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.
I do believe when Charlotte become bigger some maybe all of it’s current CSA will become it’s MSA. There’s 2 million in that CSA area now, so about time this happen Charlotte would up end with at least 3 million MSA, because the area will grow denser. Remember outside of Atlanta 5 core counties is a ring of counties in the 100,000 -250,000 range, they was not always a part Metro Atlanta.
Some of the CSA counties were actually MSA counties under the old pre-2003 metro configuration, including Lancaster and Iredell counties which are now considered micropolitan areas. So it's possible that they might become MSA counties again once the metros are reconfigured again sometime around 2013. Atlanta will more than likely get new counties added to the MSA/CSA also.
I wouldn't put Charlotte in the same league as Atlanta, however I would say they are both major business centers of the South. Atanta's importance goes far beyond the south. Charlotte will get there eventually.
I don't think the purpose of this thread is to compare Charlotte to Atlanta as far as which city would "win." I think its more along the lines of a Phily vs NYC, Portalnd vs Seattle, Providence vs Boston, etc. I doubt anyone would place Charlotte in the same league as Atlanta. However, in terms of regional operations, etc., Charlotte does compete with Atlanta.
@ Akhenaton06 thanks for the info. I did some research and found out about Discover Mills in Gwinnett county. It appears to be similar to Concord Mills. What do you know about Lennox Mall?
@ Akhenaton06 thanks for the info. I did some research and found out about Discover Mills in Gwinnett county. It appears to be similar to Concord Mills. What do you know about Lennox Mall?
Yeah Discover Mills and Concord Mills are sister malls (Potomac Mills in the DC area also belongs to the same family). Lenox Mall is one of the upscale malls in the area, along the lines of a larger SouthPark.
Population: 2.3 million (23 largest metro and what Atlanta was at in 1980)
No cultural identity unless you like NASCAR.
No statistics for tourism b/c Charlotte isn't a known DESTINATION but a pass thru. No notable MAJOR TOURIST attractions except NASCAR Hall of Fame and Discovery Museum.
A local presence in ONE professional team Charlotte Bobcats and a REGIONAL presence in ONE professional team Carolina Panthers. Home to other minor leagues such as Rugby, Baseball, ICE HOCKEY, and Soccer.
9th busiest airport in the WORLD. Charlotte's beltway isn't completed and for 76% only has two lanes. LYNX light rail....couldn't even compare to the lightrail run by Atlanta's airport alone.
Economy is ONLY driven by Banking and NASCAR...no WORLD HEADQUARTERS for any international company. Major hub for trucking and freight.
Notable colleges include UNC-Charlotte, Johnson & Wales, Johnson C. Smith and Davidson College.
Very limited radio selections. Charlotte Observer is comparable to UNC-Charlottes newspaper. No major movie productions or music production companies.
Nightlife does exist but will get stale after a month. Nothing exciting or innovative about any of the venues. Except for Butter...but where is the variety. Not a party town (Ie can't party ever night if you'd like).
Atlanta is a major city and it is an insult to compare Charlotte to this great city. Atlanta is WAY more advanced and light years ahead of Charlotte. Charlotte is a great city don't get me wrong, but a MAJOR DESTINATION it is not. Charlotte is better compared to NC's other regions and Richmond, VA and Nashville, TN.
Charlotte does have a lot going for it but after a year of living here you would have done everything there is to do. Atlanta is ALWAYS emerging and has something different to do every weekend of the year.
I totally agree w/ this take on Charlotte. It's NASCAR and banking, and not much else. If you have to live in NC, RTP is much more exciting (but still nothing like Atlanta).
I totally agree w/ this take on Charlotte. It's NASCAR and banking, and not much else. If you have to live in NC, RTP is much more exciting (but still nothing like Atlanta).
I used to live in Charlotte (and actually hope to return in a few months) and didn't find the Triangle more exciting, although some do and it's totally a matter of personal preference. It's pretty silly to say that a city of 700,000 and a metro of 1.8 million only offers banks and stock car racing. Like any other city that size, you have festivals, sports, concerts, nightlife, cultural amenities, and the like. As a single guy in my early 30's, Charlotte had more than enough to keep me occupied.
the festivals are weak (and are all mostly the same with that terrible carny type food and weak local (?) bands), the sports scene is decent if you're into football, but a lot of ppl from charlotte are into teams like the steelers or the cowboys more so than the panthers (from what i've seen), the concerts are weak and most big artists go through raleigh instead, the nightlife is nothing you can't get elsewhere in a similar sized city (i.e. nothing to write home about), the cultural amenities are few and far between, etc. etc.
really though, whats the difference bewteen any of the festivals? if you didn't know the month you'd think it was the same one over and over...
as far as the comparisons go...i did hear ppl say that charlotte was the next atlanta. but its not something you hear THAT frequently. to be fair, charlotte has things going for it but IMO SOME ppl put it on a pedestal and up against major cities that it has no business being compared to.
let charlotte be charlotte. one day it will be in that category of cities that ppl love to put on a pedestal. one day.
I think Charlotte offers more than what people are giving it credit for. As far as nightlife I can't speak on that because I don't care for nightlife activities. As far as cultural facilities, I stuanchly disagree with people who say Charlotte is lacking. There is the cultural campus on South Tryon that has plenty of offerings from modern art, to african-american cultural center, to a theatre for operas, ballets, and other events. Plenty of art galleries and gallery crawls in NoDa, Southend, and Plaza-Midwood. Not to mention that there is a thriving spoken word community and poetry slams throughout. I'm sorry some haven't been exposed to what Charlotte has.
I visited Charlotte last weekend with a buddy of mine... hadn't been there in about a year or so, and looked forward to seeing some of the newer venues and attractions... specifically the Epicenter.
My friend who's been here in Atlanta for about 9 years was looking to get away (relationship woes) for the weekend, and asked if I was interested in a trip to Nashville. I then suggested Charlotte instead after realizing there was only about a 15 mile difference between the two, and since they hadn't experienced either, Charlotte wins! Besides, I'd visited both countless times and always seemed to prefer Charlotte (sadly, this is becoming more and more about me )
So we agreed on Charlotte and arrived Saturday afternoon... luckily the weather managed to cooperate the entire weekend. Uptown Charlotte still reminds me of Midtown ATL in many ways, downtown... not so much. We made our way through NoDa, then Queensland and Ballantyne areas... the places I am most familiar with. Charlotte is quite woodsy with a similar lush green feel much like Atlanta with far fewer pines.
Later on, we wanted drinks (which never happened, but that's another story) so we noticed a few spots near the Queensland area, but decided against them, so I suggested we check out the Epicenter since I've heard many great things about it here on C-D. We got there pretty late by Charlotte's standards around 12:30AM, and there was plenty of activity down there! The Epicenter (and another small bar district about a block or two away that I don't know the name of) has done an awesome job revitalizing the energy in and around the city center, especially at night. The problem was, all of the bars seemed to cater to a much younger crowd, and there practically weren't any 30+ type venues or people there at all, so we decided to people watch for the remainder of the evening. Surely there were much better options but we didn't find them, and had limited time to do so.
Overall, my friend felt like Charlotte was a nicely manicured, contemporary style city, but not necessarily the best place to go for a frolicking weekend-type getaway, but again time was limited.
I still enjoy Charlotte, and prefer it over Nashville just the same.
Last edited by NorthDeKalb; 06-02-2011 at 03:25 PM..
the festivals are weak (and are all mostly the same with that terrible carny type food and weak local (?) bands), the sports scene is decent if you're into football, but a lot of ppl from charlotte are into teams like the steelers or the cowboys more so than the panthers (from what i've seen), the concerts are weak and most big artists go through raleigh instead, the nightlife is nothing you can't get elsewhere in a similar sized city (i.e. nothing to write home about), the cultural amenities are few and far between, etc. etc.
really though, whats the difference bewteen any of the festivals? if you didn't know the month you'd think it was the same one over and over...
I don't think the festivals are "weak"; it totally depends on what you're into. There are the larger signature ones every year (e.g., Speed Street, Taste of Charlotte, CIAA [which is really a tournament but also has the atmosphere of a festival], etc.) with a smattering of smaller ones. Being that Charlotte has a lot of transplants, you have lots of people who are still fans of their hometown teams and root for them instead of the local teams. I disagree that most big artists go through Raleigh instead; that's not true at all. For instance, the only NC stop the Sade/John Legend tour is making is in Charlotte. In the very rare instance that a show comes to NC and doesn't come to Charlotte, it would go to Greensboro instead since it's between Charlotte and Raleigh and has the state's largest arena. And I never said the nightlife is something special, but it's just one part of the puzzle in Charlotte. One great thing about it is the concentration of nightlife venues in uptown which give the nightlife a nice urban buzz, and that's in addition to the other ones scattered throughout town. The cultural amenities have recently gotten a huge boost with the addition of the Levine Cultural Center for the Arts (which includes four new cultural facilities) as well as the new NC Dance Theater.
Note that I was only countering the objection that Charlotte is basically just banks and NASCAR. That's FAR from the truth.
Quote:
as far as the comparisons go...i did hear ppl say that charlotte was the next atlanta. but its not something you hear THAT frequently. to be fair, charlotte has things going for it but IMO SOME ppl put it on a pedestal and up against major cities that it has no business being compared to.
let charlotte be charlotte. one day it will be in that category of cities that ppl love to put on a pedestal. one day.
It doesn't have to be a place that's put on a pedestal; frankly I could care less if that's the case. Charlotte is doing a lot of things right and as long as it continues in that vein, some of the things that are lacking will come about naturally.
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.
From a recent first time visitors perspective...
)
