Charlotte vs Raleigh: No holds barred! (Greensboro, Durham: food, housing projects, bike)

[adavi215]

Originally Posted by bchris02

Agreed. Did Raleigh take a hit during the 2001 recession (which unlike the current recession was tech based)? The SF Bay Area and Austin took huge hits and employment was nearly impossible to find during most of the 2000s. People with masters degrees in IT were working at Home Depot during those years.

I'm really not sure. I would imagine so since that area is more tech based than Charlotte. But I was thinking the same thing.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by North_Raleigh_Guy

To each his or her own on deciding which is best for them. One thing I have noticed though while reading this forum for the past 4 years is that there seems to be a lot more complaining on the Charlotte forum than the Raleigh forum. On a day to day basis I see a lot more posts on the Charlotte forum with that little red angry emotion icon. Maybe whiny complainers gravitate to internet forums, but the Charlotte board seems to have more than its fair share of unhappy people. I'm sure some of the more unstable folks will take issue with that, but it's just my observation as a regular user here.

Make up you own mind.

Hi NRG. It's good to see you in the NC forum too.

[adavi215]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Hi NRG. It's good to see you in the NC forum too.

Perhaps a sign of things to come, but under new UA definitions, Raleigh and Durham will be combined, the UA will be near 1 million. I think 974k.

[just_sayin']

Ok, I'm sorry; but to call Charlotte similar to Chicago in any way other than the fact that they start with the same two letters is completely ridiculous.

Chicago has a metro population of 8 million people of the total 12 million people in the whole state of Illinois (67% of the state's population). Charlotte's metro has under 2 million people in the state with a total population nearing 10 million (about 20% of the state's population) Unless Springfield, IL had a metro population of around 7.5 million (playing the role of the "slightly smaller capital city metro" to scale); the whole "Take Charlotte away from NC and it would be like a smaller scale version of taking Chicago away from Illinois" argument is insane.

Ignoring sheer size, national and global influence differences and just about anything else you could think of; that mere difference in the scale of metro population to state population blows that argument to pieces.

[urbancharlotte]

Well, I don't honestly think he was comparing Charlotte to Chicago. He was saying that Charlotte is starting to tug on other areas of the Carolinas economically (ie, CIAA and Progress leaving Raleigh, Piedmont Airlines and Wachovia leaving the Triad, Electrolux and Husqvarna leaving Augusta/Aiken, Johnson and Wales leaving Charleston).

With that said, Charlotte and Chicago are NOWHERE near being in the same league. However, what I love about certain areas of uptown Charlotte is that it gives you that "big city" feel. Here are google images of streets in downtown Chicago and uptown Charlotte. Eventhough Chi-town is the "elephant" and the QC is the "mouse", these images look somewhat similar.

Chicago
779 South Federal Street, Chicago, Illinois - Google Maps
Charlotte
300 West 5th Street, Charlotte, NC - Google Maps

Images like the one above is why I have so much respect for Charlotte. It is not easy being a post-automobile growing city, yet somehow (someway) uptown Charlotte is growing the right way. Charlotte (the city as a whole) will never be as urban as places like Chicago or NYC and that's OK. However, uptown Charlotte will be one day. I am sure of it. Current images of uptown Charlotte shows that it is already happening in certain places.

Downtown Supermarket
306 North Pine Street, Charlotte, North Carolina - Google Maps
Downtown Arena
477 east Trade Street, Charlotte, NC - Google Maps
Downtown Neighborhoods
1st Ward
725 Garden District Drive, Charlotte, NC - Google Maps
2nd Ward (no neighborhoods; government district)
977 East 4th Street, Charlotte, North Carolina - Google Maps
3rd Ward
202 South Cedar Street, Charlotte, North Carolina - Google Maps
4th Ward
445 North Church Street, Charlotte, NC - Google Maps

Future Plans (downtown Streetcar construction; image is in Midtown; not uptown)
1411 Elizabeth Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina - Google Maps

Now, if only uptown Charlotte can get those remaining surface lots developed.

[adavi215]

Everyone seems to be taking my Charlotte and Chicago comparison waaay more literal than I intended. Which is ok, this is C-D and people need to argue against something, even if that's not at all what was stated. My comparison is that Chicago in the Midwest has seemed to "suck" the talent and other industries from the surrounding Midwest metros especially concerning financial services. Chicago dominates its region moreso than any other city dominates there region. I know NYC will be brought in, but Boston, DC, and Phily seem to compete somewhat with NYC or have niche industries.

My point is that I have noticed that much of the growth in Charlotte seems to have come at the expense of other Carolina cities. I am not saying Charlotte is the Chicago of the Carolinas but I can see how it could become. For the record I am not saying Charlotte and Chicago are on the same level. I am merely comparing the effect each has on its region. Of course Charlotte I am focused on the Carolinas, whereas Chicago covers the Midwest, obviously.

[rnc2mbfl]

Just out of curiosity, where in the respectives cities do each of us live in either Charlotte or the Triangle? We see the usual suspects and familiar names here but we don't know much else about each other. I'll start: My Raleigh home is in the Glenwood South District of Downtown. I grew up in a more suburban setting in the Raleigh city limits but have been inside the beltline or downtown since attending NC State in the 80s.
My perspective on Raleigh comes from years of intimate knowledge about what particularly happens in the city limits and, certainly, those things that occur nearest the city center.

[adavi215]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Just out of curiosity, where in the respectives cities do each of us live in either Charlotte or the Triangle? We see the usual suspects and familiar names here but we don't know much else about each other. I'll start: My Raleigh home is in the Glenwood South District of Downtown. I grew up in a more suburban setting in the Raleigh city limits but have been inside the beltline or downtown since attending NC State in the 80s.
My perspective on Raleigh comes from years of intimate knowledge about what particularly happens in the city limits and, certainly, those things that occur nearest the city center.

I grew up in University City and now reside near Southend and Southpark. When I lived in Raleigh I lived near Crabtree, Brentwood, and Milbrook.

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by adavi215

I grew up in University City and now reside near Southend and Southpark. When I lived in Raleigh I lived near Crabtree, Brentwood, and Milbrook.

So, you lived in what has emerged as Midtown Raleigh.
Your current digs in Charlotte sound similar to where I am in Raleigh. I have been to Southend several times and even built our Charlotte office there.

[urbancharlotte]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Just out of curiosity, where in the respectives cities do each of us live in either Charlotte or the Triangle?

Fair enough. I grew up in the housing projects of Southside homes and the Double Oaks community after moving here with my mother as a toddler from Queens, NY (Flushing to be exact). I left Charlotte for nearly 6 years (living in other states and driving trucks over the road). I returned to Charlotte back in 2007 and currently reside in a gated townhouse community on Nations Ford. Personally, I HATE Nations Ford and will be moving closer to Uptown or South End once the step kids (15 and 16 years old) are off to college. Here's my old "hood" of Southside homes.

Southside Homes
2906 Baltimore Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina - Google Maps

In the above image, you can see the transit stop that I used to go to school (hated the school bus because the ride was soooooo long and moms never owned a car). The neighborhood has actually been remodeled since I lived there. The apartments actually look kinda "nice" now.

Double Oaks
1189 Druid Circle, Charlotte, North Carolina, - Google Maps

The above pic is of what used to be Double Oaks. All of these older apartments are now torn down and nicer more urban styled condos currently sit in their place.

Current neighborhood
500 doughton \lane charlotte nc - Google Maps

I own a home now in this neighborhood above (where exactly I won't tell, but they all look the same so it really doesn't matter). I prefer brick (who doesn't) but vinyl is sooooooooo cheap (and kids are sooooooo expensive), that I couldn't resist. The plus side is that Woodlawn and the Tyvola light rail stations are not that far of a drive (or bike ride) from the house.