Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ani - You've come up with one of those great questions that needs a long answer and keeps my brain active - thanks a million!
I have about a 50/50 mix of friends and I must say that I prefer the dress style of the natives as opposed to my younger friends from the NE who are much more clothes conscious than I am. I'd like to think that I invented the "grunge look for the over 50 man". This consists of jeans and heavy flannel shirt which seems to be appropriate apparel for going just about anywhere. I never realized that my "fashion sense" would spread from the northeast to the South so rapidly! The nice thing about it, is with this great sense of fashion, I won't have to worry about meeting the "Old" or "New" moneyed Charlotte crowds anytime soon! If Tractor Supply had a fashion runway, I'd be a "top model" sans suspenders at this point in time!
The suburbs are the suburbs. If I didn't know what state I was in, I would be hard-pressed to tell some of the Charlotte areas from ones in NJ or VA or CO or MS. Can anyone remember all the words to Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes"? I stand guilty as charged in that respect.
Charlotte's problem is that it seems not to want to honor its past and blithely goes about tearing it down to create the Providence on Ballantyne on South Park MacMansion Townhome complex. What remains of Charlotte from the 19th century - precious little I think! It's a shame! Charlotte was not big enough in the past to be able to keep much of it. When I read that Wilmington was NC's biggest city in 1900, then I started to realize why Charlotte is the way it is.
As far as trends go, both Charlotte and the East coast in general seem to rely on California to start one and then have it flow across the rest of the country. Get out your Hula-Hoops and start twirling everyone! Us old-line East Coasters seem to have given up on being National Trend Setters. Oh well, back to the laundry!
Ani - You've come up with one of those great questions that needs a long answer and keeps my brain active - thanks a million!
I have about a 50/50 mix of friends and I must say that I prefer the dress style of the natives as opposed to my younger friends from the NE who are much more clothes conscious than I am. I'd like to think that I invented the "grunge look for the over 50 man". This consists of jeans and heavy flannel shirt which seems to be appropriate apparel for going just about anywhere. I never realized that my "fashion sense" would spread from the northeast to the South so rapidly! The nice thing about it, is with this great sense of fashion, I won't have to worry about meeting the "Old" or "New" moneyed Charlotte crowds anytime soon! If Tractor Supply had a fashion runway, I'd be a "top model" sans suspenders at this point in time!
The [Bsuburbs[/b] are the suburbs. If I didn't know what state I was in, I would be hard-pressed to tell some of the Charlotte areas from ones in NJ or VA or CO or MS. Can anyone remember all the words to Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes"? I stand guilty as charged in that respect.
Charlotte's problem is that it seems not to want to honor its past and blithely goes about tearing it down to create the Providence on Ballantyne on South Park MacMansion Townhome complex. What remains of Charlotte from the 19th century - precious little I think! It's a shame! Charlotte was not big enough in the past to be able to keep much of it. When I read that Wilmington was NC's biggest city in 1900, then I started to realize why Charlotte is the way it is.
As far as trends go, both Charlotte and the East coast in general seem to rely on California to start one and then have it flow across the rest of the country. Get out your Hula-Hoops and start twirling everyone! Us old-line East Coasters seem to have given up on being National Trend Setters. Oh well, back to the laundry!
Very nice post, Em! And your flannel shirt is au courant here, LOL!!!!
You make a wonderful point - it is more Suburbia than a Southern thing -and by George - I think you have it!!!! Excellent point!!! I had not even considered this - seems you have put it all in very good perspective . . .
It is this Suburbia thing . . . kind of generic sameness. I shall contemplate on that for a while . . .
Ooh! Ooh! I know one! Seriously, I've met two natives in my five months here, both in a work capacity. I don't think there's a native on my entire block Of course, I do know one other person that has lived here for a while, and when she found out where we were buying, she said, "WAAAAAAAY out there?" (Steele Creek) So maybe that's why there are no natives around here.
Ooh! Ooh! I know one! Seriously, I've met two natives in my five months here, both in a work capacity. I don't think there's a native on my entire block Of course, I do know one other person that has lived here for a while, and when she found out where we were buying, she said, "WAAAAAAAY out there?" (Steele Creek) So maybe that's why there are no natives around here.
Hee Hee Hee. You gotta know - anyone who has been here for decades thinks it is kind of weird to live outside the 51 corridor, LOL!!! Not that there are no lovely areas - there surely are - and I am fascinated w/ all the growth in Waxhaw, Indian Land, Ballantyne . . . just booming! But for oldtimers, we still think the earth falls off outside 51 . .. and as for the west - what is in the west except if you go far enuff on 485, you come to the airport? LOL - it is a mindset I guess!
I am seeing a pattern here . . . I do think so many newcomers never get to really know many natives and vice versa. Too bad . . . we all end up staying in our own little burgs, too. I am trying to get out and explore some areas of the city that I have not spent time in for many years. It is so easy to get "stuck" in one area . . .
I have exactly one friend who is a native Charlottean. She married a Canadian.
I have three other friends who are from small towns in NC, but now live in Charlotte.
All my neighbors and the rest of my friends seem to be from somewhere else. However, I've had lots of people who worked for me who were natives.
I've lived in this state over 10 years. I was just saying to my husband yesterday that I feel "home" here, unlike anywhere else I've lived, except for where I grew up in NJ. I'm staying, so I'll be working as hard as the natives to stem the negative!
The thing that dismays me the most, though, more than the McMansions and the strip malls, is the destruction of all the beautiful old buildings uptown. Every time I turn around, another one is gone. Some people think they're eyesores, but each one that has been destroyed had some lovely architectural feature or point of interest that made it worth preserving. Instead, we now just have more high-rise, glass-walled condos, and in what will be the latest tragedy, a minor league baseball stadium... I wish "preservation and renewal" were included in the plans rather than pure destruction.
Hee Hee Hee. You gotta know - anyone who has been here for decades thinks it is kind of weird to live outside the 51 corridor, LOL!!! Not that there are no lovely areas - there surely are - and I am fascinated w/ all the growth in Waxhaw, Indian Land, Ballantyne . . . just booming! But for oldtimers, we still think the earth falls off outside 51 . .. and as for the west - what is in the west except if you go far enuff on 485, you come to the airport? LOL - it is a mindset I guess!
I am seeing a pattern here . . . I do think so many newcomers never get to really know many natives and vice versa. Too bad . . . we all end up staying in our own little burgs, too. I am trying to get out and explore some areas of the city that I have not spent time in for many years. It is so easy to get "stuck" in one area . . .
Ani, as usual you have hit the nail on the head! Living "outside" hwy 51 is not something I would ever do as a long time Charlottean! Maybe this is why I know so many more natives than others here seem to? When you live in the more established parts of Charlotte I think you tend to meet more natives - the new places like Ballantyne seem to be where all the newcomers flock -so if you live there you are usually just going to meet other newcomers.
I had a native shake a Bible in my face when I said something about Politics. He said (rather fiercely) "Show me in here where it says I have to be tollerant of liberals? It doesn't say that anywhere in here!" I didn't argue, I just turned on my heels and walked away.
That was at church. Now, please understand, this is not the norm and many times I choose not to discuss politics at all, but I do notice that most people here are Christian and Republican. If you aren't, you do stand out considerably in my experience so far. I was actually a little surprised by this as I thought many Southerners were Democrats. Maybe this was in the past????
I have about 4 or 5 native friends that I would say I actually do things with outside of a church or group setting. The rest are from other places.
I finally have some friends who are not Christian. It has taken a while because I am not working right now so my scope is a little more limited. All of my immediate neighbors (on our cul-de-sac) go to a Christian church.
My observation has been - all this "aspirational" yuppie and DINK wealthy-wannabe stuff basically started w/ the influx of newcomers. Prior to that, it was pretty much New Money vs. Old Money, and never the twain shall meet (except when there is a charity event - and then the Old Money will definitely take checks from the New Money, even if they would never actually invite them to join their clubs). And then there were the rest of us, LOL.
As a native as well I pretty much agree with your post.
Most of my native friends that I grew up with now live well within Hwy 51 on the south side.
They view Ballantyne with some disdain and think of it as transplant McMansions or very new money.
I live near the Arboretum and on my street are only 3 native families.
My neighbors met at Carolina and found they were both from CLT.
One graduated from Country Day and the other from Providence Day.
There is a debate on where they will send their two little ones
I do think the native ties make the job market tough on transplants.
Many jobs are who you know and filled by word of mouth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anifani821
Hee Hee Hee. You gotta know - anyone who has been here for decades thinks it is kind of weird to live outside the 51 corridor, LOL!!! Not that there are no lovely areas - there surely are - and I am fascinated w/ all the growth in Waxhaw, Indian Land, Ballantyne . . . just booming! But for oldtimers, we still think the earth falls off outside 51 . .. pent time in for many years. It is so easy to get "stuck" in one area . . .
When they were building the Arboretum the mood around SouthPark was, 'why are they building a shopping center way out there?'
We drove 'out' to see the construction. LOL
I remember like yesterday when Hwy 51 was two lanes from Matthews to Pineville.
Took a curve around a huge Oak tree right across from where Carmel Baptist is now.
You could travel from Matthews in Pineville easily in 20 minutes and maybe without tapping your brakes.
It was a nice ride in the country!
Interesting you should say that. A gal I have just now started getting to know is a native and she said she and her husband have avoided the new areas like Ballantyne. Then she said she finally went there with a friend to eat and now likes it.
But I can completely see why it would be viewed that way.
After having gone to yet another party at another McMansion last night, I can understand the frustration even more. I feel that our home is very nice, well, I do until I go to a house like last night! HA!
Dawn
Quote:
Originally Posted by mullman
As a native as well I pretty much agree with your post.
Most of my native friends that I grew up with live well within Hwy 51 on the south side. They view Ballantyne with some disdain and think of it as transplant McMansions or very new money.
I live near the Arboretum and on my street are only 3 native families.
My neighbors met at Carolina and found they were both from CLT. One graduated from Country Day and the other from Providence Day. There is a debate on where they will send their two little ones
We bought in an older established neighborhood (Jackson Park) here in Kannapolis, so were surrounded by natives and long ago transplants, and we feel very much at home here, we were never made too feel like outcasts or treated differently, except at the beginning our neighbors all seemed a little standoffish (if that's a word), I still haven't met them all (we've been here a year), but once we began to put forth the effort to meet them they were very welcoming.
We are not church goers so that has slowed the process.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If Tractor Supply had a fashion runway, I'd be a "top model" sans suspenders at this point in time!
Us old-line East Coasters seem to have given up on being National Trend Setters. Oh well, back to the laundry!
