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They're not citing the whole story behind Meck Neck.
Meck Neck was a small peninsula that juts out into Lake Norman.
It was over 3000 acres and includes some of the most valuable property in the area. (For comparison purposes downtown Charlotte is ~700 acres.)
Today it's assessed at about $350,000,000 million in value for property taxes. It includes the new Trump National Gold Course and The Point residential neighborhood. It's getting it's own exit on I-77. It was a windfall for Iredell county.
One of the Lake Norman papers recently did a retrospective of this move and said the area has prospered greatly after the move out of Mecklenburg's high taxation and poor school system. Residents don't have to pay for policies that are decided in the center of Charlotte and for this reason it's very similar to the area under discussion.
It was over 3000 acres and includes some of the most valuable property in the area. (For comparison purposes downtown Charlotte is ~700 acres.)
Today it's assessed at about $350,000,000 million in value for property taxes. It includes the new Trump National Gold Course and The Point residential neighborhood. It's getting it's own exit on I-77. It was a windfall for Iredell county.
One of the Lake Norman papers recently did a retrospective of this move and said the area has prospered greatly after the move out of Mecklenburg's high taxation and poor school system. Residents don't have to pay for policies that are decided in the center of Charlotte and for this reason it's very similar to the area under discussion.
Meck Neck was geographically isolated after Lake Norman flooded. It was next to impossible to provide efficient services so far removed. And Meck Neck wasn't part of Charlotte. It went from Meck Co to Iredell. Of course, you know this if you've been here as long as you claim. It was big news when it happened. It is not at all similar in my opinion to Tim Timmerman's hissy fit.
All that aside though. This GA is crazy enough to make this new town. Get ready for big cities to start spinning apart all over the state.
Last edited by Native_Son; 08-22-2013 at 04:15 AM..
Out of this region you cited, covering over 100k people, how many actually support the notion of seceding from Charlotte? And I'm not talking about anecdotes either like "I know a lot of people want to secede from Charlotte!", but an actually statistical number, from a reputable source. Even Ed Driggs, candidate running for Warren Cooksey spot, won't support this, and this says a lot.
The idea that the city isn't spending enough money in South Charlotte, compared to the rest of Charlotte, is absolutely absurd. Some parts of the city, specifically East and West Charlotte, look so run down that it makes me wonder when was the last time the city actually invested in these areas. Said areas are riddled with unkempt roads, messed up or no sidewalks, entire STRIPS of blight as far as the eyes can see; which is the exact opposite of the southern region. If anything, I think Charlotte has done a great job of maintaining South Charlotte, and they should have done the same thing for the rest of the city. But now that they're investing in the more poorer and less affluent areas of the city, this is now a waste of tax payer money, and we should leave them to rot? Give me a break. This is a perfect case of unchecked individualism, and another case of "**** you, I got mine".
Like most attempts in America where a part of the city tries to secede from the rest, I don't see this going anywhere. And if this is up to a voter referendum, I see this failing miserable.
What next? North Raleigh succeeding from Raleigh and South Durham succeeding from Durham, etc. These people are unaware of the unintended consequences because unlike Detroit, Charlotte will continue to grow. If these people wanted a Cary, then build one and move there, that's an easier solution than trying to succeed.
Also, if it happened, the city of Charlotte should inact a heavy commuter tax from those specific area codes the work in the city of Charlotte.
What it all boils down to is that it is a bunch of rich folks having a hissy fit because they feel that they aren't getting the attention that other areas of the city is getting, I guess they want the city of Charlotte to give them more tax cuts just like the state and federal gov't does! How dare the city try and rehabilitate less affluent areas of the city so they don't resemble a mini-Detroit or East St. Louis! These people are selfish and only care about themselves, screw the rest of the city! The leaders running the city make decisions that should benefit the entire city as a whole, they don't exist to only cater to the self-interests of Ballantyne residents! Furthermore, if it wasn't for the city of Charlotte, Ballantyne wouldn't even exist, oh how soon they forget!
I don't think this will start an avalanche of similar activity in NC. Charlotte's population is high because it has annexed everything from SC all the way to the border with Huntersville. Only the 6 towns and mostly swamp prevent it from taking anything else. Charlotte's current population is ~775K. The next largest city in NC is Raleigh only has 423K even though Wake county has just as many people. Next up is Greensboro at 227K.
Charlotte has used annexation as a vast piggy bank. The other cities in NC not nearly as much.
I don't see this happening elsewhere. The other cities are not handing over literally billions of dollars to professional sports, spending million on projects where plans to develop plastic snow ski slopes are considered for urban re-development, and putting forth plans to raise property taxes 10% to build a streetcar with no due diligence. It's this sort of thing that infuriate property owners who are paying $200, $300, $400+/month in property taxes because they live in Charlotte. (combined)
Did I seriously read "unchecked individualism" spoken as if it's a negative thing?
Sir, look around you. Open your eyes. It is the bat poop insane attachment to unchecked collectivism that is causing us all to circle the drain.
It is because of Charlotte there IS a drain to circle in the first place.
Charlotte should cancel all incentives to MetLife, etc. should this be approved. Move outside the city limits if it's such a big deal. Heck, move to Fort Mill. The guys out there probably wouldn't do that considering, they just love the area... Which is only the way it is because of Charlotte. Check out Belmont, NC if you want low taxes... Which doesn't come close to the beauty of South Charlotte
The complete irony of all this is people are basically complaining about Charlotte being freeloaders so they want to break off so they can be the ultimate freeloaders... Take our Light rail to our downtown to our jobs from our incentives that chose us for our quality of life and because of our airport, etc.
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