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Here is my impression on staying 3 days in both cities, For a heads up i used to stay in Raleigh for 5 years and know the city like the back of my hand, but i moved to Greensboro to attend A&T uni.
First impression, Charlotte.
I know one thing about the Light rail, it's extremely packed on that train, and atleast people in my experience were alot more polite, then say the Marta in ATL, After parking my car at the tyvola station, i purchased a Round trip from tyvola.
I then rode from tyvola to uptown to archdale to uptown again in intervals, and it's a very well thought out system, very fast too, i think up to 70 mph? if i'm not mistaken. It was cool to see it being utilized as intended, as i remember there were many non believers claiming it would be a waste of time.
boy were they wrong. Peak times it was so packed with people, Standing up holding on to the rails because seating was not available, but here i was sitting because i was just riding to see how it would all incorporate CLT as a whole. it did so well, that i can't wait to experience it again.
Another big thing i noticed about Charlotte...was the endless development around the core of up town and surrounding the lightrail itself, it was so many construction lots and buildings under construction, i could not keep count.
The Sheer amount of people just walking the streets,the amount of traffic and just general city activity in and out of the city core was alot to take in, especially around the epicenter which was so packed i could barely move.
I also enjoyed my time at the city center park surrounded by all of the lit skyscrapers and the cool blue infinity pool, that people were walking through. it's a very cool walkable downtown, it's quite big though so it's a kind of a bit of a challenge to get around.
My impression of Raleigh.
I like Raleigh, i really do Especially North Hills...boy do i love North Hills, But my past impressions still remain, Downtown Raleigh is extremely boring, i liken it to downtown Winston-Salem rather than anywhere near Charlotte, and that's just my opinion, i go back to Raleigh now and again(for family) and have lived there for almost 5 years before i moved to Greensboro to go to attend A&T, And honestly, Greensboro is more exciting then Raleigh downtown imo.
and certainly more energy(especially elm street which is usually packed with people and traffic day to night). Raleigh's downtown is just not "cool" and "vibrant" it's kind of too laid back, which is understandable since it's the state capital. I do like the developments that have gone up there, like the skyhouse and the beautiful RBC plaza, i also like how clean it is.
But i just expected more from Raleigh. As it is growing so much,But with the downtown...they are not pumping enough energy into it, i can see why People like the North Hills area more(me included) Fayetteville Street is a nice street to walk on with a nice clean layout and lighting, but it is pretty Dull, the entire time i was in Raleigh i was wishing i was in Charlotte. And that was last week. I stayed 3 days in Raleigh, and 3 Days in Charlotte and that ended last night.
My Final impression? Raleigh is about 20-25 or so years behind Charlotte give or take in terms of development and transit. but that's ok, Raleigh is Raleigh, Charlotte is Charlotte, That's all they need to be, As for Raleigh vs Charlotte....there is no comparison regarding city uptown vs city downtown imo.
Raleigh is progressing nicely as a city overall, but it still has a Long way to go.
Charlotte on the other hand as a city has already arrived.
Here is my impression on staying 3 days in both cities, For a heads up i used to stay in Raleigh for 5 years and know the city like the back of my hand, but i moved to Greensboro to attend A&T uni.
First impression, Charlotte.
I know one thing about the Light rail, it's extremely packed on that train, and atleast people in my experience were alot more polite, then say the Marta in ATL, After parking my car at the tyvola station, i purchased a Round trip from tyvola.
I then rode from tyvola to uptown to archdale to uptown again in intervals, and it's a very well thought out system, very fast too, i think up to 70 mph? if i'm not mistaken. It was cool to see it being utilized as intended, as i remember there were many non believers claiming it would be a waste of time.
boy were they wrong. Peak times it was so packed with people, Standing up holding on to the rails because seating was not available, but here i was sitting because i was just riding to see how it would all incorporate CLT as a whole. it did so well, that i can't wait to experience it again.
Another big thing i noticed about Charlotte...was the endless development around the core of up town and surrounding the lightrail itself, it was so many construction lots and buildings under construction, i could not keep count.
The Sheer amount of people just walking the streets,the amount of traffic and just general city activity in and out of the city core was alot to take in, especially around the epicenter which was so packed i could barely move.
I also enjoyed my time at the city center park surrounded by all of the lit skyscrapers and the cool blue infinity pool, that people were walking through. it's a very cool walkable downtown, it's quite big though so it's a kind of a bit of a challenge to get around.
My impression of Raleigh.
I like Raleigh, i really do Especially North Hills...boy do i love North Hills, But my past impressions still remain, Downtown Raleigh is extremely boring, i liken it to downtown Winston-Salem rather than anywhere near Charlotte, and that's just my opinion, i go back to Raleigh now and again(for family) and have lived there for almost 5 years before i moved to Greensboro to go to attend A&T, And honestly, Greensboro is more exciting then Raleigh downtown imo.
and certainly more energy(especially elm street which is usually packed with people and traffic day to night). Raleigh's downtown is just not "cool" and "vibrant" it's kind of too laid back, which is understandable since it's the state capital. I do like the developments that have gone up there, like the skyhouse and the beautiful RBC plaza, i also like how clean it is.
But i just expected more from Raleigh. As it is growing so much,But with the downtown...they are not pumping enough energy into it, i can see why People like the North Hills area more(me included) Fayetteville Street is a nice street to walk on with a nice clean layout and lighting, but it is pretty Dull, the entire time i was in Raleigh i was wishing i was in Charlotte. And that was last week. I stayed 3 days in Raleigh, and 3 Days in Charlotte and that ended last night.
My Final impression? Raleigh is about 20-25 or so years behind Charlotte give or take in terms of development and transit. but that's ok, Raleigh is Raleigh, Charlotte is Charlotte, That's all they need to be, As for Raleigh vs Charlotte....there is no comparison regarding city uptown vs city downtown imo.
Raleigh is progressing nicely as a city overall, but it still has a Long way to go.
Charlotte on the other hand as a city has already arrived.
I agree with much of what you're saying and your personal preference is your personal preference. I met someone recently who moved to Raleigh from Charlotte and liked Raleigh better. but the name of this thread is "raleigh v charlotte" not "uptown charlotte v downtown raleigh". If those things impressed you about charlotte then why didn't you just move to Atlanta? Atlanta has much more of what you seem to like that Charlotte has and if you're going to go to the trouble of moving why not just go to Atlanta and be done with it? As far as downtown v uptown, there may be more development in Charlotte now but the arts district, the warehouse district, dix park, union station…have all just started to break ground. With the height limits Raleigh may be putting on buildings not to overshadow the capital (like similar height limits in Washington DC) Raleigh's downtown area may be destined to me more "organic", "street level" and less "manufactured" than Charlotte. Which I and a lot, if not most, people would prefer. Raleigh can always build train stations and light rails down the road, and that day will come, but Charlotte/Metrolina will never have the "organics" Raleigh/Triangle has, at the end of the day that's what's going to drive long term sustainable economics and desirable city living.
Last edited by Raleigh540; 05-24-2015 at 09:29 AM..
I agree with much of what you're saying. but the name of this thread is "raleigh v charlotte" not "uptown charlotte v downtown raleigh". If those things impressed you about charlotte then why didn't you just move to Atlanta? Atlanta has much more of what you seem to like that Charlotte has and if you're going to go to the trouble of moving why not just go to Atlanta and be done with it? As far as downtown v uptown, there may be more development in Charlotte now but the arts district, the warehouse district, dix park, unison station…have all just started to break ground. With the height limits Raleigh may be putting on buildings not to overshadow the capital (like similar height limits in Washington DC) Raleigh's downtown area may be destined to me more "organic", "street level" and less "manufactured" than Charlotte. Which I and a lot, if not most, people would prefer. Raleigh can always building train stations and light rails down the road but Charlotte/Metrolina will never have the "organics" Raleigh/Triangle has.
We could talk about Ballantyne/Providence,South Park,University City,Cotswold & the development surrounding those areas but choose not to
We could talk about Ballantyne/Providence,South Park,University City,Cotswold & the development surrounding those areas but choose not to
I could talk about the Oakwood, Mordecai, Seaboard Station, Hillsborough Street, Pullen Park, Boylan Heights, East Raleigh, Cameron Village, Glenwood North, Five Points, Farmers Market and the NC State surrounding area but chose not to.
"WASHINGTON, D.C…Greenville, South Carolina; Asheville, North Carolina; Provo, Utah; and Raleigh, North Carolina, round out the top five metro areas with the most community pride."
I could talk about the Oakwood, Mordecai, Seaboard Station, Hillsborough Street, Pullen Park, Boylan Heights, East Raleigh, Cameron Village, Glenwood North, Five Points, Farmers Market and the NC State surrounding area but chose not to.
Then why do you and the other Wonder Twin get bent out of shape because the posters on this forum focus on Center City development
Then why do you and the other Wonder Twin get bent out of shape because the posters on this forum focus on Center City development
Doesn't bother me at all. I will feel kinda bad if the only thing in all of Raleigh/Triangle worth boasting about is 14 block radius of downtown Raleigh Downtown Raleigh, inside the belt line Raleigh, north Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro….you keep going further and further out and the entire city/metro remains desirable, unique and diverse, not just one narrow area of one municipality.
Besides, the 14 block radius of uptown isn't really anything special. Where are world class museums in uptown? None. Fine dining non-chain restaurants? Practically non-existent. A big uptown arts district? Doesn't exist. Parks? Nope. There's Epicentre but I could go to a food court at Crabtree Valley Mall.
Last edited by Raleigh540; 05-24-2015 at 10:03 AM..
The 535 acre Ballantyne Corporate Park has over 4,000,000 sq feet of Class A office space and includes the headquarters of Babcock & Wilcox, Tree.com Inc, Snyder's-Lance Inc, Premier Inc, Extended Stay America, Inc, Fortune 500 company SPX and ESPN regional television. In April 2013,MetLife announced that it was establishing its U.S. Retail Business Headquarters in Ballantyne
Doesn't bother me at all. I will feel kinda bad if the only thing in all of Raleigh/Triangle worth boasting about is 14 block radius of downtown Raleigh Downtown Raleigh, inside the belt line Raleigh, north Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro….you keep going further and further out and the entire city/metro remains desirable, unique and diverse, not just one narrow area of one municipality.
Plenty of desirable places other than Uptown exist. The difference is the belief that investment in Center City will provide lasting & long term benefits for the entire region. If the leadership of Raleigh didn't also believe this then they would be expending all the resources they have on downtown . They wouldn't have built the convention center, museums, state government etc downtown if the CBD isn't important
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Half of the 10 best cities in NC are in Wake County.
#1 and #2 are in Wake County.
4 of the top 5 are in Wake County.
5 of the top 7 are in Wake County.
1. Apex 2. Wake Forest
3. Matthews 4. Morrisville 5. Garner
6. Clemmons 7. Cary
8. Chapel Hill
9. Huntersville
10. Mint Hill
Last edited by Yac; 05-27-2015 at 06:29 AM..
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Downtown Raleigh, inside the belt line Raleigh, north Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro….you keep going further and further out and the entire city/metro remains desirable, unique and diverse, not just one narrow area of one municipality.
