Why *some* Northerners are ruining the Southern way of life in Charlotte

[kmway]

Maybe you should learn how to articulate yourself a bit better to avoid misunderstandings. You are not off to a good start on this site. But let me reiterate what lovesmountains said: read thouroughly before you use your fist to jam out posts.

You work here.
You say we have a redneck image.
By deductive logic, love, that means YOU have a redneck image in the eyes of outsiders.
You claim we need more transplants to continue reversing this trend.
Pretty much everyone here disagrees with your assertion.

If you actually think that having a bunch of transplants is what defines our city's image, you are grossly misguided. The transplants are coming thanks to our economy and last time I checked, our largest employers here are southern-born and bred. As someone who is from the west coast (guess I would be one of those sophisticated "saviors" then, right?) I would never have the audacity to think transplants "saved" this area.

That's that.

[stmaarten]

Originally Posted by Sekurit

In my honest opinion, outside transplants are helping charlotte to shave it's "Redneck" image. 10 years ago, ask anybody in the north, florida or on the west coast what came to their mind when Charlotte, NC was mentioned. Backward hicks with a 3rd grade education wearing dirty overalls is all I kept hearing.

I say, the more transplants the better. My old boss is an upstate NY native who moved here for a better life/employment and eventually convinced 2 other family members and their family to move to the charlotte area as well. They are nothing but good people...

I was trying to see your point here. Although insulting, it's true that some Northerners still think the South is filled with "rednecks" with funny accents. Unfortunately, those that make those statements haven't been out of the Northern hemisphere much, and are just plain ignorant.

Originally Posted by Sekurit

Who said anything about me having a redneck image. I said the transplants coming into charlotte are helping the city shave it's redneck image and has been for years, thank god. The good 'ol boy mentality is losing ground thanks TO the transplants.

Fail #2...

Now with this comment, I realize that you're either a troll or ignorant yourself.

[TheEmissary]

stmaarten - You've started quite a lively conversation here. My original impression of Charlotte was formed by those lovely "Southerners" of Wake County and Raleigh residents. I worked outside of Raleigh before going to grad school in 1973 for a summer and the natives of Youngville educated me about Charlotte. I was told that Charlotte was a low class, dumpy city with cretins for inhabitants (cue the "Dueling Banjos theme" from Deliverance). They also mentioned that crime was rampant and it was very hot and humid (as if Raleigh and Wake county is devinely air-conditioned). I had a mental picture of Charlotte as the worst of a Newark-Baltimore-Cleveland combo with palm trees. I was 20 at the time and their comments stuck in my mind.

Fast forward 34 years and it seems to me that Charlotte looks like someone built the vast majority of it in the last 10 years. Even the so-called "bad sections" look a lot better than the bad sections of NJ and NY urban areas (think Newark and the Bronx from the late 70's). Parts of Charlotte look to me like an endless NJ shopping mall, but that's not neccessarily a bad thing!

It seems there is a strong rivalry between Raleigh and Charlotte and if your impressions are formed by the rival city, the only way to discern the truth is to check out the competition. I've heard native Charlotteans say that Raleigh is just a town with some government buildings and not a wit of culture and sophistication. They both have it wrong!
Ranting and raving about the vices and virtues of Charlotte is not limited to "Northerners", the intra-state ranting and raving that goes on here is almost as loud at times!

[hazardnc]

I have lived in Charlotte since 1992. Prior to that, I had stints in Houston, Dallas, Nashville and Atlanta. It's not just the "yankees" moving in that changes the city - it is the wealth and the relatively lower cost of living. When I first moved here, I was taken aback from the number of folks from Rochester and Syracuse, but Charlotte was still a small city or a big town. Back in the hot oil economy in Houston (my hometown) and Dallas, the McMansions replaced the humble brick ranches, compact cars were replaced by Cadillacs and Lincolns, then Mercedes and Beemers. I moved to Atlanta in 1985 and boom - it happened there too! And now, in Charlotte, I see it happening all over again. Folks from California, NY, NJ and Seattle moved here and thought WOW - housing is CHEAP! Property taxes are low. Now we have a number of Hummers and Range Rovers, the massive homes being built on postage size lots - ugh. People seem to be attracted by the idea of a small city loaded with charm and offering a slower pace, safety, etc. But once they get here, they miss the material goods, they want to imrove their lives by buying bigger houses and bigger cars than they could afford "back home."

As for all the NJ folks who moved here and now complain about the schools, I think about why they left NJ in the first place: TAXES! Good Lord, NJ spends more per student than any other state in the country. Yes - NJ has good public schools because they tax their citizens heavily.

[berryjuice4life]

haz i will disagree with some of the NJ schools, but that is just my personal opinion...You would think when we pay 13k or 15k in taxes a year our children would get a great education without having 33 kids in a class. ..but ..anyway, that is off topic, but you must have read my mind as I was talking to my sister last night and dh and I were just saying how THERE are more Hummers and Range Rovers and luxury cars than ive noticed anywhere else in a long time...it seems everyone leases them, because obviously they arent owned...(not all)...and while not everyone will agree, when you are from a particular part of the country you notice it more of where these people came from...My friend says thre are tons of people from Ohio, I guess I dont notice because Im not from that part of the country..I think that is what sums up this topic...there will be money everywhere not that that is a bad thing, it just becomes a bad thing when one forgets where they came from and the fact that they are BETTER than everyone else...and Northerners in particular can be the rudest about "im better than You"

dh and I have never thought that of ourselves no matter how much money we have or dont have...

[Girl]

NJ schools are good? Since when? I know they weren't good in my area, and I lived in a nice area of NJ!! I moved to Fort Mill BECAUSE of the schools! You won't hear any complaints from me!

I haven't read the whole thread (wow it's long!) but I'll pipe up and say that the OP had a good post about how some Northerners act upon moving here. I'd like to think I'm NOT one of them and I do always feel guilty when I honk my horn on that rare occasion, whereas in NoNJ I honked my horn all the time without thinking twice. *lol*

[stmaarten]

Thanks to everyone who responded. Even those of you who don't agree with my original comments. I just thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I posted about a subject matter that I feel strongly about.
I think it's probably time to put this discussion to rest...