Charlotte vs. Raleigh? (Durham, Winston-Salem, Cary: department store, cultures, adult)
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.
While I see what you're saying about the DT, and compared to some peer cities both DT are small. I do slightly disagree with you. Charlotte's DT, to my memory, is quite a bit larger. Although Raleigh is relatively dense. Also, taking away the DT in each, Charlotte still has Southpark, Ballantyne, University City, Southend, Dilworth, Midtown, NoDa, and Plaza-Midwood. In Raleigh you'd have North Hills and Crabtree. I'm pretty sure there are other areas in Raleigh that you and rnc2mbfl can name that I am not aware of. But in essence I see what you're saying. But I think minus DT, Charlotte still has more to offer. We'd have 1 more museum.
On a side note, I'm watching MSNBC and there is an epidemiology professor from UNC on. Kudos UNC. If only UNCC could make it on national TV.
raleighs downtown is mostly state govt..then city county, and the lawyers and banks. it isnt really the same type of downtown or even should be, the hurricanes play out inbetween raleigh and durham..so traffic dispereses easily without scrunhing everyone into a CBD to be slowly spit back out. if i remember correctly the memorial auditorem gets the symphony and concerts and the new convention center gets trade shows. the esa gets larger concerts, the dean dome in chapel hill used to get soncerts...carter finely stadium hosedt the grateful dead and the rolling stones.....20000 plus seats outside of downtown next to the beltline (aka i-440) why put this stuff all down town in an area called the Triangle??
Raleigh and Charlotte are both going to be great 21st Century American cities. East Coast, good access to beaches and mountains, warm climate, educated workforce, younger population compared to many other cities.
Each city may have some bumps along the way, but the positive momentum each city has built over the last 20 years is not going away, even if it slows down.
As someone pointed out, Raleigh and the Triangle will always have RTP, which is continuing to become one of the most nationally renowned research parks as well as being well-known internationally. Also, Raleigh is the state capitol of a rapidly-growing state. Even though the recession will lead to job cuts in the short-term, long-term Raleigh is in a very good situation. As in one of the best in the entire country.
Charlotte is always going to be a little more boom or bust (like most major non-capitol cities). Of course you have the cities like New York, Philly, LA, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth that have reached Alpha or Beta city status on an international scale that really exist outside of regional or even national influences. Charlotte is a long way off from that level, but Charlotte is becoming a semi-major national player.
Charlotte was recently ranked the 25th best market in terms of economic output for the whole country. Charlotte has reached a critical mass in terms of being a major player nationally in terms of being a major financial center. Charlotte is taking major steps towards becoming a major energy center.
Charlotte will always be more dependent on big business than Raleigh. Charlotte historically has trended ahead of Raleigh in terms of growth when the economy was booming and behind when the economy in down. However, Raleigh and the Triangle have reached a point though where I think growth there will be comparable to Charlotte even in a good economy and better in a down economy like now.
Both the Greater Charlotte area and the Triangle added comparable growth numbers overall over the past 10 years. This led to a higher percentage for the Triangle b/c there were less people there to start. Raleigh did outpace every other city in NC, though, well above in percentage and even slightly more than Charlotte in terms of pure number growth.
Check out these figures below:
Top ten in growth in 1,000,000 plus metros from 2000-2010
1. Las Vegas, NV 41.8%
2. Raleigh, NC 41.8 (squeaks in a 1.130 mill today from 800k in 2000)
3. Austin, TX 37.3
4 Charlotte-Gastonia, NC/SC 32.1
5. Riverside, Ca 29.8
6 Orlando, FL 29.8
7. Phoenix, Az 28.9
8. Houston Tx 26.1
9. San Antonio Tx. 25.2
10. Atlanta, GA. 24.0
Growth of North Carolina’s Cities from 2000–2010:
Charlotte: 35.2 percent to 731,424
Raleigh: 46.3 percent to 403,892
Growth of North Carolina Counties from 2000–2010:
Mecklenburg County: 32.2 percent to 919,628
Wake County: 43.5 percent to 900,993
Pretty impressive indeed!! Outside of the 4 Big Texas Cities (SA, Austin, Dallas, Houston), I can't think of any other state that has more than 1 area that has experienced such impressive growth as have Raleigh and Charlotte in NC. Proud to call this state home!
Charlotte is taking major steps towards becoming a major energy center...........
from the winds whipping in off the plains?? the marshall steam staion??? or more billign centers as nuke plants get built elsewhere?
You have a point, but that's why I always say to experience the true essence and character of Charlotte, you have to look beyond Uptown to the surrounding neighborhoods.
i did and thats why i prefer raleigh not having a bolus of everything being shoved up an uptown or downtown...
a couple of museumes downtonw, a few museums out west and the sports arena NOT downtown.
for me charlottes sprawl was disheartening to drive thru...bleak in some ways
I just come to this thread for amusement purposes. I don't need to go to a theme park .
Seriously, I don't know anyone IRL and very few online who want an amusement park in Raleigh. I'm sure there are some. There are probably some folks who would like a pro basketball team and a race track, too, but most people I know IRL (and online) prefer ACC basketball and have no interest in NASCAR in the Triangle. You don't see a lot of threads in the the Triangle forum saying, "why don't we have a theme park" or "how come Charlotte has NASCAR and we don't?" Now, if somebody wanted to build a NY Pizza theme park they'd be all over that since we have to re-live that thread every 2 months or so .
Oh, and I'll give you the IKEA comment, too. I know A LOT of people IRL and online who would have liked to see that come to the Triangle.
As far as the tall buildings, I don't know. I think Triangle residents are pretty ambivalent at best about those. When a new tower was announced for Durham there wasn't a consensus of jumping up and down with joy. There were some people who were jumping on the bandwagon, but there was also a lot of concern about the impact on the area, etc.
as a former raleigh and charlotte resident i would pass on any carowinds/kings domoniion in raleigh to have a complete and linked neuse river trail and improved sports facilities for residents to use. another 30 story office downtown wouldnt hurt either...royal bank of scotland, heck
Yeah, having fancy office buildings mean nothing if downtown still rolls up the sidewalks at 5pm. To their credit both Raleigh and Durham have made huge strides in fixing up their respective downtown areas and in Raleigh's case encouraging more residential density.
A person who's actually lived in real cities would see it as pointless too and say y'all suffer from a distinct case of being too big for your britches.
Shoot, more Charlotteans go to State, Dook, and Carolina. And then go back home every weekend because the center of their universe doesn't extend beyond their McNeighborhood.
This is the heart of the matter right here. From an impartial observer's viewpoint, knowing a fair sampling of people from both places- only one group has this need to seek validation by comparing itself to other places as if being a city is some sort of contest.
only one group has this need to seek validation by comparing itself to other places as if being a city is some sort of contest.
oh golly...i thought the hole thing was tounge and cheek
i did and thats why i prefer raleigh not having a bolus of everything being shoved up an uptown or downtown...
a couple of museumes downtonw, a few museums out west and the sports arena NOT downtown.
That creates a greater synergy in Charlotte's core that's not found in Raleigh's. And Charlotte is a city of over 750K; that small town way of thinking isn't suitable for the primary city of a large and growing mid-major metropolitan area. The more development Uptown, the better. If you don't care for it, there's always Hickory.
Quote:
for me charlottes sprawl was disheartening to drive thru...bleak in some ways
How is Raleigh's any better? There might be a little less of it, but I don't see how it's qualitatively any better.
I love the cLAsh of personalities between the city evident here. Charlotte tends to be type A, showy, mine is bigger than yours, whereas Raleigh is generally laid back, modest, and content.
I love the cLAsh of personalities between the city evident here. Charlotte tends to be type A, showy, mine is bigger than yours, whereas Raleigh is generally laid back, modest, and content.
It all stems from how each city rose to prominence. Hugh McColl wanted to showcase Charlotte as a cosmopolitan city as it became a significant national banking center, so economic development and urban development efforts were coordinated towards that end. On the other hand, RTP was developed as a suburban research park with little to no interaction with the urban cores of Raleigh or Durham, so the region has largely been content to let it run the show and has only more recently taken a more activist approach regarding urban development.
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.
. 
