Central NC (Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Burlington: area, county, coastal)

[Charlotte2Advance]

Why do these new people & weatherman keep referring to the Triad as Central NC? Do they not know geography. The geographic center in NC is near Goldston, NC in Chatham County...which is not even in the Triad...but the Triangle area...over 70 miles away from Winston-Salem. I do not call this area Central NC.

[LLN]

I presume because the geographic center is irrelevant to being near the center of commerce and the drivers of NC economy. The triangle fits that bill. Additionally, tv markets extend beyond the triangle, as well.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Charlotte2Advance

Why do these new people & weatherman keep referring to the Triad as Central NC?
The geographic center...

The geographic center is immaterial.

One main parameter of "center" is the Interstate 40 E-W axis...
The other parameters are "not the coast" and "not the mountains"...
and within *that framework* you get the Interstate 77 N-S axis.

[SonofDixie]

Originally Posted by Charlotte2Advance

Why do these new people & weatherman keep referring to the Triad as Central NC? Do they not know geography. The geographic center in NC is near Goldston, NC in Chatham County...which is not even in the Triad...but the Triangle area...over 70 miles away from Winston-Salem. I do not call this area Central NC.

The Triad is called central NC because it is located in the Piedmont region. The state is broken up into three regions: Coastal Plains, Piedmont, and Mountains. Anything located in the Piedmont region is, for most intents and purposes, considered central NC. Perhaps next time you will brush up on your geography first.

[coped]

Originally Posted by Charlotte2Advance

Why do these new people & weatherman keep referring to the Triad as Central NC? Do they not know geography. The geographic center in NC is near Goldston, NC in Chatham County...which is not even in the Triad...but the Triangle area...over 70 miles away from Winston-Salem. I do not call this area Central NC.

The Triad is certainly central NC. If you want to really break it down it might be "north central NC"

North Carolina is around 500 miles long. If you broke it down into 3 longitudinal categories (east, central, west) each section would be around 167 miles wide. So stick 83.5 miles on either(east-west) side of Goldston and you've got central NC.

Furthermore, Goldston's longitude is only 40 miles or so from Winston-Salem (it's at the same longitude with Burlington). So, it would definitely fall into the Central NC category.

Here's some reading on the Piedmont: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_(United_States)