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Perception of Charlotte Nationwide

CarolinaDaydreamin
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Tyrone Wiggum
Tyrone Wiggum

Not a threadjack, but having not been uptown for more than a few hours in at least three years, spending the weekend in the QC was an eye-opener.  Just for point of reference, the only three cities I'

KJHburg
KJHburg

I always tell people Charlotte is the perfect location.  I can my leave my suburban Charlotte home and have lunch in Asheville or be driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway and back to sleep in my bed that

QCxpat
QCxpat

William O'Connor's story in The Daily Beast (01/12/2019) about his recent Southern road trip and stay in Charlotte is a real delight.  Photo of Charlotte  - Getty Mr. O'Connor, who grew up i

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Munson79 Unincorporated Area

Munson79

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Don't know if this is the right spot for this, but in researching the population surge in NC/SC, I came across the concept of a "Global City" ranking, which ranks cities in relation to their importance in the "global economic system."  Charlotte's rank is "Gamma +," putting us in the 19th slot in the U.S.A.  

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Niner National Burg

Niner National

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But that's my question. If it's not it's urban characteristics that make it a great city than what does?

There are dozens of things that factor into how great a city is IMO. The urban fabric is very important, but also employment opportunities, quality of life, cost of living, education, access to healthcare, greenspace, and more.

 

Charlotte has made a lot of strides. You probably would have found Charlotte a laughably terrible place 20 years ago (or even less actually). Uptown was basically an office park at that point. "urban renewal" saw most of our urban fabric destroyed in the 60's and 70's.

 

Not sure if you've ever seen these before, but this was Charlotte in the early 60's:

 

sky1.jpg

 

As you can see, there are a lot of street level storefronts and few parking lots.

 

This is Charlotte in 1975:

 

sky2.jpg

 

 

Downtown was almost completely destroyed.

 

We had beautiful architecture downtown:

 

H_1999_01_017_23.jpg

 

amtrust1.jpg

 

And a streetcar:

 

Streetcar.jpg

 

wtrade1.jpg

 

CP_2002_04_414.jpg

 

STryonSt-scene1940.jpg

 

 

 

Now go back and look at that picture from 1975 and try not to cry.

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Dale City

Dale

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Yeah, but at least Sherman left a few buildings in Atlanta before going off to slaughter Plains Indians.


Most of us feel Charlotte can improve in alot of areas & I think we are (although not as quickly as we like). With that said the areas likely to experience major urbanized growth are also the least likely to be affordable . University City offers the best opportunity to have affordable housing near transit infrastructure , just be prepared to see more Birkdale than South end.

 

This is what people want. In my 20 months in Charlotte I haven't met the first person who doesn't absolutely love Ballantyne.

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mallguy Town

mallguy

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But that's my question. If it's not it's urban characteristics that make it a great city than what does?

Maybe the well-being of its citizens?

* Educational levels

* Economic strength and development

* Healthcare quality

* Low crime

* Median income level

* Income mobility

Mecklenburg County ranked last among 50 large urban areas in the US for income mobility for poor people. So what if Charlotte has street musicians, a streetcar or uptown retail- the things that liberals pine for, when many of its people are trapped in poverty, with little chance to escape?

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/23/4635519/new-study-charlottes-poor-struggle.html#.VJ7gN90MA

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Temeteron Burg

Temeteron

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Yeah, but at least Sherman left a few buildings in Atlanta before going off to slaughter Plains Indians.

 

This is what people want. In my 20 months in Charlotte I haven't met the first person who doesn't absolutely love Ballantyne.

That would be me! I hate Ballantyne! So cookie-cutter and fake.  And horrible restaurants.  

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Temeteron Burg

Temeteron

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Well, I expect to find haters on this forum. But horrible restaurants ? I think not.

Let me explain.  #1:  95% of the restaurants in Ballantyne are chains.  Firebird's, Applebee's, Smashburgers, Chick-Fil-A, Cantina, Sticky Fingers, Red Robin, Wendy's, Chili's, Brixx Pizza, Salsarita's, Mellow Mushroom, etc.  There are only a handful of places that are actually independently owned and/or authentic: Kabob Grill ( I come from a Mediterranean background and let me tell you, this place is way overpriced), Blue Taj (not authentic), Villa Antonio (Terrible food and extremely overpriced, and one of the owners stands outside the restaurant and waves for people to come in----Desperate much?  Heard they are not renewing their lease), Hawthorne's Pizza, Greco's (not bad) and Zeitouni Grill (pretty good).  Ballantyne and its people just don't appreciate farm to fork or authentic food.  They rather eat commercialized crap that comes out of a frozen bag/box and wait 45 minutes to an hour to be seated to eat mediocre food and watch football on the TVs.  I rather drive to Uptown/SouthEnd/Plaza-Midwood/Dilworth/NoDa where there are restaurants that have owners/chefs/cooks who make their own food from scratch.  Am I wrong for expecting better than frozen mozzarella sticks, burgers and quesadillas? Just to be fair, Ballantyne is not the only suburb that is "Chain-tastic, but come on!  It is one of the more desirable suburbs.  You would think that developers would want some sense of uniqueness.  #BallantyneNeedsAuthenticRestaurants #LessChainsPlease

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Dale City

Dale

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I'll never take Ballantyne seriously.  I just assume it's where Thurston Howell the III was from.

 

"Lovey, don't you wish we were back in Bahhlantynne right now?"

 

Right, because the first thing you'd think, on meeting me, is that I reminded you of Thurston Howell.

Let me explain.  #1:  95% of the restaurants in Ballantyne are chains.  Firebird's, Applebee's, Smashburgers, Chick-Fil-A, Cantina, Sticky Fingers, Red Robin, Wendy's, Chili's, Brixx Pizza, Salsarita's, Mellow Mushroom, etc.  There are only a handful of places that are actually independently owned and/or authentic: Kabob Grill ( I come from a Mediterranean background and let me tell you, this place is way overpriced), Blue Taj (not authentic), Villa Antonio (Terrible food and extremely overpriced, and one of the owners stands outside the restaurant and waves for people to come in----Desperate much?  Heard they are not renewing their lease), Hawthorne's Pizza, Greco's (not bad) and Zeitouni Grill (pretty good).  Ballantyne and its people just don't appreciate farm to fork or authentic food.  They rather eat commercialized crap that comes out of a frozen bag/box and wait 45 minutes to an hour to be seated to eat mediocre food and watch football on the TVs.  I rather drive to Uptown/SouthEnd/Plaza-Midwood/Dilworth/NoDa where there are restaurants that have owners/chefs/cooks who make their own food from scratch.  Am I wrong for expecting better than frozen mozzarella sticks, burgers and quesadillas? Just to be fair, Ballantyne is not the only suburb that is "Chain-tastic, but come on!  It is one of the more desirable suburbs.  You would think that developers would want some sense of uniqueness.  #BallantyneNeedsAuthenticRestaurants #LessChainsPlease

What, do you guys eat out for a living ?

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Dale City

Dale

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Montford is just frat row for young professionals. It is a party spot and nothing more. I doubt it ever will be.

 

I like it for what it is, but it'll never be a NoDa, SouthEnd, or Plaza Midwood.

 

Whenever I host friends from other cities "Everything is so clean!" is typically followed by "Okay, so where are the funky areas ?" I tell them they must have blinked when we passed them.

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Niner National Burg

Niner National

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Whenever I host friends from other cities "Everything is so clean!" is typically followed by "Okay, so where are the funky areas ?" I tell them they must have blinked when we passed them.

I don't think that is uncommon for southern cities. Even the funky areas of Atlanta are pretty small from my experience. When I was in ATL a few months ago we went to one of the funky areas (I'm thinking little five points?) and it was maybe twice as big as Plaza Midwood. I went to the Highlands several years back and it felt like it was maybe twice as big as NoDa. When I went back earlier this year though, it looked and felt like a completely different place than when I was there 7 years ago.

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ah59396 Town

ah59396

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Right, because the first thing you'd think, on meeting me, is that I reminded you of Thurston Howell.

What, do you guys eat out for a living ?

Haha, it's nothing against you personally Dale! I just don't like anything that Ballantyne represents. Sprawl development, car oriented, cookie cutter homes and businesses. While you could argue it brings jobs to Charlotte, it's possible it also takes potential class A office space from development in uptown. I'm sure it's full of a nice people. It's just not for me!

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Dale City

Dale

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Haha, it's nothing against you personally Dale! I just don't like anything that Ballantyne represents. Sprawl development, car oriented, cookie cutter homes and businesses. While you could argue it brings jobs to Charlotte, it's possible it also takes potential class A office space from development in uptown. I'm sure it's full of a nice people. It's just not for me!

 

I gotcha. And FYI: I'm living in Concord right now. Can't beat the street life up here. It's mostly roadkill.

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