Charlotte is the 3rd fastest growing city in the nation (Clayton: houses, public schools)
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I remember in the 1980s, in the ATL Constitution, ATL and Washington got into a pissing contest in their respective papers about which city was the largest, had most downtown workers etc. CLT would never do this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The QC
30 years ago I am not certain ATL was considered a major city but it proclaimed itself to be a major city
Well, that may be true, but my mother and father, who are from NC, certainly thought it was. The last time I was in Atlanta was in 2001. I don't know what it's like now, but at that time all I saw was sprawling suburbs and a downtown with very tall buildings strung along the same street -- a street which was devoid of any human activity after 6:00 PM. And as someone who was living in DC at the time, the thought of Atlanta thinking it was DC's peer, or had a more active downtown, is laughable.
By the way, Architect said that no city the size of CLT has a 60 story building. His favorite city , ATL, built a 72 story hotel when ATL was smaller than CLT. That was the tallest hotel in the world when completed. ATL had a population of about 1.5 million people.
Architect knows nothing of the history of ATL . ATL is the city that has proclaimed to be the big city before it was. ATL is the city that built a 72 story hotel so it could be the tallest in the world. ATL. Is the city that will not build a second airport cause it will lose its status as being the world’s busiest airport.
ATL is the city that went after and got all 4 major league sports ( baseball, football, basketball and hockey) in the mid to late 1970s when it was a population of 1.5 million. ATL did not reach 2 million until the 1980 census. So if someone wants to talk about a city trying to look big city before it’s time then that person should look squarely at ATL.
But ATL has reached major city status now so all is forgotten. I want to make this clear. CLT has never had the appetite for boasting and proclaiming to be big city like ATL.
I remember in the 1980s, in the ATL Constitution, ATL and Washington got into a pissing contest in their respective papers about which city was the largest, had most downtown workers etc. CLT would never do this.
I have said it once and I will say it again. The truth is not something that many people are interested in telling.
Atlanta's role has always been the big city for the Southeast, its purpose was to be the opposite of rural, small-town environment like most of the Southeast was through history.
It was where people moved to chase their dreams, it held possibilities not found in the rural South. It was the beacon of hope for the black community, and us gay folks who were regularly attacked and killed up until about 25 years ago.
Yes Atlanta has always tried to be a big city, and when I first moved here in '92 the population was 2.5-3 million. You could drive 80mph on the freeways even through downtown.
John Portman designed 40% of Downtown Atlanta, and most of his concrete trade show venues are pretty awful. He had very strange tastes and most of his work has bizarre shapes and decorative elements that are not elegant or provocative. The Westin Peachtree is simple and it defines Atlanta. It was constructed simultaneously as its twin was going up in Detroit, GM tower, which ending up beating it by a couple of floors to be the tallest hotel in America (I think GM bought it later).
I love the building, but as to whether its height was a good decision back then is debatable.
And saying that Charlotte, the most-obsessed place on earth seeking big-city validation, does not want that is patently false just ask everyone on here. Or ask the Charlotte Observer whose basis for so much commenting casually refers to Charlotte as just another one of America's big cities as if it has more than hardly any of the commonalities experienced by bonafide major American cities in terms of culture, history, problems.
It will in a few decades but not as of now.
But your comment delving into the past just to show one example hoping to refute my statement, reminded me why I should go do other things.
But it did make a statement about what Atlanta wanted to be moving forward, and it was somewhat appropriate for what back then was the only true metropolis in the Southeast.
Yes, but I think Charlotte's proximity to Atlanta will continue the perception that it's a second-tier city, even as it keeps surpassing these other cities. It's a weird thing to me. When I think of how my mother used to make those five-hour trips to Atlanta, and now Charlotte is as big as Atlanta was back then, and it's only an hour away from where my mother lives, but she doesn't travel to Charlotte.
The Triangle, Charlotte and Atlanta have all doubled in population since the 90's but they all feel the same as they did.
Population numbers aren't going to metamorphize a city into a new one.
Everywhere is growing in population, Florida added about 2 million people in just 5 years.
And North Carolina is America's darling state to move to, across a large swath of the state.
And saying that Charlotte, the most-obsessed place on earth seeking big-city validation, does not want that is patently false just ask everyone on here.
You are correct about that. For decades there has been the Charlotte versus Raleigh thing going on (which is still happening). And in the late '80s/early '90s, there was also Charlotte versus Richmond, which I saw playing out a couple times a month in The Charlotte Observer. And although it wasn't spoken aloud, probably because Atlanta was so much further down the road, I've long sensed a bit of jealousy towards Atlanta. That said (and I emphasize again that I haven't been to Atlanta since 2001), I don't think Charlotte should look to Atlanta as any sort of a role model in terms of development because my memory of Atlanta is just that of a massive suburb with very little "city" to be found.
Yep, and I remember my mom at least once taking a trip to Atlanta in the '80s to experience "the big city." Now that even though Charlotte is the same size Atlanta was then, Atlanta is still the big city, and Charlotte is still the lesser city. It's all relative, I guess. The only way Charlotte will ever be considered a major city in the South is if Atlanta stops growing.
Atlanta in 1988 vs. Charlotte today:
That Atlanta postcard, which still looks bigger to me, don't show the many other clusters of tall buildings like, Lenox, Perimeter or the Cumberland area.
You know big cities don't have to have impressive skylines.
Anyone who has travelled to most of America's most populous states and major cities, would know all of the many differences and difference in league (as of now) to not refer to Charlotte as just another member of the big league cities without any added differentiating subtext.
That Atlanta postcard, which still looks bigger to me, don't show the many other clusters of tall buildings like, Lenox, Perimeter or the Cumberland area.
You know big cities don't have to have impressive skylines.
No, and I lived in a city (DC) which by government mandate can never have a skyline like that. But still, it's far more of a city than Atlanta ever was or ever will be. I've been to some of those areas in Atlanta, like Lenox Sq., and it all just seemed like car-dependent suburbia to me. Atlanta's growth is remarkable, but as a city it didn't personally impress me at all. I'm in San Diego now and we also have a height limit on buildings, so will never see anything the height of Atlanta's skyscrapers, but a large swath of the city is very densified and urban, with many large, vibrant walkable neighborhoods. Even though our metro is smaller than Atlanta's, San Diego feels much more like a city to me. That's why I say Charlotte should not look to Atlanta for a role model.
No, and I lived in a city (DC) which by government mandate can never have a skyline like that. But still, it's far more of a city than Atlanta ever was or ever will be. I've been to some of those areas in Atlanta, like Lenox Sq., and it all just seemed like car-dependent suburbia to me. Atlanta's growth is remarkable, but as a city it didn't personally impress me at all. I'm in San Diego now and we also have a height limit on buildings, so will never see anything the height of Atlanta's skyscrapers, but a large swath of the city is very densified and urban, with many large, vibrant walkable neighborhoods. Even though our metro is smaller than Atlanta's, San Diego feels much more like a city to me. That's why I say Charlotte should not look to Atlanta for a role model.
Posters in the General US forum are brutal on ATL calling it a fake city and is nothing more than a suburb.
Enough of the Atlanta talk. It’s an embarrassing fixation.
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