar.  If one is not from a place it is I think easier to compare places like this, perception for an outsider really I guess the point of this thread, the rest of the CLT forum covers well what the local perception is... :)

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The funny thing in all of this is that I know a few people who moved to Charlotte from Atlanta (and surrounding area) and they did so because, as they said, it was NOT a mini-Atlanta. No Joke.  They just did not see Charlotte growing in the same manner as Atlanta (and I don't mean population/metro region wise), but the spread of the city.

 

The author just kind of dropped the ball and sloppily attributed  a few cities located near Atlanta as mini-Atlantas because apparently his writing skills stop where cliches and simplistic comparisons end.

 

Coming up next week I'll be submitting an article for Yahoo about how  Buffalo, Bangor, and Bismarck are all mini-Anchorages, because, well, you know, it gets cold at those places too and the letter B follows the letter A.  

Edited by Urbanity
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Charlotte traded places with Jacksonville for worst walkscore. Annexation likely hasn't helped.

 

 

The website that determines this is an absolute joke.  Here is a direct quote from the Charlotte page:

 

Bar Charlotte is the universal hang out for the fun loving people in Charlotte, NC. Located in the #FirstWard, it is convenient to everything in and around the center city.

 

 

You've got to be kidding me.  

 

 

Anyways, here is the rest of this pile of crap. Complete without a transit score because, you know, we haven't had a light rail system operating for the last 6 years.

 

 http://www.walkscore.com/NC/Charlotte

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The 7th Street Parking Garage, Bar Charlotte, and Re:Public.   In that order.   Oh That Mary gets around doesn't she?   

she covered 1/8 of a square mile, congrats to her. Did anyone catch the area that is considered "Downtown Charlotte"

Edited by Guest
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Any measure that uses city limits is inherently flawed for national rankings, from Walkscore to crime ratings.

Still, it's good to bring attention to this issue. Hopefully, it will light a fire under citizens, business leaders, electeds, planners and DOT to work on improving "CarLot" even more.

Ultimately, perception matters. Metro St. Louis is actually safer than Metro Charlotte. City of Los Angeles is more walkable than City of Charlotte. Be thankful that Charlotte is usually not perceived as among the least safe or least walkable places in the US. At the same time, let's not take our usually positive perceptions for granted, and see this ranking as a nudge to work harder.

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So has anyone read "Lookaway, Lookaway" by Wilton Barhardt?  It's his new novel that takes place in Myers Park.  It's supposed to be a satirical look at life in upper-crust Charlotte, but I kind of think it falls short.  It's certainly not the Myers Park or Charlotte that I know (and I've known it for over 40 years). First of all, the author is an English professor at NC State (you know, the brickyard in Raleigh--that city where they love to hate on Charlotte daily?).  Secondly, he grew up in Winston-Salem.  Given those two substantial items, along with the fact he admittedly has never spent any real amount of time here, why set his book in a place he knows nothing of?    

 

Here's the review from the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/books/review/wilton-barnhardts-lookaway-lookaway.html?_r=0

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I suppose this is the kernel about Charlotte in the review is at the heart of your take:

 

Throughout these chapters threads a running takedown of the “metastasizing sprawl” that is Charlotte itself — which stands in for the whole of the South — pocked with “McMansions, six-lane parkways through deforested fields where they had yet to build the development that justified the highway, . . . characterless malls, a poor man’s Florida with brick sidewalks and pastel awnings.”

 

And I agree that it is false to paint a picture of Charlotte in such a way, but to be honest large swatches of Charlotte ARE exactly like that - particularly the South area of Charlotte from Steele Creek area through Matthews.  

 

I think it's telling that he had to use Charlotte as the landscape despite where he grew up and the area he now resides and really knows because he is basically saying (and the NYT's obviously agrees) Charlotte as a locale is interesting and worth attention (regardless of the fiction) and because no one would know/care about a novel based in Raleigh or Winston Salem!    

 

Now if we could only get a tv show based here about life in Charlotte we would really be on our way!

 

BTW I did love and agree with this quote: Bo would privately tell trusted friends that Christianity in Charlotte possessed the aesthetics of the monster truck show at the Coliseum

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