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There are a lot of businesses going into Gaston County. The Apple server farm is going into Maiden. There is a building in Kings Mountain being shopped to 3 large high-tech firms & another building in Maiden being shopped to the same 3 companies. Duke Power is building a training facility in the unincorporated part of Kings Mountain, west of the city.
Kings Mountain is, for all intents & purposes, a suburb of Gastonia. It's about 5 or 6 miles from border to border, on 74, a bit further on I 85., so what goes on in Kings Mountain has an effect in Gastonia.
There is a company looking to build a biodiesel plant between Kings Mountain & Grover. There are also businesses going into Lincoln County.
All of this has an effect on Gastonia. I don't need to go to Charlotte for much. Most of what I need is in Gastonia. It's the same for every one out here. I go to Shelby when I need to go, but Gastonia has more & is closer.
NCDOT is going to reopen the commuter train from Charlotte to Belmont/Mt Holly, to Gastonia, to Kings Mountain. Eventually they will run it to Shelby, then Boiling Springs.
That is real neat. I'm glad to hear about that. That commuter rail, is that Amtrak or is that similar to what was trying to get done up in Huntersville?
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by adavi215
That is real neat. I'm glad to hear about that. That commuter rail, is that Amtrak or is that similar to what was trying to get done up in Huntersville?
NCDOT
There's been mention of the Gastonia line in some other threads, so I don't want to beat a dead horse. It will be diesel. Charlotte has refused to have anything to do with it or to cooperate with Gastonia, so the mayor of Gastonia went to NCDOT & they said yes & the train will go to the NCDOT transportation center in Charlotte.
Also, Shelby is getting another bypass, which will start at I85 on the already existing Kings Mountain Blvd. Kings Mountain Blvd will be extended on to turn into the bypass, so that will make 2 bypasses for Kings Mountain & Shelby.
My suspicion is that Cleveland will be the next county in the MSA. (in spite of Tim Peeler & Bigfoot)
Kings Mountain is in a good position for certain types of high tech facilities &, apparently, Maiden must have the same situation. City of Kings mountain is my utility provider. They also have the lowest rates out here. Duke Power is the electric provider in the unincorporated areas for residential, but the city provides electricity & water to businesses in the unincorporated areas.
There is a lot of land up for sale in Kings Mountain.
In the news releases on the high tech businesses snooping around it's stated that the city will provide power, but will get a 2nd provider for these facilities. The facility that is currently being shopped to the 3 companies is on a chunk of land that they say is big enough to build several more buildings for high tech facilities.
Then there's that power plant being built down by Grover. . .
There are still loads of empty mills in Gastonia & quite a few in Kings Mountain, as well. I read that Gastonia is looking into ways to make use of the old, vacant Loray Mill, since it is a historic site.
There's a short strip of land between Kings Mountain & Gastonia that looks like countryside, but I expect that that will be built up in 5 years or less.
I've been told that a lot of retail did not want to come into Kings Mountain, because it was felt that people would not come, but the Ingles supermarket has proven that wrong, so I think that when the economy picks up, there will be big changes.
Gastonia & Gaston County, in general, seem to be picking up more retail (Ollies is coming) & more white collar jobs. The mayors of Kings Mountain & Gastonia are both focusing on rebuilding the respective downtowns.
I could see Rock Hill and Concord hitting the 100k mark in maybe 10 or 20 yrs. Gaston Co will have growth potential once the Garden Parkway is complete because it will have 3 major freeways (321, I-85, GP), but there are several municipalities in Gaston that can annex land so the chance of Gastonia ever breaking the 100k mark are nil. Union co seems to be the co most likely to see the biggest growth, but there are many towns in union that will probably annex land there so Monroe will probably not break 100k either.
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Originally Posted by am2
I could see Rock Hill and Concord hitting the 100k mark in maybe 10 or 20 yrs. Gaston Co will have growth potential once the Garden Parkway is complete because it will have 3 major freeways (321, I-85, GP), but there are several municipalities in Gaston that can annex land so the chance of Gastonia ever breaking the 100k mark are nil. Union co seems to be the co most likely to see the biggest growth, but there are many towns in union that will probably annex land there so Monroe will probably not break 100k either.
The wild card in Gastonia is the large number of empty mills. What will become of them is unknown. Some are abandoned, because the mill company went under. Others still belong to a company. What to do with the Loray Mill is on the city's docket. It's huge. You can not miss it. It towers like a sore thumb. What they do with the Loray Mill will, to an extent, determine the eventual size of Gastonia, in my opinion. I'm going to give the mayor the benefit of the doubt that she will do something that will benefit the city. She did not take no from Charlotte & is getting the commuter train that will benefit the western counties, as a region.
The wild card in Gastonia is the large number of empty mills. What will become of them is unknown. Some are abandoned, because the mill company went under. Others still belong to a company. What to do with the Loray Mill is on the city's docket. It's huge. You can not miss it. It towers like a sore thumb. What they do with the Loray Mill will, to an extent, determine the eventual size of Gastonia, in my opinion. I'm going to give the mayor the benefit of the doubt that she will do something that will benefit the city. She did not take no from Charlotte & is getting the commuter train that will benefit the western counties, as a region.
That is real good for the Western region of Charlotte. It does seem like that area is largely ignored. I would love to see a turn around in Gastonia and it starting to offer something to the metrolina region. Speaking of which, I wonder when the Charlotte metro will officially get a name.
That is real good for the Western region of Charlotte. It does seem like that area is largely ignored. I would love to see a turn around in Gastonia and it starting to offer something to the metrolina region. Speaking of which, I wonder when the Charlotte metro will officially get a name.
The Charlotte metro region used to be called Metrolina! I would also like to see a turnaround for Gaston County where it finally starts growing, instead of being the armpit of the region, it's bound to happen! Someone mentioned a couple of posts back about the Garden Parkway and I agree, when it finally opens, it will bring a lot of growth to the area, as well as the Monroe Bypass for Union County, b/c that will spur more growth to Union County, along with some of it spilling over into Anson County! A lot of these areas in 20-30 years will double or triple in size!
I think that if Gastonia could revitalize the Franklin/Wilkinson area, it would take off huge. Gastonia and Monroe both have downtown districts that, to me, resemble Charlotte's and I think they have a chance at actually having a skyline. Concord reminds me of Raleigh without the skyline. A very prosperous future, especially with what Bruton Smith is doing for that area. That area has experienced exponential growth since Concord Mills has landed.
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That is real good for the Western region of Charlotte. It does seem like that area is largely ignored. I would love to see a turn around in Gastonia and it starting to offer something to the metrolina region. Speaking of which, I wonder when the Charlotte metro will officially get a name.
To be honest, I'm not certain which gets ignored more, Gastonia or Monroe, but I do think that Gastonia & the western counties get an extra dose of contempt, especially from some of the transplants on this board.
Fallacies about the western counties are common place on this board. I went to Gastonia yesterday & from just before exit 10 of I85, which is pretty close to the city limit of City of Kings Mountain to the Welcome to Gastonia sign on 74 is 4 miles. 4 whole miles. Yet people will post, over & over again that Gastonia is a doable commute to Charlotte, but Kings Mountain is off in the sticks. Sure.
To be honest, I'm not certain which gets ignored more, Gastonia or Monroe, but I do think that Gastonia & the western counties get an extra dose of contempt, especially from some of the transplants on this board.
Fallacies about the western counties are common place on this board. I went to Gastonia yesterday & from just before exit 10 of I85, which is pretty close to the city limit of City of Kings Mountain to the Welcome to Gastonia sign on 74 is 4 miles. 4 whole miles. Yet people will post, over & over again that Gastonia is a doable commute to Charlotte, but Kings Mountain is off in the sticks. Sure.
I would say Gastonia. Monroe has the bustling growth of Union County to lean on. Gastonia and Gaston county, not so much. Kings Mountain is a bit of a hike away.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Originally Posted by adavi215
I would say Gastonia. Monroe has the bustling growth of Union County to lean on. Gastonia and Gaston county, not so much. Kings Mountain is a bit of a hike away.
I had an interesting conversation today that sort of fits here.
I had to call the parts department at a dealer in Charlotte today.
When I told him that I live in Kings Mountain, he told me where to take my car for service, if I need service but can't get to Charlotte, because he has personal knowledge of the place.
Then he told me that, except for a hitch in the military, he's lived in Charlotte all of his life. He said that a lot of his friends have been moving out to Gastonia & other locations in Gaston County & several more friends are currently looking at Kings Mountain. He said that he's thinking of leaving, too, but hasn't decided where he wants to move to.
That surprised me when he said Kings Mountain & I told him so. I also told him that my impression was that a lot of people in Charlotte consider Kings Mountain to be the sticks. He said, no, that Kings Mountain isn't much further than Gastonia, & is a reasonable commute. He said that while Shelby isn't a very good commute, it's definitely not the sticks either, but that once you get north & west of Shelby, you're definitely in the sticks. He also said that he knows some people who are old money in Charlotte who have bought property at Moss Lake, because it's not the popular place to be, & it's much quieter.
It was an unexpected but interesting conversation. I thought it applied here because for Gastonia to grow, there needs to be growth in more than just the eastern part of Gaston County.
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