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^lived about an hour outside Charlotte, went a few times, liked it for the most part. IDK what exactly, but something's missing for Charlotte to move up to 1st tier. I hope they do but it's gonna be awhile so grab a Snickers.
Not ironically, my sister and her family left Charlotte for Seminole County. Metro Orlando is very similar to Charlotte in terms of the size and layout. Orlando of course is a much warmer version and the historical momentum has changed for the two metro areas since the beginning of the housing boom (then bust).
I'm not certain about a 2nd Tier status; all of these cities could be rated second tier. But if there is a candidate to move into a first tier Southern City I would wager on Charlotte, North Carolina. There is already a contentious debate as to whether or not Charlotte can catch up to the level of development of Atlanta. I don't think any city on this list outside of Charlotte could hope to compete with an Atlanta. For example, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville will never catch up to Miami and San Antonio and Austin will never rival Dallas and Houston. There is a question as to whether Nashville is even completely dominant over Memphis for supremacy in Tennessee.
All I can think of thats missing in Charlotte is a MLB team (not "AAA" baseball) and a vibrant music scene. Charlotte is kind of a gospel music hub but I can't think of any record labels headquarted there. With that being said Charlotte has a strong, distinct musical tradition with kind of a down home southern soul culture with the likes of Jodeci, Anthony Hamilton, Sunshine Anderson, even old school Stephanie Mills. Charlotte just needs a small district of soul music bars or clubs even if it is just one street.
Being the hub of NASCAR culture is also a very unique and strong cultural tradition even if it isn't everyone's cup of tea. Charlotte also has a pretty good sports legacy of basketball as well as an OK football tradition (not something the state of North Carolina is noted for). Like I said, all Charlotte needs to be a first tier southern sports city is a MLB team. The Hurricanes, Predators, Thrashers, Lightning, Panthers, and Stars would all be better served to move to cities that gave a hoot about hockey and where a lake actually freezes over for enough extended time in the winter to even ice skate on it.
Being the second largest financial market in the entire United States is also pretty impressive. Charlotte is also developing a comprehensive mass transit system (rail, not just bus), has a large modern airport, and has a pretty impressive downtown (Uptown) even if it is devoid of nightlife. Good move moving the basketball arena out of the burbs and having the football stadium near uptown in the first place. Charlotte does need a top flight university though. UNC-Charlotte may want to attract some investment from private research and development firms and change its name to North Carolina Tech or something distinct.
All in all I am not a Charlotte "guy" so to speak. I was much more attracted to the pace of Atlanta and Miami but when my sister lived in Charlotte I always thought it was a fantastic place to raise a family and had more potential than any other Southern City. I think Charlotte will continue to expand as it can perpetually learn from the mistakes of Atlanta and the metro area can expand exponentially because it already extends into South Carolina where land is even more worthless than the land in Georgia. I don't think any other nearly first tier Southern metro area can contend with the low cost of real estate in Charlotte metro.
I agree more or less with your post. I would add Tampa and Orlando to the list. I think these three are more advanced than the rest of the cities mentioned. I wouldn't go so far as to say Charlotte is quite challenging Atlanta, although it is, it's a different type of challenge. Charlotte needs more than cheaper taxes to compete with Atlanta. Once Charlotte establishes a more diverse, more intelligent, more productive workforce then it can challenge Atlanta. The burbs in Charlotte are hurting worse than Charlotte.
Not ironically, my sister and her family left Charlotte for Seminole County. Metro Orlando is very similar to Charlotte in terms of the size and layout. Orlando of course is a much warmer version and the historical momentum has changed for the two metro areas since the beginning of the housing boom (then bust).
Banking and tourism were both hit pretty hard. While up there I worked for BofA which has it's own Castle as you know. Both Charlotte and Orlando have busy airports, nice downtowns, and a hurting housing market.
I agree that New orleans is the most unque city in this country almost european really.In Texas certainly Austin. In alabama 'Birmingham.Tampa in florida;Charlotte in NC.At that i give up for now.
Charlotte is slowly coming up, it's probably the TOP 2nd tier city from this list, with Tampa, Orlando, and San Antonio(if you count it as the "South") CLOSELY behind.
Banking and tourism were both hit pretty hard. While up there I worked for BofA which has it's own Castle as you know. Both Charlotte and Orlando have busy airports, nice downtowns, and a hurting housing market.
Yeah I worked for BofA in Atlanta (the tallest building in the Southeast!) and my sister worked in the "castle" in Uptown Charlotte. I think another similarity between Charlotte and Orlando is that they are both "one trick ponies". Charlotte is too dependent on banking and Orlando is too dependent on hospitality/tourism. Both cities need to diversify if they ever hope to be considered top-tier cities. But a lot of foreign nationals come to Miami when their currency is stronger to buy up real estate. These same foreign nationals are quite fond of the tourist attractions, time shares, and real estate in Orlando. I can see Orlando becoming an international service hub like Miami where Charlotte may be able to take advantage of overdevelopment in Atlanta and people fed up being stuck in traffic just trying to get out of their northside subdivisions much less going to work. I'm flabbergasted how many of my contemporaries from my time in Atlanta have moved to North and South Carolina. I think they were getting out of the way of Florida migrants during the height of the bubble.
Allow me to say this, Charlotte is way more than a one trick pony. And for that matter so is Orlando. Orlando has a thriving high tech sector and research. Charlotte is revitalizing itself as a regional energy hub as well as revamping more research via the CRI institute at UNCC. Wholesale trading is big too in Charlotte. And for everybody who keeps on bringing up banking, it only accounts for 10% of its GDP. So if that went away, Charlotte's GDP would still be $106 billion.
I would love to live in Austin, maybe Nashville and love the food/culture of New Orleans. I think I might give the south a shot after college, if I ever leave.
I heard Charlotte was more of a family city, lacked nightlife, and the downtown area was slacking? But people on this thread seem to rate it high so whats the deal with Charlotte?
Because it's more of an economic powerhouse than those cities you listed, as it has a larger metro GDP and more F500 companies. Obviously at this point in your life you put a lot of priority on a party city, but that in and of itself doesn't determine importance. Charlotte knows how to have fun (it has nightlife and a vibrant downtown, but it's nothing like NOLA obviously), but is primarily a business-oriented city.
Last edited by Akhenaton06; 06-26-2010 at 12:31 AM..
Dallas, Houston, Miami...not a part of the American South.
Primate City of the American South: Atlanta
Second Tier Charlotte Nashville New Orleans
Third Tier Raleigh Memphis Richmond Birmingham Louisville Jacksonville Norfolk
Well in that case you need to remove New Orleans from the list as well. I'm just sayin'
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