ATl people how do you really feel about Charlotte?? (Atlanta: renewal, transportation)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by WilliamM

The unique thing about large parts of the Atlanta region is how you can easily go for days while out and about without really hearing anything even remotely approaching a heavy Southern accent. Then one day you'll stumble into it and that's when it hits you - "oh yeah, I'm in the South, wow". That's the uniqueness of the Atlanta experience. You have a place that retains just enough of its regional feel to evoke an identity (a Southern one, but one that's new in history, vastly different than what a New Orleans or Richmond or Charleston have offered), but one that remains in the background and gives way to a much more dynamic and evolving experience. In other words, I'd claim that Atlanta is one of the nation's - even the world's - genuine cultural melting pot cities.

Very true. I'd estimate that only 15-20% of the people I interact with in Atlanta are from this area. A fair number have come from other parts of the south but most are from elsewhere in the U.S. and an increasing number are from other countries. Your rings on a tree analogy is a good one. It seems to me this has been going for a good 40 years or so.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Today, one of the things I like about the Atlanta metro area, and much of Cobb County in particular, is that the population is a nice blend of recent transplants and some from the first wave (1980s-1990s), as well natives and people from other parts of the US. We have discovered that two of my wife's old friends live in the area, one in Kennesaw and one in Lawrenceville. My son has friends who have relocated here from places like Denver and California.

A comment on that "first wave of transplants" you mentioned...I've noticed most folks who have relocated end up having no intentions of leaving Atlanta, and that phenomenon goes back a couple of decades. It's an area that 90% of relos tend to love, which also speaks to the continuing popularity of Atlanta.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by Akhenaton06

OK, as one who has lived in Rock Hill, now lives in Charlotte, has worked in the Fort Mill/Indian Land panhandle of Lancaster county, has visited Atlanta often, and is moving to Cherokee County in a week (Canton to be exact), I think I'm qualified to respond here. I will say that Gaston County is indeed a bit hickish, but Belmont is a quaint little town, and is actually the home of a Roman Catholic college (there used to be another one which was all female, but it closed in 1987). Concord is cool around its most developed area--Concord Mills and Lowes Motor Speedway, but is otherwise a bit country. Rock Hill isn't really "hicksville," thanks largely to having a midsized university (my alma mater, Winthrop University); it reminds me of a slightly larger Conyers. Fort Mill is pure suburbia and is quickly being overtaken by Northerners, so it's mostly lost its hickish qualities; a little bit of it is left in the more rural areas, but those are being quickly developed also. Indian Land is Ballantyne South and is also losing its hickish qualities, but things can devolve a bit quickly the further south you travel on 521. I think some of the surrounding areas in Charlotte can be compared to those in eastern Gwinnett (Suwanee, parts of Lawrenceville), Conyers, Woodstock/Canton, Douglasville, and places like those which constitute the outer suburbs of metro Atlanta.

Agreed...practically every city becomes less cultured (i.e. country) as you travel further from the center - Charlotte and Atlanta are no exceptions. I've noticed many people using adjectives like "quaint" to describe some of the more historic suburbs of both cities (and again, practically every city)...and truthfully, what's wrong with country anyway?

I think some of the negative comments about Charlotte have stemmed from the silly attempts to rank Charlotte above Atlanta with some arbitrary population statistics. Logical folks won't fall for these attempts, but it's easy to get drawn in to a debate on the subject. Charlotte is just as good (or better, depending on personal opinions) as Atlanta in many areas, but Atlanta wins easily in a population size comparison...it's akin to comparing Atlanta to Chicago.

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

A comment on that "first wave of transplants" you mentioned...I've noticed most folks who have relocated end up having no intentions of leaving Atlanta, and that phenomenon goes back a couple of decades. It's an area that 90% of relos tend to love, which also speaks to the continuing popularity of Atlanta.

Taking it a little further, the whole "first wave of transplants" thing raises the question of whether this has held up in recent years as Atlanta, not to mention economic conditions, has changed so much. No question, for a long time Atlanta was the place you went after college and never left. But is the same true now, I wonder, particularly as the places of origin of these transplants has become less old rust belt places in the midwest and more big coastal cities, esp. NY/NJ as in recent years.

[MikeandIke27]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

Agreed...practically every city becomes less cultured (i.e. country) as you travel further from the center - Charlotte and Atlanta are no exceptions. I've noticed many people using adjectives like "quaint" to describe some of the more historic suburbs of both cities (and again, practically every city)...and truthfully, what's wrong with country anyway?

I think some of the negative comments about Charlotte have stemmed from the silly attempts to rank Charlotte above Atlanta with some arbitrary population statistics. Logical folks won't fall for these attempts, but it's easy to get drawn in to a debate on the subject. Charlotte is just as good (or better, depending on personal opinions) as Atlanta in many areas, but Atlanta wins easily in a population size comparison...it's akin to comparing Atlanta to Chicago.

Exactly!!!

[rcsteiner]

I think Charlotte is talked about far too often in the Atlanta forum.

Isn't this a better topic for the City Vs. City forum?

[MikeandIke27]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

I think Charlotte is talked about far too often in the Atlanta forum.

Isn't this a better topic for the City Vs. City forum?

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..

[Carolina Blue]

Originally Posted by Poseidon704

Here in Charlotte, we have several large-scale festival events, and then there's a smattering of smaller events also. Being that you only lived here for six months, it's very likely that you didn't get a chance to attend all of the large-scale events which happen throughout the year, like: the Greek festival (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/09/1678992/2010-yiasou-greek-festival.html - broken link) (absolutely PACKED), Taste of Charlotte (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bz3rk/sets/72157619359163331/ - broken link), CIAA (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/02/27/1278763/ciaa-finals.html - broken link), Speed Street, Blues, Brews, & BBQ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bz3rk/sets/72157607292640455/ - broken link), the New Years Eve celebration, and, of course, Oktoberfest as you mentioned. The smaller events include a lot of ethnic events like the Festival of India (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bz3rk/sets/72157607168269870/ - broken link), the Irish Festival (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bz3rk/sets/72157606673755130/ - broken link), the Caribbean Festival (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bz3rk/sets/72157606411558653/ - broken link), etc. Personally, I like this set-up a lot. I wouldn't like having huge festivals here every other week. It's great that they are spaced out throughout the year, with the smaller events in between. That also ensures that our local police department isn't overburdened with policing a lot of large-scale events within such a short period of time.

CIAA weekend is definitely one of the best times to be in the city, but Speed Street, if I'm not mistaken, is our largest annual event. I think it's great that we have two large-scale events like this that cater to different demographics so to speak.

On top of all of this, you have Panthers game, Bobcats games, art gallery crawls, bar crawls, performing arts, concerts, and more. Between all of this, my wife and I can always find something to do. Next week we'll be attending Festival in the Park, another one of our annual events....

Good post. Octoberfest is definitly NOT one of the largest events in Charlotte. And there are several other large festivals too, like the Jazz Festival and the International Festival, both this coming weekend.

[green_mariner]

I can't think of anything bad to say about Charlotte. Then again, I have never been there.

[smoking357]

Originally Posted by architect77

Charlotte's elegant skyline is tiny compared to Atlanta, however the fluted crown of the BofA tower, the Hearst tower's details, and the simple geometric iconography of the Duke Energy Headquarters have no competition in Atlanta, except for maybe 191 Peachtree.

Whatever. In person, Charlotte's buildings are sterile, with no city vibe down on the street.

Charlotte's dull. Atlanta's not.

Atlanta's skyline is awesome. Charlotte's isn't.