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Most of the natives in the Northern End (Huntersville area) tend to live on land they have owned for many generations. Instead of going of and buying land they would slowly subdivide and before you know it they would have their own little community. So are adventurous and end up in a community Talking with my older nieces and nephews they always seem they would rather be in a neighborhood for access to friends etc but as they have become older they now appreciate the land they have around them to race go-karts dirt bikes, walk down to the creeks. Let the pups run free. etc etc!
Most of the natives in the Northern End (Huntersville area) tend to live on land they have owned for many generations. Instead of going of and buying land they would slowly subdivide and before you know it they would have their own little community. So are adventurous and end up in a community Talking with my older nieces and nephews they always seem they would rather be in a neighborhood for access to friends etc but as they have become older they now appreciate the land they have around them to race go-karts dirt bikes, walk down to the creeks. Let the pups run free. etc etc!
Yes, this is the South I miss! We are losing so much of this family oriented type living. My family (dad's side) owned hundreds of acres in Iredell County. Same thing you outlined . . . families together . . . but now, land is being sold off for subdivisions. Some of my dad's cousins are now very wealthy! LOL!!! But kind of sad to see all the family land that was once basically for farming . .. now dotted w/ houses. And the cousins are no longer neighbors. . . some have built in the subdivision . . . others have moved elsewhere. Things have definitely changed.
I like that - Gate Keeper to the South. They say St. Louis is the Gateway to the West. I like that NC is the Gate Keeper to the South. I just don't want to lose all the things I love about the rural South I grew up in. I loved knowing my neighbors and kids out playing w/o worries . . . neighborhood schools . . . church pot luck suppers . . . fishing at lake . . . softball out in your granddaddy's field . . . camping in the back yard!
I like that - Gate Keeper to the South. They say St. Louis is the Gateway to the West. I like that NC is the Gate Keeper to the South. I just don't want to lose all the things I love about the rural South I grew up in. I loved knowing my neighbors and kids out playing w/o worries . . . neighborhood schools . . . church pot luck suppers . . . fishing at lake . . . softball out in your granddaddy's field . . . camping in the back yard!
Just don't want to lose it.
One of the saddest things I have seen recently was riding motorcycles on McKee Rd between Pleasant Plains and Weddington Road.
The land is being sold and divided up into cookie cutter homes and it was rolling farmland.
And I hear you anifani.
At around 10-13 we would ride our bikes from Sharonview Rd to Southpark for a hotdog at Woolworths or Eckerds (they both had snack bars).
Having an 8 yr old daughter I just cannot imagine turning her loose like that today.
And NO my parents were not irresponsible, it was just a simpler time.
One of the saddest things I have seen recently was riding motorcycles on McKee Rd between Pleasant Plains and Weddington Road.
The land is being sold and divided up into cookie cutter homes and it was rolling farmland.
And I hear you anifani.
At around 10-13 we would ride our bikes from Sharonview Rd to Southpark for a hotdog at Woolworths or Eckerds (they both had snack bars).
Having an 8 yr old daughter I just cannot imagine turning her loose like that today.
And NO my parents were not irresponsible, it was just a simpler time.
Oh, yes. It was very different!!!! We rode our bikes 3 miles into town and would go to the "record store" and the local pharmacy, wh/ also sold soft drinks and snacks. It was a very different time.
If something was not right at our house - like the phone was not working - or we were out of milk when we got home from school - we would just walk down the road to a neighbor's house, LOL!! I think about that now - how funny. Go knock on Mrs. So-and-So's door and say - we don't have any milk (or bread or whatever) and she would round up something for us. Or let us use the phone. Or give us a quarter to walk down to the local convenience store!!!
We would come home and there would be several canteloupes (sp) sitting on the front porch - dropped off by a neighbor who grew them.
We kids ran in packs, mostly w/ our bikes. We would spread out the books and do our homework together on someone's back porch.
Yes, it was a much simpler time.
Last edited by brokensky; 02-20-2008 at 07:43 AM..
Reason: left out word
The simpler life has nothing to do with the number of transplants moving to Charlotte-it's the changing world-it's everywhere unfortunately.
Life has changed, but the number of new homes and subdivisions wh/ have taken up land . . . and the crowded roads and highways definitely have impacted the lifestyle here in the South (and in many other more rural areas of the country, too, I am sure)
It wouldn't matter whether the new houses were purchased by natives or newcomers - it still has changed traffic and "small town life."
I don't think this is unique to the South - I think this has been pretty much the situation all over the country in rural areas. It is just that it has not been that long ago that Charlotte really was more of a "burg" and not so much a "city."
I'm enjoying this interesting thread and wanted to add my 2 cents worth to the dialog. I grew up in this area (actually a small town in SC nearby) but my ancestors helped settle Mecklenburg County and as a kid we did all our major shopping, entertainment, etc. in Charlotte and I came here to live as a young single working girl. After marrying, my husband and I lived in other states and cities in NC before coming back to Charlotte ten years ago. We chose to buy a house in a nice new development in Ballantyne because (a) I still had a lot of family in SC and Ballantyne provided easy access and (b) it felt familiar and like home despite the obvious changes that were occurring. My daddy's uncle actually owned much of the land that comprises Ballantyne until he sold most of his land to Gov. Cameron Morrison many years who used it as a hunting preserve. His descendants have developed it and become even richer for it! I find it both amusing and aggravating the way some Charlotte natives view Ballantyne--like it's the dark side of the moon! The fact is that even the hallowed Myers Park had to get its start somewhere and less than 100 years ago Myers Park was also considered to be out in the boonies and was nothing but played out cottonfields and scrub woods until Mr. Nolen devised his grand plan and planted all those beautiful oak trees that we now revere so much. My point is that EVERY neighborhood is new at some point. Highway 51 is not some magic circle that encircles the "real" Charlotte putting the rest of us on the outside looking in. I love Charlotte and enjoy the "old Charlotte" as well as the new and constantly-changing Charlotte. Many of my neighbors are newcomers most all of them seem glad to be here!
I'm enjoying this interesting thread and wanted to add my 2 cents worth to the dialog. I grew up in this area (actually a small town in SC nearby) but my ancestors helped settle Mecklenburg County and as a kid we did all our major shopping, entertainment, etc. in Charlotte and I came here to live as a young single working girl. After marrying, my husband and I lived in other states and cities in NC before coming back to Charlotte ten years ago. We chose to buy a house in a nice new development in Ballantyne because (a) I still had a lot of family in SC and Ballantyne provided easy access and (b) it felt familiar and like home despite the obvious changes that were occurring. My daddy's uncle actually owned much of the land that comprises Ballantyne until he sold most of his land to Gov. Cameron Morrison many years who used it as a hunting preserve. His descendants have developed it and become even richer for it! I find it both amusing and aggravating the way some Charlotte natives view Ballantyne--like it's the dark side of the moon! The fact is that even the hallowed Myers Park had to get its start somewhere and less than 100 years ago Myers Park was also considered to be out in the boonies and was nothing but played out cottonfields and scrub woods until Mr. Nolen devised his grand plan and planted all those beautiful oak trees that we now revere so much. My point is that EVERY neighborhood is new at some point. Highway 51 is not some magic circle that encircles the "real" Charlotte putting the rest of us on the outside looking in. I love Charlotte and enjoy the "old Charlotte" as well as the new and constantly-changing Charlotte. Many of my neighbors are newcomers most all of them seem glad to be here!
What a very interesting and upbeat post
However, I don't think Ani (or me either for that matter) meant to imply anyone outside hwy 51 is on the "outside looking in". I believe she was only saying that as a native with vivid memories of the Charlotte of her youth, hwy 51 was out in the country - it was well beyond the boundries of the Charlotte she knew and loved (loves still). So for her and people like her (me!) we are most at home in the older established parts of Charlotte and would not live anywhere else And you are so right - 100 years ago Myers Park was considered the "boonies" to the folks who lived in 4th ward of uptown!
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Talking with my older nieces and nephews they always seem they would rather be in a neighborhood for access to friends etc but as they have become older they now appreciate the land they have around them to race go-karts dirt bikes, walk down to the creeks. Let the pups run free. etc etc!
and it was rolling farmland.
Another Native's Viewpoint
