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33 pages. Wow. At this point who cares? Atlanta has some serious work to do in the transportation department and in the fine arts (for a city its size...Jacksonville competes for instance). Also needs better libraries and better schools, but which city in the south doesn't?
Charlotte is a sterile, no identity place (and people say Atl does not have an identity!). Charlotte has razed most of its history and is building completely from scratch. That being said, it seems to be growing very quickly and is very aggressive about bringing jobs, entertainment, amenities, transportation, etc.
Both cities have the worst city planning departments, though.
Oh, and even after Atlanta stops growing (which will probably be never), Charlotte still has millions of people to bring in to even be on the same level.
Both cities have excellent skyscraper architecture! Atlanta has very many iconic buildings: 191, Suntrust, BofA, 1180, Atlantic Center, Sovereign, Mansion (designed by my favorite architect), Riverwood, and the list goes on.
Charlotte does VERY well for being a much smaller city: BofA, Wachovia, Hearst, Duke Energy, IJL, the new Westin, and the new BofA/Ritz Carlton (also LEED Gold).
On average, I would say new (post 1985) skyscrapers in both cities EASILY compete with new buildings going up in New York and Chicago, and exceed by a long shot the average new building going up in Miami, Seattle, and Houston.
33 pages. Wow. At this point who cares? Atlanta has some serious work to do in the transportation department and in the fine arts (for a city its size...jacksonville competes for instance). Also needs better libraries and better schools, but which city in the south doesn't?
Charlotte is a sterile, no identity place (and people say atl does not have an identity!). Charlotte has razed most of its history and is building completely from scratch. That being said, it seems to be growing very quickly and is very aggressive about bringing jobs, entertainment, amenities, transportation, etc.
Both cities have the worst city planning departments, though.
Oh, and even after atlanta stops growing (which will probably be never), charlotte still has millions of people to bring in to even be on the same level.
33 pages. Wow. At this point who cares? Atlanta has some serious work to do in the transportation department and in the fine arts (for a city its size...Jacksonville competes for instance). Also needs better libraries and better schools, but which city in the south doesn't?
Charlotte is a sterile, no identity place (and people say Atl does not have an identity!). Charlotte has razed most of its history and is building completely from scratch. That being said, it seems to be growing very quickly and is very aggressive about bringing jobs, entertainment, amenities, transportation, etc.
Both cities have the worst city planning departments, though.
Oh, and even after Atlanta stops growing (which will probably be never), Charlotte still has millions of people to bring in to even be on the same level.
Ok people, that's that! LOL
Its comments like this that can start arguments.Everybody on here knows that Atlanta has the bigger population. But that does not make it the better city. The purpose for starting this thread was to see how the natives of Atlanta felt about Charlotte being in the same position 20 years ago. Up here in Charlotte we have nothing but respect for Atlanta( we can say alot of negative things as well). There is alot of history,culture ,and character. It might not be the type you find in Atlanta but every city is different. Me personally i think that Atlanta can be too ghetto some times(I am african-american) and that Charlotte is the grown up version of Atlanta, but every city has its faults. Every city feels different to different people. With that being said much love to the A-Town and the QC!!!
Its comments like this that can start arguments.Everybody on here knows that Atlanta has the bigger population. But that does not make it the better city. The purpose for starting this thread was to see how the natives of Atlanta felt about Charlotte being in the same position 20 years ago. Up here in Charlotte we have nothing but respect for Atlanta( we can say alot of negative things as well). There is alot of history,culture ,and character. It might not be the type you find in Atlanta but every city is different. Me personally i think that Atlanta can be too ghetto some times(I am african-american) and that Charlotte is the grown up version of Atlanta, but every city has its faults. Every city feels different to different people. With that being said much love to the A-Town and the QC!!!
Atlanta (and every other city) is really only ghetto when you're IN the ghetto. 95% of Atlanta is non-ghetto...but if that's the part you've experienced I can see why you would make that statement. People only have their personal experiences to draw on, and when those experiences are limited then the results tend to be skewed.
Most people seem to have no idea how much history there actually is in Charlotte and how far it goes back - to the "hornet's nest" during the American Revolution. Many people think the same about Atlanta, and actually both cities have a very rich/colorful history.
Its comments like this that can start arguments.Everybody on here knows that Atlanta has the bigger population. But that does not make it the better city.
Yea that's why I included positives and negatives about both cities and ENDED with population. Thanks for reading
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeaconJ
Most people seem to have no idea how much history there actually is in Charlotte and how far it goes back - to the "hornet's nest" during the American Revolution. Many people think the same about Atlanta, and actually both cities have a very rich/colorful history.
History is not as fun when you can only read about it in a book. Atlanta has demolished too much, but still has quite a bit intact. I can think of only 2 substantially large old buildings in downtown Charlotte with the rest of them built post 1980, and I can't really think of any old neighborhoods in Charlotte that can come anywhere close to Grant Park, Inman Park, Brookwood Hills, Tuxedo Park, Druid Hills, Ansley Park, 4th Ward, Brookhaven, etc.
As someone has recently stated, the purpose of this thread is to get Atlanta people's opinions of Charlotte, considering Charlotte is 20-30 years behind and fast growing on the same track as Atlanta. Who cares? Why doesn't Charlotte try to be Charlotte and not worry what people in Atlanta care about the current growth trend of Charlotte?
I, too, have a lot of hometown pride (my hometown is not Atlanta), but I just try to stay active on its own forum and I am active in the city. I know what people think of my city, if I think their opinion is misinformed or I wish it were better, I try to change my city proactively or educate the misinformed in the appropriate place. Whoever the OP is had to know by posting that question on an Atlanta forum that he or she would get all sorts of responses. Not everyone is going to only say nice things about Charlotte and many people are going to wonder why so many Charlotte people are even on the Atlanta forum (just like we get so many Dallas people for some reason trying to start wars and talk about Dallas on the Atlanta forum).
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,086,242 times
Reputation: 3995
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeandIke27
No its doesnt belong there look how the way the Op worded it .. he wanted to get opinons from Atlanta poster only.. City vs city makes everyone involved..
I guess that makes sense. It's only one thread, too.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,486 posts, read 14,999,411 times
Reputation: 7333
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsimms3
History is not as fun when you can only read about it in a book. Atlanta has demolished too much, but still has quite a bit intact. I can think of only 2 substantially large old buildings in downtown Charlotte with the rest of them built post 1980, and I can't really think of any old neighborhoods in Charlotte that can come anywhere close to Grant Park, Inman Park, Brookwood Hills, Tuxedo Park, Druid Hills, Ansley Park, 4th Ward, Brookhaven, etc.
This to me is the most important way you can differentiate Charlotte from Atlanta outside of the obvious HUGE difference in population. The usual "Charlotte is 30 years behind Atlanta" gets bandied about a lot (even by myself), but if you peel back the layers it becomes more complex than that.
Like you stated, while urban renewal hit Downtown Atlanta bad, there is still an incredibly large stock of historic buildings in Downtown. The same does not appear to be true with Uptown Charlotte.
Furthermore, theCity of Atlanta was built up in the first half of the 20th century with a series of wards. Many of them were their own "towns" for a short period of time and thus had historic business districts in the center. This has created an urban environment in Atlanta where you have the central core of Downtown and Midtown, and then a series of several dozen "urban villages" with businesses/retail around that throughout the city such as:
Little Five Points
East Atlanta Village
West Side Village
Castleberry Hill
Virginia-Highland
Poncey-Higland
West End BD
West Midtown
Edgewood BD
Candler Park BD
Buckhead Village
Grant Park BD
Sweet Auburn BD
Cabbagetown BD
and then smaller districts to numerous to count (or that I am willing to ) such as:
Cascade Heights
Lakewood Heights
Pittsburgh
Home Park
Just to name a few. Surrounding all of those districts are historic homes dating from the late 19th to the 1940s. Very little of the housing stock and built up environment in the City of Atlanta is of the post 1950s to 1980s suburban variety (even Buckhead) and is instead more along the lines of residential development seen in the early 20th century around streetcar lines. The effect you get when actually travelling around the neighborhoods City of Atlanta is an very historic city, and it's only when you start to get out to the edges where that changes to a more modern suburban-esque quality...quite contrary to the common perception. In addition, Downtown and Midtown is just one of many options, not the only option when it comes to the urban environment of the city.
This is the main thing that Charlotte lacks and unfortunately it will never be able to gain in 30 years or more unless there is a concerted effort to do so. Not say it does not exist, but you do not get the same coalescence of mature neighborhoods in Charlotte as you do in Atlanta. While this something that adds to a city, it does not make Atlanta "superior" to Charlotte, but it is a marked difference between the two.
Charlotteans seem hell bent on "not becoming like Atlanta", and I agree they should not try to emulate the suburbs of Atlanta (good luck with that!), but they should try to become more like the City of Atlanta and focus more a building up a 5 to 10 block long, 3 to 4 block wide core in the center of their neighborhoods and not just focus on building up Uptown.
Yea that's why I included positives and negatives about both cities and ENDED with population. Thanks for reading
History is not as fun when you can only read about it in a book. Atlanta has demolished too much, but still has quite a bit intact. I can think of only 2 substantially large old buildings in downtown Charlotte with the rest of them built post 1980, and I can't really think of any old neighborhoods in Charlotte that can come anywhere close to Grant Park, Inman Park, Brookwood Hills, Tuxedo Park, Druid Hills, Ansley Park, 4th Ward, Brookhaven, etc.
As someone has recently stated, the purpose of this thread is to get Atlanta people's opinions of Charlotte, considering Charlotte is 20-30 years behind and fast growing on the same track as Atlanta. Who cares? Why doesn't Charlotte try to be Charlotte and not worry what people in Atlanta care about the current growth trend of Charlotte?
I, too, have a lot of hometown pride (my hometown is not Atlanta), but I just try to stay active on its own forum and I am active in the city. I know what people think of my city, if I think their opinion is misinformed or I wish it were better, I try to change my city proactively or educate the misinformed in the appropriate place. Whoever the OP is had to know by posting that question on an Atlanta forum that he or she would get all sorts of responses. Not everyone is going to only say nice things about Charlotte and many people are going to wonder why so many Charlotte people are even on the Atlanta forum (just like we get so many Dallas people for some reason trying to start wars and talk about Dallas on the Atlanta forum).
You hit the Mark lol
Last edited by MikeandIke27; 09-20-2010 at 04:00 PM..
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