Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
Go to the triangle board & check out the attention Amazon thread. I'd like to think that none of us would come up with a thread like that if Charlotte was on the list.
Go to the triangle board & check out the attention Amazon thread. I'd like to think that none of us would come up with a thread like that if Charlotte was on the list.
The Raleigh thread really is getting silly. One poster says he feels a "buzz" in the business community and RDU airport seems really busy when he flies, so he thinks those good signs for Raleigh.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,670,113 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by BC1960
The Raleigh thread really is getting silly. One poster says he feels a "buzz" in the business community and RDU airport seems really busy when he flies, so he thinks those good signs for Raleigh.
Raleigh has the same problem that Philadelphia & Pittsburgh have, loons in the legislature with a problem with cities. I saw the title & clicked on the triangle board thinking, no l don't really see that. Sure enough, it wasn't a cutoff title. Attention Amazon : we're getting a Taco Bell with a bar. What are they going to do when Berger doesn't want to play ball with Amazon?
And to be honest, an Amazon HQ will not create the type of jobs that will address our haves vs have-nots issues. We need more jobs for those with GEDs and high school diplomas; like it or not. I'm sorry, but there is way too much emphasis on higher ed here on city data. Higher ed jobs aren't going to change the life of a single mother of 3 who is a cashier at Walmart and a part time baby sitter. An Amazon HQ isn't going to do a thing for a guy with a GED and a few drug charges who is trying to get his act together. Where are the new jobs for THOSE people?
Clearly income inequality is a huge issue and how that's bridged needs to be addressed from different angles. Just adding highly paid professional jobs is not mechanism to bridge the issue; it just perpetuates the inequality. A recent chart of Millionaire households in NC counties tells us that Mecklenburg has many more millionaires with higher incomes when compared to other counties. I'll use Wake County as a comparison since the two counties have almost identical populations. Both are rapidly growing and both have attracted the best and brightest from NC and elsewhere as they grow. In a nutshell, they are both success stories. Now, let's look at the number millionaires per each and their average income.
Mecklenburg: 2,234 millionaire households reporting an average income of $3,317,054
Wake: 1,368 millionaire households reporting an average income of $2,726,445
So, Mecklenburg has 63% more millionaire households than Wake and they make an average of 22% more money than the average millionaire in Wake.
Now, as a result, one would expect that Mecklenburg would report higher median household incomes based on this data set alone, but it doesn't. Wake's median household income is over $11,000 more than Mecklenburg's per the Census website. Mecklenburg also has more residents living in poverty. This would suggest a much bigger income inequality in Mecklenburg. So, I agree with you that this a noble issue to address. In fact, I think that all cities need to address this issue. If we don't, we run the risk of becoming a third-world country of haves and have-nots.
Unfortunately, our state and others pursue a strategy that pushes professional jobs to the cities and manufacturing jobs to the countryside where land and labor is cheaper. NC needs to allow its urban cities and counties to pursue higher minimum wages for its retail and other minimum wage workers relative to costs of living, instead of working to expressly prevent it. The context of each city and what makes it run has to be taken into account. We also need to better value our trades people in the way that many other developed countries do by training them with needed skills to give them real career paths.
Raleigh has the same problem that Philadelphia & Pittsburgh have, loons in the legislature with a problem with cities. I saw the title & clicked on the triangle board thinking, no l don't really see that. Sure enough, it wasn't a cutoff title. Attention Amazon : we're getting a Taco Bell with a bar. What are they going to do when Berger doesn't want to play ball with Amazon?
This makes literally zero sense. Atlanta made the list but Charlotte didn't, but somehow you think they are on an even playing field or that Charlotte actually had an upper hand??? Amazon isn't looking for "nicer;" they have a set a criteria specifically mentioned in the RFP that Atlanta comes a lot closer to meeting than Charlotte. Atlanta has a ton more tech talent, great universities (lots of tech companies recruit Georgia Tech grads in particular), a more robust mass transit system, several suitable sites near MARTA stations, is in a state that is more generous with incentives, has more cachet with millenials/young professionals, can more easily absorb the growth that Amazon will bring, etc.
Ironbound is vibrant, diverse, has great food, and exposes you to different cultures. You may see that as a negative but I love it.
Sorry your days were so dark while in Newark. It's not a perfect city but I'd take a chance on it myself if the opportunity came along.
Charlotte won an award in 2016 for most new millennials moving into a US city. Atlanta has a long way to build to keep up with it's suburban cookie-cutter sprawl.
Ironbound has good food if you like Brazilian/latino cuisine but not much beyond that. I never saw an oriental person or Indian living there which tells a lot.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
