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Charlotte's unusually tall towers (for a metro of its true size) can be attributed to the hubris of Hugh McColl, former head of NCNB/NationsBank/Bank of America.
Raleigh also doesn't have the "we want to be a big world class city" attitude that Charlotte has. Charlotte is very self-conscious about seen as a big city and will do whatever it takes to promote itself as a world class city with bright light, tall buildings, a metro/light rail, 24/7 activity, and busy sidewalks. Raleigh is a lot more comfortable being a smaller city and is not trying to do things just for the sake of seeming like a big city. Even the business community in Raleigh is much more laid back and modest than Charlotte's.
From a population standpoint, the city of Raleigh in 2013 is right about where Charlotte was in 1992. So we're about 21 years behind, and therefore any skyline comparison needs to take that into account. Raleigh has Cary, RTP, Brier Creek, etc - but Charlotte has Ballantyne, Huntersville, Concord, Gastonia, etc.
Most would not say that Raleigh is "behind" Charlotte, at least based on national rankings, new businesses, etc. Having tall skyscrapers is not the be-all, end-all
I guess I don't quite understand why those who want to live in a "big" city with lots of skyscrapers don't just move to one of the MANY cities that fit that description? Raleigh is not that, unlikely to be, at least not to the degree Charlotte is, and that is probably part of our success.
Most would not say that Raleigh is "behind" Charlotte, at least based on national rankings, new businesses, etc. Having tall skyscrapers is not the be-all, end-all
I guess I don't quite understand why those who want to live in a "big" city with lots of skyscrapers don't just move to one of the MANY cities that fit that description? Raleigh is not that, unlikely to be, at least not to the degree Charlotte is, and that is probably part of our success.
I agree. I like tall buildings sometimes. That's one of the reasons I vacation now and then in places that have them. Some places with tall buildings feel very claustrophobic to me if I'm there long (NYC is like that unless you're near Central Park). Philly, on the other hand, is nothing like that.
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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Originally Posted by meh_whatever
Philly, on the other hand, is nothing like that.
That's because in Philadelphia there was a rule for a long time that you couldn't build a building higher than statue of "Billy" Penn (as he was affectionately called). Then somehow One Liberty Place built higher than it. But generally, the buildings in Phila. are not as high as in NYC. Same thing with DC - they cannot build higher than the Capitol.
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