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Another thing I alluded to before is, even a lot of the ordinary neighborhoods in St Louis would be considered "historic" neighborhoods in Charlotte. Like these:
If you knew anything about Charlotte, you'd know that Dilworth was actually a streetcar suburb of Charlotte. Plaza Midwood was a 1920s streetcar suburb called Chatham Estates. Elizabeth was also a streetcar suburb. Remember when I stated that Charlotte had 2,300 people during the Civil War (while St Louis was 160,000 strong during that time)? Historically, Charlotte's original city limits was everything inside of present day I-277. What is now considered "uptown" is all Charlotte originally was (a 2-3 sq/mile small town).
What this means is that all neighborhood comparisons of St Louis vs non-uptown Charlotte is a comparison of a major 19th century US city vs the once-farm land that surrounded a small 19th century southern town. A better neighborhood-by-neighborhood comparison would be Stl vs New Orleans. Most people with any level of travel experience knows these things already. Richmond VA would be a good comparison too.
Here's the flip side to all of this. Even though Stl has the urban bones of a city with nearly 1 million residents, it certainly doesn't have the bodies. If Charlotte were reduced down to the land area of Stl, the two would have very similar populations today. Charlotte's 65 sq/mile core neighborhoods are in the 4,200-4,700 ppl sq/mile range. Stl's core looks more dense (because it once housed far more people) but the head count today of both cities are similar.
The NY Times did an interesting study last year. They found that out of the Nation's 51 largest metros, only 10 actually gained neighborhood density since 2010. Charlotte was one of those 10 (the only 1 in the south to gain density).
Quote:
A few large metro areas did, in fact, become more urban between 2010 and 2016. Of the 51 metro areas with more than one million people, average neighborhood density rose in 10 and fell in 41, according to census population data and U.S. Postal Service counts of occupied housing units. That is, four-fifths of large metro areas have become more suburban since 2010, while only one-fifth have become more urban.
Being that metro Stl wasn't in the top 10, it's safe to say that Stl's metro neighborhood density went down.
With that said, think back to the photo links around Charlotte that I showed earlier. I was not trying to show off Charlotte's history (the city has no such thing). I was simply showing that our metro area's new growth is dominated by developments with greater density than what's been built in the past. Charlotte is the only sunbelt market where this trend exists on a large scale metro-wide.
Last edited by urbancharlotte; 03-15-2018 at 10:46 PM..
This has been an interesting post to follow. I live in Charlotte now and I’m looking at a job opportunity (promotion) next month that’s in St. Louis. There have been some things I love and hate about Charlotte. I think the only downside of moving out of Charlotte would be having to get used to a new city, develop new friendships, etc. There’s been a lot of southern hospitality in Charlotte, but it feels like people never have time for you specifically or get annoyed when you try to be too invitational. I’ll miss the few friends I have made here, but there’s a lot about Charlotte I won’t miss. I also gave up on the dating scene a few months back. Not saying that STL will fix all this, but I’d rather move to a city with lower expectations than set a high bar and be disappointed.
One major pro leaving Charlotte is that I don’t have to deal with NFL or NBA anymore! Baseball and hockey are my favorites.
This has been an interesting post to follow. I live in Charlotte now and I’m looking at a job opportunity (promotion) next month that’s in St. Louis. There have been some things I love and hate about Charlotte. I think the only downside of moving out of Charlotte would be having to get used to a new city, develop new friendships, etc. There’s been a lot of southern hospitality in Charlotte, but it feels like people never have time for you specifically or get annoyed when you try to be too invitational. I’ll miss the few friends I have made here, but there’s a lot about Charlotte I won’t miss. I also gave up on the dating scene a few months back. Not saying that STL will fix all this, but I’d rather move to a city with lower expectations than set a high bar and be disappointed.
One major pro leaving Charlotte is that I don’t have to deal with NFL or NBA anymore! Baseball and hockey are my favorites.
I haven't had much luck with the dating scene in St Louis. It could be my age or attitude and no time for bs disposition can be taken as arrogance.
This has been an interesting post to follow. I live in Charlotte now and I’m looking at a job opportunity (promotion) next month that’s in St. Louis. There have been some things I love and hate about Charlotte. I think the only downside of moving out of Charlotte would be having to get used to a new city, develop new friendships, etc. There’s been a lot of southern hospitality in Charlotte, but it feels like people never have time for you specifically or get annoyed when you try to be too invitational. I’ll miss the few friends I have made here, but there’s a lot about Charlotte I won’t miss. I also gave up on the dating scene a few months back. Not saying that STL will fix all this, but I’d rather move to a city with lower expectations than set a high bar and be disappointed.
If you had a hard time in a socially dynamic place with lots of transplants like Charlotte, I can't see how you'd have better luck in a city that doesn't attract as many transplants and where social circles are filled with people who have known each other most of their lives. But then again, all it takes is meeting that one right person and you're good...until the divorce.
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