The "Queen City"

[New Name]

Let me start from the beginning...

I was on Stonewall (crossing under 277 just before Charlottetown), where there is a large grassy knoll built up to support the bridge supports of 277. And I started to imagine a large (5 - 10 foot tall) silver crown sitting on that grassy knoll. Just sitting there; maybe with some landscaping around it. I'm not sure where it came from - maybe because I am a bit bewildered by large, unusable, grassy spots in the middle of a city. So then I imagined another crown sitting on the opposite corner (Kennilworth at Charlottetown - at the corner of the new Little Sugar Creek Greenway). And eventually, I started to imagine these similar pieces of art all over Charlotte kind of as a branding idea. You would see this image occurring all over the city and it would reinforce the brand that Charlotte is "The Queen City." I think that's a great brand. WAYYYYY better than that ridiculous hornets nest thing.

Well as I thought about it a little bit more, I started to wonder if Charlotte ran with that brand much stronger, if Cincinatti or Buffalo or any of the other "Queen Cities" would care.

I wonder if Cincinatti uses that brand more than Charlotte uses it. I know Cinicinatti has a highrise tower called "Queen City Square." So are they more entrenched with the brand than Charlotte is? Should Charlotte back off the brand if that is the case? Or does it even matter at all?

[voyager12]

Interesting question, QC is used in the vernacular around here and there are crowns on street signs,the pitch is often used for FM promos but I don't feel like it has a current emotional hold on us. In the same way say, The Big Easy and or Mile High City does their hometowns. The former having a historical advantage and the latter topographic.

Which leads me back to our ever present problem: lack of identity in either the historic or strongly definable natural assets sense. We are so tied to the uncertain vagaries of the financial industry that in the past many saw Charlotte as the shining QC or emerald city on a hill. These days there is quite a lot of tarnish on the crown. To me "Queen City " has quite a triumphalist tone in keeping with our city's natural swagger but it's more of a nervous shuffle than a strut in the current era.

[swampfox43]

Don't forget about the mini crowns adorning the poles along the light rail.

[New Name]

Don't forget about the mini crowns adorning the poles along the light rail.

[15895]

I always thought/hoped Charlotte would "run" with the Queen City idea. I always Wanted a Statue of Liberty type structure in uptown.

It's probably not going to happen soon, if at all

[New Name]

I've begun to notice the crown logo on more things since starting the topic. Namely on high profile street signs (and especially on the lightbox signs around South Blvd's LYNX stations).

[hokiehigh]

An interesting sidenote.... There are ads by Google at the top of the page that show ads consistent with the topic. The topic is about the Queen City and there are Cincinnati ads at the top of the page. I like the brand but I wish it was unique.

[uptownliving]

The City Government ran with the Queen City motiff decades ago. Our city flag has the Crown Logo. The official City Letterhead and logo has the Crown.

In addition to what has already been mentioned...the crown can also be found on the Pedestrian wayfinding signs downtown.

Statue of Queen Charlotte at the Airport.

Escapists I really like your idea of putting big silver crowns at various places in the city. Sounds like a good project for Queens Table.