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It's OK, you guys like the urban sprawl city, it's OK, you're the first people I have ever heard from that do!
I don't think anyone is denying that sprawl exists in Charlotte. It does and there have been several threads with people talking about their dislike of it. But isn't the proper term "suburban sprawl," not "urban sprawl" since it is mostly limited to the suburbs? There's hardly any cookie cutter neighborhoods in what most would consider "the city." Yes there are many within the "city limits" but as you said yourself the city limits are large and IMO it would be unreasonable to expect the entire Charlotte city limits to be walkable neighborhoods. And of course if it was then the traffic would be much much worse.
But there has been a ton of growth in the uptown and surrounding areas. There are several walkable neighborhoods in Charlotte. Yes, they are some of the more expensive neighborhoods but walkable neighborhoods close to city centers are expensive everywhere. There are also even mostly walkable neighborhoods in the suburbs, such as in Davidson, Belmont and Matthews. Sure, you would probably still want to have a car in most of these places, but the same can probably be said for 95% of the country. The problem is people say they want "walkable neighborhoods," but they also want 2000 square feet and a yard, which isn't really realistic. So more often than not people choose the 2000 square feet and a yard over the walkable neighborhood.
I have lived all over, Alaska, Caribbean, England, NJ, Chicago, Charlotte (second go around here) and more. From Asheville originally. I have a lot to compare Charlotte too. I have a good idea what we are looking for. I know it's not Charlotte.
The problem is your clueless. You grew up in Asheville? Well you should have known what Charlotte is. It lacks character of big northern cities. That's no shock, and if you did any amount of research you should've known this. That's really what you want, and what it comes down to. Fact is what you want isn't being built in any new city. It only exists in either olderhuge cities, or much much smaller little towns. It would be impossible to have what you wanted in Charlotte, considering its explosive growth. Furthermore most don't want what you are looking for, and are very happy with what Charlotte has to offer.
As for the housing developments. It's almost impossible to build a neighborhood without removing most of the trees. It can be done, but it's very cost prohibitive, and most people need affordable housing over a 50 year old tree.
Lastly life is what you make of it. You have a sour attitude on Charlotte. That's fine, but it's your choice. I'm sure there's plently of other things your unhappy about as well in your life
Developers are still building the same house designs from the 90's in these type of housing complexes. Pick up a design magazine and see how many garage houses you see featured, none, because it's not up to date. They may be new but they are "dated".
Builders build what people want at a given price point. Period.
...What cities do you consider to be not urban sprawl? You know... Close to our size? Cleveland?...
Excellent question for Ahh Life, IMO.
From what he/she has described in this thread, I don't know of any city that is what that poster wants.
I've been to: San Diego, Dallas, Plano, Phoenix, Tampa, NYC, St Pete, Columbus(OH), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati, St Louis, Chicago, Newark, Somerset, Las Vegas, Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington, Raleigh, Columbia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tacoma, Mobile, Biloxi, Birmingham, Reno, Denver, Boulder, Orlando, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Asheville, Greenville, Atlanta, Athens, Knoxville, Nashville, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Milwaukee (I'm sure I'm forgetting some), not to mention overseas cities, and none of those is what the OP has described.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,714,286 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ahh Life
It's OK, you guys like the urban sprawl city, it's OK, you're the first people I have ever heard from that do!
No one said that they like sprawl. It appears to me that you have a problem with reality.
First off, it has taken Manhattan ~300 years to look like it does. Every city is different. In about 300 years Philadelphia, one of the most walkable cities in the country, doesn't look like Manhattan & most people there like it that way. Most people in most cities want their city to be unique. Charlotte tore down a huge amount of it's history in the mid to late 20th century. Like the other cities & towns in NC, Charlotte is pretty much out of the annexation business right now, so the focus has shifted. the focus is now on building near the blue line extension and bringing retail & grocery stores back to the inner city, but it's never going to be Manhattan.
Secondly, when does cutting down trees & turning into Manhattan belong in the same complaint? It's easy enough to sit behind a computer & whine about trees being cut down. It has a very empty ring when you aren't looking for people to join you in volunteering to go around the city & planting trees & doing voluntary landscaping in city parks, etc.
You seem to be very angry. According to your posts your anger seems to come from your decision that Charlotte was going to turn into Manhattan. That seems delusional to me. Builders are not building & have not built single family homes that no one has wanted & that no one is buying. They build them because they sell. More & more apartments are now being built because the need has increased. Builders don't build as a hobby. They build what sells.
I would like to add that there are several more walkable neighborhoods that are not aforementioned. They are neighborhoods that are simply not safe after sunset for some for example, Five Points, North Tryon Street., Betties Ford Road, most of Wesley Heights, etc. So, in many cases walkability is more extensive that one discusses just not 24/7 for everyone. This applies to all big cities.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,714,286 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by hooligan
Excellent question for Ahh Life, IMO.
From what he/she has described in this thread, I don't know of any city that is what that poster wants.
I've been to: San Diego, Dallas, Plano, Phoenix, Tampa, NYC, St Pete, Columbus(OH), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati, St Louis, Chicago, Newark, Somerset, Las Vegas, Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington, Raleigh, Columbia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tacoma, Mobile, Biloxi, Birmingham, Reno, Denver, Boulder, Orlando, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Asheville, Greenville, Atlanta, Athens, Knoxville, Nashville, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Milwaukee (I'm sure I'm forgetting some), not to mention overseas cities, and none of those is what the OP has described.
What's really laughable is that the NY metro is the ultimate in sprawl.
Ahh Life, you have likely not been to 1/10 the places I have lived and visited. Travel normally makes a person more broad minded and accepting. A person living here in agony tells me that he or she is more than likely not a smart person and/or likely full of stinky stuff. One should live in a place that suits his or her wants and needs, not a place that is despised. That is truly lame. If you in fact visited other places, you would see that our issues are not unique. Going there for a day or week doesn't qualify you as an expert at anything.
What's really laughable is that the NY metro is the ultimate in sprawl.
London is a very sprawled out city. Many people that live on the outskirts (Epping, Sutton, Carpenter's Park, Ascot, and other suburbs often never go into the city of London. Oh yea, I bet he hasn't been to Paris either. The same applies.
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