Why do people hate Charlotte on this board?

[Justadude]

This week's Creative Loafing says there's a strong chance that no light rail beyond the South line will be completed... but that the City Council hasn't really grasped it yet. Anyone else hear about this?

[Style™]

creative loafing hast to stir up shit for it to be picked up. i mean, it is free.

[krazeeboi]

Originally Posted by CLTNC

krazeeboi, what chance do you think that the Blue Line will go to Fort Mill and Rock Hill? I feel the cities would like to, but where does the State of SC stand on this?

I actually think that within 15-20 years (if not sooner, possibly), there will be a real concerted effort to get a line running down this way. As of late, I haven't heard anything about this from either the county or the state; the most I could find was this. Personally, I think inter-state cooperation would be better for this project than for the proposed I-73.

[357wayz]

Originally Posted by panamaboy9016

Umm I don't think you can compare Atlanta to Charlotte right now or in 5 years maybe not in 10 years..It is like comparing Philadelphia to Chicago....

Or like comparing Atlanta to Chicago.

Glad to see the thread that me, a newbie, started is still going strong! Please tell me more about your hate for my beloved city.

[gwiATLeman]

Originally Posted by 357wayz

Or like comparing Atlanta to Chicago.

Glad to see the thread that me, a newbie, started is still going strong! Please tell me more about your hate for my beloved city.

Where did you read anything resembling hate in this entire thread? Everyone thats been there has complemented the city. Some just happen to think its not utopia.

Maybe the title of the thread should be Why are Charlotte forumers so sensitive?

[TheCharlottean]

Originally Posted by panamaboy9016

Nice wording there...I have not heard and seen that much growing in Charlotte as people say. I mean ATlanta is booming in terms of housing and population and it was the 4th smartest place to live in the US by Kipplinger's but I don't remember seeing Charlotte there...Maybe I am wrong...

I'm sure it would be difficult to observe any city's growth when you don't actually live there. Charlotte is growing almost as fast as Atlanta, and many of its surrounding counties (such as Gaston) are just now hitting their own spillover boom, so I would expect the growth rate to actually increase over the next 5 to 10 years, especially as Charlotte becomes more attractive to retirees with the Sun City developmenst and relatively mild weather and younger adults wih a rapidly expanding nightlife scene.

Originally Posted by gwiATLeman

Maybe the title of the thread should be Why are Charlotte forumers so sensitive?

We aren't all, of course. I couldn't care less if somebody brow-beat the QC, that's their opinion and they're welcome to it. Most times I'll try to defend it, of course, but I won't flip out or take obviously biased or uneducated slander against it seriously. Charlotte actually isn't the city with the most sensitive boosters most of the time... Go to UP's NC forum and see some of the posts from the residents of smaller cities. There was one thread in particular that had a post that said Wilmington was likely to become a world class city before Charlotte or even Raleigh. *shakes head*

[Atl/Clt]

I will tackle this in a couple of ways. And let me state for the record that I have no idea how this thread still has legs....yet I am commenting about it anyway.

As someone who lives in Roswell as well as SW CLT on Lake Wylie, I will make a couple of comments. First, Charlotte is growing but not nearly as fast as Atlanta. Point being the census numbers from June 2000 to June 2005. Atlanta grew by over 700,000 people in the metro. Charlotte on the other hand grew by 250,000+. Now correct me if I am wrong but that is not nearly as fast. It is good growth but it does not compare to Atlanta. Someone made the comment that if you don't live there you don't know....that is correct, hence why I am speaking to both cities.

Charlotte has a complex, always has and always will and it is driven by that crappy paper that we have. They continually feed us boosterism that is full of made up stories at best. It was also driven for years by Carroll at the Chamber when he ran the show. While I love Charlotte, I wish Charlotte would be its own city. You can say all you want that it does not want to be Atlanta, but that is BS. It wishes it had the clout and the name recognition that Atlanta does. Charlotte needs its own identity instead of comparing itself to others.

Atlanta is trying to establish its own identity. It is not trying to be Charlotte and for that matter it does not want to be Chicago. People in Charlotte and Atlanta are proud, sometimes TOO proud and there is nothing wrong with liking your city. But for the love of all that is sacred, come on this board and share facts and not your beliefs of what you would like things to be. People on this board from Atlanta and Charlotte for the most part tend to entend there rightful place on this planet. This tends to turn people against a particular city.

Personally I get tired of threads that turn into CLT versus ATL. There is NO comparison. They are on different planes in terms of growth. Charlotte is a great city for its size, but Charlotte needs to make a better Charlotte, not another Atlanta or any other city for that matter.

[teshadoh]

Just a few comments Atl/Clt - as someone who lives in Atlanta's Cabbagetown neighborhood & grew up in what is now a southern Charlotte suburb called Rock Hill

Charlotte's metro is growing faster - by the standard of growth rate. That is to be expected - typically a relatively smaller population that experiences much growth is going to have a faster growth rate. So I have no issue that Charlotte's metro is now growing faster than Atlanta's, adding 250k in just 5 years for a metro of less than 2 million is significant, as larger metro's like LA typically can swallow such populations with little impact. But certainly - both metros are growing faster than the average rate & do continue to be among the leaders nationally.

Regarding 'identity' - your comments aren't absolutely fair, Atlanta has been criticized for decades & even in the 1800's attempted to compare themselves after Chicago. Indeed - it's a national standard for all growing metros to compare themselves after the larger metro, that is not unique in the slightest. Charlotte is developing their own identity, having promoted new urbanism to a greater effect than Atlanta has. Otherwise - regarding the metro itself, just as negative comments about becoming another Atlanta are valid, there is no specific city that wholly epitomizes sunbelt growth. Atlanta is just among several major sunbelt cities - so it is just as valid to say Charlotte is identifying itself with Dallas, Denver or Phoenix.

[scraperboy]

People hate Charlotte bc it sucks KIDDING!

But seriously, you guys must have a complex if you would make a thread like this. Face it, Charlotte is a mid sized metro with a very small Urban Area for its CSA size. It lacks good density and historic architecture. However, I still like the city, its style, youthful vibe, and its attempt to try urbanity--highrise condos and light rail are a great start.

But Charlotte still doesn't get much respect like many other mid sized cities (or hell, any inland cities). The big joke on late night talk shows has been that Louisville, Charlotte, and Omaha got increased terrorism protection funds while NYC received major cuts. Most the jokes seem to be something about "at least the corn is safe in Nebraska." However, Louisville and Charlotte were thrown in there. As a mid sized city resident, I know how you guys feel. However, deal with it!! I personally don't want the whole world to find out I can do basically anything "big city" in Louisville at a fraction of the cost and without the horrible crime and traffic!

[Atl/Clt]

Brad:
Thanks for the response. By the way I love Cabbagetown and I envy you. I wish I could live there but with a wife and two insane kids, I could never make it happen. Just as an FYI my home in CLT is off of 49 down from 160 in Riverpoint so I an very familiar with "the Rock." And I grew up in SE CLT, near my old school Providence Day.

I hear what you are saying and you make some valid pointsbut I have lived in Charlotte on and off for over 25 years now of the 37 years of my life on this planet and the comparisons that are made get silly. The 2 cities do not compare..period. It is like comparing Chicago to Atlanta. I do understand the percentages but I also know that ATL was the 2nd largest gainer of people in the 5 year period of the census behind LA. ATL metro added half of CLT's metro population in 5 years. That is an insane amount of people regardless of size.

I was in the political arena in CLT for over 5 years and time after time in meeting after meeting, the name Atlanta was brought up. When I was trying to design a program that would share monies bewteen Schools, Parks, Libaries and Protective services, a program by the way that was groundbreaking in Charlotte, people on the board wanted to compare what Atlanta was doing or some other large city. While it is good to look to a larger more successful city in terms of how did they do it, it is not good to always want to emulate, there are as many mistakes as there are positives. That is the point that I am trying to get across.

Charlotte needs to be Charlotte. Again, I love CLT and I see its potential but I also have seen the other side that most don't get to be a part of. Until a city is happy with who it is, it can't begin to be great. And for the record, if I lived in a city that wanted to be another city....I would just move to that city and cut through the menutia.

[micropundit]

^ What he said.

[gwiATLeman]

Originally Posted by TheBrad

Just a few comments Atl/Clt - as someone who lives in Atlanta's Cabbagetown neighborhood & grew up in what is now a southern Charlotte suburb called Rock Hill

Charlotte's metro is growing faster - by the standard of growth rate. That is to be expected - typically a relatively smaller population that experiences much growth is going to have a faster growth rate. So I have no issue that Charlotte's metro is now growing faster than Atlanta's, adding 250k in just 5 years for a metro of less than 2 million is significant, as larger metro's like LA typically can swallow such populations with little impact. But certainly - both metros are growing faster than the average rate & do continue to be among the leaders nationally.

Actually the 2000-2005 MSA growth rates were

Atlanta 15.8%
Charlotte 14.3%

[teshadoh]

Ok then - Atlanta is still growing faster, absolutely incredible that a metro it's size is still at a faster rate.

Then screw you Charlotteans!!!

It doesn't matter to me though - I'll be living in Boulder in a few months, speaking of which Atl-Clt - if you change your mind, I have a nice house for you to buy!

[DrumCorpsAlum]

I must chime in. I love Charlotte. I really love Charlotte.

[triadcat]

Originally Posted by gwiATLeman

Actually the 2000-2005 MSA growth rates were

Atlanta 15.8%
Charlotte 14.3%

Wow. I guess Atlanta will explode with that high rate growth. Growth that fast in the Sprawl Capitol of the South (aka:Atlanta) is scary..........
Atlanta's pollution, sprawl, and traffic congestion is already terrible and will only get worse.
Atlanta needs to do something to improve this NOW!

[teshadoh]

Originally Posted by triadcat

Wow. I guess Atlanta will explode with that high rate growth. Growth that fast in the Sprawl Capitol of the South (aka:Atlanta) is scary..........
Atlanta's pollution, sprawl, and traffic congestion is already terrible and will only get worse.
Atlanta needs to do something to improve this NOW!

But that's why we want Charlotte to grow too - we need another metro to catch all the run off!

[krazeeboi]

Originally Posted by TheBrad

Just a few comments Atl/Clt - as someone who lives in Atlanta's Cabbagetown neighborhood & grew up in what is now a southern Charlotte suburb called Rock Hill

It's an "emerging exurb," accurately speaking.

And since when are you moving to CO?

[teshadoh]

^ Since my wife got a job there! I'll be here finishing up odds & ends at work while the house is for sale & doing my best to stop sprawl while I'm here

[Justadude]

Charlotte might have an idol-worship problem, but it's better than those inferiority complexes you get in the Rust Belt cities