Perception of Charlotte Nationwide

[SgtCampsalot]

Not to be doom-and-gloom but, wouldn't it suck if energy scarcity made A/C a luxury rather than a given? The whole reason the Sun Belt has boomed in the last century is because of it. Everyone without a porch would be SCREWED

[nowensone]

It read as if their calculations include sports team per capita, which would make larger population cities, like Houston, which is unbearably worse than CLT, fall off the list.  Stupid.

[asthasr]

All modern buildings assume AC, unfortunately. We don't build deep eaves, clerestories, permeable inside/outside transitions, or anything like that anymore... life here could be bearable, even fairly comfortable, without AC, but not in the types of buildings that we build.

[UPNoDa]

Speaking as someone who relocated here from Tampa/St Pete. I can attest that there is "no way" Charlotte should be #1. Like RDF21 said, on my way to work and out the door at 6:30am (yes, even in November) it was absolutely unbearable. It felt like walking into a sauna at the gym and often would be hard to breathe. All you have to do to be convinced is switch on a Tampa Bay Buc's home game in November and look at the giant POWER BREEZER's they have running on the sidelines trying to keep those guys cool. 

I like it MUCH better here.

Edited June 16, 2016 by UPNoDa

[Guest]

3 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Not to be doom-and-gloom but, wouldn't it suck if energy scarcity made A/C a luxury rather than a given? The whole reason the Sun Belt has boomed in the last century is because of it. Everyone without a porch would be SCREWED

My first year in NYC we were too broke to run AC. NYC Summers are horrible. Life with no AC, walking everywhere, it was miserable.

[Nick2]

I'm at school in Columbia. Can confirm that it's hotter than satan's armpit here. And the humidity just makes it that much worse. You step outside for less than five minutes and you're sweating.

[KJHburg]

This sweatiest city in the USA story is phony journalism. There is NO way Charlotte is more humid and hot than a Charleston or Savannah or a Jacksonville or a Houston or New Orleans and the list goes on and on. The factors they included in their "study" don't make much sense either to declaring a city the Sweatiest city. 

[emansius]

On 6/16/2016 at 2:50 PM, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

My first year in NYC we were too broke to run AC. NYC Summers are horrible. Life with no AC, walking everywhere, it was miserable.

This is literally my summer in NYC right now. Maintenance guy came by the other day to fix our stove and he asked if our AC was broken too 

[KJHburg]

Just back from a trip to Raleigh area and though often compared with Charlotte in many ways the 2 cities are very different as most of your know. Raleigh is much more suburban and as I posted in their Urbanplanet they have more high rises in the suburbs than Charlotte does. But we have them were it counts downtown. Downtown Raleigh is very small basically 5 by 2 blocks. They have 3 buildings over 400 feet tall versus 13 with 2 more under construction in uptown Charlotte. Their percentage of office space in the suburbs is much higher than ours. In Raleigh 17 and 18 story office buildings are being built in the suburbs along their original Beltline. All and all very interesting and their city is booming like ours. Lots of apartments being built everywhere including close to downtown and traffic everywhere. Of course the economies are very different. Raleigh feels like an endless suburb even more so than Charlotte. 

 

[Rufus]

10 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Just back from a trip to Raleigh area and though often compared with Charlotte in many ways the 2 cities are very different as most of your know. Raleigh is much more suburban and as I posted in their Urbanplanet they have more high rises in the suburbs than Charlotte does. But we have them were it counts downtown. Downtown Raleigh is very small basically 5 by 2 blocks. They have 3 buildings over 400 feet tall versus 13 with 2 more under construction in uptown Charlotte. Their percentage of office space in the suburbs is much higher than ours. In Raleigh 17 and 18 story office buildings are being built in the suburbs along their original Beltline. All and all very interesting and their city is booming like ours. Lots of apartments being built everywhere including close to downtown and traffic everywhere. Of course the economies are very different. Raleigh feels like an endless suburb even more so than Charlotte. 

 

I would politely contend with this argument.  This is certainly not a city vs. city argument, but an observation at two vastly different levels of growth and urbanization over the last 25 years.  You're right in saying that Raleigh is very much suburban, mainly in part due to the decentralization of its core industries away from downtown and towards RTP.  This "shared" space of development between Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary and Raleigh plays such a strong role in how each of the four cities, and the suburbs have developed, it's still is a struggle to get things back to their respective cores.  

That being said, Raleigh has a unique downtown, in that it is not so clearly defined as Charlotte's is.  Charlotte is both blessed and cursed to have 277 wrap around it, making it pretty easy to define boundaries.  Also, if you recall, CPCC states that its core area is both Uptown, South End, parts of NoDa, Dilworth and Elizabeth.  This could be similarly scoped for downtown Raleigh, in that it includes distinct cores and adjacent neighborhoods, like Glenwood South, Warehouse District, Hillsborough St, and some of the residential neighborhoods.  Raleigh has a unique density, and urban fabric, replete with older structures that have been adaptively reused.  What Charlotte lacks in historic fabric, it makes up for in skyscraper density. Raleigh also feels a slight more organic in its density and urban growth in the sense that the surrounding neighborhoods have a unique urban density themselves (look at Cameron Village, Five Points, and Person St)

That all being said, I think both have some of the best downtowns in the South for vibrancy, density, and development. 

[ah59396]

Charlotte named one of the top 15 rudest cities in the United States by Leisure & Travel.  Also ranked 99 out of 100 large cities in terms of recreation before the WWC issue.

 

Yeesh.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article87689827.html

[HopHead]

10 minutes ago, ah59396 said:

Charlotte named one of the top 15 rudest cities in the United States by Leisure & Travel.  Also ranked 99 out of 100 large cities in terms of recreation before the WWC issue.

 

Yeesh.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article87689827.html

So wait... L&T is basing Charlotte's "rude" reputation based on the people at our airport? If they actually did their homework, they'd know that the majority of people in our airport are not from Charlotte since they are connecting. Seems pretty short sighted to base a ranking off that. 

[deleted]

12 minutes ago, ah59396 said:

Charlotte named one of the top 15 rudest cities in the United States by Leisure & Travel.  Also ranked 99 out of 100 large cities in terms of recreation before the WWC issue.

 

Yeesh.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article87689827.html

These are the dumbest rankings...click bait initially and then repeated in the local papers.  The criteria is often subjective and based on anecdotal interactions of the author.  I grew up in Philly and lived in San Diego.  Both are infinitely ruder than Charlotte (though there is something to be said for knowing where you stand, which is sometimes difficult in the South).

Edited July 5, 2016 by JBS

[KJHburg]

This study goes in the trash heap along with the sweatiest cities in America study (though  today we could be) 

 

[ah59396]

I agree, these lists are subjective drivel.

 

That doesn't mean countless people won't read and believe it.  Again, this is about Charlotte's perception nationwide, not the reality.  

[deleted]

1 hour ago, ah59396 said:

I agree, these lists are subjective drivel.

 

That doesn't mean countless people won't read and believe it.  Again, this is about Charlotte's perception nationwide, not the reality.  

True, though we are perhaps better off not attracting folks who would be influenced by this stuff.  Still, point taken...

[rancenc]

A take these rankings with a grain of salt...and that includes "negative" and "positive" rankings!

Edited July 6, 2016 by rancenc

[KJHburg]

Just an observation the Urbanplanet forum for Charlotte has more postings than the rest of the NC combined! When I travel to other cities in the state I try to observe take some photos but our other cities in the state are not big talkers like Charlotte. It reminds me of our our CLT airport is busier than every other commercial airport in the state combined in terms of passengers. Just an observation.

[caterpillar2]

This is like going to London and saying that Londoners are unfriendly.  You don't run into that many Londoners in the places where others go, i.e., Picadilly, Trafalgar Square, etc.  This may be a off the wall comparison, but the reality is the same. Forty years ago, everyone spoke and smiled. It wasn't the locals that changed that. 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by caterpillar2
change the word analogy to comparison.

[QCxpat]

On 7/5/2016 at 1:52 PM, ah59396 said:

Charlotte named one of the top 15 rudest cities in the United States by Leisure & Travel.  Also ranked 99 out of 100 large cities in terms of recreation before the WWC issue.

 

Yeesh.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article87689827.html

Quelle horreur!  According to WalletHub, Charlotte tied with NYC for last place (tied rank: 99th) in the category pertaining to "highest bowling costs".  Remarkably, Charlotte ranked 71st out of the 100 largest cities for its climate, while Winston-Salem (a mere 77 miles north of the QC) was ranked 39th for its climate.  Could 77 miles produce a ranking order differential of 32 positions.  Astonishingly, Charlotte's climate was considered to be worse than that of St. Paul, MN, which was ranked 69th or 2 places ahead of the QC.  The overall ranking of the 5 cities in North Carolina which are among the nations 100 largest cities is, as follows:  (1) Winston-Salem: 40; (2) Raleigh: 56; (3) Greensboro: 60; (4) Durham: 84; and (5) Charlotte: 99.  In what universe, does this ranking of North Carolina's 5 largest cities make any sense?  I'm very fond of Winston-Salem (our top city for recreational amenities). While W-S has historically good bones, it's my view that it can't hold a candle to Charlotte in terms of recreational amenities.  It is unclear what weight, if any, WalletHub gave to spectator sports.  Unlike other cities in N.C., Charlotte has major league sports, i.e., the Panthers (NFL) and the Hornets (NBA).  While Raleigh has the Hurricanes (NHL), Charlotte is the clear leader when it comes to major league spectator sports in the Carolinas.  Although it's nice that WalletHub took the trouble to count the number of ice cream and frozen yogurt shops per 100,000 residents in each city, I'd rather they counted and properly weighted Charlotte's regional pre-eminence in major league sports.  In addition, the recreational amenities counted were limited to the "city proper" and excluded the sorrounding area.  So when WalletHub counted public beaches per 100,000 residents, fishing spots per 100,000 residents, or boat tours and water sports per 100,000 residents, they missed all of the recreational activities scattered along the Catawba River, including Lake Wylie, Mountain Island Lake, and Lake Norman.  Moreover, I seriously question whether Omaha (rank: 27), Tulsa (rank: 28), or Stockton, CA (rank: 29) deserve to be ranked more than 70 places ahead of the QC with respect to their recreational amenities.  It strikes me that the Methodology, alleged to include "35 relevant metrics," may need to be revised.               

By way of comparison, New York City was ranked 91st out of the 100 largest cities in the USA for recreational amenities. And, Boston was ranked 86th for recreational amenities.  Perhaps WalletHub forgot about the Freedom Trail and the Red Sox. 

 

   

Edited August 5, 2016 by QCxpat

[QCxpat]

Charlotte metro area ranked 12th among American cities "most likely to boom over the next 10 years".

Right click open link in new window:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2016/01/14/americas-next-boom-towns/#570da41ff0dd

The story also appeared here: http://www.newgeography.com/content/005145-americas-next-boom-towns-regions-watch-2016

  

2016 Regions to Watch Index
Rank	Region (MSA)	Score	Children age 5-14, 2014	Job Growth, 2010-2015	Popltn Change, 2010-2014	Earnings growth, 2010-2015	Domestic Mig rate 2010-2014	Birth rate, 2010-2014	Bachelor's degrees, Age 25-44, 2014	Unemplymt, Nov 15
1	Austin	75.6	13.7%	19.1%	13.2%	1.5%	16.4	13.8	43.7%	3.3%
2	Salt Lake City	66.3	16.2%	14.8%	6.0%	2.1%	-0.1	16.9	31.2%	2.9%
3	San Jose	65.6	13.1%	21.3%	6.3%	9.2%	-1.8	13.1	53.5%	3.9%
4	Denver	63.2	13.6%	15.0%	8.3%	0.8%	9.3	13.1	43.9%	3.2%
5	Raleigh	63.1	14.7%	15.4%	10.0%	-1.6%	11.0	12.9	49.0%	4.6%
6	Houston	63.0	15.2%	15.2%	9.6%	3.8%	7.4	15.0	32.5%	4.9%
7	Dallas	61.1	15.2%	15.0%	8.2%	0.7%	6.6	14.4	33.4%	4.0%
8	San Antonio	58.6	14.5%	12.5%	8.7%	1.1%	9.9	14.1	27.6%	3.8%
9	San Francisco	56.6	11.4%	15.7%	6.0%	7.8%	2.9	11.7	52.4%	3.9%
10	Oklahoma City	56.2	13.9%	9.3%	6.7%	3.5%	6.8	14.5	30.4%	3.6%
11	Nashville	56.1	13.3%	14.8%	7.3%	1.7%	8.9	13.1	37.8%	4.3%
12	Charlotte	54.3	14.1%	15.4%	7.4%	0.9%	8.8	12.8	37.6%	5.1%
13	Minneapolis	52.1	13.6%	8.7%	4.4%	-0.6%	0.1	13.3	44.9%	2.7%
14	Columbus	51.2	13.5%	10.8%	4.9%	0.7%	2.6	13.7	40.7%	3.9%
15	Seattle	50.9	12.2%	13.8%	6.7%	4.0%	4.3	12.8	43.1%	4.9%
16	Atlanta	50.8	14.6%	11.9%	6.2%	0.8%	3.5	13.3	38.2%	5.0%
17	Orlando	49.1	12.6%	16.6%	8.8%	-1.5%	8.2	12.1	31.0%	4.5%
18	Grand Rapids	48.2	14.0%	20.0%	3.9%	-2.2%	1.7	13.5	37.1%	5.2%
19	Phoenix	48.1	14.2%	12.9%	7.1%	-2.1%	6.5	13.7	29.3%	5.0%
20	Indianapolis	47.9	14.3%	11.0%	4.4%	-2.2%	2.1	13.8	36.4%	4.2%
21	Washington	47.8	12.9%	5.3%	7.0%	-3.4%	0.4	13.8	53.2%	4.1%
22	Portland	47.5	12.7%	12.2%	5.5%	3.1%	5.1	12.1	38.9%	4.8%
23	Kansas City	45.8	14.2%	6.9%	3.1%	-0.3%	-0.3	13.6	39.5%	3.9%
24	San Diego	44.1	12.1%	9.6%	5.4%	1.9%	0.3	14.0	38.7%	4.8%
25	Boston	43.1	11.4%	8.4%	3.9%	2.2%	-0.5	11.2	54.1%	4.1%
26	Cincinnati	39.4	13.6%	6.4%	1.6%	0.4%	-2.1	12.9	37.0%	4.2%
27	Louisville	39.3	13.0%	10.2%	2.8%	-1.2%	1.5	12.5	31.7%	4.2%
28	Riverside	39.0	15.0%	13.9%	5.1%	-2.7%	1.6	14.1	18.8%	6.1%
29	Jacksonville	39.0	12.7%	9.0%	5.5%	-2.4%	5.4	12.7	28.2%	4.7%
30	Richmond	38.3	12.7%	5.3%	4.3%	-2.4%	3.1	12.0	38.1%	4.2%
31	Detroit	37.5	12.9%	12.0%	0.0%	-1.6%	-4.6	11.6	33.9%	3.0%
32	Sacramento	36.7	13.3%	8.3%	4.4%	-0.6%	1.7	12.5	32.2%	5.5%
33	Tampa	35.8	11.5%	10.2%	4.7%	-1.6%	6.4	10.9	31.3%	4.6%
34	Miami	35.0	11.4%	12.6%	6.5%	-1.7%	0.9	11.4	31.3%	5.0%
35	Milwaukee	35.0	13.3%	4.9%	1.0%	-1.0%	-3.4	12.8	38.3%	4.4%
36	New York	35.0	12.1%	7.3%	2.7%	-0.5%	-6.3	12.7	44.8%	4.7%
37	Baltimore	34.9	12.4%	6.8%	2.8%	-1.2%	-0.6	12.3	43.9%	5.3%
38	Las Vegas	33.8	13.5%	13.6%	6.1%	-6.5%	4.7	13.2	22.4%	6.3%
39	Los Angeles	33.7	12.5%	10.2%	3.4%	-1.8%	-3.6	13.0	34.8%	5.3%
40	Chicago	32.9	13.3%	6.5%	1.0%	-0.1%	-6.0	12.7	41.7%	5.4%
41	Birmingham	31.9	13.1%	5.5%	1.4%	-1.1%	-0.6	12.9	32.3%	5.2%
42	St. Louis	31.8	12.8%	4.2%	0.7%	-0.4%	-3.3	12.2	38.4%	4.6%
43	Philadelphia	31.6	12.4%	3.8%	1.4%	-1.7%	-3.0	12.1	41.7%	4.6%
44	New Orleans	31.2	12.6%	4.5%	5.2%	-6.0%	4.7	12.7	33.4%	5.6%
45	Cleveland	30.1	12.3%	5.2%	-0.7%	0.3%	-4.3	11.2	34.5%	3.7%
46	Memphis	29.5	14.2%	3.6%	1.4%	-0.8%	-4.0	14.2	28.3%	6.1%
47	Pittsburgh	28.8	10.8%	3.9%	0.0%	2.6%	0.4	10.1	42.2%	4.5%
48	Virginia Beach	28.8	12.3%	1.0%	2.4%	-1.2%	-3.5	13.4	30.1%	4.6%
49	Tucson	25.3	12.3%	3.7%	2.5%	-3.9%	0.1	12.1	29.1%	5.3%
50	Buffalo	25.0	11.6%	3.7%	0.1%	0.3%	-2.3	10.6	36.8%	4.9%
51	Hartford	24.5	11.9%	5.5%	0.2%	-1.6%	-5.7	10.0	41.9%	4.8%
52	Rochester	23.9	11.9%	3.3%	0.3%	-2.5%	-3.9	10.8	36.6%	4.6%
53	Providence	23.3	11.5%	5.1%	0.5%	-0.4%	-3.2	10.4	33.2%	4.9%

Analysis by Mark Schill, Praxis Straetgy Group ([email protected]). The index incldues eight equally-weighted measures: share of population age 5-14, 5-year job growth, 5-year population change, 5-year real earnings growth, annual average domestic migration rate, annual average birth rate, share of young population with a bachelor's degree, and current unemployment rate.

This piece first appeared in Forbes.

Edited August 10, 2016 by QCxpat

[caterpillar2]

Latest local news is that a proposal has been made to the Charlotte, Mecklenburg Schools that the words "boy" and "girl" be eliminated. Seriously!! Are you fuc---- kidding me? What has happening to this city?  Can't we grow and be great without being so fuc---- stupid?  Maybe men should cut off their penises and women should sticth up their vaginas and cut their tits off and we will all be equal. Forget that, there is always race, religion and other stupid characteristics to cry about. At least the HB2 issue would be resolved. I want national attention for good stuff, not things that would be typical in the woods of Vermont or Oregon. I would expect to see Charlotte as one of the Forbes top 10 stupidest cities in the U.S. soon if something like this "boy" "girl" issue shows up again.  

This editorial reflects my personal opinion and as far as I know, not the majority of citizen of the surrounding area. 

Edited August 12, 2016 by caterpillar2

[cha]

Yeah, I have been strongly considering escaping the the liberal hellscape thus government overreach that is Boston/Massachusetts to move back to Charlotte, but things like that ^ make me seriously wonder.  I mean a gender Unicorn? Are we in an alternate reality?  

[CLT704]

Wrong thread for all of that. 

[caterpillar2]

12 hours ago, cha said:

Yeah, I have been strongly considering escaping the the liberal hellscape thus government overreach that is Boston/Massachusetts to move back to Charlotte, but things like that ^ make me seriously wonder.  I mean a gender Unicorn? Are we in an alternate reality?  

 

5 hours ago, CLT704 said:

Wrong thread for all of that. 

All of what? We are talking about perceptions in regards to laws that draw attention to this area. Perceptions are perceptions.   However, I agree that the topic would fit cozily in "N.C. Civil rights."

Edited August 13, 2016 by caterpillar2
reword.