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^exactly right. the most urban neighborhoods in charlotte would be like mid-ring suburbs in baltimore or st. louis. it is a very immature city.
Allow me to shed some light on this situation. Charlotte's urban neighborhoods are Plaza-Midwood, NoDa, Southend, Elizabeth, and parts of 1st Ward and mostly all of 4th Ward. Charlotte was historically a mill town and mill communities sprang up surrounding the city center. These mill towns formed an early sort of edge city with a distinctive identity. These communities include NoDa and Southend.
During the streetcar era of Charlotte in the early 20th century places like Myers Park and Dilworth were planned and developed. Myers Park has transformed into one of the most distinguished neighborhoods in Charlotte and, IMO, retains. Much of its suburban nature but is an urban hybrid in that it is engrafted into the urban fabric and identity of Charlotte; it is a signature neighborhood. Dilworth is adjacent to Southend and is increasingly becoming urban.
I will post pics later on but many consider Charlotte to be more of a suburban city, which it mostly is due to planning during the mid 60s up until the late 90s. However, the neighborhoods I've mentioned have been around in Charlotte since the early 20th century and definitely have a strong urban identity.
Its GDP is not higher than these cities. Here are the GDPs from 2008:
Baltimore: $133.012B
Denver: $150.810B
St. Louis: $128.467B
San Diego: $167.325B
Charlotte: $118.350B
So Overall I'd say they're about on the same level as one another.
I personally consider the Fortune 500 rankings a bit overrated. Don't get me wrong, Fortune 500 companies are important, but it is based solely on the revenue of a company. There are tons of important things which won't show up in revenues of companies or GDP of a city.
One example would be Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. It's one of the finest medical institutions in the world...it's top-notch not only as a hospital, but a medical research center. That won't show up in its GDP, but its importance is undeniable.
Charlotte is not too far behind Baltimore and St. Louis concerning GDP, especially when you consider the fact that it is 10 and 15 billion dollars behind established cities with higher total population and a higher workforce. The growth of Charlotte compared to these regions will be interesting given the current economic climate.
You're absolutely right about places like Johns Hopkins and their research not being apart of the GDP so its a hard comparison to compare Charlotte to these areas. However, not only is the urban fabric and skyline of Charlotte growing, but practically every part of Charlotte is growing. There is a new biomedical research center being developed in neighboring Concord/Kannapolis and at UNCC a new energy research center is being built. The plans are to make Charlotte an energy hub in the Southeast as well as the nation. Of course, much of this talk is Charlotte promo talk. However, with companies like Siemens, Toshiba, and Areva expanding, Duke Energy HQed here, and the new Energy Building at UNCC it will be interesting to see this plan unfold.
In addition to that, Charlotte is growing from a banking center and developing a stronger financial services/insurance industry.
Allow me to shed some light on this situation. Charlotte's urban neighborhoods are Plaza-Midwood, NoDa, Southend, Elizabeth, and parts of 1st Ward and mostly all of 4th Ward.
I think Wilmore and Wesley Heights need to start being included in these lists. They usually aren't because they are historically Black neighborhoods and have only rather recently started receiving the attention and investment that the other neighborhoods have enjoyed for a little while now, but they have the same basic layout as the others and are making big comebacks right now.
I think Wilmore and Wesley Heights need to start being included in these lists. They usually aren't because they are historically Black neighborhoods and have only rather recently started receiving the attention and investment that the other neighborhoods have enjoyed for a little while now, but they have the same basic layout as the others and are making big comebacks right now.
Thanks for including those. I was trying to remember the historically black neighborhoods. I know of rozzels ferry but I'm not sure where the exact location is on that neighborhood. I know of also the historical Brooklyn neighborhood, but that neighborhood is no more.
Once again thanks for those neighborhoods.
Too many Pittsburgh homers??? to what NY, LA, SF, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, DC homers on here.
You cannot be serious???? if you are, you've just lost all credibility with this statement.
And your the main pitts homer im talking about. Every time someone names a negative of Pittsburgh you freak out diss their city and go on to name every positive of pittsburgh. Don't be so emotional about i just said their are to many pitt homers.
And your the main pitts homer im talking about. Every time someone names a negative of Pittsburgh you freak out diss their city and go on to name every positive of pittsburgh. Don't be so emotional about i just said their are to many pitt homers.
I'm not emotional...I just debate on facts...so how is one person "too many homers" so you have problem with someone from Pittsburgh, but no the endless NYC, Philly, DC, Houston homers on here
Everytime someone says something negative about these cities, there's a homer within 5 mins to "Freak Out" about it...So why single me out????
I act no different than the rest of these homers...except that I have no problem pointing out Pittsburghs true downfalls...not outdated misconceptions that's constantly perpetuated as fact.
Really what is your beef I have yet to figure that out...
I really wanted to vote for San Diego because it is such a great town but I had to go with Denver (Which is also a great town!). I have not spent much time in Denver but I have in Montana and many cities up in the rockies like Salt Lake City down to Santa Fe and they are all supported by Denver much like San Diego is by LA. So it only felt right to say Denver.
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