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I love living here, I really do. And Anifani has explained why Charlotte's layout is so weird, but having come from cities where everything is on a grid, driving in Charlotte is making me crazy!!!!!!! I was trying to find a doctor's office today, and it said it was on John J. Delaney Dr. Okay, I know where that is, no problem. I get over to Johnston, see John J. Delaney, and since there's the hotel on the left, it must be to the right? Right? NO! There are three places where one can turn on that street....where I was going right, and then further up (because the street is a loop), you can turn right or left. WTH!?!?! Is this city designed to confuse newcomers? I NEED STRAIGHT STREETS!!! And don't even get me started on the whole changing of street names five times on one street.....
I feel a little better now. At least Charlotte's traffic is not bad and I have time to reorient myself when I get lost
I know. I should totally stop being cheap and just buy one. Since I manage to make my way to where I need to go (usually muttering under my breath or outright ranting, like today) I can't justify the cost, but I really should, huh?
I feel your pain. I've been here for over 4 years... just a few miles away from that location and it took me 20 minutes to find a new doctors office on John J. Delaney a few weeks ago. I don't know what they were thinking when they designed that complex. Perhaps they were smoking something really good that day.
I feel your pain. I've been here for over 4 years... just a few miles away from that location and it took me 20 minutes to find a new doctors office on John J. Delaney a few weeks ago. I don't know what they were thinking when they designed that complex. Perhaps they were smoking something really good that day.
Smoking something or had blinders on!!! Now you would think that area would have been mapped out better. Not like it is off Queens. Any of the Queens. Or any of the Sharons, for that matter.
Ha! When my husband and I first visited Charlotte we were staying in one of the condos off of Davidson street. Unknown to us there was a tree covering the Davidson st exit sign and we ended up driving around center city forever looking for it! It was hilarious! We got a great view of the Stadium... all 5 times! Luckily we have learned our way in the past 7 years!
GPS Navigation is your friend in Charlotte!!! Especially when on Sardis Rd or Tyvola when the street changes names 16 times!
One of the most confounding things to newcomers is the intersection of Queens and Queens!
Buying a gps is "cheating" because you'll never actually learn your way around!
When I got here (10 years ago, before GPSs were ubiquitous) I got a big map of Charlotte and stuck it to the wall in the kitchen. I used a sticky dot to mark "home" and "work", and then every time I had to go somewhere I planned a route using the map. It's basically the same as low-tech gps, but it made me learn the names of streets and what connected to what.
The other thing that helped me to learn was to realize that a good portion of Charlotte (the part I needed to be in, anyway) was pear-shaped, with the center of uptown being the top of the pear. (The BOA building is the stem, if you will!) The west side outline is I-77 (or even S. Tryon) and the east side outline is Independence. The bottom outline is 485. Then all you have to do is learn the major thoroughfares with strong N-S (South, Park, Providence, Randolph, Monroe) and E-W directionals (East, Woodlawn, Sharon Amity, Pineville-Matthews, and the ever popular Tyvola-Fairview-Sardis-Rama-Idlewild!) Even if you're lost, if you find one of those, and you head in the general compass direction of where you want to be, you'll get to something more familiar.
Granted, my system will not work for all people, and it took me a good 6 months before I felt REALLY comfortable going somewhere unfamiliar, but in the end I now know this city (and all its little "back ways") like the back of my hand!!!
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And don't even get me started on the whole changing of street names five times on one street.....
