Charlotte or Columbia? (Charleston, Rock Hill, Sumter: employment, moving to, estimates)

[sgibbs2007]

I agree with you waccamatt. There need to be a major control in growth in the Charlotte area because it is getting too damn big and there are too many people moving here. The Charlotte goverment spend too much time trying to compete rather than worry about quality. Pain and simple! U r absolutely right

[sgibbs2007]

Originally Posted by Charleston native

I think there is a serious falsehood and error in logic in thinking that not widening current roads or not adding additional roads curb traffic and growth. This line of logic proves false with NE Columbia, where many roads have remained two-lanes, yet more neighborhoods and shopping centers are built. Charlotte and Charleston are no exceptions, either.

I believe that it is terrible to basically make traffic conditions worse for the current residents in order to "control" new residents.

I see your point. We need to control growth because it is out of hand. The growth now is not good for us.

[groove1]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

The traffic in Charlotte is horrible because the system of roads is terrible. Very little of Charlotte is built on a grid and there are only 2 interstate highways. The beltway Charlotte built is only 4 lanes. Columbia has 3 interstates versus 2, a 6 lane beltway instead of 4 and wide downtown streets on a grid; this combined with twice the population in Charlotte results in a traffic nightmare much of the time.

Only the oldest part of the loop is 2 lanes. All newer portions are 3-4 lanes. It is very difficult for Charlotte to get hwy funding from the state because our governor and so many other state politicians are from Eastern NC. Oh wait, I just moved to Ft Mill, SC, so now longer technically a North Carolinian.

[Queen City Lover]

And not to step on anyones toes...I would have to say Charlotte...and no dis-respect...but anyone who thinks Columbia is not that much smaller is wrong...I can speak for Charlotte...metro area a little over 2 million...and we have more than 2 Interstates...I-77, I-85, I-277 (Uptown Loop), I-485 (Beltline around Charlotte about 3/4 finished...and I-77 is 8 lanes North of Charlotte wirh CARPOOL lanes...does Columbia have those...no.

We have Professional Football, Basketball, Minor League Baseball (Charlotte hopes to have a professional baseball team within the next few years...they are already talking and doing a land swap to build our new Uptown Baseball Stadium) & Minor Leage Hockey...and Columbia has?

Also our above ground Light Rail (Subway) starts in under 5 months...it is small to start...but so was Atlanta's Marta to begin with...does Columbia have a Rail System (and I am not talking about Amtrak)?

My purpose is NOT to basj Columbia...but some people from Columbia have made some statements about Charlotte that are not the facts...anyone wanting to move to either area should visit both...and let them make up their own minds.

Also Charlotte is home to -3- Lakes...Lake Norman, Mountain Island Lake (where I live) & Lake Wylie...which is in both NC & SC.

I have not said anything bad about Columbia...so COlumbia people please don't bash me...I am just bragging about my wonderful city CHARLOTTE where I have called home for 15 years...and after moving here from BORING Raleigh...I LOVE IT!!!

God Bless each and every one of you,

Jeff

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Queen City Lover

And not to step on anyones toes...I would have to say Charlotte...and no dis-respect...but anyone who thinks Columbia is not that much smaller is wrong...I can speak for Charlotte...metro area a little over 2 million...and we have more than 2 Interstates...I-77, I-85, I-277 (Uptown Loop), I-485 (Beltline around Charlotte about 3/4 finished...and I-77 is 8 lanes North of Charlotte wirh CARPOOL lanes...does Columbia have those...no.

We have Professional Football, Basketball, Minor League Baseball (Charlotte hopes to have a professional baseball team within the next few years...they are already talking and doing a land swap to build our new Uptown Baseball Stadium) & Minor Leage Hockey...and Columbia has?

Also our above ground Light Rail (Subway) starts in under 5 months...it is small to start...but so was Atlanta's Marta to begin with...does Columbia have a Rail System (and I am not talking about Amtrak)?

My purpose is NOT to basj Columbia...but some people from Columbia have made some statements about Charlotte that are not the facts...anyone wanting to move to either area should visit both...and let them make up their own minds.

Also Charlotte is home to -3- Lakes...Lake Norman, Mountain Island Lake (where I live) & Lake Wylie...which is in both NC & SC.

I have not said anything bad about Columbia...so COlumbia people please don't bash me...I am just bragging about my wonderful city CHARLOTTE where I have called home for 15 years...and after moving here from BORING Raleigh...I LOVE IT!!!

God Bless each and every one of you,

Jeff

QC, 485 is a spur of an interstate as is 277. If you want to talk about spurs you can add 277 and 126 in Columbia. If you're really concerned about width of highways, I-126 is 8 lanes, I 77 is 6 lanes for 25 miles in Richland County and I-20 and I-26 are also 6 lanes for a number of miles. No, we don't have an HOV lane, but I stand by my statement that Charlotte traffic is horrible for the size city it is, and I'm a New Jersey native who has driven in NYC, Boston, Philly and DC on many occasions.

Charlotte's metro is not over 2 million, it is 1,521,278 as of the 2005 US Census Bureau MSA estimates, a little more than twice Columbia's MSA population:

http://www.census.gov/population/www...bsa-01-fmt.xls

Charlotte's Chamber of Commerce likes to add additional counties for their own definition of the metro area, but I believe the Census Bureau has a little bit of credibility.

As far as sports, Columbia has minor league hockey, arena football and Division 1 Southeastern Conference sports, not to mention the number 1 arena in the Carolina's for concert ticket sales.

Colonial Center at USC

As far as Charlotte's small light rail line - that is not a subway. A subway runs underground and usually consists of heavy rail. New York and DC have subways, Charlotte has a trolley.

Speaking of Lakes, Columbia has Lake Murray 15 miles to the northwest, Lake Wateree 25 miles to the Northeast, Congaree National Park 15 miles to the south and 3 rivers bordering downtown. I'm not trying to bash Charlotte, but when you try and make statements such as you've made I feel like it is only appropriate to set the record straight.

[groove1]

Accoring to 2007 census estimates, Charlotte is the 20th largest city in the country, Columbia is 199.

Charlotte Observer | 06/28/2007 | Charlotte holds in biggest 20 cities

The CSA area of Charlotte is well over 2 million.

Arena football is not a sport.

The Inferno suck (from a Checkers fan)

Light rail is definitely not a subway, but it is something the city needs.

I feel if you want to be part of a large, fast-growing metro area (8ok people move to Charlotte each year) and are prepared to deal with what big cities have to deal with, move to Charlotte. If you want something a little more stable and steady, I suggest Columbia.

[waccamatt]

P.S. A city's metro area is their MSA, not the CSA. I stand by my figures.

[groove1]

Most recent estimates put Columbia's MSA at around 700k (almost that many people live in the actual city of Charlotte).several sources:
columbia south carolina 2007 metropolitan population - Google Search

Charlotte's MSA is about 1.6 million.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by groove1

Accoring to 2007 census estimates, Charlotte is the 20th largest city in the country, Columbia is 199.

You really can't use municipal population figures to gauge the true size of a city, especially when you're talking about North Carolina, which has some of the most liberal annexation laws in the nation, and South Carolina, which has some of the most restrictive annexation laws in the nation. I could use municipal population figures to show that Charlotte is larger than Miami, Atlanta, DC, and Boston, but would that reflect reality? I'd say not. The MSA figures show that Charlotte is over twice the size of Columbia and is growing much faster (which may or may not be a bad thing), and that pretty much reflects the reality. That's not to say that a bigger place automatically offers more than a smaller place, however.

I don't like using the CSA to gauge metro area populations in most cases (multinodal metro areas are an exception, like the Upstate), since they contain vast rural areas that may have little connection with the primary city (e.g., Chester, Anson counties).

[Charleston native]

Keep in mind guys, Columbia only reached 700K because they added four counties to the metro area, and the reasons for this are highly questionable. Fairfield County was one that should never have been added. Commuting patterns would actually have some residents there going to Charlotte, not Cola. Adding Newberry is somewhat understandable, but many residents there do not want to be associated with Cola...they'd rather be their own area.

So while Cola has the Census Bureau's "seal of approval", its actual metro is questionable. Charlotte has far more reasonable arguments for its additions. A better analysis for comparisons would be Cola's and Charlotte's urban areas. I know Cola has about 450,000 in its UA. What about Charlotte?