Charlotte's Democratic National Convention

[15895]

It seems like North Carolina is bluer than our 2012 competition and plus we have more electoral votes than Missori.

Ohio - Red State

Missori - Less Electoral votes than NC

NC - bluer than Ohio and Missori and 4 more electoral votes than Missori, 1st southern DNC in forever

Minnesota - Not really all that competitive.

Let's go QC!

[Urbanity]

Interesting development in that Unite Here, a union group, is calling on the DNC to boycott Charlotte due to lack of union representation in our hotels.

My observations:

1. The group is based in Minneapolis. Anyone care to note the real reason they are calling for a boycott?!

2. There is some rumblings that this may backfire in Charlotte's favor particularly in light of the midterms as the DNC being seen as choosing solely based off of union demands is going to hurt it in the general election from the independents.

[HopHead]

It's been reported this morning that Charlotte and St. Louis are the two finalists for the 2012 convention.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

North Carolina is more likely to go blue than Missouri, which could not muster the gusto to go blue even in 2008.

[15895]

North Carolina is more likely to go blue than Missouri, which could not muster the gusto to go blue even in 2008.

It seems St. Louis' main argument is about hotels. Charlotte just hosted the RNC which had twice the number of expected DNC guest. So, hotel room availability shouldn't be a problem.

I think we have a very very good shot against St. Louis for a multitude of reasons. I find it ironic that St. Louis is painting Missouri as a Liberal haven and Charlotte/NC as some hilly billy Nascar Republican haven considering Charlotte/NC is bluer than St.Louis/Missouri. Not to mention we have more electoral votes.

I think it will come down to whats going on behind the scenes. Based on what is made public, I would say Charlotte has got this hands down, easily.

[Urbanity]

Observer just updated a story about Charlotte and St. Louis being the front runners with a new angle: "N.C. unions support Charlotte's convention bid".

Seems like it may help strengthen Charlotte's bid.

[Minneapolitan]

Interesting development in that Unite Here, a union group, is calling on the DNC to boycott Charlotte due to lack of union representation in our hotels.

My observations:

1. The group is based in Minneapolis. Anyone care to note the real reason they are calling for a boycott?!

2. There is some rumblings that this may backfire in Charlotte's favor particularly in light of the midterms as the DNC being seen as choosing solely based off of union demands is going to hurt it in the general election from the independents.

UniteHERE is based out of New York City. Also, this isn't only about non-union hotels, but sports arenas and convention centers as well.

[Urbanity]

UniteHERE is based out of New York City. Also, this isn't only about non-union hotels, but sports arenas and convention centers as well.

The may be based out of NYC (which isn't what is being reported) but they have an operation in Minneapolis.

That org called for the DNC to boycott Charlotte and Cleveland because of their lack of union facilities. They also got into a bit of trouble with Cleveland because Cleveland is a very union town - just has a different union than the Unite Here which backs up my earlier assertion.

I've got no gripes with any of the contestant cities btw so hopefully this doesn't turn into some kind of city battle. I just think that the Unite Here tactic is wrong (particularly in light of the Cleveland situation). I guess I never understood how someone makes the case for their city based off attacking another.

[aceboogie]

With Charlotte and St.Louis being the two finalist, does Charlotte really have that much of an advantage over St.Louis? I agree with what someone else said, between these two cities it really depends on what is going on behind the scenes to determine who will get it. With NC being more blue than MO, I wonder if St.Louis looks better for battleground reasons.

[abttown]

So the decision is to come before the end of the year. Anyone have any inside info on when exactly that might be? The more I think about this, the more anxious I become. Charlotte would do a good job with the convention I'm sure, but something (I don't know what) tells me St. Louis will win out. Hopefully I just jinxed them, but my fingers are crossed!

[krazeeboi]

Politically, NC may have an advantage over MO for the Dems. Logistically though, St. Louis tops Charlotte.

[southslider]

I attended the Mayor's forum at the GLBT Center last night. Foxx was put on the hot seat over non-discrimination policy and domestic partner benefits for gay City employees.

For comparison, the Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis voted years ago to require any business located in its jurisdiction to conform to its non-discrimination policy for sexual orientation. In contrast, Charlotte's City Council never took a public vote to add sexual orientation to its personnel policies, instead letting the City Manager quietly make the change.

Meanwhile, the Mecklenburg County Commission, under Chair Roberts' lead, went even further, voting to add domestic partnership benefits. Despite his contemporary's leadership, Mayor Foxx last night said he'd still have to study the issue and that there were fiscal concerns. The audience quickly reminded Foxx that this is a civil rights, not budgetary issue.

[Urbanity]

(short) Review of the four cities contending for the DNC 2012 convention in the NYT. They suggest the decision won't be till January.

While the individual list of each city's pros and cons were generally equal in that there were some questionable pros and cons for each, I did laugh when they listed a compact walkable downtown and the Charlotte Motor Speedway/Whitewater center as an attraction for the convention in two adjoining sentences. Makes it seem like both facilities on are either end of Tryon.

I disagree with their one con about skipping Charlotte with a comparison to the 1988 in Atlanta. Just seems like a reach to make and I'm surprised the con doesn't list that the GOP will also be in the South.

Again I think overall - all the cities will have something to quibble or agree with in the NYT review so take it with a grain of salt. My last thought though is that if you go by the article it does seem to highlight (in my mind) that choosing Charlotte) means that the DNC is choosing a new direction at least symbolically.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/us/politics/13convention.html?_r=1

[Dilworthy]

I am bummed that they did not mention the cultural campus. Especially since the new museums were profiled in the past in NYT Arts and Travel sections.

The Bechtler,Mint,and Ganntt are great assets to our bid.

[Urbanity]

Today's census data release offers some good spin for our bid for the convention as the biggest population gains were in the South and West with the biggest population losses in the Northeast and Midwest.

Interestingly the NYT reports another tidbit that might be of political interest to the DNC: "But population gains in the South and West were driven overwhelmingly by minorities, particularly Hispanics, and the new districts, according to the rules of redistricting, will need to be drawn in places where they live, opening potential advantages for Democrats, who tend to be more popular among minorities."

[tozmervo]

Today's census data release offers some good spin for our bid for the convention as the biggest population gains were in the South and West with the biggest population losses in the Northeast and Midwest.

Interestingly the NYT reports another tidbit that might be of political interest to the DNC: "But population gains in the South and West were driven overwhelmingly by minorities, particularly Hispanics, and the new districts, according to the rules of redistricting, will need to be drawn in places where they live, opening potential advantages for Democrats, who tend to be more popular among minorities."

In the electoral vote argument for placing conventions, Missouri lost one seat and Ohio lost two (Minnesota, like NC, has no changes).

Ohio - 16

NC - 13

Missouri - 8

Minnesota - 8

[Urbanity]

^^^

Great observation and numbers. I think it really makes the case clear that if the DNC wants to make a symbolic statement about the future that they choose CLT!

[abttown]

St. Louis seems to be making one last push to woo the DNC per an Observer article. Duke CEO Jim Rogers says he expects an announcement within the next 10 days.

[Urbanity]

^^^ I thought it was a little weird that the O launched that blog as of today (why not months ago) and with that story.

As far as the gist of the story, my own personal take is that CLT has much more potential as a comeback story with the move from doom and gloom over Wellschovia to the positive spin of the new energy capital city of Dukeress. That said I agree with the point that it comes down to selling a narrative.

[aceboogie]

I'm surprised there is still no announcement of the DNC. I wonder why it is taking so long to pick out a city.

[Urbanity]

Interesting piece in today's ST. Louis Post Dispatch (see below.) What makes it very interesting to me is two things: Sen. McCaskill is a lead lobbying voice for St. Louis' bid and her use of the idea of Charlotte having a leg-up in telling a narrative is the opposite of a recent St. Lousi Post Dispatch story ( see the Obsever linked one above which quotes it) which claimed narrative was St. Louis' strong point.

McCaskill "worried" about city's prospects for landing Dem Convention.

At the end of the day it's all reading tea leaves I know, but for what it's worth...

[Maddie2008]

Hey guys. I'm not trying to bother you by posting in your forums, but I did want to give my insight into the convention.

I'll be honest, I hope St. Louis gets it. However, Charlotte has a great shot as well. We'll just have to wait and see.

These are my observations on differences between the cities. I have never been to Charlotte, so my observations are based on StreetViewing, news, and research. I apologize if it sounds pro-St. Louis, but I know more about St. Louis and I am sort of on the other side. I wanted to present what I think the pros and cons of each are and the differences I have observed in the cities.

1. St. Louis is older. According to Wiki St. Louis was founded in 1701 (by the French). Charlotte was apparently founded in 1755. That said, St. Louis looks older. St. Louis City is twice as dense as Charlotte. St. Louis' skyline is mostly from the 1970s or before. Charlotte's is mostly gleaming glass skyscrapers. Both are very good looking. St. Louis' skyline is probably better known.

2. I Streetviewed Charlotte some. Granted, I know nothing about the city so I didn't know where to look. That said, Charlotte does seem more spread out. St. Louis' Downtown area is pretty compact. The MetroLink system is not extensive, but it takes people around Downtown and out toward Forest Park. I was surprised at how suburban Charlotte looked, even right around Downtown. In St. Louis if you go away from Downtown, especially southward, there are mostly perpendicular street grids and old brick buildings. Much of south St. Louis hasn't changed much in 70 years. I don't know much about Charlotte's public transit to be honest. I did notice a few transit stations listed on the Google Map of Charlotte. It's hard to know how walkable Charlotte's Downtown is from the map, though. I'm not sure which city's Downtown is more walkable.

3. From what I have read, St. Louis might be better able to handle the convention because it has more hotel rooms and the convention facilities are close together. North Carolina has more electoral votes than Missouri. Missouri tends to go blue but last year went red, by a few thousand votes. Generally KC and STL are blue and the rest of the state is red. It seems like St. Louis may have a slight logistics advantage and Charlotte might have a slight political advantage. Charlotte seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. St. Louis metro is growing a bit and the city is growing a tiny bit.

4. St. Louis is more rustbelt. While there have been some improvements, much of the north side is kind of blighted, some areas worse than others. It's gotten worse since the Pruitt-Igoe days. St. Louis, like most cities, has experienced white flight. The city population is finally growing again, but not by a lot. The Downtown area has improved in a lot since 1999. About 11,000 people live Downtown now and there's plenty of occupied office space as well. St. Louis has a lot of blighted areas but a lot of rejuvenated ones, too. I couldn't really tell much about Charlotte on Street View. There is a plan to redevelop much of the North Side, but nothing has really happened yet. St. Louis is under construction as well right now because they're working on the new bridge north of Downtown. I don't think it'll affect the convention too much, though. The construction is mostly not in the Downtown area.

5. Obama has support in St. Louis. During a rally under the arch in 2008, 100,000 people showed up to listen to Obama speak. Of course, that enthusiasm could have waned since then. That might be in St. Louis' favor or it might be in Charlotte's favor. St. Louis may be safer, since it is historically a blue city. From my understanding Charlotte is more historically red. Charlotte could mean a great gain of electoral votes, but it might not. It's hard to know whether conventions affect votes. To me, Charlotte seems like it could be a great political gain, but it could also be more of a risk, especially with the NAACP and the Unions having opinions about it. I'm not saying their opinions have any merit, but it could affect the President's decision.

6. Charlotte probably has a more favorable image in media. While St. Louis overall is not as dangerous as reports suggest, St. Louis' image is not fresh and hip like Charlotte's. That said, St. Louis is more familiar to people. I'm not sure if this makes a difference or not. I think Charlotte is trendy and has an image of freshness and newness. St. Louis is gritty and has an image of an older city with issues. Of course, both cities have positives and negatives.

7. Both cities are pretty diverse. St. Louis city is about half-white and half-black. I looked up Charlotte and it's about half-white, 1/3 black, and the other third is a mix of Hispanic and Asian. I hope race doesn't have to play a part in this, but politics sometimes utilizes race to project an image. In this case both cities are pretty equal. That said, St. Louis metro is about 80% white, which is actually average for the country. St. Louis city is 62 square miles with about 365k people. The metro has 2.8 million. That said, the city is where most of the attractions, including the sports teams, are. Like most rustbelt cities, St. Louis has a pretty dense core with less dense suburbs the farther out you go. Wiki says Charlotte is 282 square miles. I'm not sure about its metro size. The city of Charlotte has about twice the people that the city of St. Louis does, but Charlotte is about half as dense. I'm just comparing the cities. I'm not sure if these demographics matter to the DNC.

8. Both metros have sprawl issues. Since the 1940s or so, but especially since the 1960s, people have been moving away from St. Louis (and cities in general). So you have a lot of people living an hour or so from the city core (Wentzville, for example, I think is about an hour from the city). At the same time, St. Louis City and the inner ring suburbs are very dense. I didn't see much of that in my brief perusal of Charlotte. However, I haven't thoroughly explored it. St. Louis City and St. Louis counties and the other counties and Illinois do bicker, but overall they cooperate pretty well in most cases.

9. I have read the comments pages on articles in both the Charlotte Observer and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and each have their share of naysayers and weird ideas. So I call that a draw. Both cities have their own share of Negative Nancys.

10. St. Louis is possibly due for some good news this month. The Chinese President is at the White House this week. When he's in Chicago some Chinese businessmen are heading down to St. Louis to check out business opportunities. The China Hub project has been in progress for three years and it's expected that an answer from China will come soon. It's looking good but nothing is final until the ink dries. The plans right now are for about four flights a week going to and from China. Right now anything sent to China from the Midwest (or vise versa) has to fly into (or out of) one of the costs and be trucked between there and St. Louis. This way items could be sent directly. It could be huge for St. Louis. I'm not sure if this will affect the convention prospects or not, but I'm excited either way.

11. Both cities are headquarters to corporations. Anheuser-Busch is one of the big ones for St. Louis. A-B is now owned by In-Bev, but the headquarters are still in St. Louis. Other St. Louis headquarters include Emerson Electric, Express Scripts, Peabody Energy (coal company), Purina, Monsanto, Ameren, Charter Communications, Graybar Electric, A.G. Edwards, and Brown Shoe. Quite a few of those are geared toward energy. Looks like Charlotte's biggest companies are Bank of America, Lowes, Duke Energy, NuCor, Family Dollar, Goodrich, Sonic Automotive and SPX. In the number of Fortune 500 companies, St. Louis is apparently seventh and Charlotte is eights, so it's very close. Source: http://charlottecham...-500-companies/ The Bank of America bailout issue might be an issue or it might not. It's been a couple of years, so voters may not notice that much. I'm not sure if that will make a difference or not.

Overall, both cities have an excellent chance and Charlotte has certainly fought hard for it. Charlotte worries me. The cities are very different but both have a lot to offer.

Anyway, best of luck and hopefully no hard feelings once the winner is announced. Neither city is a shoe-in.

Feel free to critique me as well. I am operating partially out of ignorance because I've never been to Charlotte. Just trying to give my opinion as I see it. Again, I may be wrong on some things.

God Bless.

[Urbanity]

Hey Maddie,

I think in general you gave a good broad overview of both cities. You yourself mentioned there are a few things that you may not have correct as you were just going by media/internet research which I think is sort of valid in itself as it's interesting to read what kind of impression people get of one's city when they haven't yet been here.

I'm not going to go into each of your points (which again are generally correct) but a few corrections/clarifications:

Charlotte is more spread-out than St. Louis but its city center is very compact and walkable. It's one of the selling points for out bid. While North Carolina is more conservative, Charlotte is more liberal. Mecklenburg county (which Charlotte resides) had a 62% voting percentage in favor of Obama in 2008 while I believe Charlotte itself was even higher.

I agree that it's St. Louis or Charlotte and frankly I think the long running favorite for 2012 has been St. Louis. If you guys get it then I can only wish you guys all the best with it!

Edit: I changed the 2008 voting percentages based off actual results (I overestimated the County's vote). What I think is really interesting though is to look at the 2008 results (by county bubbles) on a map. To me, it highlights where the DNC needs to make inroads,

http://elections.nyt...sident/map.html

[New Name]

^I appreciate the post. I love having new posts to read!

I don't want to copy and past semantics either but a couple things stuck out to me (and I have spent time in both cities):

-Charlotte looks more suburban: true, but it's all in looks. A lot of this has to do with Charlotte's commitment to tree canopy even in urban areas. This is why Charlotte looks more "suburban" than other cities from satellite images.

-Charlotte is less dense than St. Louis: on the street, this feels very true. You said yourself that St. Louis is wrestling with urban blight and seems grittier - Charlotte has never "wrestled" with much blight or grit. Instead, Charlotte demolishes buildings before they become a blight (usually). This also would explain why Charlotte seems less dense; over the years, square footages have increased in all construction, and you end up with mega-buildings instead of dense smaller "shops."

-St. Louis and Charlotte's relationship to their suburban constituents: there are a lot of exurbs that are just as important of players in their cities bids. Chesterfield and Kirkwood, MO have a lot of well connected people who are not "part" of the center-city, just as Ballantyne or Concord, NC have major players.

The more I think about how the decision will be made, the more I am convinced it will be based on this:

The Dems will have to make a choice if they want to spin as "America has stumbled, but we're rebuilding! (St. Louis)" or "America is strong and vibrant and heres the proof! (Charlotte)"

[15895]

I've heard that the Democrats are going to try to crunch as many electoral votes as possible and that every electoral vote counts. Here are some of a few pro's for Charlotte;

North Carolina has 13 electoral votes

Missouri has 8 electoral votes

- St. Louis has a lot less African Americans than Charlotte

- St. Louis has a lot less Hispanics than Charlotte

- Missouri went red even in 2008

- North Carolina and Virginia went Blue in 2008

- The Midwest is already a Democratic strong hold. As if Illinois and other midwestern states most likely wont swing Obama's way....

- The south brings in the opportunities of Georgia's 14 votes, North Carolina's 13 votes, and Virginia's 13 electoral votes.

The only big plus I can think of for St. Louis is the fact that they have lots of buddies from Illinois pulling for a Midwestern neighbor.