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Im reading the stats. on Wikipedia and they are saying that the center city is expected to be around 27 thousand due to all the construction and all! Thats a pretty decent number right there! THUMBS UP! Charlotte center city - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
City center Charlotte (the four wards) currently has a population of just under 14K. This can be varified with the Chamber of Commerce.
I don't know about that. Downtown was certainly a viable community, but the majority of folks who worked there didn't live there... and they drove to work too just like their modern-day counterparts.
To say that downtown was more "liveable" in the 60's is a stretch. I seriously doubt that there were many amenities then that aren't there now, and there are certainly plenty now that weren't there then.
I don't know what you guys expect from Charlotte, but if you're expecting NYC or Chicago you will continue to be disappointed. Different economies and resources shaped the infrastructure of the community in vastly different ways, and I wouldn't trade Charlotte's agrarian/textile history for a grid-system and more sidewalks. I am happy that planning principles these days are more in line with accomplishing those goals though. Unfortunately (for some) it will take a while to see city-wide differences.
And Charlotte as a "mini-Dubai"... let's just say I lolled.
You are absolutely correct. As I have said before, you can put an some Americans on the greatest place on Earth and they will still cry about it not being exactly like it is at home. What blows my mind is that the biggest complainers would rather stay here and whine continuously than go back to the place from which they came. Guess when a city gets as many newcomers as Charlotte, we're bound to get some dummies.
To think that someone said that Charlotte modeled itself after Dubai. ROFL.
You guys must have known Charlotte was being considered for an award for its Smart Growth policies. Well, we got it. It was on the Charlotte Observer site today..
To say that downtown was more "liveable" in the 60's is a stretch. I seriously doubt that there were many amenities then that aren't there now, and there are certainly plenty now that weren't there then.....
And Charlotte as a "mini-Dubai"... let's just say I lolled.
You are not speaking from any base of knowledge that I am aware of, however here are a couple of photos of downtown from that period. Downtown had Sears, Woolworths, Iveys, Belks (their flagship store), endless street level places to eat at good prices, a high school and the list goes on. Dubai has halted skyscrapers and projects due to irrational speculation, so does Charlotte.
This period was no doubt the zenith of downtown living in Charlotte, it has not been the same since. We replaced all this street level activity with glass walled skyscrapers, parking decks, and indoor malls. All in all a rather sterile landscape in comparison.
You guys must have known Charlotte was being considered for an award for its Smart Growth policies. Well, we got it. It was on the Charlotte Observer site today..
Lumbo, my base of knowledge is not from first-hand experience... is yours? Mine comes from my father and grandfather. Living here for such an extended period of time I've also heard from scores of other people, including most recently my 100 year old neighbor who used to work downtown at a ladies boutique and has been in Charlotte since she moved here in the 30s as a young adult. As I've aged I've become more curious about the history of the area, but I hardly consider myself an expert.
They all describe Charlotte as much different then. Downtown was no doubt quite the hive on the weekends and from what I gather it had a lot to do with scarcity of competition. I'm not convinced that competition scarcity translates to "liveability" though. Your two (dateless, locationless) photos aren't enough to convince me
But I don't want to get sidetracked... whether Charlotte was more or less "livable" in the 60's could probably generate pages and pages of quality debate from people who actually lived through the experience. I sure didn't.
If you're a "glorify the past" type of guy/gal... fine by me. I don't have a problem with it. But these kind of judgements are very subjective so you shouldn't be too surprised by a difference of opinion. I compared amenities then and now, and you counter with "too much glass!"
As for Charlotte being "liveable" now... it all depends on how you model your existence here. The tools are here to get the things you want, but don't expect your bedroom suburb to transform.
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Patio Man and the Sprawl People
I guess this proves that some of my critics don't know what they are talking about. 
