I moved out 31st of Mar this year. Today while surfing the city data forum I came across this post where someone from NJ wanted information about Charlotte and I felt the need to throw in my 2.
Charlotte for me has a lot of good and ever lasting memories.
Charlotte was my playground in more ways than one both professionally and personally. A very good learning experience.
Now I know the natives will hate my next statement but let me say it and get it over with. From what I have seen of Charlotte the place has a great natural advantage. I never had to face any hurricane in the last 3 years. The beach is a fair drive away. They have mountains. The weather is not all that bad as it is made out to be. For most part of the year its pretty agreeable. For about 15 -20 unbearably hot summer days one has the option of cooling in the pool or staying in.
With all this at disposal all they have managed to have till date are a couple of big corporate banks that keep the economy running. Bank of America, Wachovia (Now Wells Fargo), TIAA CREF, Duke's Energy, Lowes, Family Dollar one other chain of Banks that has now joined the ranks and GM Bank.
Why dont they attract other industries to their area? Please no silly excuses like we want to preserve our way of life. Life revolves around economy and vice versa. A park like Disney or a movie processing industry or even service industry like IT and Telecom (Dont just quote Raleigh....Im talking about the entire state of NC). Make is a culinary visitors paradise like New Orleans or develop a cultural and artsy backdrop. Charlotte does have history on its side and heritage, then why not build on it and come out and compete with the rest of the states for attention, investment, people and business.
Whenever I discussed this the usual response would be, such development would attract unsavoury elements, congestion and crime. So is slow evolvement the proposed solution? May be I liked Charlotte and hence feel that it has a lot of untapped potential. Or may be what I want is not what the locals desire. But in an increasingly competitive future the locals are not doing their kids any favour by blocking development. Attract more business, make more money, lead a better life.....so what if you need to sacrifice a little rustic element of life in the process..we always have South Carolina a short drive away
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