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Article is from 2014...There's a whole lot of US out there that you don't know about.
Ok, don't take this the wrong way, but you assume way too much. You have no idea where anyone on this forum has or hasn't been. In my career as a trucker, I've fought traffic in places such as Santa Fe Springs, Cali and Walnut, Cali (google them if you don't know what major city those two are near). I've had out-of-town job assignments at Port Everglades Florida. I've been in the downtowns of Detroit, Philly, Seattle and several others. The only two states I've not seen are Alaska and Hawaii. As far as outside the US, I've been to Toronto, Mexico, and the Carribean.
With that said, Charlotte has one of the fastest developing downtowns in the US, like it or not. Charlotte probably has the Nation's 20th largest skyline, like it or not. Charlotte has the tallest residential towers of any city between Atlanta and Philly, like it or not.
IMO, you are the one with limited travel experience. Allow me to explain. You talk about cities such as Austin and Miami as if those two are the US standard for developments. Well, they're not. Midsized cities such as St Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh etc are lucky if they can get 1 skyscraper built every 5 years. Have YOU been to those cities recently?
My point is that Miami's level of development is very rare. The same can be said when it comes to Austin (which still has a skyline that's comparable to Charlotte's). I'm well aware of the midsized cities with more highrise developments than Charlotte, and you can name them on one hand. You post as if "everybody" is developing skyscrapers like there's no tomorrow; which comes off like a young person with limited US experience. If you think NYC, Boston, and Miami are the standards in the US rather than the exceptions.... Then son, you really need to take a road trip. Seriously....
North Carolina has made dramatic improvements to their tax code since 2013. They have gone from one of the least business-friendly states to one of the most business-friendly states. Income tax rates are set to fall yet again next year to 5.5%.
It is these reasons why NC typically crushes the "Top 10" style lists for opportunity. Charlotte and Raleigh are typically always found in the top ten. You will find Austin ranked high as well, as will you Dallas and Houston. Why? Because Texas is extremely business friendly and has no income tax. Texas is ahead of NC, but NC is trying to follow in its footsteps.
"Progressive" typically means anti-business. Check out your "progressive" states. New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland - you'll typically find them in the Top 10 "Worst" lists. There is a reason why people are fleeing those states and moving south, and it's because they're fleeing the prisons that are "progressive" states. NC has actually been shrinking its government stranglehold, and it's why the state has seen 1,000,000 people recently transition within its borders. NC government is one of the only governments that seems to be moving in the right direction these days.
Maybe you'd better fit in in the Northeast?
This guy gets it. Y'all fled the North for a reason, do you really want to bring the same bad policies here? There are a lot of less conservative, less business-friendly states you can move to.
So, you can probably tell what I dislike My "likes" include, but are not limited to:
The culture: Sports, NASCAR, universities, history, diversity, big families, small communities, strong values, military bases, low taxes, RTP, SAS, Billy Graham, Rev. Barber, Moral Mondays, Jesse Helms, Howard Coble, Right-to-Work, The Avett Brothers, James Taylor and Andy Griffith
The food: Food trucks, craft beer, sweet tea, farmer's markets, Krispy Kreme, Pepsi, Cheerwine, Hardee's and Lexington Barbecue (can you tell I'm hungry?)
The nature: Outer Banks, Blue Ridge Mountains, parks, greenways, lakes, waterfalls, whitewater, fishing and camping
The built environment: Barns, brick, boats, furniture, textiles, lighthouses, solar farms, Carowinds, US Whitewater Center, Hunt Library, Biltmore Estate, Tweetsie Railroad, Raleigh, Charlotte, Wilmington and Asheville
3. Barely any high rise buildings even in the major cities such as Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, ect compared to other major cities in the US.
In the Southeast, only South Florida and Atlanta has more vertical developments than Charlotte (and those two metros are more than twice Charlotte's size). If vertical living is so important to you, why on Earth did you move to Mebane?
Likes:
Being near friends and family
Cost of living is reasonable
Greenways and active lifestyle
Schools are generally decent
Family-friendly activities
Revitalization of downtown
The climate, even in the summer
Job market
Dislikes:
The direction our government is taking
Lack of public transportation
The whole native NC versus transplants - who cares? (I'm a native, but could not care less where you are from)
The fake polite southern thing that some folks still do. You don't have to be a jerk but don't fake nice either.
Ok, don't take this the wrong way, but you assume way too much. You have no idea where anyone on this forum has or hasn't been. In my career as a trucker, I've fought traffic in places such as Santa Fe Springs, Cali and Walnut, Cali (google them if you don't know what major city those two are near). I've had out-of-town job assignments at Port Everglades Florida. I've been in the downtowns of Detroit, Philly, Seattle and several others. The only two states I've not seen are Alaska and Hawaii. As far as outside the US, I've been to Toronto, Mexico, and the Carribean.
With that said, Charlotte has one of the fastest developing downtowns in the US, like it or not. Charlotte probably has the Nation's 20th largest skyline, like it or not. Charlotte has the tallest residential towers of any city between Atlanta and Philly, like it or not.
IMO, you are the one with limited travel experience. Allow me to explain. You talk about cities such as Austin and Miami as if those two are the US standard for developments. Well, they're not. Midsized cities such as St Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh etc are lucky if they can get 1 skyscraper built every 5 years. Have YOU been to those cities recently?
My point is that Miami's level of development is very rare. The same can be said when it comes to Austin (which still has a skyline that's comparable to Charlotte's). I'm well aware of the midsized cities with more highrise developments than Charlotte, and you can name them on one hand. You post as if "everybody" is developing skyscrapers like there's no tomorrow; which comes off like a young person with limited US experience. If you think NYC, Boston, and Miami are the standards in the US rather than the exceptions.... Then son, you really need to take a road trip. Seriously....
Actually living and visiting are two different things. If you look at articles on Forbes and such Charlotte lags as a fast growing city compared to the ones I mentioned. Just in April of this year, downtown Miami was recognized as the fastest growing downtown in the US. They're building the largest mall in America in Miami which will create 20,000 jobs.
There's a reason why I didn't mention those other cities. NC needs to do something differently, because in the future when house prices go up or taxes go up there won't be much left to attract people and instead people will bound to leave..even natives. NC already has lost a lot of potential business because of its own government as well.
Also, I moved from Durham to Mebane to get away from the gloominess there and also being closer to work since there's no subway/light rail here
There's a reason why I didn't mention those other cities. NC needs to do something differently, because in the future when house prices go up or taxes go up there won't be much left to attract people and instead people will bound to leave..even natives. NC already has lost a lot of potential business because of its own government as well.
Also, I moved from Durham to Mebane to get away from the gloominess there and also being closer to work since there's no subway/light rail here
Skylines, malls and big buildings are the result of attracting and retaining people, not the cause. Jobs do that. If the jobs don't keep up with the speed of building, you're going to have a lot of unused space and no one to maintain it. Don't look at it as slow growth, look it at it as sustainable.
1) The land - most other states would kill to have the variety of the mountains, foothills and beaches we have here
2) Cost of living still fairly bearable for the middle class
3) Great educational offerings - if you live in certain counties, unfortunately
4) The people, both natives and transplants - it's generally friendly in dealing with each other around here I've found, except when it comes to politics sometimes
5) The location - I like that I can if I want to drive to most cities on the East Coast within a day if I want do to so
My dislikes:
1) Gerrymandered, unrepresentative, ultraconservative statewide political leadership
2) Aggravatingly slow transportation improvements - can't believe it's 2016 and we still have parts of I-85, the main connector between the Triad and Charlotte, at just two lanes each side for several miles, to cite just one of many examples
3) The number of small towns outside the major metropolitan areas that are dying economically and few seem to care, including sadly some of their residents
Actually living and visiting are two different things. If you look at articles on Forbes and such Charlotte lags as a fast growing city compared to the ones I mentioned. Just in April of this year, downtown Miami was recognized as the fastest growing downtown in the US. They're building the largest mall in America in Miami which will create 20,000 jobs.
There's a reason why I didn't mention those other cities. NC needs to do something differently, because in the future when house prices go up or taxes go up there won't be much left to attract people and instead people will bound to leave..even natives. NC already has lost a lot of potential business because of its own government as well.
Also, I moved from Durham to Mebane to get away from the gloominess there and also being closer to work since there's no subway/light rail here
Again, you have no clue where anyone has lived, nor do you even know where someone is born. Re-read your posts carefully, and you'd see that you come off like you're the only one who knows what life is like outside of NC. NC is one of the fastest growing states for many reasons. Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities for many reasons. I'm sorry your neck of the woods lack light rail transit, but I don't have that problem here in Charlotte.
Several cities from Portland, to Denver, to Salt Lake City has more light rail coverage than Charlotte. However, Charlotte is moving in the right direction. I can't say the same for the rest of the state when it comes to mass transit, but that's another thread entirely....
Like anywhere NC has its positives and negatives. It's generally a comfortable place to live. Reasonable cost of housing, decent economy, mountains, and coasts (2 if you count the Outer Banks). And we have the internet.
I've lived on the West Coast and several places on the East Coast and NC is where I call home. I grew up in Durham.
If you're looking for city life... then you might want to move out of Mebane. Raleigh and Charlotte have many big city amenities, but no, they will never be a Miami, or New York.
Also, everywhere I've ever lived, including NC, the natives are judgmental of me. It's part of our human tendencies. I decided to just develop a tough skin and kill judgmental people with kindness. Or simply get away from them.
For the RDU area, being 3 hours from the beach and 3 hours from the mountains is awesome. They're aren't to many places that can boast about that.
If you live in NC for a while, you will probably find that it's pretty awesome and compares favorably to other places.
And if you like minor league baseball it doesn't get better than The Durham Bulls.
I had a feeling this thread would turn into another legislature bashfest.
The leg has done some things I don't agree with - they've been excessively intrusive on local issues, and I think they'll regret that precedent when the Democrats eventually take over again.
But cutting the oppressive income taxes we had under Purdue, lets me ignore more of their stumbling moments.
Maybe the title of the thread should have said "without mentioning the legislature" ... then I'd have needed to think a little longer too
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My "likes" include, but are not limited to:
