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Sure, pretty much every place has pockets of that (like Scott’s Addition here in Richmond). In some places it’s more pronounced. In my travels Denver stands out as being particularly saturated. People wear sports jerseys to gallery openings!
I haven’t spent much time in Charlotte and cannot say that it seems particularly bro-y. I agree with the rest of his description and hear that said a lot about Charlotte. I do hear more positive things about the city than negative of course.
It was ironic that he mentioned elements of Charlotte's culture and personality but then said it had none of its own. Although no one would call "bro-eyness" and obsession with status unique traits, it is somewhat interesting how a place whose cultural roots originate in stock-car racing, mill villages, and Scots-Irish Presbyterianism came to be that way. The bro-ey thing is often used as a critique against the "cool cities" in particular as high levels of residential displacement caused by booming economic and commercial development in them within the past three decades or so has given way to a seemingly near-total erasure of local culture and something of an unofficial homogemized national model of 21st American urban life inevitably fills the vacuum where a major share of the new residents and consumers are young White college-educated men in lines of work (that were not adversely impacted by the fallout of the Great Recession) providing them with lots of disposable income. In Charlotte's case the second part is obviously happening but it wasn't preceded by the first part in any major way as the heart of Uptown and neighboring South End, a former industrial area, could reasonably be considered ground zero for Charlotte 'bros these days (which were more or less yesterday's country club set from its banks).
The obsession with status thing is rooted in how the city's leaders sought to overcome the historic reputations of NC specifically as a bit of a laggard and the South generally as backwards/not forward-thinking which it was associated with. The rise of the banking industry in Charlotte to one with a national profile was a major factor in that endeavor; local industry leaders lobbied the federal government for deregulation which allowed their banks to nationalize rather quickly, themselves being the products of much earlier state reforms allowing banks to operate across county lines, fostering many in-state megers and consolidations over several years. Not only did that result in Charlotte/NC businesses becoming much less reliant on the larger Northern/Western banks for anything more than a small loan, but Charlotte took some of their economic thunder and bragging rights in the process with the acquisition of several of their banks. And with this newfound status, the city's business and civic leadership knew they had to "look the part" as well which isn't unreasonable but arguably, some would say, played a role in the way it came to prioritize and cheerlead benchmarks of urban progress, or status symbols if you will, in themselves or as items to be checked off a list on its way to being widely recognized as a major city...a modern and updated New South ideology/marketing strategy if you will. Some of those sorts of criticisms are overblown but I think there's a grain of truth embedded in them.
So shortly after I made the OP, I actually visited RVA (the trip was planned before the post) I very much enjoyed it. Slightly a little more gritty than I prefer but I loved the walkability (I easily walked 20 miles) and it feels like there’s plenty to do all around minus COVID. I will definitely consider a move there.
It is defiantly more gritty than normal right now.
The social justice marches this spring were very hard on the downtown area. Between broken windows and covid, it isn’t very pleasant in the core right now. The homeless shelters are closed due to covid, only a fraction of the students are on campus and the high-rises are largely empty do to work from home orders...so restaurants are closed, live arts venues are boarded up and the disenfranchised greatly outnumber the upwardly mobile in areas like the Arts District which a year ago seemed unstoppable in its trajectory to become a great American retail corridor.
I’m glad you liked it. Even with covid there is still so much positive momentum. New restaurants are opening, residential projects are going up everywhere. Come back after the vaccine and it will seem a lot less gritty.
It was ironic that he mentioned elements of Charlotte's culture and personality but then said it had none of its own. Although no one would call "bro-eyness" and obsession with status unique traits, it is somewhat interesting how a place whose cultural roots originate in stock-car racing, mill villages, and Scots-Irish Presbyterianism came to be that way. The bro-ey thing is often used as a critique against the "cool cities" in particular as high levels of residential displacement caused by booming economic and commercial development in them within the past three decades or so has given way to a seemingly near-total erasure of local culture and something of an unofficial homogemized national model of 21st American urban life inevitably fills the vacuum where a major share of the new residents and consumers are young White college-educated men in lines of work (that were not adversely impacted by the fallout of the Great Recession) providing them with lots of disposable income. In Charlotte's case the second part is obviously happening but it wasn't preceded by the first part in any major way as the heart of Uptown and neighboring South End, a former industrial area, could reasonably be considered ground zero for Charlotte 'bros these days (which were more or less yesterday's country club set from its banks).
The obsession with status thing is rooted in how the city's leaders sought to overcome the historic reputations of NC specifically as a bit of a laggard and the South generally as backwards/not forward-thinking which it was associated with. The rise of the banking industry in Charlotte to one with a national profile was a major factor in that endeavor; local industry leaders lobbied the federal government for deregulation which allowed their banks to nationalize rather quickly, themselves being the products of much earlier state reforms allowing banks to operate across county lines, fostering many in-state megers and consolidations over several years. Not only did that result in Charlotte/NC businesses becoming much less reliant on the larger Northern/Western banks for anything more than a small loan, but Charlotte took some of their economic thunder and bragging rights in the process with the acquisition of several of their banks. And with this newfound status, the city's business and civic leadership knew they had to "look the part" as well which isn't unreasonable but arguably, some would say, played a role in the way it came to prioritize and cheerlead benchmarks of urban progress, or status symbols if you will, in themselves or as items to be checked off a list on its way to being widely recognized as a major city...a modern and updated New South ideology/marketing strategy if you will. Some of those sorts of criticisms are overblown but I think there's a grain of truth embedded in them.
I think you are putting too much thought into this. The tech bro culture is everywhere. This can be applied to Denver, Austin, SLC, SF, Raleigh, etc. Anywhere you get well paying tech jobs, you are bound to have a huge number of young (mostly white) men who buy expensive gadgets, drink craft beer, wear Patagonia jackets or power vests, play disc golf or ultimate frisbee, have jeeps or completely geared up small pickups (for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, kayaking, mountain biking, whatever). They all would kill to try the most recent small batch coffee (replace with beer, bbq, cider, or mead), have similar facial hair... and all grow mustaches for November. Some follow all of these, others pick and choose.
I think you are putting too much thought into this. The tech bro culture is everywhere. This can be applied to Denver, Austin, SLC, SF, Raleigh, etc. Anywhere you get well paying tech jobs, you are bound to have a huge number of young (mostly white) men who buy expensive gadgets, drink craft beer, wear Patagonia jackets or power vests, play disc golf or ultimate frisbee, have jeeps or completely geared up small pickups (for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, kayaking, mountain biking, whatever). They all would kill to try the most recent small batch coffee (replace with beer, bbq, cider, or mead), have similar facial hair... and all grow mustaches for November. Some follow all of these, others pick and choose.
You're pretty much agreeing with me. I'm just making the point that you probably don't hear Charlotte criticized for being "bro-ey" as often because its "bros" haven't really been displacing a bunch of natives when they settled mainly in Uptown and SouthEnd to work for mainly homegrown/banking-related companies. Gentrification is definitely on the rise in the city which is getting more expensive though so stay tuned.
Other factors that probably have worked against a more "bro-ey" reputation for Charlotte, at least up until recently, are:
1) it doesn't have a big college/university scene full of future bros in the middle of the city as part of the visible demographic landscape
2) it lacks a dramatic geographical setting or local quirky culture that would attract the Portland-esque/retired Millenial-type bros
3) it has a greater amount of diversity than the typical bro cities, especially its large and rapidly-growing Black population
4) banking, NASCAR, the heavily suburban urban form, and its family-friendly reputation heavily contribute to the city's image, which are all about as "anti-bro" as you can get
However, I think that although other demographics are growing just as fast in Charlotte and have been for a little while now, the bros being the newer kids on the block and living in all the new residential developments in the city's core make them stand out in a way the others don't right now. I wouldn't be surprised to hear Charlotte being highlighted for its bro population more in the future.
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