Perception of Charlotte Nationwide

[Richhamleigh, DC]

6 hours ago, QCxpat said:

 

@KJHburg  said:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-13/wall-street-of-the-south-braces-for-reckoning-as-florence-hits

This is flat out terrible reporting (or wishful thinking of NY centric bankers)  Bloomberg is full of it! 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

A number of the assertions in the Bloomberg story seem questionable.  For example, the Bloomberg article states that “Growth obviously can have adverse consequences,” said Mansfield, former global chairman of the Urban Land Institute. “The amount of impervious cover has certainly increased in this community substantially.”  However, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute's own website does not support this conclusion.   In fact, a UNC Urban Institute graph of developed acres per capita indicates that there has been a small decrease in the amount of developed acres per capita in Mecklenburg County.  Developed acres per capita appears to have peaked on or about 2006 at 0.23 acres per person.  Projections by the UNC Urban Institute for developed acres per capita show the following:  0.23 developed acres per capita as of 2006; 0.22 developed acres per capita as of 2020; and 0.21 developed acres per capita as of 2025.  This study reflects an improvement in the environment over time.   Link:      http://ui.uncc.edu/data/county/mecklenburg  -  Mecklenburg County: Developed Acres per capita.

Everyone in Charlotte is familiar with the tremendous success, both environmentally and aesthetically, of uncapping and restoration of Little Sugar Creek as it flows along the eastern side of Charlotte's CBD.   Compared with my youth in Charlotte in the 60's, there is far more protected parkland along creek beds than in the past.  Additions to Mecklenburg County's protected parklands include Nevin Park and Hornets Nest Park along Irwin Creek, Ramblelwood Park and Renaissance Park along Sugar Creek, McAlpine Creek Park, Reedy Creed Park & Nature Preserve, Park Road Park along Little Sugar Creek, etc.  

The Bloomberg story refers to a local urban and environmental expert, Mary Newsom, the Director of urban policy initiatives at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte’s Urban Institute, and paradoxically seeks to turn Ms. Newsom into a critic of the city's environmental legacy.  However, Ms. Newsom (who is also  the Chair of the Board of the Charlotte Museum of History off Shamrock Drive) is best known for a truly inspiring TED TALK which recaps Charlotte's impressive success in restoring Little Sugar Creek to a healthy and pristine river.  It's a wonderful and uplifting story that can only be seen as a Win-Win for Charlotte and its environment.  Link:  https://keepingwatch.org/programming/creeks/little-sugar-creek - Keeting Watch 2017, "Little Sugar: The Creek the City Loved to Hate, Once loathed, Charlotte's Most Prominent Creek takes a new twist," by Mary Newsom. 

Totally agree with @Nick2 and @KJHburg  that the Bloomberg story is grossly misleading and unfair inasmuch as it fails to present countervailing and easily accessible public information and data that shows a different story line, that is,  that tremendous strides have been made in Charlotte towards remediating and restoring Charlotte's many beautiful creeks while also protecting the public from potential floods.

Opened in 2010, the Uptown segment of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway brings people near the water.  Photo: Nancy Pierce

So, is anyone writing Bloomberg to set the record straight?

[deleted]

Yeah, that was an awful story.  I'm confused though.  McColl set them straight and they included his quotes but led with the sensationalist nonsense.  I'm less angry and more embarrassed for the author.

[jednc]

On 9/13/2018 at 9:40 PM, QCxpat said:

 

Despite the fact that Charlotte is the nation's 17th largest city, it's hardly a surprise that a lot of Americans can't spot it on a map and don't know the difference between Charlotte and Charlottesville, VA, or between Charlotte and Charleston, SC.  Recently, the Charlotte Business Journal (CBJ) reported that at a meeting in NYC between local Charlotte recruiters and national site selection consultants, the following unflattering opinions about Charlotte were shared:

"Charlotte lacks an identity, site-selection experts remain confused by how the economic development groups divide up responsibilities (including the Charlotte Chamber and the Charlotte Regional Partnership), Charlotte lacks the academic and research pedigree in higher education of its peer cities, the N.C. General Assembly doesn’t cooperate with Charlotte government, state incentives favor rural areas over cities, leadership is largely unknown and, in the words of one site-selection representative, Charlotte is 'a conservative, sleepy business community that shuts down after business hours.'"

Unfortunately, the critical view of national site selection consultants that "Charlotte lacks the academic and research pedigree in higher education of its peer cities" was bolstered by another story written by Harrison Miller, an Intern at the Triangle Business Journal (TBJ) dated August 1, 2018.   Mr. Miller reported that WalletHub looked at the average quality of higher-education institutions in the nations large metro areas, and found that the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metropolitan area ranked 54th.

Personal Note - I love Charlotte with all my heart and soul, but this sorry situation where Charlotte continues to be the nations largest city without a full medical school or accredited law school or top tier university has got to change.  When it does, people across this great nation will know the difference between Charlotte and Charlottesville or between Charlotte and Charleston.  

Links: 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/08/01/how-does-north-carolina-rank-for-education.html   Triangle Business Journal, "How does North Carolina rank for education?" by Harrison Miller, August 1, 2018.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/08/21/city-leaders-hear-harsh-assessments-of-charlotte.html   Charlotte Business Journal, (Subscriber only article), "City leaders hear harsh assessment of Charlotte from site selection consultants, prospects" by Erik Spanberg, August 21, 2018.

 

I'm so tired of excuses being made for people's ignorance. Name a top 50 city in America and I will show it to you on a map and tell you what state it's in. I can probably tell you what county a lot of them are in. I'm tired of excuses for ignorant people who can't find a city on a map that is the center of a metro area of about 3 million people. I don't give two flips what somebody from New York City has to say in some article... It's just plain ignorance if you don't know where Charlotte is at this point. Rant over.

[Temeteron]

5 minutes ago, jednc said:

I'm so tired of excuses being made for people's ignorance. Name a top 50 city in America and I will show it to you on a map and tell you what state it's in. I can probably tell you what county a lot of them are in. I'm tired of excuses for ignorant people who can't find a city on a map that is the center of a metro area of about 3 million people. I don't give two flips what somebody from New York City has to say in some article... It's just plain ignorance if you don't know where Charlotte is at this point. Rant over.

Agreed. People need to know their geography; Especially US geography, whether they travel or not. 

[videtur quam contuor]

I was born and raised in Indiana. Never been to the South but a family trip by car to Miami at age 16. I was map person and as aware of geography as anyone at that age. At age 18 I was still thinking about Raleigh and Columbia and which Carolina had which capital. Carolinas were not distinct to me. Never heard of Charlotte at that point in life. Nor Charlottesville, but knew of Charleston W. Va. and SC.

Time adds layers of learning, sooner to some and later to others. Some never.

[Dale]

On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 5:44 PM, jednc said:

That's more of an indictment of the Facebook friend than of Charlotte, no?

Uh, d'uh! I thought that was the point of this vein.

[jednc]

6 hours ago, Dale said:

Uh, d'uh! I thought that was the point of this vein.

Doesn't seem that way. We still keep getting excuses.

[michaelef]

Great story on how Charlotte prepared itself for flooding. Would of been a different story this past weekend if they didn't take such action.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-19/charlotte-shows-how-to-beat-flooding

 

[kermit]

Nothing new here but the NYT published a blurb on the latest Walkscore results for cities — they make a point to highlight Charlotte as the least walkable of major cities.  Kinda hurts be be listed behind Jville, Nashville (a city renowned for its lack of sidewalks) and Raleigh.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/realestate/take-a-walk.html

we all already know this is a bit of a bad rap due to methodology issues and the city's massive geographic extent, our relatively walkable areas (Southend, Dilworth, Uptown, Wesley Heights, Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth) get dilluted into irrelevance. I would much rather be a ped in intown Charlotte than most of the other cities  on their least walkable  list.

 

Edited September 23, 2018 by kermit

[Nick2]

I'd like to see the methodology that puts CLT lower than Jacksonville.

[Vitamin_N]

9 hours ago, Nick2 said:

I'd like to see the methodology that puts CLT lower than Jacksonville.

Jacksonville had more growth earlier on (ie pre-WW2) than Charlotte, so I think it may have a little more historic neighborhood infrastructure. That said, it never struck me as a particularly walkable  place when I lived there in the 90s. I just stayed in downtown Jax late last year and I was really disappointed at how crappy it was to walk in their downtown--very little progress there in the last 20 years, whereas Charlotte is night and day. (Though I wish Charlotte had a bookstore like Chamblin Bookmine.)

So while I can understand how methodology might give Jacksonville an edge, personal experience tells me something different.

[davidclt]

On 9/23/2018 at 10:57 AM, kermit said:

<snip>

we all already know this is a bit of a bad rap due to methodology issues and the city's massive geographic extent, our relatively walkable areas (Southend, Dilworth, Uptown, Wesley Heights, Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth) get dilluted into irrelevance. I would much rather be a ped in intown Charlotte than most of the other cities  on their least walkable  list.

While I am also sad to find us at the bottom of another list, let's go to the source: https://www.walkscore.com/NC/Charlotte

It looks like all of their information is at least 10 years out of date (highlights mine).

Quote

Charlotte is the 50th most walkable large city in the US with 731,424 residents. (2010 Census numbers, really, there have been at least three estimates since then)

Charlotte has some public transportation and does not have many bike lanes. (again, this may have been true 10 years ago, and we're far from perfect but both have increased substantially since 2010 - according to the Charlotte Agenda in an article slagging Charlotte's sucking for bike riders we have almost 90 miles of bike lanes . . . https://www.charlotteagenda.com/136706/future-of-biking-charlotte/)

The most walkable Charlotte neighborhoods are Fourth Ward, First Ward and Second Ward. (Wondering where you would walk to from second ward, Midtown? Bob Walton Plaza?)

The included photos are pretty good though . . . so current. I'm really not bitter, just miffed because I feel like they are ranking a city from 20 years ago.

[spenser1058]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 7:57 AM, Vitamin_N said:

Jacksonville had more growth earlier on (ie pre-WW2) than Charlotte, so I think it may have a little more historic neighborhood infrastructure. That said, it never struck me as a particularly walkable  place when I lived there in the 90s. I just stayed in downtown Jax late last year and I was really disappointed at how crappy it was to walk in their downtown--very little progress there in the last 20 years, whereas Charlotte is night and day. (Though I wish Charlotte had a bookstore like Chamblin Bookmine.)

So while I can understand how methodology might give Jacksonville an edge, personal experience tells me something different.

You're right about downtown Jacksonville - lots of potential that's largely unrealized. The walkable areas of Jax are intown neighborhoods like Riverside/Avondale, San Marco and increasingly Springfield.

[archiham04]

On 9/25/2018 at 8:35 AM, davidclt said:

While I am also sad to find us at the bottom of another list, let's go to the source: https://www.walkscore.com/NC/Charlotte

It looks like all of their information is at least 10 years out of date (highlights mine).

The included photos are pretty good though . . . so current. I'm really not bitter, just miffed because I feel like they are ranking a city from 20 years ago.

The irony of showing Midwood Park here is that it has a walkscore of 54. Don't get me wrong... it is a great park and walkable to plenty of homes, but based on the sidewalk dependent algorithm these guys use - it is a dog.  there are a fair number of sidewalks in Plaza Midwood, but none around this park.  In fact it does not have a single connection to a sidewalk network. Every single person entering this park on foot must step through a city street to enter the park.

[Richhamleigh, DC]

Good or Bad?  At least there's no NC after "Charlotte".   I think the article shows Charlotte is stepping up solve a problem.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/upshot/maps-neighborhoods-shape-child-poverty.html

[deleted]

11 hours ago, Phillydog said:

Good or Bad?  At least there's no NC after "Charlotte".   I think the article shows Charlotte is stepping up solve a problem.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/upshot/maps-neighborhoods-shape-child-poverty.html

Interesting article.  I take it as good.  This excerpt is certainly true:

“You could drive from your home in south Charlotte to your banking job downtown and never see poverty, because we’re so segregated,” said Dr. Garmon-Brown, who grew up poor herself, in Detroit. “In some of this, we have to admit that was intentional.”

 

 

[KJHburg]

In the Triangle Business Journal about Charlotte versus how Raleigh Durham area has grown and I think this is right on .  This is a subscriber article in the TBJ but here are some quotes

""After a trip to Charlotte, Triangle residents often come back asking when Raleigh will look like the Queen City.  We have similar levels of explosive growth, but when will we have landmark office towers, a downtown NFL stadium, and a light rail system? When will we have the same kind of vibrant central business district, with thousands of office workers spilling onto the sidewalks for a sandwich at lunch and a beer after work? My answer: Don’t hold your breath. Despite a boom driven by many of the same factors as the growth in Charlotte, the structure of the Triangle is far different. In my view, if you want to know what the Triangle of the future will look like, look to Silicon Valley.   The Triangle shares more characteristics with the Western capital of technology than it does with the Southern capital of banking. Start with the employment base. Among the largest private employers in Charlotte are Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Duke Energy. These employers offer not only high-paying jobs, but are the kinds of employers that have, at least historically, housed their employees in large office towers in downtown business districts.   ""

""The biggest for-profit employers are different also. For every Red Hat or Citrix that has chosen an urban setting, there are many more – SAS, Cisco, Fidelity, Cree or Lenovo – all in suburban campus locations that many Triangle residents would be hard-pressed to find.  While this is changing as some employers seek the vibrancy of urban clusters to attract and retain younger professionals, that still doesn’t mean that we will develop a traditional hub-and-spoke commuting pattern like Charlotte.    In his seminal book, “The New Geography of Jobs,” economist Enrico Moretti writes glowingly of the long-term prospects for both the Triangle and Silicon Valley. Yet he notes that there is actually not much to see in the cradle of global tech innovation: “…the San Jose metro area is made up mostly of parking lots, corporate campuses, and a few sterile-looking glass towers surrounded by an ocean of single-family homes ... The city has been trying to redevelop its downtown and turn it into a more pedestrian-friendly destination, but it is an uphill battle.”  That was published six years ago, and the Valley and the Triangle have both made impressive strides in creating more walkable, lively urban centers since then. So rather than comparing ourselves with Charlotte, I believe the Triangle has different strengths to embrace. With multiple submarkets instead of one urban core, each will become more dense and continue to develop greater options for workers, residents and entertainment. ""

Written by Lee Roberts managing partner of SharpVue Capital in Raleigh

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/10/05/guest-opinionwhen-will-the-triangle-look-like.html?surround=etf&amp;u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&amp;t=1538873031&amp;j=84255861

My notes: The Triangle does have some live work options mainly downtown Raleigh and Durham,  North Hills in Raleigh and even downtown Chapel Hill.  I think it is great to live in a state with 2 huge economic engines that are booming in their own ways.   This is one of the reasons I think the Triangle area will win Apple as they are looking for a suburban campus like they have in Cupertino or Austin.  

Photos of the MetLife Technology Campus in Cary.  3 buildings with over 2000 employees now. Photos taken last week.  Couple photos of companies in the Wake County portion of the RTP. 

 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

Fox NFL does a great job on their b roll footage. A ton of skyline shots and had a little parody skit with eli and a few panther players on the practice field showing the city. LU has big impact from all vantage points. 

[AuLukey]

FWIW, while on vacation in S Florida/Keys this past week I made it a point to never say the words “North Carolina” when asked where I was from. Not one person batted an eye when I said I was from Charlotte. The most common response was either to do with having a house in NC or not having been to NC in a few months. So, South Floridians know their geography at the very least.

[KJHburg]

3 minutes ago, AuLukey said:

FWIW, while on vacation in S Florida/Keys this past week I made it a point to never say the words “North Carolina” when asked where I was from. Not one person batted an eye when I said I was from Charlotte. The most common response was either to do with having a house in NC or not having been to NC in a few months. So, South Floridians know their geography at the very least.

Floridians are moving up here too plus they love our mountains and they will be there en masse in a few weeks. That is a good trick I will start using that too just saying Charlotte and see what they say. 

[QCxpat]

21 hours ago, KJHburg said:

In the Triangle Business Journal about Charlotte versus how Raleigh Durham area has grown and I think this is right on .  This is a subscriber article in the TBJ but here are some quotes

""After a trip to Charlotte, Triangle residents often come back asking when Raleigh will look like the Queen City.  We have similar levels of explosive growth, but when will we have landmark office towers, a downtown NFL stadium, and a light rail system? When will we have the same kind of vibrant central business district, with thousands of office workers spilling onto the sidewalks for a sandwich at lunch and a beer after work? My answer: Don’t hold your breath. Despite a boom driven by many of the same factors as the growth in Charlotte, the structure of the Triangle is far different. In my view, if you want to know what the Triangle of the future will look like, look to Silicon Valley.   The Triangle shares more characteristics with the Western capital of technology than it does with the Southern capital of banking. Start with the employment base. Among the largest private employers in Charlotte are Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Duke Energy. These employers offer not only high-paying jobs, but are the kinds of employers that have, at least historically, housed their employees in large office towers in downtown business districts.   ""

""The biggest for-profit employers are different also. For every Red Hat or Citrix that has chosen an urban setting, there are many more – SAS, Cisco, Fidelity, Cree or Lenovo – all in suburban campus locations that many Triangle residents would be hard-pressed to find.  While this is changing as some employers seek the vibrancy of urban clusters to attract and retain younger professionals, that still doesn’t mean that we will develop a traditional hub-and-spoke commuting pattern like Charlotte.    In his seminal book, “The New Geography of Jobs,” economist Enrico Moretti writes glowingly of the long-term prospects for both the Triangle and Silicon Valley. Yet he notes that there is actually not much to see in the cradle of global tech innovation: “…the San Jose metro area is made up mostly of parking lots, corporate campuses, and a few sterile-looking glass towers surrounded by an ocean of single-family homes ... The city has been trying to redevelop its downtown and turn it into a more pedestrian-friendly destination, but it is an uphill battle.”  That was published six years ago, and the Valley and the Triangle have both made impressive strides in creating more walkable, lively urban centers since then. So rather than comparing ourselves with Charlotte, I believe the Triangle has different strengths to embrace. With multiple submarkets instead of one urban core, each will become more dense and continue to develop greater options for workers, residents and entertainment. ""

Written by Lee Roberts managing partner of SharpVue Capital in Raleigh

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/10/05/guest-opinionwhen-will-the-triangle-look-like.html?surround=etf&amp;u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&amp;t=1538873031&amp;j=84255861

My notes: The Triangle does have some live work options mainly downtown Raleigh and Durham,  North Hills in Raleigh and even downtown Chapel Hill.  I think it is great to live in a state with 2 huge economic engines that are booming in their own ways.   This is one of the reasons I think the Triangle area will win Apple as they are looking for a suburban campus like they have in Cupertino or Austin.  

Photos of the MetLife Technology Campus in Cary.  3 buildings with over 2000 employees now. Photos taken last week.  Couple photos of companies in the Wake County portion of the RTP. 

 

 @KJHburg  Really loved your Triangle Business Journal post (above).  Great story about our 2 cross-state rivals - Charlotte and Raleigh.   

A few years ago, historian Chuck McShane had a piece in Charlotte Magazine entitled "Charlotte vs. Raleigh: People & History," September 2015 issue.  Most readers would be surprised to find out that Charlotte is actually older than Raleigh.  Charlotte was settled in the 1755 when Thomas Polk (uncle of U.S. President James K. Polk), traveling with Thomas Spratt and his family, stopped and built his house at the intersection of two Native American trading paths between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers (Trade & Tryon).  Charlotte was incorporated in 1768.  More than a year prior to the American Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, the Alexander’s, Brevard’s, Davidson’s, Graham’s,  Irwin’s, Morrison’s, Phifer’s, Polk’s, etc. (a total of 28 men) signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775.  North Carolina’s  flag proudly bears 2 dates:  atop the blue field with N*C is May 20, 1775 for the Meck. Dec. and below the blue field with N*C is April 12, 1776 for the Halifax Resolves.   Both docs. called for independence from Britain.   

During the American Revolution, the British laid siege to New Bern which had been NC capital in the colonial period.   Since NC government could not take place within New Bern, the General Assembly met in Hillsboro, Tarboro and Fayetteville before establishing Raleigh as the capitol city.   Raleigh was chosen as NC's capital in 1788.  It was basically a green-field site near Col. Joel Lane's popular tavern, but it wasn't  platted and incorporated until December 31, 1792.  The NC General Assembly didn't actually meet in Raleigh until December 1794.  It was Fayetteville, not Raleigh, that hosted the State Constitutional Convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution on November 21, 1789,  chartered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1789, and passed the "act of cession" which led to the formation of Tennessee.

Chuck McShane, historian and director of the Hamlet Depot & Museums in Hamlet, NC, makes the following point:  "You wouldn't think it, comparing Charlotte's glass skyscrapers to Raleigh's museums and old, granite statehouse, but the Queen City is a few decades older than the 'City of Oaks."

Links:  http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/September-2015/Charlotte-Vs-Raleigh-People-History/

http://nchistory.web.unc.edu/state-capital/

Statues of Queen Charlotte and Sir Walter Raleigh, respectively.  Photo credit: LOGAN CYRUS

[KJHburg]

New CMT series "Racing Wives" premiering on Jan. 3 showcasing wives of NASCAR stars all shot in Lake Norman area mainly Mooresville I would think.

(This is probably better than the Side Chicks show that was proposed not sure if it aired or not)

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/08/nascar-reality-show-racing-wives-set-for-2019

http://www.cmt.com/news/1797948/cmt-greenlights-racing-wives-and-season-two-of-music-city/

Edited October 20, 2018 by KJHburg

[Matthew.Brendan]

“This is America”

[Nick2]

It's unfortunate that this video of a racist rant goes viral the same day as the Trump rally. It's been picked up by news nationally too. 

This woman is in the process of being evicted so not "living in her $1300 rent apartment." She's been fired so she didn't go back to "making 125k on Monday." And she also has four charges against her as of tonight. She ruined her life for a drunken, racist tirade.

http://www.wfae.org/post/charlotte-woman-faces-charges-after-harassing-black-neighbors-telling-them-leave#stream/0

 

[Dale]

On 9/23/2018 at 10:57 AM, kermit said:

Nothing new here but the NYT published a blurb on the latest Walkscore results for cities — they make a point to highlight Charlotte as the least walkable of major cities.  Kinda hurts be be listed behind Jville, Nashville (a city renowned for its lack of sidewalks) and Raleigh.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/realestate/take-a-walk.html

we all already know this is a bit of a bad rap due to methodology issues and the city's massive geographic extent, our relatively walkable areas (Southend, Dilworth, Uptown, Wesley Heights, Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth) get dilluted into irrelevance. I would much rather be a ped in intown Charlotte than most of the other cities  on their least walkable  list.

 

Indy can’t win for losing. In recent years it’s dropped a half-billion building/rebuilding sidewalks, improving pedestrian linkages and building dedicated bike lanes.

On 10/7/2018 at 5:16 PM, KJHburg said:

Floridians are moving up here too plus they love our mountains and they will be there en masse in a few weeks. That is a good trick I will start using that too just saying Charlotte and see what they say. 

*Floridian raises hand*