Official: Charlotte, you're no world-class city (yet)
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i think the term big city is very interesting. by some posts that you read on here, some people give the impression that only the very largest cities, ny, la, chicago are big cities.
I have to agree that the Charlotte Observer (nothing more than a liberal rag) blows stuff out of proportion, but the google and yahoo headers are something else entirely.
Think about it, the leaders of this city are TRYING to make it bigger to bring in more tax necessity. Flooding this city with people is exactly how they will justify their train fiasco, and new baseball stadium, and The Greenway Easement project, and whatever else they dream up so they can artificially pump up land value, and make a pretty buck. Then their all gonna pick up and move to historical Gastonia and start screwing that place up.
If you ask me it's a black eye for the local natives.
No offense but Gastonia doesn't exactly have a great reputation and is already pretty screwed up looking. Last time I drove through there it was definately nothing to brag about. Yeah, there are some nice older parts, but downtown Gastonia could use some help. If you cared about where you live (assuming that is Gastonia) you would want people to invest in your town. It has a lot of potential but it has been looking pretty run down for quite some time now. Sorry, just being honest.
Your assessment and justifications for growth are skewed. For the most part, Charlotte and the surrounding area has certainly changed for the better. If you look past the MINOR negative impacts of growth, you might be able to see a lot of the positives.
What I find weird is why it would even be a topic up for discussion. We have under 700,000 people in Charlotte. Our whole MSA is what - 1.2 Million or so? Maybe 1.5 M? How the heck could we be considered on the level w/ London, Paris, NYC, CHI, etc?
I don't understand why it was necessary to even talk about whether or not we are a world-class city.
1.7 million.
In five years or so we should hit the 2 million mark. 2-3 million metro is a good size. Big but not too big.
It is a perception. If you are from Iowa or some town in Indiana, Charlotte will be a big city. If you are from Philadelphia, it will not be. It is a really idiotic topic. It is all relative.
I totally agree. I drove through downtown Gastonia about a year ago and was dismayed by all the abandoned and blighted buildings. But what I could see was a huge amount of potential, requiring both vision and investment. These (sadly) run-down buildings are historic structures that, in a way, remind me of downtown Asheville. And look what's happened to their downtown! It's a booming tourist attraction. Try to imagine downtown Gastonia spruced up and lots of unique ethnic restaurants, art galleries, pubs and shops coming in there. Imagine having that proposed westbound rail line from Uptown Charlotte continuing all the way to downtown Gastonia. I think it could have a huge impact on that town and turn into a weekday happy hour destination, and a weekend tourist and shopping destination. Downtown Gastonia is a depressing place today, but with a lot of vision and, yes, investment dollars, could transform itself into a fantastic and exciting place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyxmike
No offense but Gastonia doesn't exactly have a great reputation and is already pretty screwed up looking. Last time I drove through there it was definately nothing to brag about. Yeah, there are some nice older parts, but downtown Gastonia could use some help. If you cared about where you live (assuming that is Gastonia) you would want people to invest in your town. It has a lot of potential but it has been looking pretty run down for quite some time now. Sorry, just being honest.
Your assessment and justifications for growth are skewed. For the most part, Charlotte and the surrounding area has certainly changed for the better. If you look past the MINOR negative impacts of growth, you might be able to see a lot of the positives.
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